CARS Flashcards
what are the three categories of questions in CARS
foundations of comprehension, reasoning within the text, and reasoning beyond the text
what do ‘foundations of comprehension’ questions focus on?
literal reading comprehension ; main idea of a passage, specific details, inferences, word definitions
what do ‘reasoning within the text’ questions focus on?
will ask you to identify the purpose of a particular piece of information or how different pieces of info relate to one another
what do ‘reasoning beyond the text’ questions focus on
two specific skills: ability to extrapolate info from the passage and place it in new contexts and ability to ascertain how new info would affect the concepts in the passage
how long should you be spending per passage
10 minutes at most per passage
how is the rhetoric different when the author is writing to an expert audience versus a novice audience
when the audience is expert level, the author will use a lot of technical jargon with no explanation
when the audience is novice level, the author will use more common-level words and explain their ideas with basic descriptions
what are the two ways of recognizing an author’s tone
- word choice
- very emotive words indicate strong feelings towards the subject matter - what the author chooses to discuss
- even if neutral language is used, if the author is discussing the disadvantages of something and offering alternatives, they have a negative attitude
what is the One Sentence Test
test used to determine the relationship between two statements in an argument
phrase them in the following order (conclusion) because (evidence) and see which arrangement makes more sense
T or F: The same statement can be both evidence and conclusion in different contexts
T
Unstated claims in arguments are known as inferences. Inferences are either assumptions (unstated ________) or implications (unstated __________)
evidence ; conclusions
what is one way to recognize an inference
deny it and see if that has a negative effect on the argument
how does the inclusion of certain claims strengthen or weaken arguments
arguments are not either ‘true’ or ‘false’; they are evaluated on their strength/validity on a spectrum. Arguments are strengthened when claims make the validity of their conclusion more probable and weakened when they become less probable
what are counterarguments and what are the two scenarios in which they are used
counterarguments are claims that weaken a particular conclusion
1. author is constructing a counterargument to shoot down an argument they oppose
2. author is describing and refuting someone else’s counterargument to support their own view
