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Diagram the following arguments

1) Bertie probably isn’t home. His car isn’t in the driveway, and there are no lights on in
his house.

2) No members of the volleyball team like rap music. Andrea is a member of the volleyball
team. So, Andrea doesn’t like rap music.

3) Don’t copy off Sturdley’s exam. He’s one of the worst students in class. My roommate
told me he’s bombed every test this semester.

4) Affirmative action in higher education is morally justifiable because it compensates for


past discrimination, provides valuable role models for women and minorities, and promotes
multicultural understanding.

5) This is either my car or Sandy’s car. If it is my car, my key should fit in the lock. But
my key doesn’t fit in the lock. So, this is Sandy’s car.

6) Wexford College is a really great college. The students are friendly. The faculty really
care about the students. The campus is beautiful, and the athletic facilities are great.

7) Only three people could have stolen the CD: Danny, Stacy, or Patrick. But Stacy couldn’t
have stolen the CD because she was out riding her bike. Patrick couldn’t have stolen the
CD because he was at a friend’s house. Therefore, Danny must have stolen the CD.

8) Something is a square only if it is a rectangle. But this isn’t a rectangle. Look, it has only
three sides, and some of the sides aren’t even straight. So, this can’t be a square.

9) Lasse speaks fluent Finnish. It is likely, then, that Lasse was born in Finland. Anyone
born in Finland is a Finnish citizen. So, Lasse is likely a Finnish citizen. Finnish citizens
are entitled to European Union travel privileges. So, Lasse is probably entitled to European
Union travel privileges.

10) Jeremiah is a bullfrog. It follows—since all bullfrogs are amphibians—that Jeremiah


is an amphibian. All amphibians can drink wine. So, Jeremiah can help me drink my wine.

11) It’s foolish to smoke cigarettes. Smoking is expensive, unhealthy, and obnoxious to
many nonsmokers. I wouldn’t date anyone who smokes cigarettes.

12) If today is Saturday, then tomorrow is Sunday. If tomorrow is Sunday, then we’ll be
having pasta for dinner. If we’ll be having pasta for dinner, then I should pick up some red
wine today because in this state wine can be purchased only at liquor stores, and the liquor
stores are closed on Sundays. Today is Saturday. Therefore, I should pick up some red
wine today.

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13) If Amy isn’t dating Sturdley, she’s dating Mel or Steve. Amy isn’t dating Sturdley
because she doesn’t date anyone who uses drugs, and Sturdley sniffs glue practically every
weekend. Thus, Amy is dating Mel or Steve. Amy won’t date anyone who isn’t a football
player, however, nor will she date anyone who isn’t good-looking. Both Mel and Steve are
good-looking, but Steve isn’t a football player. Consequently, Amy is not dating Steve. We
can logically deduce, therefore, that Amy is dating Mel.

14) Education implies teaching. Teaching implies knowledge. Knowledge is truth. The
truth is everywhere the same. Hence education should be everywhere the same.

15) True/false and multiple-choice tests have well-known limits. No matter how carefully
questions are worded, some ambiguities will remain. The format of the questions prohibits
in-depth testing of important analytic skills. Students can become so “test savvy” that
objective tests measure test-taking skill as much as subject-matter content.

16) Nonhuman animals lack linguistic capacity, and, for this reason, lack a mental or
psychological life. Thus, animals are not sentient. If so, of course, they cannot be caused
pain, appearances to the contrary. Hence, there can be no duty not to cause them pain.

17) All students should study a foreign language. It improves mastery of English. It helps
to avoid cultural provincialism by expanding the cultural experience of students. It is useful
for travel and commerce. It makes it possible to do advanced work in a foreign language,
including the study of the major literary works in that language. Finally, the ability to read,
speak, and think in a second language is a source of pleasure and satisfaction even if this
language is not used for travel and business and even if it does not become a field of further
study.

18) Creation has no place in a science class because it is not science. Why not? Because
creationism cannot offer a scientific hypothesis that is capable of being shown wrong.
Creationism cannot describe a single possible experiment that could elucidate the
mechanics of creation. Creationism cannot point to a single prediction that has turned out
to be right, and supports the creationist case. Creationism cannot offer a single instance of
research that has followed the normal course of scientific inquiry, namely, independent
testing and verification by skeptical researchers.

19) Planetary exploration has many virtues. It permits us to refine insights derived from
such Earth-bound sciences as meteorology, climatology, geology and biology, to broaden
their powers and improve their practical applications here on Earth. It provides cautionary
tales on the alternative fates of worlds. It is an aperture to future high technologies
important for life here on Earth. It provides an outlet for the traditional human zest for
exploration and discovery, our passion to find out, which has been to a very large degree
responsible for our success as a species. And it permits us, for the first time in history, to
approach with rigor, with a significant chance of finding out the true answers, questions on
the origins and destinies of worlds, the beginnings and ends of life, and the possibilities of

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other beings who live in the skies—questions as basic to the human enterprise as thinking
is, as natural as breathing.

20) All humans have equal positive value. There is no morally relevant difference between
humans and some animals (such as mammals). Therefore, some animals have equal
positive worth with humans. Moral rights derive from the possession of value. Since
humans have rights (to life, not to be harmed, and so forth), animals have those same rights.

21) A square must have exactly four corners, and a circle must have exactly zero corners.
So a round square must have exactly four corners and simultaneously have exactly zero
corners. But this is plainly impossible; hence there cannot be a round square.

22) School tests should be abolished. Tests introduce competition where it does not belong.
They deny the individuality of students’ talents and interests. They degrade education by
encouraging passivity, mindlessness, and triviality. Finally, they send the wrong messages
about what is valuable in education and in life.

23) Since our feelings, desires, and preferences can be either beneficial or harmful, noble
or ignoble, praiseworthy or damnable, and since they can be either in harmony or in conflict
with other people’s feelings, desires, and preferences, they are obviously not accurate tools
for analysis of moral issues or trustworthy guidelines to action.

24) Wealth is not sought except for the sake of something else, because of itself it brings
us no good, but only when we use it, whether for the support of the body or some similar
purpose. Now the highest good is sought for its own sake, and not for another’s sake.
Therefore wealth is not man’s highest good.

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