Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Is the conclusion true or false?

Given the premises, the conclusion of each argument that


follows is it (a) true beyond a reasonable doubt, (b) probably true, or (c) possibly true or possibly false.


1. The annual rainfall in California鈥檚 north valley averages twenty-three inches. So the rainfall next year will be twenty-three inches.


2. You expect to get forty miles to the gallon in that? Why, that old wreck has a monster V8; besides, it鈥檚 fifty years old and needs an overhaul.


3. In three of the last four presidential races, the winner of the Iowa Republican primary has not captured the Republican nomination. Therefore, the winner of the next Iowa Republican primary will not capture the Republican nomination.


4. The number of cellular telephones has increased dramatically in each of the past few years. Therefore there will be even more of them in use this coming year.Is the conclusion true or false?
1. c - an average is a set of data averaged. The rainfall will likely be close to 23 inches, but not exactly





2. a - technology is just allowing 40 mpg, there is no way a 50 year old car with a V8 could get 40





3. b - based on past experience, it is probably true this will continue





4. a - based on the lowering rates of cell phone useage coupled with the increase in people switching to cell phone plans concludes that it is true that people will be using more cell phone.Is the conclusion true or false?
Given the premise of the question, the answer to all of them is C.
1 b That this has been true for many years increases the probability but does not make it an absolute certainty.


2 c There is no information on what has been done to maintain the vehicle so this makes sense it does not necessarily follow that the vehicle needs an overhaul.


3 c There is a 75% chance that this is true but one can assume that more than 4 years ago the result was different. There is not enough information to establish a pattern.


4 a The trends indicate that this increase in usage will continue, particularly as new models with new features are introduced onto the market.
  • loan
  • No comments:

    Post a Comment