Q&A Hero

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Whats all this fuss about people being delayed at airports? I arrived at the airport this morning and fifteen minutes later I had checked my bag, passed through security, and was at my gate. I wasn't delayed at all."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I see your new car is a Honda SUV. My mom bought a Honda Civic last year, and she gets great gas mileage. Youll be pleased with the mileage you get with your car."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."The Constitution doesnt give you the right to own grenade launchers; therefore it doesnt give you the right to own assault rifles."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."My trip to Ixtapa was terrific. Im sure youll have a great time if you go to Acapulco."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."A lot more people are near-sighted these days. Check out those kids over there on their computers. They all wear glasses."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I dont think the S.E.C. should be able to require corporations to disclose their political donations. I wouldnt want some federal regulator going through my checkbook. Its none of their business what people do with their money."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Once we let the federal government regulate mortgage lending practices, where will it stop? The entire free enterprise systemthe backbone of American prosperitywill collapse under the weight of government regulation."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Hes a great boxer. He will become an excellent dancer."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Generally speaking, people with college degrees earn more than people who drop out of high school. Therefore you will earn more if you buy one of our degrees. We are offering steep discounts this week."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Sparky has been much friskier since Ive started feeding him raw meat. Its good for him."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."You start talking to these door-to-door missionaries, before you can blink they will be dragging you off to their church."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."This student isnt good at math. Therefore she wont be good at writing, either."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."American Idol dropped a little in the ratings this week. It must be the new judge."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."No, we shouldnt start Daylight Savings Time in February. No state does that."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Pete went into cardiac arrest while praying, so praying must have caused the attack."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "The lights came back on immediately after that huge clap of thunderhow on earth did the thunder make that happen?"

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."It was a mistake giving the Oscar to Daniel Day-Lewis. A survey the very next day showed more people thought Ben Affleck deserved it."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Americans generally think teachers should be paid more. This was demonstrated in a large survey done in Boston."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Shoot, millions of people sunbathe. It cant hurt you."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."This new boss wont let us work from home. If she gets away with it, pretty soon theyll be making us spend nights and weekends right here at the office."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I recently met a young fellow who went to More Science High who really knew his stuff. He knew a lot more physics than most kids his age. They really do a good job at that school."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Young people arent interested in politics. We have more important things to do. My friends couldn't care less who is elected president."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Jesus Christ is widely recognized as the greatest man who ever lived."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Theres no unemployment in this country. I had no problem finding a job."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Jeremy died shortly after the chemotherapy treatments; Im convinced it was the chemo that killed him."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Seals are dying at an unprecedented rate at the very same time ocean temperatures are rising. They are being killed by global warming."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Nobody knows more about a person than his mother. So when Ralphs mother claims hes innocent, Im betting he is."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."The first time I played that golf course, I shot an 82. It must have affected my mental state, because I didnt score that well again for almost a year."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."In this country anyone can become a billionaire. Take Mitt Romney, for an example."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."If you dont think having a good attitude promotes good health, look at how many 100-year olds have a good attitude."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Look at Bill Gates. He didnt go to college, and hes a millionaire. College is such a waste of time."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."PCs are better than Macs. Macs still command only a fraction of the personal computer market."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."My cousin has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his service in Afghanistan. Were going to have huge numbers of mentally troubled soldiers coming home from this war."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Hey, it works! After I sprinkled Arm and Hammer around the sink, the ants disappeared."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Well Ill be! Look at the great gas mileage we got on this trip! Not a whole lot better than usual, but still nothing to sneeze at. Shows you what a tune-up will do."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Her information about deceased people comes from sources in another dimension."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Evil spirits are making him sick."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I got sick shortly after my tripall because of the recycled air in the airplane."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Look, we make people buy liability car insurance, so theres no reason to complain about making people buy liability insurance when they buy a gun."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Nicotine patches dont work. They sure didnt work for me."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I have every right to burn tires in my back yard. Its a free country."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."We cant close the farmers market. Its a tradition in this town."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Im reading right here about this high school teacher in Red Bluff? Caught dealing drugs right there at the school? They will let anyone teach these days."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Will women like our new menu? Lets ask one of the female servers. As a woman, she will know."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Yawns are contagious. Ask anyone."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."People who attend elite private universities tend to live longer than people who attend state colleges. If we figure out a way to send children of modest means to the elite universities, they would live longer."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."After his friends and relatives said a prayer for Pete, his cancer went into remission."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Mike blew a tire on the way over here. Make a note never to buy Goodyear tires."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."They won because they wanted it more than we did."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "John, my Republican friend, never leaves a tip. Why is it Republicans are so selfish?"

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."If the legislature can get away with requiring background checks, it will be encouraged to go forward with universal registration of guns, then to eventual banning of gun ownership. Lets not start down this path."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Fox News is totally biased. If you dont believe it, try listening to the Sean Hannity program."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Dont sweat. They wont stop you for speeding. The cops have yet to stop me for texting."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."First they bailed out AIG because it was 'too big to fail.' Next time it will be the medium-sized banks. Then us taxpayers will foot the bill for every last business failure, and they wont be able to print enough money to keep up with it all."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "More and more women are determining what everybody watches on TV. Just look at that show on HBO, starring Lena Dunham, Girls, its called. Everybodys watching that show. Everybody."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "They want to make it illegal for a running back to hit someone with his helmet? Next thing you know they wont even allow tackling."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."We had the worst inflation of my lifetime in the late 70s, then Ronald Reagan got elected and during his term in office it dropped from over thirteen percent to about four percent. Shows you what a smart president can do."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Hello Mom? Yeah, its me.... Fine. Great, in fact. Massachusetts is superIve never had so much fun.... No.... Yes! And listen, Ive just met the most wonderful guy. And Im sure hes rich. You should just see the expensive car he drives...."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."A Prairie Home Companion" must be a pretty popular radio program around here. About half my friends have copies of the book the programs host recently published.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.According to one of the leading consumer magazines, the best-built cars these days are Japanese. Cars built by foreign manufacturers have just outclassed those built in the United States, it appears.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Bill bought one of those Burn-Rite wood stoves last year, and it smoked up his house all winter. Those stoves are not worth the high prices we pay for them.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.The photographs from the first roll of that new Kodak film were really good. Ill tell you, that film is good stuff.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Ive seen brochures depicting the scenery in the Ozark Mountains, and its beautiful. Im even thinking of retiring to Arkansas, since its clearly such a beautiful state.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. "Sharons father thinks the idea of a space-based laser missile defense is entirely feasible, and he should knowhes a physicist who specializes in laser technology, and he has a degree in computer science."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.I watched Nova on public television the other night, and it was great! Im going to be in front of the tube every week for it from now on.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Goldman may have won the Supervisor of the Year award, but that just means they didnt look very hard for a winner. I know a couple of people who work in Goldmans division, and they say that hes a real pain to work for. Id sooner trust my friends than some awards committee.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.From a letter to the editor: "The news media can never be trusted. Shortly before the Geneva summit, the Washington Post decided that a news scoop concerning a confidential letter from the secretary of defense to the president was more important news than a coordinated posture by our negotiating team."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.I went into that office supply store on Jackson Avenue the other day, and I can tell you that Im not ever going back. Theyre the rudest people Ive ever seen in a retail business. The guy who waited on me griped constantly about it being inventory time, and he was of no help at all in finding what I wanted to buy.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.A reliable statewide study found that one western town (which we wont name) had an unusually high rate of death from cancer. The study, done during the 1970s, showed the cancer death rate for white females to be 175.4 per 100,000, compared to 154.9 for the state. One resident dismissed the finding as follows: "Statistics! You can prove anything you want with statistics! Theres no more cancer here than anywhere."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.If you think the people of Phoenix are going to give up their rights to water from the Colorado River to Los Angelenos, youd better think about it some more. Read the letters to the editors of the Phoenix newspapers, and youll see what I mean. People are really hot under the collar about the issue.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. First bicycle rider: How come when we coast downhill you always go so much faster than I?

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.I certainly did not enjoy the first meeting of that class. I think Ill drop it; I dont want a whole semester of meetings like that.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Remark made while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike: "Weve seen nine cars with license plates from west of the Mississippi today, and six of them have been from Texas. Texans must travel more than other people."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Invest in real estate! Buy a house! Its the best investment you will ever make. Despite occasional temporary dips, home prices have always gone up. You cant go wrong if you buy a house.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Hey, lets start shopping at Musgraves. Its a whole lot cheaper. I stopped in there yesterday on the way home and found strawberries there for 79 a basket and ground beef for $1.29 a pound. And they werent even on sale!

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Were gonna have trouble with that new paper boy, honey. Hes been late twice already.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage. Overheard: "You dont think this country is in a slump? Get real. George here was laid off before Memorial Day, and Howies wife and a whole bunch of other people lost their jobs when the Safeway over on Jeffrey closed down. These are tough times."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage.Housing is far too expensive in this country. Why, the median price of a home in most of California is now over $350,000.

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."Everyone knows that sports is the best way to maintain physical health."

Q: Identify the type of fallacy in the following passage."I don't believe that poverty is a problem. Nobody I know faces this problem. It is just something the media wants you to fear. It is not real."