EAP Critical Reading Strategies 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When evaluating the credibility of an academic source, which factor is LEAST relevant?
- The author's academic credentials and institutional affiliation
- Whether the journal is peer-reviewed
- The length of the article's bibliography (Correct answer)
- Whether the methodology is clearly described
Correct answer: The length of the article's bibliography
Bibliography length does not indicate source quality; a long reference list can include poor sources, while a short one can be highly targeted and valid.
Question 2: A critical reader identifies that an author consistently uses emotionally charged language when describing one side of a debate. This most likely indicates:
- A highly technical writing style
- Bias that may undermine the objectivity of the analysis (Correct answer)
- A standard convention in academic argumentation
- The author is targeting a general audience
Correct answer: Bias that may undermine the objectivity of the analysis
Emotionally loaded language signals that the author may be persuading rather than objectively analyzing, a red flag for bias.
Question 3: Which of the following reading behaviors characterizes a 'deep reading' approach as opposed to skimming?
- Moving eyes quickly across each line to locate keywords
- Engaging with the logic of each argument, evaluating evidence, and connecting ideas to prior knowledge (Correct answer)
- Reading only topic sentences and bolded terms
- Focusing on the publication date and author credentials before the content
Correct answer: Engaging with the logic of each argument, evaluating evidence, and connecting ideas to prior knowledge
Deep reading involves active cognitive engagement with argument structure, evidence quality, and connections across ideas rather than surface information retrieval.
Question 4: An author argues that 'because every college professor I know supports policy X, it must be good policy.' This reasoning is an example of:
- Ad hominem
- Hasty generalization (Correct answer)
- False analogy
- Begging the question
Correct answer: Hasty generalization
Generalizing from a small, non-representative personal sample to a broad conclusion is a hasty generalization fallacy.
Question 5: When a critical reader 'interrogates the text,' they are primarily:
- Checking the text for grammatical errors
- Asking probing questions about assumptions, evidence, and implications (Correct answer)
- Comparing the text's formatting against a style guide
- Counting the number of arguments per paragraph
Correct answer: Asking probing questions about assumptions, evidence, and implications
Interrogating a text means actively questioning its assumptions, the strength of its evidence, and the implications of its claims.
Question 6: A text's 'subtext' in critical reading refers to:
- The footnotes and endnotes section
- Underlying meanings, assumptions, or ideologies implied but not explicitly stated (Correct answer)
- The abstract summarizing the article's content
- Secondary sources cited within the text
Correct answer: Underlying meanings, assumptions, or ideologies implied but not explicitly stated
Subtext includes the unstated values, power dynamics, or ideological positions that shape a text without being directly declared.
Question 7: Which question is MOST useful for evaluating whether an author's conclusion logically follows from their evidence?
- How long is the article?
- Does the evidence actually support the specific conclusion drawn, or could other conclusions fit equally well? (Correct answer)
- Is the author affiliated with a well-known university?
- Does the article use APA or MLA citation format?
Correct answer: Does the evidence actually support the specific conclusion drawn, or could other conclusions fit equally well?
Testing whether evidence uniquely supports the stated conclusion, rather than multiple alternatives, is the core of evaluating logical validity.
EAP Critical Reading Strategies 5
When evaluating the credibility of an academic source, which factor is LEAST relevant?