Answers to assignments 325
being right, then it may be slanted or
biased. This article is from the magazine
of a conservation society for dolphins.
Its author is likely to have high regard
for these creatures and may – but not
necessarily does – exaggerate their
intelligence to argue for their rights. The
article may still make fair claims: it is
from a respectable publication. But the
potential for partiality must be recognised
and taken into account in the evaluation.
2 It is scientific in that it is based on
observation rather than mere opinion –
at least up to the point where the author
introduces ethical claims and ideas
about ‘non-human persons’ in the last
paragraph. The argument is sufficiently
cautious to be taken seriously: it talks
of ‘contentions’ and offers plausible
explanations rather than drawing strong
and unwarranted conclusions from the
limited evidence. It could be described
as a mixture of scientific reasoning and
speculative thinking. However, there is a
part of the argument that is speculative
rather than scientific. What animals
deserve, what rights or status they should
be given, how they should be treated and
so on are ethical questions, and cannot
be answered within a rigorously scientific
context.
3 A is assumed. If it were not true it
could not really be argued that the
lack of an obvious benefit means that
they seem to walk on water for fun.
B is not assumed because the author
implies that it is unusual for a
cultural activity not to be linked to
food (in animals).
C is not assumed. It is a different issue
altogether.
D is not assumed either. Although the
author suggests that dolphins walk on
water for fun in the wild, it does not
mean they have to enjoy performing
tricks in general, or enjoy anything at4.5 Two case studies
Variable responses
4.6 Critical thinking and science
Variable responses
4.7 Introducing longer arguments
1 If the bored and disadvantaged young men
knew that the police were banned from
chasing stolen cars, they might not find the
theft of a car so exciting, and a ban may not,
after all, lead to an increase in car thefts.
2 Variable responses
4.8 Applying analysis skills
Variable responses
4.9 Critical evaluation
1 The obvious flaw here is the straw man.
It distorts the author’s argument by
making the conclusion much too strong
and creating a soft target for its own
attempted refutation. The author does not
advocate denying a job to anyone who has
committed a crime, but makes the more
moderate claim that serious criminals
should not be lauded as celebrities. If this
had been correctly represented the counter-
argument would be a slippery slope.
2 The argument is blatantly circular. It
uses the claim that the dinosaurs were
rendered extinct by a single catastrophe
to draw the intermediate conclusion that
they were wiped out almost overnight.
But from this it then argues back to the
starting premise that the cause must
have been a single catastrophic event
rather than a gradual process.
3 Variable responses
4.10 Responding with further
argument
Variable responses
4.11 A self-assessment
1 If the source of a document is a person
or organisation which has a special
interest in an outcome, or a theory