BCAT Critical Thinking 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BCAT candidate reads: 'All law students who passed the BCAT scored above 60. James scored above 60.' What conclusion can be drawn?
- James must be a law student who passed the BCAT
- James may or may not have passed the BCAT (Correct answer)
- James failed the BCAT
- James did not take the BCAT
Correct answer: James may or may not have passed the BCAT
Scoring above 60 is a necessary condition for passing, not a sufficient one — James could have scored above 60 for other reasons.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of an ad hominem fallacy in a legal argument?
- Attacking the opponent's character rather than their argument (Correct answer)
- Citing irrelevant statistics
- Making a false analogy
- Overgeneralizing from limited evidence
Correct answer: Attacking the opponent's character rather than their argument
Ad hominem attacks the person making the argument rather than addressing the substance of the argument itself.
Question 3: In critical thinking for the BCAT, a 'straw man' fallacy occurs when:
- You misrepresent an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack (Correct answer)
- You use emotional language to persuade
- You cite authority without evidence
- You present a false dilemma
Correct answer: You misrepresent an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack
A straw man replaces an opponent's real argument with a distorted version that is easier to defeat.
Question 4: Which reasoning error is present in: 'We should reject the new evidence because the lawyer who presented it has been wrong before'?
- Ad hominem (Correct answer)
- False dichotomy
- Circular reasoning
- Slippery slope
Correct answer: Ad hominem
Dismissing evidence based on the presenter's past record rather than evaluating the evidence itself is ad hominem.
Question 5: A BCAT passage states: 'Either the defendant was at the scene or he is innocent.' This is an example of:
- A false dichotomy (Correct answer)
- A valid disjunction
- Deductive reasoning
- An analogy
Correct answer: A false dichotomy
This is a false dichotomy because there may be other possibilities, such as being at the scene but still innocent.
Question 6: Which of the following best strengthens a deductive argument?
- Ensuring the premises are true and the argument is valid (Correct answer)
- Adding more premises regardless of their truth
- Using persuasive language
- Citing well-known legal authorities
Correct answer: Ensuring the premises are true and the argument is valid
A deductive argument is strongest when its premises are true and the logical structure is valid, guaranteeing a true conclusion.
BCAT Critical Thinking 1
A BCAT candidate reads: 'All law students who passed the BCAT scored above 60.
James scored above 60.' What conclusion can be drawn?