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Philosophy 103: Introduction to Logic
Logic Assessment Pretest Question 1

1. Which of the following sentences is a statement?  a. Congratulations on your recent advancement.  b. Good morning!  c. Please close the door when you leave.  d. Mars has water.  e. How many seconds are in a year?  Purpose for the Question:  One objective of logic is to gain an appreciation for the complexity of language.  This question is designed to find out if a student is aware of the different types of sentences.   Rather than use the phrase "declarative sentence" the word "statement" is used.  A statement a type of sentence that has a truth value, although that truth value might not be known. In ordinary language, a statement is a declaration, a report of facts or opinions, a proposition or an instruction.		Phil 103 02 Archie
		Engl 373 04 Dumont-Poston
		Engl 101 22 Westcott

Answer Choices: 

a.  Answer a is a performative utterance.

b.  Answer b is a phatic or emotive utterance as part of an exclamation.

c.  Answer c is a command or an imperative sentence.

d.  Answer d is a statement or declarative sentence and is the best answer to the question.

e.  Answer e is, of course, a question or interrogative sentence.

In general, logic is primarily concerned with statements or propositions.

Evaluation: These data seem comparable across the different classes and disciplines.  One would expect logic students to improve.  Given these results, a more difficult question of this nature perhaps should be given on future assessment tests.

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