Developing an Effective Argument

Question 7 • MO-English Language Arts 9 B-CR

Which statement is an example of deductive reasoning?

Answer

All guinea pigs eat cucumbers, so my new guinea pig will like cucumbers.

The pet pig at our uncle’s is very smart, so pigs must be smart animals.

My cat likes to play with balls of yarn, so all cats must like to do that.

I have four dogs and none of them like to play fetch, so dogs do not like to play fetch.

Explanation

Deductive reasoning applies a general rule to a specific case. Choice A starts with the claim that all guinea pigs eat cucumbers and applies it to one new guinea pig. The other choices generalize from one or a few examples to make claims about all animals of that kind, which is inductive reasoning.

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