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Chapter 03 Test B
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INSTRUCTIONS: Select the answer that best characterizes each argument.
1. Frank Larsen argues for stricter gun control. It appears that Frank wants to abolish access to guns altogether. But if law-
abiding citizens can’t own a gun, then they will have no means of defending themselves against criminals. Obviously
Frank’s argument is no good.
a. False cause.
b. Argument against the person, abusive.
c. Straw man.
d. No fallacy.
e. Red herring.
2. Dr. Sylvia Newman, the world famous biochemist, says that the widespread use of pesticides poses a serious threat to
public health. Therefore, we should take this warning seriously and investigate further the extent of the threat.
a. Appeal to force.
b. Appeal to the people.
c. Appeal to unqualified authority.
d. Begging the question.
e. No fallacy.
3. United Airlines flight 863 was late arriving in Houston, and flight 722 was late getting into LA—as was flight 429.
Apparently all United Airlines flights are late these days.
a. Hasty generalization.
b. False cause.
c. No fallacy.
d. Composition.
e. Accident.
4. April Bradley’s arguments in favor of solar power are hardly worth listening to. After all, look where she graduated
from—Northeast Texas State. That’s hardly Ivy League. And look at how she dresses. Yuck!
a. Hasty generalization.
b. Begging the question.
c. False cause
d. Argument against the person, abusive.
e. No fallacy.
5. Barbara lost 15 pounds after taking the new InstaThin supplement for 6 weeks. Tiffany has the same metabolism,
lifestyle, diet, body type, age, height and former weight as Barbara. Therefore, probably Tiffany could lose about 15
pounds if she takes InstaThin for 6 weeks.
a. Weak analogy.
b. No fallacy.
c. Amphiboly.
d. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
e. False cause.
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6. Whatever you do, never buy a lottery ticket. If you do, soon you’ll be betting on horses. Next it will be slot machines in
Las Vegas, and then black jack and high stakes poker. In the end you’ll be totally broke.
a. Slippery slope.
b. No fallacy.
c. Complex question.
d. False cause.
e. Missing the point.
7. Every component in this table is made of wood. Therefore, the entire table is made of wood.
a. Composition.
b. Weak analogy.
c. No fallacy.
d. False dichotomy.
e. Suppressed evidence.
8. Mr. President, I would advise you to go along with our plan to use your country as a base of operations for invading
Iran. After all, I’m sure you don’t want your country bombed back to the stone age.
a. Appeal to the people.
b. Appeal to force.
c. No fallacy.
d. Appeal to pity.
e. Division.
9. Senator Dawson argues in favor of legalizing marijuana. But did you know that the senator has been married three
times? And his last divorce was a real doozie. His wife went on and on about their sex life. Apparently the Senator is no
good in bed. Enough about that issue … . Shall we move on?
a. Missing the point.
b. Begging the question.
c. Straw man.
d. Red herring.
e. No fallacy.
10. After eating a Big Mac for breakfast, poor Steve had a heart attack and died. The message is clear: Never eat a Big
Mac for breakfast.
a. False cause.
b. Weak analogy.
c. No fallacy.
d. Appeal to unqualified authority.
e. Hasty generalization.
11. The ad for the Ajax house cleaning service reads “Never clean again.” Obviously you should never hire that service,
because if you do, your house will never be clean again.
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a. Equivocation.
b. Appeal to ignorance.
c. You, too (tu quoque).
d. No fallacy.
e. Amphiboly.
12. Either you abstain from alcohol completely or one of these days you’ll get arrested for drunk driving. So, what will it
be?
a. No fallacy.
b. False dichotomy.
c. Straw man.
d. Appeal to force.
e. Missing the point.
13. I know that Harper is a millionaire, but he couldn’t have earned that money all by himself—at least not honestly.
Harper is a total fool without a shred of business sense, and he wastes every spare nickel on idiotic video games.
a. Appeal to pity.
b. Argument against the person, abusive.
c. No fallacy.
d. Accident.
e. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
14. The time has come to outlaw the use of tobacco in all public places. The noxious vapors from burning cigarettes and
the stench of smoldering cigars is revolting to say the least. And that nasty brown slime squirting forth from the foul
mouths of chewers is enough to turn one’s stomach. End this assault on our health and senses this very instant! Send the
filthy tobacco hounds back to where they came from!
a. No fallacy.
b. Missing the point.
c. Slippery slope.
d. Appeal to the people.
e. Appeal to pity.
15. An instant has no duration. But an hour is composed of instants. Therefore, an hour has no duration.
a. Division.
b. Amphiboly.
c. Composition.
d. Red herring.
e. No fallacy.
16. Irene will certainly live to a ripe old age because a palm reader told her that earlier today.
a. Appeal to unqualified authority.
b. Complex question.
c. No fallacy.
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d. Begging the question.
e. Suppressed evidence.
17. Either Coleridge or Longfellow wrote the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” But it certainly wasn’t Longfellow.
Therefore, Coleridge wrote it.
a. Division.
b. No fallacy.
c. False dichotomy.
d. Appeal to ignorance.
e. Appeal to the people.
18. Performance enhancing drugs are banned from professional sports. But Viagra is a performance enhancing drug.
Therefore, Viagra is banned from professional sports.
a. Composition.
b. No fallacy.
c. Appeal to unqualified authority.
d. Amphiboly.
e. Equivocation.
19. Poor Scooter Libby should never have been sent to jail for lying to a grand jury. Scooter is an honorable man. He
devoted his whole life to working for his country. One administration after another asked for his help. And Scooter was
always there, ready to serve. Scooter deserved a medal—not jail time.
a. Appeal to unqualified authority.
b. Appeal to force.
c. Appeal to pity.
d. No fallacy.
e. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
20. Umbrella repair has been a dependable job for most of the past 500 years. Therefore, it should be a dependable job for
the next 500 years.
a. Accident.
b. False cause.
c. Appeal to the people.
d. Suppressed evidence.
e. Hasty generalization.
21. Nobody has ever seen Tyler play football, baseball, or go skiing or swimming, or engage in any other sport. Probably
Tyler doesn’t engage in sports.
a. Appeal to pity.
b. False cause.
c. Appeal to ignorance.
d. Begging the question.
e. No fallacy.
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22. Mrs. Gladstone’s arguments against cuts in Social Security are worthless. As a recipient of Social Security benefits,
she would naturally be expected to argue exactly the way she does.
a. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
b. False dichotomy.
c. Straw man.
d. Argument against the person, abusive.
e. No fallacy.
23. Some tunes are oldies and some oldies are classics. Therefore, some tunes are classics.
a. This argument contains a fallacy of weak induction.
b. This argument contains no fallacy.
c. This argument contains a formal fallacy.
d. This argument contains a fallacy of ambiguity.
e. This argument contains a fallacy of relevance.
24. Bob, in most respects you seem to be a bright guy. So that leads me to ask: Do you intend to continue voting for stupid
Republicans?
a. False cause.
b. Argument against the person, abusive.
c. Begging the question.
d. No fallacy.
e. Complex question.
25. Ferguson has directed the college orchestra for the past 8 years, and during that time 5 women players have gotten
pregnant. Therefore, to prevent any more pregnancies, Ferguson should be fired immediately.
a. False cause.
b. No fallacy.
c. Suppressed evidence.
d. Weak analogy.
e. Accident.
26. Steel wool is excellent for cleaning dirty pots and pans. Therefore, it would be a good idea to use steel wool to clean
your dirty car.
a. Begging the question.
b. Weak analogy.
c. No fallacy.
d. Appeal to force.
e. Missing the point.
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27. After spending an entire day fishing, Terry came back with a large minnow. But every minnow is a fish. Therefore,
Terry came back with a large fish.
a. Appeal to ignorance.
b. Argument against the person, abusive.
c. Equivocation.
d. No fallacy.
e. Amphiboly.
28. Connor hasn’t a shred of athletic ability, and he does well even to breathe. Therefore, he couldn’t have swum across
Diamond Lake, as he claims to have done. After all, the lake is 3 miles across.
a. Appeal to unqualified authority.
b. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
c. False cause.
d. No fallacy.
e. Argument against the person, abusive.
29. It’s good to exercise 30 minutes per day because it rejuvenates your body. And we know it rejuvenates your body
because people who exercise live longer than those who don’t. And we know they live longer because people who
exercise feel better. And this is true because it’s good to exercise 30 minutes per day.
a. Begging the question.
b. Composition.
c. No fallacy.
d. Appeal to pity.
e. Slippery slope.
30. Practically all the students in Professor Kane’s English class copy their term papers from the Internet. Therefore, since
you’re in that class, you should do this, too.
a. Begging the question.
b. Tu quoque (you, too).
c. Appeal to the people.
d. No fallacy.
e. Accident.
31. If a piece of jewelry is ugly, then it won’t sell. Therefore, if a piece of jewelry sells, then it isn’t ugly.
a. Equivocation.
b. Weak analogy.
c. Begging the question.
d. Hasty generalization.
e. No fallacy.
32. America is a wealthy nation. Therefore, every American must be wealthy.
a. No fallacy.
b. Division.
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c. Hasty generalization.
d. Composition.
e. Appeal to unqualified authority.
33. The speed limit in this neighborhood is 25 miles per hour. Therefore, it was illegal for that ambulance to drive through
here at 50 miles per hour.
a. Accident.
b. Appeal to unqualified authority.
c. No fallacy.
d. You, too (tu quoque).
e. Appeal to force.
34. In a random sample of 200 students from Northern State University, 150 said that they own a smartphone. Therefore,
probably at least 50% of the students at Northern State own a smartphone.
a. False cause.
b. Missing the point.
c. Hasty generalization.
d. No fallacy.
e. Composition.
35. This cup of coffee contains caffeine. Therefore, every spoonful of it contains caffeine.
a. Division.
b. False cause.
c. No fallacy.
d. Suppressed evidence.
e. Composition.
36. Stem cell research is immoral because anything that involves killing innocent human beings is immoral.
a. Appeal to ignorance.
b. Begging the question.
c. Red herring.
d. Appeal to the people.
e. No fallacy.
37. If you pay him $200 up front, Freddie promises to paint your garage. But you’d be crazy to pay him anything up front
because Freddie lies all the time, and every dime he gets his hands on he uses to feed his methamphetamine habit.
a. No fallacy.
b. Accident.
c. Argument against the person, abusive.
d. False cause.
e. Argument against the person, circumstantial.
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38. Carol’s arguments against abortion aren’t worth a hoot. I have it on good evidence that Carol got an abortion herself
after a high school sweetheart got her pregnant.
a. Argument against the person, abusive.
b. Appeal to unqualified authority.
c. No fallacy.
d. Appeal to the people.
e. You, too (tu quoque).
39. Most of the residents of the City Heights neighborhood are illiterate. Therefore, it would be a good idea to close the
City Heights library. After all, nobody uses it.
a. No fallacy.
b. False cause.
c. Division.
d. Missing the point.
e. Appeal to force.
40. Nobody has ever proved there is intelligent life outside our solar system. Therefore, these efforts to communicate with
extraterrestrials are ridiculous.
a. Appeal to unqualified authority.
b. Suppressed evidence.
c. Appeal to ignorance.
d. Hasty generalization.
e. No fallacy.