8/3/2019 Practice Question Paper

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Q1.a. State with reason(s), whether the following are Statements or not. 51. Since smoking is bad for your health, you should not do it2. The Chesnutt Library has more than 500,000 volumes.3. Please send me your current catalog.4. Lets go to Paris for our anniversary.5. John F. Kennedy was shot by a single gunman on November 22, 1963.

Q1.b.Identify the Premise(s) and Conclusion(s) present in the following arguments.

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1. There is no definitive way to prove any one set of religious beliefs to the exclusionof all others. For that reason religious freedom is a human right.

2. Global currency markets alone involve the daily exchange of over two trilliondollars, and since these markets largely determine the value of any national

currency, they contribute significantly to the inability of governments to control the

economic policy.

3. No one under eighteen-years-old can vote. Sunil is under eighteen-years-old.Therefore, Sunil cannot vote.

4. Since pain is a state of consciousness, a mental event, it can never be directlyobserved.

5. Make a will. Otherwise, the state will determine who gets your stuff.Q2.a. Study each of the following passages and identify and name the type of reasoning

(deductive or inductive) in them. 10

1. Light travels at a rate of 186,000 miles per second. The sun is more than 93 millionmiles distant from the earth. Therefore, it takes more than eight minutes for the suns

light to reach the earth.

2. Some Democrats are elected officials. All elected officials are politicians. Therefore,some Democrats are politicians.

3. Either Sam committed the murder, or Jack committed the murder, or Tina committedthe murder. Jack did not commit the murder. Tina did not commit the murder. Sam

committed the murder.

4. If you dont quit regular consumption of alcohol, then you may get liver cancer. If youget liver cancer, you may die at an early age. Therefore, if you dont quit regular

consumption of alcohol, you may die at an early age.

5. It has rained in Chennai every Feb since weather records have been kept. Therefore, itwill probably rain in Chennai next Feb.

Q2.b. Diagram the following short Arguments. 5

1. Cats make good pets because, they are affectionate, they are clean, they areentertaining and they do well in apartments.

2. Overcrowding in prisons is a cause of many prison riots, and most of our prisons areovercrowded. Thus riots in our prisons are likely in the coming months.

8/3/2019 Practice Question Paper

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Q3.a. Test the validity of following argument using Venn diagrams. 5

1. No Democrats are Republicans. Some life guards are Republicans. So, some lifeguards are not Democrats.

2. All painters are artists. Some magicians are artists. So, some magicians are painters.Q3.b. Put the following arguments in symbolic form and test their validity using a truth

table.

1. The train was not on time. The bus was not on time. So, the train was not on time andthe bus was on time.

2. The train was on time. The bus was late. So, the train was on time and the bus was late.Q4.a. Diagram the following short Arguments. 6

1. Children are very susceptible to the power of advertisers. Those children who smoketend to buy those brands that are most frequently advertised. It must be advertising that

influences children to smoke.

2. If the branch manager is promoted to VP of the company, then he will transfer to themain office. He is bound to be promoted. So, he will be transferring to the main office.

3. There should be no control over the right of newspapers to publish photographs andstories about public figures. The lives of people who are public figures are ofconsiderable interest to the general public. People have a right to information about

how public figures conduct their lives.

Q.4.b Determine the fallacies (relevance and insufficient evidence) in the following

arguments. Justify your answer. 10

1. Have you stopped cheating on exams?2. I dont feel guilty about cheating on Dr. Boyers test. Half the class cheats on his tests.3. Diplomat to Diplomats: Im sure youll agree that we are the rightful rulers of the San

Macros Islands. It would be regrettable if we had to send armed forces to demonstrate

the validity of our claim.

4. "You know, Professor Smith, I really need to get an A in this class. I'd like to stop byduring your office hours later to discuss my grade. I'll be in your building anyways

visiting my father. He's your dean, by the way. I'll see you later."

5. "We dont know whether holistic medicines actually help psychological disorders, sowe might as well use them!"