Reading: Inference and Critical Analysis Flashcards

A writer argues a product is the best on the market, citing only reviews posted on the seller's own website. The main weakness in this reasoning is:

Answer: The evidence comes from a biased source

Reviews on the seller's own site are a biased source and cannot objectively prove the product is best.

Which sentence states an opinion rather than a fact?

Answer: The bridge is the most beautiful structure in the country

Calling the bridge the most beautiful is a subjective judgment, making it an opinion.

An author writes, "Critics claim the law failed, yet crime fell every year it was in effect." The author's purpose is most likely to:

Answer: Counter the critics with evidence

Presenting declining crime against the critics' claim is meant to counter them with evidence.

A passage's tone shifts from admiring a leader's vision to listing the projects he never finished. This shift suggests the author's overall attitude is:

Answer: Mixed or critical despite some praise

Praising vision but emphasizing unfinished work signals a mixed, ultimately critical attitude.

Which of the following is the best example of a logical conclusion drawn from evidence?

Answer: The lights are off and the door is locked, so the store is closed

Lights off and a locked door reasonably support the conclusion that the store is closed.

An author repeatedly uses words like "shocking," "disastrous," and "alarming" to describe a policy. This word choice reveals the author's:

Answer: Strong negative bias

Emotionally charged negative words reveal the author's strong bias against the policy.

A study found that students who ate breakfast scored higher on tests. A flawed conclusion would be:

Answer: Eating breakfast guarantees high test scores

Claiming breakfast guarantees high scores overstates a correlation as if it were proven causation.