CLAST Logical Reasoning 4

Question 1

Circular reasoning (begging the question) occurs when:

Accepted Answer

The conclusion is used as one of the premises to support itself

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Water has always frozen at 0°C in experiments, so it always will

Answer

Inductive reasoning draws a probable general conclusion from observed specific instances, without logical certainty.

Question 3

The 'slippery slope' fallacy assumes that:

Accepted Answer

One event will inevitably lead to extreme negative consequences without adequate justification

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

All A are C

Answer

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'?

Accepted Answer

If not Q, then not P

Answer

The contrapositive 'If not Q, then not P' is always logically equivalent to the original conditional 'If P, then Q.'

CLAST - College Level Academic Skills Test Practice Test