AWA Critical Thinking & Argument Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An argument concludes that a new city ordinance reduced crime because crime rates dropped 15% in the year after it passed. What assumption does this argument rely on?
- The ordinance was the only significant change during that year (Correct answer)
- Crime statistics are always accurately reported
- The mayor supported the ordinance
- Police departments received additional funding
Correct answer: The ordinance was the only significant change during that year
The argument assumes no other factor (e.g., economic changes, policing strategies) caused the crime drop, committing a post hoc reasoning error.
Question 2: Which of the following would most WEAKEN an argument claiming that students who eat breakfast perform better academically?
- A study showing high-performing students tend to wake up earlier (Correct answer)
- A survey finding that most students prefer breakfast foods
- Data showing schools with breakfast programs spend more per student
- Research indicating breakfast skippers often skip other meals too
Correct answer: A study showing high-performing students tend to wake up earlier
If high performers simply wake earlier and thus have time for breakfast, the causal direction is reversed—academic habits cause breakfast, not vice versa.
Question 3: An editorial argues: 'Our city should ban fast food restaurants because obesity rates are high.' What logical flaw does this argument contain?
- It oversimplifies the cause of obesity by ignoring other contributing factors (Correct answer)
- It appeals to authority without citing medical experts
- It uses circular reasoning by defining obesity through fast food
- It commits an ad hominem attack on fast food companies
Correct answer: It oversimplifies the cause of obesity by ignoring other contributing factors
Obesity has multiple causes (genetics, sedentary lifestyle, overall diet), so targeting fast food alone oversimplifies the problem.
Question 4: In AWA argument analysis, what does it mean to identify an argument's 'conclusion'?
- Pinpointing the main claim the author wants you to accept (Correct answer)
- Summarizing all evidence the author provides
- Identifying the most controversial statement in the passage
- Finding the sentence that appears last in the argument
Correct answer: Pinpointing the main claim the author wants you to accept
The conclusion is the central claim the argument is designed to support, not merely the final sentence.
Question 5: A manager argues that remote work should be eliminated because productivity dropped last quarter. Which additional piece of evidence would most STRENGTHEN this argument?
- Data showing productivity dropped only after the remote work policy began and in no other periods (Correct answer)
- A poll showing employees prefer working from home
- Industry reports noting remote work is trending globally
- Statistics on office space rental costs
Correct answer: Data showing productivity dropped only after the remote work policy began and in no other periods
Showing the drop correlates exclusively with the onset of remote work strengthens the causal link between remote work and reduced productivity.
Question 6: Which rhetorical technique involves appealing to widespread belief to support a claim (e.g., 'Everyone knows this product works')?
- Ad populum (appeal to popularity) (Correct answer)
- Straw man fallacy
- False dilemma
- Slippery slope
Correct answer: Ad populum (appeal to popularity)
Ad populum uses the popularity of a belief as evidence of its truth, which is a logical fallacy.
Question 7: An argument states: 'Since our competitor lowered prices and gained market share, we should lower prices too.' What critical question should be asked first?
- Whether our cost structure allows us to sustain lower prices profitably (Correct answer)
- Whether our competitor uses the same suppliers
- Whether customers prefer our brand name
- Whether the competitor's CEO made a public statement about prices
Correct answer: Whether our cost structure allows us to sustain lower prices profitably
Before copying a strategy, you must assess whether your business can sustain it financially, since different cost structures can make the same strategy viable or ruinous.
AWA Critical Thinking & Argument Analysis 2
An argument concludes that a new city ordinance reduced crime because crime rates dropped 15% in the year after it passed.
What assumption does this argument rely on?