2. WARM-UP Make five observations from where you are sitting and for each observation make one further inference. Example: Observation: Ms. Wortherly has a Coke Zero in her hand. Inference: She is not fully awake yet.

3. Drawing Conclusions Making Inferences

4. A conclusion is a sensible decision you reach based on details or facts that you read When you draw a conclusion, you use what you already know.

5. Hidden Conclusions: the conclusion of the argument is implied rather than stated explicitly ◦ I'm sorry sir, but only those citizens whose names appear on my roster are eligible to vote, and your name does not appear. [Therefore, you are not eligible to vote.] Invitation to Critical Thinking Chapter 3 Hidden conclusion

6. Drawing a Conclusion The smell of peanuts and cotton candy filled the air. I heard clapping. I even heard loud bellows that sounded like elephants. I knew a circus was going on.

7. Use what you already know and the details (smell of peanuts and cotton candy, clapping, loud bellows) of the prompt to draw a conclusion.

8. Sarah waited nervously. She knew the nurse would call her next. She looked at the models of healthy teeth. She hoped her own teeth would be healthy. Where is Sarah?

9. What do I already know? I know I get nervous when I wait at the dentist office. I know I would see models for healthy teeth at the dentist office. I know there is a nurse at the dentist office.

10. What did the prompt tell me? Sarah is waiting nervously. She is looking at the models of healthy teeth. She hopes her teeth will be healthy.

11. In Conclusion I think Sarah must be at the dentist office for a checkup.

12. Read this paragraph. One day, pa said that as soon as he had finished planting the crops, they would all go to town. Laura, Mary, and Carrie could go too. They were old enough now. Laura and Mary were very excited. The next day they tried to play going to town. They could not do it very well because they were not sure what a town was like. They had never even seen a store. Why are Laura and Mary so excited?

13. What do I already know? What did I learn from the paragraph?

14. Using what you know and what you learn in the paragraphs, you can draw conclusions.

15. 1 Like all living beings, humans have a biological need for food. However, what is considered food varies widely between different cultures. Some religions ban the eating of pork. However, this is considered a great delicacy in many parts of the world and is a staple ingredient in, for example, Chinese cuisine. In some countries, dog is considered a food, whereas in most Western European countries eating dog would be considered unacceptable. Which one of the following is a conclusion that can be drawn from the above passage? AAnything can be considered a food. B Different human groups have different nutritional requirements. C Biological needs alone do not determine what people eat. DWhat is harmful to eat cannot be objectively defined. E Animal species differ in what they consider food.

16. 2 In many countries, health authorities recommend that people visit the dentist at least twice a year for 'check-ups' on the state of their teeth. This is costly for both patients and the authorities. However, recent research in Britain suggests that this is unnecessary and that the same check- ups every two or three years would be sufficient. The more frequent visits recommended usually include additional polishing of teeth, which is cosmetic and has little relevance to actual dental care. Which of the following is a conclusion that can be drawn from the above passage? APeople gain no benefits from visiting the dentist every six months. B Dentists are charging people too much for dental services. C Dental health could be maintained much more cheaply than at present. DPeople should visit dentists only when they have a problem with their teeth. E Health authorities exaggerate the amount of health checks people need.

17. 3 The percentage of students who pass their school leaving examinations increases year by year. In addition, more and more students achieve the highest grade. It would be surprising if the innate abilities of human beings were improving from one generation to the next, so there is no reason to think that today’s students are more intelligent than their parents were. But this should not lead us to conclude that, because it is possible that improvements in education make schools more successful at helping students to achieve their intellectual potential. Which of the following phrases, inserted in the blank space, most logically completes the passage? Athose who fail are unintelligent B examination papers are being made easier C intellectual skills are the only important ones Dparents do not help students with their studies E today’s examinations are testing the same skills

18. 4 A recent study examined the practice in schools of grouping children by ability for individual subjects - known as ‘setting’. Setting has been advocated as the way to raise standards in schools. The study found that setting creates a set of expectations for teachers that overrides their awareness of individual capabilities. Teachers of the brightest pupils (the top set) assumed that their pupils could learn quickly and without difficulty. The consequence of this was that some pupils became demoralized and the standard of their work declined. The bottom set, on the other hand, experienced frequent changes of teachers and a continuous diet of low level work, which also led to demoralization as well as lack of any opportunity to improve. Which of the following could be drawn as a conclusion from the passage above? ASchools should not group children by ability for individual subjects. B School is generally demoralizing for many pupils. C Teachers are insufficiently aware of the individual capabilities of pupils. DTop sets never experience changes of teachers. E Grouping children by ability in individual subjects does not always raise standards.

19. 5In the first four years of the 21st century the growth in the use of carbon fuels has outstripped growth in the use of renewables. To turn the tide, governments will have to commit larger subsidies to the development of renewable energy and raise taxes on carbon fuels. Few governments seem willing to do either. Which of these is a conclusion that could be drawn from the above claims? AAn increase in taxes would have the effect of reducing carbon fuel consumption. B If governments do not act soon to find an alternative source of energy supplies, carbon fuels will begin to run out. C Taxing carbon fuel is necessary to fund research into renewable energy. DSubsidies for research and higher taxes to fund them would not be acceptable to the voters. E Carbon fuel consumption is likely to go on exceeding the use of renewables in the immediate future.