CLAST Logical Reasoning 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Circular reasoning (begging the question) occurs when:
- The conclusion is used as one of the premises to support itself (Correct answer)
- A broad claim is made from a small sample
- Two mutually exclusive options are falsely presented
- The argument relies on an unqualified expert
Correct answer: The conclusion is used as one of the premises to support itself
Circular reasoning assumes the truth of what it is trying to prove, making the argument self-referential and logically invalid.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of inductive reasoning?
- All prime numbers greater than 2 are odd; 7 is prime; therefore 7 is odd
- Water has always frozen at 0°C in experiments, so it always will (Correct answer)
- If it rains, the game is canceled; it is raining; the game is canceled
- No even number greater than 2 is prime; 4 is even; therefore 4 is not prime
Correct answer: Water has always frozen at 0°C in experiments, so it always will
Inductive reasoning draws a probable general conclusion from observed specific instances, without logical certainty.
Question 3: The 'slippery slope' fallacy assumes that:
- Two things that share one property share all properties
- One event will inevitably lead to extreme negative consequences without adequate justification (Correct answer)
- A sample is representative of the whole population
- The most popular option is the correct one
Correct answer: One event will inevitably lead to extreme negative consequences without adequate justification
Slippery slope claims a chain of increasingly bad events will inevitably follow from an initial action, without sufficient evidence for that chain.
Question 4: Given the premises 'All A are B' and 'All B are C,' what is the valid conclusion?
- All C are A
- Some A are not C
- All A are C (Correct answer)
- No A are C
Correct answer: All A are C
By the transitive property of categorical syllogisms, if every A is a B and every B is a C, then every A must be a C.
Question 5: Which of the following statements is logically equivalent to 'If P, then Q'?
- If Q, then P
- If not P, then not Q
- If not Q, then not P (Correct answer)
- P only if not Q
Correct answer: If not Q, then not P
The contrapositive 'If not Q, then not P' is always logically equivalent to the original conditional 'If P, then Q.'
Question 6: A student argues: 'My professor drives an expensive car, so her investment advice must be sound.' This is an example of:
- Hasty generalization
- Irrelevant appeal to authority or wealth (Correct answer)
- Modus ponens
- False dilemma
Correct answer: Irrelevant appeal to authority or wealth
Owning an expensive car does not establish expertise in investment advice — the appeal confuses wealth with credible authority.
Question 7: In logic, a statement and its negation are called:
- Contraries
- Contradictories (Correct answer)
- Subcontraries
- Subalterns
Correct answer: Contradictories
Contradictories are statement pairs where exactly one must be true and one must be false — they cannot both be true or both be false.
CLAST Logical Reasoning 4
Circular reasoning (begging the question) occurs when: