SATs Critical Thinking & Reasoning 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company claims its supplement 'may support immune health.' Which critical thinking skill is most important when evaluating this claim?
- Identifying the intended audience
- Recognizing hedging language that avoids a specific claim (Correct answer)
- Evaluating the supplement's taste
- Checking the company's founding date
Correct answer: Recognizing hedging language that avoids a specific claim
Words like 'may support' are deliberately vague and avoid making a testable claim, which a critical thinker should recognize.
Question 2: Students at a university who major in philosophy score highest on the LSAT. A student concludes that studying philosophy will guarantee high LSAT scores. The best counter to this conclusion is:
- The LSAT is not a fair test
- Students who choose philosophy may already have stronger analytical skills (Correct answer)
- Most lawyers did not major in philosophy
- Law schools do not require the LSAT
Correct answer: Students who choose philosophy may already have stronger analytical skills
Self-selection bias means philosophy majors may already possess the analytical skills measured by the LSAT before studying philosophy.
Question 3: An argument assumes what it is trying to prove as part of its own evidence. This is known as:
- Equivocation
- Circular reasoning (Correct answer)
- Red herring
- Hasty generalization
Correct answer: Circular reasoning
Circular reasoning (begging the question) occurs when the conclusion is used as a premise to support itself.
Question 4: A candidate says: 'If we allow stricter gun laws, eventually the government will take away all personal freedoms.' This is an example of:
- Appeal to tradition
- Slippery slope fallacy (Correct answer)
- Straw man fallacy
- Bandwagon fallacy
Correct answer: Slippery slope fallacy
The slippery slope fallacy assumes one moderate action will inevitably lead to an extreme outcome without sufficient evidence.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of an inference rather than a direct observation?
- The thermometer reads 98°F
- The patient has a fever (Correct answer)
- The patient's skin looks flushed
- The patient said she feels hot
Correct answer: The patient has a fever
A fever is inferred from the thermometer reading and symptoms; it is a conclusion drawn from evidence, not a direct observation.
Question 6: In evaluating the strength of an analogy, the most important factor is:
- Whether the two things being compared share a famous history
- How many relevant similarities exist between the two things being compared (Correct answer)
- Whether the analogy uses vivid language
- How often the analogy has been used before
Correct answer: How many relevant similarities exist between the two things being compared
An analogy is stronger when the two things share many relevant, meaningful similarities that relate directly to the point being argued.
Question 7: A scientist repeats an experiment 20 times and gets the same result each time. This best demonstrates:
- Validity
- Reliability (Correct answer)
- Objectivity
- Generalizability
Correct answer: Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of results when the same procedure is repeated under the same conditions.
SATs Critical Thinking & Reasoning 3
A company claims its supplement 'may support immune health.' Which critical thinking skill is most important when evaluating this claim?