Page 164 - Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

ANSWERS, DISCUSSION, AND FURTHER ADVICE 15 1
questions. Too often we begin to answer a question or two that concern us without
having first thought about what other questions need asking.

Chapter 2

Exercise 2.1

Statements b, e, and fare claims.

Exercise 2.2

a two claims: 'All that glitters is gold'; 'this nugget glitters'.
b one claim: 'The song is called "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"', concealed
in a rhetorical question,
c three claims: 'Silver jewellery is very common'; 'silver is a cheap metal', 'it
[silver] is easily worked'. Note the use of the pronoun 'it'.

Exercise 2.3

a 'Drinking milk' subject makes 'some people feel sick' predicate
b T subject 'do not drink milk' predicate
c 'Milk drinking' subject is 'not recommended for people who are lactose-
intolerant' predicate

Exercise 2.4

a 'drinking milk makes some people feel sick'. This direct claim has been made
by the doctor. The actual meaning of the entire claim is that I have been told
this claim.
b 'I drink milk' 'I feel sick'. There are two claims here, effectively, combined to
make a propositional super-claim.
c 'a person comes to a doctor and says "If I drink milk, then I feel sick'" and
'the doctor will diagnose that person as lactose-intolerant'. These are the two
claims in the if/then statement; note also that the first claim is itself an
indirect claim, like (a).

Exercise 2.5

Order of scope: b, a, c. The key words are (b)'Whenever', (a) 'Sometimes', and (c)
'Occasionally'. Order of certainty: e, d, f. The key words are (e) 'There is no way',
(d) 'probable', and (f) 'the odds are 50:50'. The linkages are between (a) milk-
drinking and sickness; (b) eating cheese before sleeping and dreams; (c) eating rich
food and indigestion; and (d-f) humans and living in space.