Verbal

Question 1

One Sentence Test

Answer 1

“if author had to boil this entire argument down to one sentence that retains his main point, which sentence would it be?”

Question 2

Denial Test

Answer 2

an assumption MUST be true for the conclusion to logically follow from evidence

denial test: negate each answer choice to find one where author’s argument falls apart. the one that does is a necessary assumption.

don’t be extreme when negating (denial of hot is not cold it’s NOT HOT)

when denying if/then, negate “then” or the result

if argument does not fall apart or is unaffected after negation, the answer choice is wrong.

Question 3

Common Flaws

Answer 3

• confusing correlation with causation
• confusing percent and actual value
• unsupportable scope shifts between evidence and conclusion
• overlooked alternatives (most common)
• inappropriate combination or distinction of terms (flaw of equivocation)

ALL flaws center on author’s assumption

Question 4

Representativeness

Answer 4

any argument based on a group or sample (from surveys, polls, studies, anecdotes, or experiments)

needs to be a good representation - come from large enough sample, cover an adequate amount of time, population can’t be biased

ASSUME sample is representative

compare population of the evidence with that of conculsion

Question 5

P/P/P

Answer 5

an argument’s conclusion is a plan, prediction, or proposal

ASSUME that P/P/P could work or happen, practical under circumstance, there is only one most important factor (or only 1 factor) worth considering

to weaken: introduce alternative or competing consideration (plan won’t work) - raise concern author fail to see that would undermine proposal

to weaken prediction: show that trend will change or is unlikely to happen

to weaken an objection to a P/P/P: seek evidence that it will work or come true

look for: should, would, could, may, will, is going to

Question 6

Causality

Answer 6

cause and effect

any argument that says something did or will happen because of something else

x caused y or y is a result of x

relies on assumptions:
that nothing else caused y but x
that y was not the cause of x
that the apparent relationship between x and y is not just a coincidence

to recognize: if/then, because, correlate, cause, as a result

to weaken: alternative explanation (z caused y, not x), , causality reversed (y caused x), coincidence (it wasn’t x that caused y, no correlation between x and y)

Question 7

Assumption

Answer 7

unstated evidence necessary to make argument work/bridges gap between evidence and conclusion (sometimes evidence and evidence)

author MUST believe!

evidence + assumption = conclusion