Week 1 Quiz

A notice board in a student lounge holds four sentences. Which one is a claim in this course's sense, a sentence that is either true or false?

Select one.

• Please return the board games to the shelf.
• Did anyone find a blue water bottle?
• The lounge closes early on exam nights.
• I am so ready for this long, long term to be over already.

A classmate says, "The new campus app is terrible. That's my opinion, so it can't be evaluated." Which response fits this course's treatment of opinions?

Select one.

• An opinion is a claim someone holds, so the reasons offered for it can still be strong or weak.
• That is right; once something is labeled an opinion, its reasons no longer matter.
• Opinions are neither true nor false, so they are not claims and cannot have reasons.
• Only facts with numbers in them can be supported by reasons.

Four messages reach the staff of a print shop (illustrative). Which message is an argument?

Select one.

• The large printer jammed twice yesterday, and the technician replaced a roller and tested it twice.
• This new scheduling app is a disaster.
• Has anyone ordered more toner this month?
• We should move the weekly meeting to the morning, since three of the five staff members leave by noon.

A coach tells fans who watched the announcement: "The game was canceled because the field flooded." Which description fits this sentence?

Select one.

• It is an argument, because "because" is a premise indicator.
• It is an explanation, because the fans already accept that the game was canceled.
• It is an unsupported assertion, because no reason is offered.
• It is a report with two separate arguments inside it.

Which question does the doubt test ask to tell an argument from an explanation?

Select one.

• Is the claim being supported in doubt for the audience?
• Does the passage contain the word "because" or "since"?
• Is the conclusion of the passage true?
• Does the speaker have expert knowledge of the topic the passage is about?

Which of these words appear on this course's list of premise indicators? Select all that apply.

Select every option that applies.

• because
• therefore
• since
• hence
• given that
• thus

Read the running question's illustrative campus-newsletter passage: "The campus library should stay open around the clock during finals week. During finals week many students need a quiet, safe place to study late at night. The library is the only quiet, safe, well-lit study space on campus large enough to meet that need. Keeping the library open overnight for the five nights of finals week costs about 1,600 dollars in staff wages." Which sentence is the conclusion?

Select one.

• The last sentence, about the 1,600-dollar cost, because conclusions come at the end.
• The first sentence, that the library should stay open around the clock during finals week.
• The third sentence, that the library is the only large enough study space on campus.
• None of them, because the passage has no conclusion indicator.

In the same newsletter passage, how many stated reasons are offered for the conclusion?

Select one.

• 4 stated reasons
• 2 stated reasons
• 3 stated reasons
• 1 stated reason

The newsletter's cost figure assumes 2 staff working 8 hours a night for 5 nights at 20 dollars an hour. What does that come to?

Select one.

• 320 dollars
• 800 dollars
• 3,200 dollars
• 1,600 dollars

True or false: in this course, the word "because" always introduces a premise of an argument.

True or false.

• True
• False