Matakuliah
Tahun
Versi
: G1112, Scientific Writing I
: 2006
: v 1.0 rev 1
Module 7
Exercise (1-6)
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Exercise
Each of the statements below violates at least one of the
guidelines for critical thinking. On a separate sheet of paper
identify the guideline that was violated and give a brief
explanation for your choice.
1. A political editorial supporting severe penalties for the production and sale
of pornography pointed out that all societies are repressive to some extent,
and that it was Freud who pointed out that repression is the price we pay for
civilization.
2. Since we have never been visited by extraterrestrials, and have had no
communication from outer space, we can safely assume that intelligent life
exists only on our own planet.
3. It is pretty obvious that smoking marijuana causes people to crave more
potent drugs, like cocaine and heroin. Statistics show that almost all the
people who become addicted to drugs smoked marijuana before they began
using more potent drugs.
4. Jezebel bought a bottle of pain reliever because a TV commercial claimed
that most hospitals prescribe it.
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5. I get disgusted with my science classes. We study the
“principle of this” and the “theory of that.” Aren’t there
any laws? Why can’t scientists make up their minds and
stop acting like they don’t know anything for sure?
People tend to become forgetful as they get older. This
is just one of the natural consequences of aging, and it
would be a waste of time to look for specific causes or
ways to prevent the problem.
7. People of different ethnic backgrounds just can’t live
harmoniously in the same neighborhood. Almost
everyone I’ve talked to thinks the same way. This is a
gut feeling, and we aren’t likely to be wrong.
8. The increase in violence by adolescent gangs in this
country is just another result of the liberal thinking that
has more sympathy for criminals than for their victims.
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6. Why are the people in this class so much betterlooking and
intelligent than people in other introductory classes?
7. You can tell that Alice is a lot smarter than her brother. She wears
those thick glasses and has a high forehead.
8. A mother was trying to dissuade her son from marrying a girl he had
met just three weeks before. The son’s response was “But I know
she’s the one; the first time I saw her I began to tremble and see
spots before my eyes, and I had flutters in my chest and strange
sensations in my stomach. When I’m with her, I feel like I could just
take off and fly.”
9. I looked at several issues of the Journal of Parapsychology, a
periodical that publishes research on psychic phenomena. Every
article confirmed the existence of ESP, so I don’t understand why
most psychologists are skeptical about it.
10.Let’s just make up our minds and buy one or the other of the
houses. I’m tired of thinking about it, and all this investigation and
indecision is making me nervous.
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Assignment:
1. Make a concept mapping of your class (you may choose
your own class) Draw it on a piece of paper and make an
draft paragraph based on the outline you’ve making
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