1B Practice: Recognizing Arguments - Identify the conclusion of the arguments

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

We should never take our friends for granted. True friends are there when we need them. They suffer with us when we fail and they are happy when we succeed.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

At one time Gary Kasparov had the highest ranking of any chess grand master in history. However he was beaten in a chess tournament by a computer program called Deep Blue so the computer program should be given a ranking higher than Kasparov.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

The world will end on August 6, 2045. I know this because my guru said it would and so far everything he predicted has happened exactly as he said it would.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

She doesn't eat pork, chicken, beef, mutton, veal, venison, turkey, or fish. It follows that she must be a vegetarian.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

She won the lottery so she will quit her job soon.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The officer shook his head, perplexed. The handprint on the wall had not been made by the librarian himself; there hadn't been blood on his hands. Besides, the print did not match his, and it was a strange print, the whorls of the fingers unusually worn. It would have been easy to match except that they'd never recorded one like it.  Elizabeth Kostrova, The Historian

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The idea that space and time may form a closed surface without boundary also has profound implications for the role of God in the affairs of the universe. So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end; it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?   Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as public domain in the United States unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.   Project Gutenberg website

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Authoritarian governments are identified by ready government access to information about the activities of citizens and by extensive limitations on the ability of citizens to obtain information about the government. In contrast, democratic governments are marked by significant restrictions on the ability of government to acquire information about its citizens and by ready access by citizens to information about the activities of government.   Robert G. Vaughn, Transparency - The Mechanisms

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.   Arthur C. Clarke, Collected Essays

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.   Sydney J. Harris, as quoted in Journeys 7

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

For nothing requires a greater effort of thought than arguments to justify the rule of non-thought. I experienced it with my own eyes and ears after the war, when intellectuals and artists rushed like a herd of cattle into the Communist Party, which soon proceeded to liquidate them systematically and with great pleasure. You are doing the same. You are the brilliant ally of your own gravediggers.   Milan Kundera, Immortality

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The only people who really listen to an argument are the neighbors.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

The National Biosafety Board has approved the release of genetically modified mosquitoes for field testing. This particular type of mosquito can spread the dengue fever and yellow fever viruses. Clinical trial at the laboratory level was successful and the biosafety committee has approved it for testing in a controlled environment. The males would be genetically modified, and when mated with female mosquitoes in the environment, it is hoped the killer genes would cause the larvae to die. The regional director cautioned that care be taken in introducing a new species to the environment.   Newspaper article, Field Testing Approved for Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

My phone isn't an Apple, and it's not a Galaxy III, and those are the only phones that have state-of-the-art voice recognition personal assistant programs. So I can't just ask my phone to find stuff for me.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

There will never be a fifth face added to Mount Rushmore. People are used to it as it is. Also, political culture in the United States is more divisive than ever, and people will not be able to agree on whom to add.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

Wild hogs often damage newly planted seedlings and food crops by rooting, and that also causes soil erosion. In addition, hogs compete with other animals that also forage, usually crowding them out. Lastly, hogs are vectors for diseases communicable to humans and livestock. Farmers should always take vigorous action to reduce wild hog populations near their land.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

My character would never betray his old friend and superior officer. This plot twist is cheap and contrived. You need to rewrite this whole story, because if this goes on, I'm going to quit the show.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

The interests of all, whether high or low, are equal. The members of the working classes are citizens by nature and by the same right as the rich; they are real parts, living the life which makes up, through the family, the body of the commonwealth ... therefore the public administration must duly and solicitously provide for the welfare and the comfort of the working classes.   Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

I've sifted through almost every discussion in online dog breeder forums and have read so much that it's starting to blur. I've written academic papers that required less research than I've done about these dogs. The more I read, the more convinced I am that an Alaskan Spitz would be the perfect companion. The pictures and videos make me squeal with delight.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

Socrates did not write anything. Most of what we know about Socrates comes from the writings of Plato. In addition, Plato had his own ideas which must have evolved over his lifetime of writing. Thus, it is difficult to know exactly what Socrates said on a given topic.

. Identify the conclusion in the following argument:

Many people have tried to manipulate the stock market. Traders have attempted to lower the price of a stock by short selling, or spreading negative rumors about a stock. However, because there is a substantial profit incentive to bet against such manipulators, this sort of manipulation is unlikely to be effective in the long run.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

You can take the long hike up, or take the tram to the top. Alternately, you could drive up the road, though that wouldn't be as scenic as a hike or as fast as the tram.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Doves are found in a variety of environments and climates. They prefer habitats where wooded areas meet with open areas, such as suburban areas and roadsides. They can survive well alongside human populations, often roosting on telephone poles and other man-made structures.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

An unattended house would inevitably fall apart, because water would eventually seep into the roof at the flashings, eroding the wood and rusting the nails. This would in turn cause the walls to sag and eventually collapse altogether.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Vocoders transform speech into electronically transmissible information. They were originally developed to encode speech for secure radio transmission, but they came to be used extensively in pop music.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Stop being the person you have invented. Just be yourself.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Bill must have taken the coin. We searched everyone at the party except Bill, and no one had the coin.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

I can see the ink level inside the pen through the transparent tube. But when I use it, no ink comes out. So there must be something broken in the pen.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

If there was any significant amount of bleach in the water, I'd feel it on my fingertips. And this washcloth would lose some color. Thus we can safely say there is no bleach in here.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

What will I have? Let's see, the raspberry brandy sounds good. I think I’ll have that.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

He already has a lead of 20 minutes, and there are only three legs of the race left to complete. It's all downhill and it'll be next to impossible to narrow the gap by much more than 5 or so minutes. So unless something freakish happens, he's sure to win the race.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

My new hairbrush is made of plastic. It cost one dollar at the thrift store on Lexington Avenue.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

In 1923, the first Kressel's Olde-Time Bakery opened in San Mateo, California. The bakery was decorated with elaborate Byzantine-style mosaics, in tribute to the founders' Greek heritage and love of history. Soon locals associated the vaulting Romanesque architecture with delicious, healthy baked goods. This commitment to excellence has become a Kressel's tradition, kept alive to the present day.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

There's no point in going swimming until the rain and lightning and thunder stop.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

You don't stand a chance against my avatar. I have the Pendant of Power, the best weapon in the game.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

I read that most accidents occur in the kitchen. Therefore, I have decided to give up cooking.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

My brother suffers from insomnia. His doctor said that the best way to cure it is to get a lot of sleep.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Though computers can perform remarkably complex operations, and respond to unforeseen environmental changes and inputs, we remain stubbornly reluctant to attribute any sort of agency to them. Often, when you ask someone why a computer couldn't think, some variation on computers lacking free will is invoked. But since it is not clear that we have free will either, that is not a good refutation of the possibility of artificial intelligence.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Dementors are just knock-offs of Tolkien's Ringwraiths. They are both hooded, shadowy creatures of evil and darkness. They both generate intense, unreasoning fear when they draw near. They both have the ability to drain a person’s mind and render them soulless.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Several thousand kanji are in regular use, while the two syllabaries each contain forty-eight basic characters. Almost all Japanese sentences contain both kanji and hiragana, while some additionally use katakana. Because of this mixture of scripts, in addition to a large inventory of kanji characters, the Japanese writing system is often considered to be the most complicated in use anywhere in the world.

Adapted from "Japanese Writing System," Wikipedia

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Knowledge is held to be successful cognition, the result of reflective processes characterized by careful thinking and explicit defense of claims via reasoned argument. For something to count as a reason, a thinker must also have reason to believe it is true. This implies that knowledge must be based in infinite series of justification.

. Does the following passage contain an argument?

Our study found that 75% of senior citizens rely on public transportation. So we should make sure that free and easy access to public transportation is available for all senior citizens.

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