62 Unit 2 Critical thinking: the basics
4 Try to find – or invent – an argument in
which the conclusion is supported by an
explanatory reason (or reasons).
5 No one has anything to fear from giving
the police random stop-and-search
powers so long as they have nothing
to hide. If you are carrying a knife or
gun or stolen goods, then of course it’s
a different story. Opponents of the bill
to grant the police more wide-ranging
powers can only be helping to protect
the guilty.How would you interpret the above
passage? Is it an argument? If so, what is
its conclusion? If it isn’t an argument, why
isn’t it?Answers and comments are on page 314.1 No team has come back from being
three games down in the World Series,
so can the Red Sox still win?
Is this an argument? Explain why this is
a problem question, and write a short
paragraph justifying your answer.
2 Some students in a San Francisco art
school were told they were about to see
an example of prize-winning modern
art and were then shown a photograph
of a pile of discarded drinks containers.
It was nothing more than garbage, but
the students took it quite seriously and
agreed that it was worthy of an award.
Suggest a conclusion which could be
drawn from the above claims.
3 Just look at the statistics and see for
yourself how crime has been rising
over the past few years. Could there be
any clearer signal that the current soft
approach to offenders isn’t working?
Either the courts get back to zero-
tolerance and harsher sentencing, or we
face defeat in the war on crime.
Identify the reasons and conclusion in
the above argument, and comment on the
grammar of the sentences used to
express them. Then translate the argument
into standard form.End-of-chapter assignments