Critical Thinking
Topic overview
Critical Thinking is the first TARA module: 22 questions, 40 minutes, assessing your understanding and evaluation of arguments in everyday language. The official question types fall into seven categories: finding the main conclusion, drawing a conclusion, identifying assumptions, assessing the impact of new evidence, finding reasoning errors, matching arguments, and applying principles. Answer only on the basis of the passage itself; do not bring in outside knowledge or personal opinions.
Key concepts
The conclusion is the sentence the author most wants you to accept, often introduced by 'therefore/so/thus', with the rest being reasons supporting it; the conclusion can appear anywhere, not necessarily at the end. An assumption is a premise that is necessary for the argument to hold but not explicitly stated — use the "negation test": if negating an option makes the argument collapse, it is the assumption.
Key points
- ◆A conclusion ≠ a particular piece of evidence or background fact
- ◆The conclusion may be at the beginning or in the middle, not necessarily at the end
- ◆Negate the assumption → the argument collapses
Assess the impact of new evidence = judge whether a piece of new information weakens or strengthens the argument (weakening is often providing an alternative explanation, a counterexample, or a third factor). Find the reasoning error = identify fallacies: correlation treated as causation, hasty generalisation, false dilemma, ad hominem, circular reasoning, single-cause fallacy, etc.
Key points
- ◆Weakening = cutting the bridge from "reason → conclusion"
- ◆"B after A, therefore A causes B" → correlation vs causation
- ◆'Either… or…' → beware of false dilemmas
Matching arguments: first abstract the original argument into its logical form (e.g. "if P then Q; not Q; therefore not P" = valid modus tollens), then find the option with exactly the same form—don't be distracted by the topic. Applying principles: first identify the general principle the argument relies on (e.g. "two wrongs don't make a right"), then see which option applies the same principle.
Key points
- ◆For matching questions, first write them in if-then form, then compare
- ◆Be careful to distinguish valid (modus tollens) from invalid (affirming the consequent)
- ◆To apply a principle, first abstract the principle into one sentence
Worked examples
Try each example yourself before checking the explanation.
"Exam results have risen year after year, so the school is teaching better." What is the implicit assumption?
'If the bridge were unsafe it would have been closed long ago; it has not been closed; therefore the bridge is not unsafe.' Which has the same structure?
The principle behind a certain argument is "two wrongs do not make a right" (the manufacturer is wrong to sell counterfeit goods, but this does not excuse a consumer who knowingly buys fakes). Which option applies the same principle?
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