Rise Placement Test Critical Analysis and Sourcing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which technique best helps a reader identify the author's bias in an opinion piece?
- Counting the total number of paragraphs
- Noting which evidence is included and which is omitted (Correct answer)
- Checking whether the piece uses formal language
- Verifying the author's social media following
Correct answer: Noting which evidence is included and which is omitted
Bias is often revealed not only by what an author says but by what evidence they choose to leave out.
Question 2: A company publishes a study showing its own product is superior to competitors. Which sourcing concern does this raise?
- The study is too recent to be valid
- The publisher has a financial conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Industry studies cannot use valid scientific methods
- The study needs a government co-author to be credible
Correct answer: The publisher has a financial conflict of interest
When the funder stands to profit from a favorable result, the study has a conflict of interest that may bias its design or reporting.
Question 3: What does it mean to 'triangulate' information when researching a topic?
- Organizing notes into three main categories
- Using geometric models to visualize data relationships
- Confirming a claim with multiple independent sources (Correct answer)
- Dividing research tasks among three team members
Correct answer: Confirming a claim with multiple independent sources
Triangulation means checking a claim against at least two or three independent sources to confirm its accuracy before accepting it.
Question 4: An author uses the phrase 'everyone knows that…' without providing evidence. This is an example of which rhetorical weakness?
- Loaded language
- Unsupported appeal to common knowledge (Correct answer)
- Circular reasoning
- Post hoc fallacy
Correct answer: Unsupported appeal to common knowledge
Claiming 'everyone knows' substitutes assumed consensus for actual evidence and discourages readers from questioning the claim.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'primary source' material?
- An article summarizing the results of multiple studies
- The original data, document, or firsthand account being analyzed (Correct answer)
- A textbook chapter covering foundational concepts
- A review written by an independent expert
Correct answer: The original data, document, or firsthand account being analyzed
A primary source is the original material—such as raw data, a historical document, or an eyewitness account—rather than a secondary interpretation of it.
Question 6: A statistic claims '90% of dentists recommend this toothpaste.' What critical question should you ask first?
- How many flavors of the toothpaste are available?
- How large was the sample, and who selected the dentists surveyed? (Correct answer)
- What country were the dentists practicing in?
- Whether the dentists have social media profiles
Correct answer: How large was the sample, and who selected the dentists surveyed?
Percentages are meaningless without knowing the sample size and whether the sample was representative and unbiased.
Question 7: Which reading strategy helps you evaluate whether an argument's conclusion logically follows from its premises?
- Scanning for key vocabulary words
- Tracing the logical structure of the argument step by step (Correct answer)
- Identifying the author's emotional tone
- Summarizing each paragraph in one word
Correct answer: Tracing the logical structure of the argument step by step
Mapping an argument's premises to its conclusion reveals whether the reasoning is valid or contains gaps and non-sequiturs.
Rise Placement Test Critical Analysis and Sourcing 3
Which technique best helps a reader identify the author's bias in an opinion piece?