Test your basic knowledge |

Public Debating

Subject : soft-skills
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Fallacious argument from specific to general without sufficient evidence - Draws a conclusion about all the members of a group based on the knowledge of some members






2. Can the sign be found without the thing for which it stands? Is an alternative explanation of the maning of the sign more credible? Are there countering signs that indicate that his one sign is false?






3. Are there enough examples to prove that point? Are the examples skewed toward one type of thing? Are the examples unambiguous? Could it be that the connection of general and specific doesn't hold in this case?






4. Beginning repeated






5. Is the source qualified to say what is being said? Is she or he in a position to know this information? Does the testimony represent what the authority really meant to say? Is the source relatively unbiased and recent?






6. The inference moves from specific to general or from general to specific. The warrant to this argument usually reads 'what is true in this case is true in general' or 'what is true in general is true in this case'






7. It does not follow - Red Herring belongs to this category






8. Agreeing to some of the arguments made by your opponents so that you can focus on others






9. An irrelevant attack on an opponent rather than on the opponent's evidence or arguments; this is literally translated as an argument 'to the person'






10. Ammending a term or phrase you have just read






11. A syllogism suppressing the Major Premise - and only contains a Minor Premise and the Conclusion. People speak in these more often than syllogisms.






12. 'If two things are alike in most respects - they will be alike in this respect too' Warrant for what arg?






13. What order does conjectural stasis usually fall in when arguing?






14. Appeals from the character of the speaker






15. Indicating that something (the claim) is or is not. Is an argument from _____ ? (not a stasis point)






16. Term with higher (positive) value






17. Are the terms of the metaphor coherent - or does it tell a story or paint a picure that fails to make sense internally?






18. Is a variation of the non sequiter; it is when the irrelevant reason is meant to divert the attention of the audience from the real issue






19. _____ said that concerning all things - there are two contradictory arguments that exist in opposition to one another.






20. Incorrectly assuming that what is true of the whole is true of the parts






21. Arguing without evidence that a given event is the first of a series of steps that will inevitably lead to some outcome.






22. Reasoning from case to case






23. The inference reasons that what a trustworthy source says is true. The warrant to this argument usually says - 'When a qualified person says something is true - it's true'






24. Draws a conclusion about an entire entity based on knowledge about all of its parts






25. Is necessary to defend the weak against the strong - Is useful and necessary to the state and the individual because you become a more thoughtful citizen and a more well-rounded person - Is useful to have the tools to recognize good arguments and def






26. Shifting the buren of proof is a category of ____ __ _____






27. Taking one idea and dividing it into two parts - disengaging the two resulting ideas - giving a positive value to one (Term II) and a lesser or negative value to the other (Term I). These are often based on the appearance/reality pair.






28. Repetition of the same word or groups of words at the beginning of successive clauses - sentences - or lines.






29. Conjectural - Procedural - Definitional - and Qualitative Points are all ____


30. Part of the blame stock issue - the acceptance or obedience to the policy or law makes it ineffective






31. Misrepresenting an opponent's position as more extreme than it really is and then attacking that version - or attacking a weaker opponent while ignoring a stronger one.






32. Leaving no doubt - unambiguous






33. Relative advantages and disadvantages of the new policy. Are the adverse effects going to outweigh the benefits?






34. Erroneously accusing others of fallacious reasoning






35. This is the name for fallacies that do not have another name but that involve a claim that does not follow from the premises (e.g. the evidence is not relevant or not appropriate to support the claim). Litterally translated as 'it does not follow -'






36. If A then B Not A Therefore not B






37. Is another variety of Hasty Generalization. It is when you reason from a sample that is not representative (typical) of the population from which it was drawn.






38. The inference reasons from meaning or lesson of a story to a claim. The warrant usually says 'The moral to a story tells us a greater truth'






39. The list that builds






40. Honesty - Dedication - Courage (What part of Ethos)






41. Whitewashes the effect of your topic to downplay it; less emotional than appropriate






42. Repetition of the same idea - changing either its words - its delivery - or the general treatment it is given.






43. Focuses on inadequacies or problems in the status quo - must be significant if a change is to be made. Must Have: 1. Quantitative significance: affects lots of people 2. Qualitative significance: is of bad quality






44. Draws a conclusion about the PARTS of an ENTITY based on knowledge about the whole entity.






45. Inference that allows you to move from grounds to claim (often implied in the argument)






46. Is a variety of Hasty Generalization; it is when you draw conclusions about a population on the basis of a sample that is too small to be a reliable measure of that population






47. Incorrectly assuming that one choice or another must be made when other choices are available or when no choice must be made






48. Taught by sophists; provides tools to recognize good arguments from bad ones






49. Anticipatory refutation - in which you preempt an opposition argument before it is even offered.






50. The requirement that the opposition responds reasonably to all significant issues presented by the advocate of change.