Academic Literacy Flashcards
6 cards from real NBT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Academic Literacy flashcards as text
A student reads the following sentence: 'The author's ostensibly conciliatory tone belies a more adversarial subtext.' Which interpretive strategy best captures the sentence's meaning?
Answer: The author appears friendly on the surface but the underlying message is actually confrontational.
'Ostensibly' means 'apparently but not actually.' 'Belies' means 'contradicts' or 'gives a false impression of.' Together, the sentence states that what seems like a reconciliatory tone is contradicted by a hidden combative undercurrent — making option A the accurate reading.
In academic argumentation, a writer who acknowledges an opposing view only to immediately dismiss it without engaging its strongest form is committing which rhetorical error?
Answer: Strawman fallacy
A strawman fallacy occurs when a writer misrepresents or oversimplifies an opponent's argument in order to refute it more easily. Acknowledging an opposing view in a weakened form and then dismissing it — rather than engaging its most defensible version — is the defining feature of this fallacy.
A graph shows two variables with a strong positive correlation (r = 0.91). A student concludes: 'Variable X causes Variable Y to increase.' Which statement best evaluates this conclusion?
Answer: The conclusion is invalid; correlation shows a relationship but does not establish causation.
Correlation, regardless of how strong it is, does not imply causation. A third variable (confound), reverse causation, or coincidence could explain the relationship. In academic literacy, distinguishing between correlation and causation is a fundamental critical reading skill.
An academic text uses the phrase 'it has been argued that' before presenting a claim. What is the primary rhetorical function of this hedging expression?
Answer: To signal that the claim belongs to others and that the author maintains critical distance from it.
Hedging phrases like 'it has been argued that' are distancing devices. They allow a writer to present a position without personally endorsing it, maintaining epistemic caution. This is central to academic voice and distinguishing between attributed claims and the author's own assertions.
A student must write a summary of a 600-word academic passage. After drafting, the student's summary restates examples from each paragraph but omits the passage's central thesis. This summary is best described as:
Answer: Inadequate, because a summary must prioritise the overarching argument over supporting illustrations.
A summary must capture the writer's central claim or thesis — not merely collect examples or sub-points from each paragraph. Restating only supporting evidence while omitting the main argument misrepresents what the text is fundamentally about.
In the following pair of sentences, identify the logical relationship: 'Urban air quality has deteriorated sharply over the past decade. Consequently, respiratory hospital admissions have risen by 34%.' A student claims the second sentence is the CAUSE and the first is the EFFECT. This reading is:
Answer: Incorrect; the connective 'consequently' explicitly marks the second sentence as the effect of the first.
'Consequently' is a result/effect connective. It signals that what follows is the outcome of what preceded it. Air quality deterioration (sentence 1) is the cause; increased hospital admissions (sentence 2) is the effect. The student has reversed the causal direction, which 'consequently' makes unambiguous.