Global Scholar Pre-AP Track

Diagnostic Assessment: Critical Thinking & Academic Logic

Student Instructions: Read the passages carefully and answer the questions based on logical consistency, argumentative structure, and data evaluation.

Question 1: Logical Fallacies & Premise Analysis

"Every successful entrepreneur who graduated from top universities took advanced statistics courses. Therefore, enrolling in an advanced statistics course guarantees that a student will become a successful entrepreneur."

Which of the following best describes the logical flaw in the argument above?

• A) It assumes that correlation and necessity imply guaranteed causation without sufficient evidence.

• B) It relies on emotional appeal rather than factual evidence.

• C) It fails to define the exact financial status of a successful entrepreneur.

• D) It assumes that all top university graduates major in business.

  
  

Question 2: Evaluating Data & Visual Misrepresentation

A pharmaceutical company claims: "Our new focus-enhancing supplement improves cognitive test scores by 40%." Upon reviewing the experimental design, you notice that the control group was tested at 7:00 AM after 4 hours of sleep, while the supplement group was tested at 11:00 AM after 8 hours of sleep.

Which structural flaw completely invalidates the company's claim?

• A) The sample size was published in an online journal rather than a textbook.

• B) The presence of confounding variables (sleep duration and time of day) prevents isolating the supplement's actual effect.

• C) Cognitive tests are inherently subjective and cannot be measured numerically.

• D) The control group did not receive monetary compensation.

  
  

Question 3: Philosophical Premises & Assumptions (P4C Focus)

"In order to eliminate traffic congestion, city officials plan to ban private vehicles from entering the city center. This policy assumes that public transportation can accommodate all displaced commuters."

Which unstated assumption is CRITICAL for the city officials' plan to be logically sound?

• A) All citizens in the city center own at least one private vehicle.

• B) Public transit infrastructure has sufficient capacity, reliability, and coverage to absorb the former drivers.

• C) Private vehicle owners prefer walking over taking public transportation.

• D) City officials never use private vehicles themselves.

  
  

Question 4: Textual Evidence & Synthesis

Text A: "Artificial intelligence will automate routine analytical tasks, rendering traditional human data analysis obsolete within a decade."

Text B: "AI tools process large datasets rapidly, but they lack context-awareness and ethical reasoning, making human oversight indispensable."

When synthesizing Text A and Text B, which statement represents the most logical middle ground?

• A) AI will completely replace humans in all professional fields by next year.

• B) Human data analysts will become obsolete because AI tools require no human oversight.

• C) AI will transform the role of human analysts from routine calculation to high-level contextual and ethical evaluation.

• D) Text B directly proves that AI tools offer no practical value in data processing.

  
  

Question 5: P4C Justification & Argumentative Writing (Short Answer)

Scenario: "A tech company develops an algorithm that accurately predicts high school students' academic success based on their social media activity. The government proposes using this algorithm to allocate university scholarships."

Task: In 2-3 English sentences, state your position and provide ONE logical premise and ONE ethical concern to justify your answer.