LNAT Evaluating Argument Strengths 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes a 'straw man' fallacy?
- Attacking the character of the opponent rather than their argument
- Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it easier to attack (Correct answer)
- Presenting an argument that only supports one side of the issue
- Using emotional language to persuade the audience
Correct answer: Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it easier to attack
A straw man involves distorting or exaggerating an opposing argument so it can be more easily refuted.
Question 2: Passage: 'Allowing physician-assisted dying will lead to pressure on elderly people to end their lives prematurely.' This argument relies on which type of reasoning?
- Appeal to authority
- Slippery slope (Correct answer)
- Circular reasoning
- Red herring
Correct answer: Slippery slope
A slippery slope assumes that one event will inevitably trigger a chain of increasingly harmful consequences without establishing why this chain is likely.
Question 3: An argument is described as 'valid but unsound.' What does this mean?
- The logical structure is correct, but at least one premise is false (Correct answer)
- The conclusion is false even though the premises are true
- The argument lacks sufficient evidence to support its conclusion
- The premises are true but the conclusion does not follow
Correct answer: The logical structure is correct, but at least one premise is false
A valid argument has correct logical form, but soundness additionally requires all premises to be true; a valid-but-unsound argument fails on the truth condition.
Question 4: Which evidence would most weaken the claim that increased social media use among teenagers causes depression?
- Some teenagers who use social media heavily are happy
- Depression rates rose before smartphones became widespread among teenagers (Correct answer)
- Social media companies profit from keeping users engaged
- Teenagers report feeling lonely after using social media
Correct answer: Depression rates rose before smartphones became widespread among teenagers
If depression rates were already rising before heavy teenage smartphone use, social media cannot be the primary cause.
Question 5: In an LNAT-style argument passage, what is the purpose of identifying the 'conclusion'?
- To determine what the author is trying to persuade the reader to believe or do (Correct answer)
- To summarize all the evidence presented in the passage
- To identify any fallacies the author may have committed
- To assess the author's level of expertise on the subject
Correct answer: To determine what the author is trying to persuade the reader to believe or do
The conclusion is the main claim the argument is designed to establish; identifying it is the first step in evaluating argument strength.
Question 6: Which of the following scenarios demonstrates circular reasoning?
- The Bible is true because it is the word of God, and we know it is the word of God because the Bible says so (Correct answer)
- The defendant is guilty because the evidence overwhelmingly points to guilt
- This medicine works because clinical trials show positive results
- We should trust the expert because she has published extensively on the topic
Correct answer: The Bible is true because it is the word of God, and we know it is the word of God because the Bible says so
Circular reasoning uses the conclusion as a premise, making the argument logically self-referential and non-informative.
Question 7: A debate judge must decide which team's argument is stronger. Both teams present true premises. Team A's conclusion follows necessarily from its premises; Team B's conclusion is only made likely by its premises. Which argument is stronger in terms of logical certainty?
- Team B, because probability-based arguments are more flexible
- Team A, because a deductively valid argument with true premises guarantees its conclusion (Correct answer)
- They are equally strong because both use true premises
- Team B, because inductive arguments are used more often in real-world reasoning
Correct answer: Team A, because a deductively valid argument with true premises guarantees its conclusion
A sound deductive argument (valid form plus true premises) guarantees its conclusion, whereas a strong inductive argument only makes its conclusion probable.
LNAT Evaluating Argument Strengths 5
Which of the following best describes a 'straw man' fallacy?