Welcome to the first leaderboard activity that will count toward the final leaderboard standings (all the ones to come will count as well). Before doing this activity, please make sure that you have attentively watched the following video:
Prompt
To review some important points: an argument consists entirely of premises and a conclusion, and every premise or conclusion must be a statement. A statement is any sentence that asserts something. One way to test whether something is a statement is to plug it into the blank in 'Tyrone believes that _______________.' If you get a coherent sentence as a result (however long and complex), then what you put in the blank is a statement. If not, it isn't. A statement must not be confused with any of the following: a question, an imperative (an imperative is a sentence that commands or requests that someone do something, like 'Please return those library books'), or an exclamation (that is, a sentence like 'How wonderful!' or 'Oh dear!'). Also, a statement is always a full sentence: 'The moral wrongness of murder' or 'because it causes needless harm' cannot be premises or conclusions in an argument, because they are not statements or even sentences at all.
Directions
- Examine each of the following items and determine whether or not it's a statement.
- Work out how many of the items are not statements -- call that number n -- and then circle the nth letter of every item that is a statement. (For example: if exactly 7 of the items are not statements, then circle the 7th letter of each statement; if exactly 12 of the items are not statements, then circle the 12th letter of each statement; etc.)
- Now, read the circled letters from top to bottom, and you'll have the secret word for this leaderboard activity.
- As soon you have the secret word, please enter it into the text box at the bottom of this page.
Good luck!
List of Items
- Release my tyrannosaur this instant, please, or I'm very much afraid I'll have to use this phial of zombie bacteria.
- Too many folks in this town seem to be under the mistaken impression that you're worth the precious air you breathe.
- Is this a dream, or am I really being lectured by a unicorn?
- If a more middling piece of Cherokee furniture than this.
- That secret door hidden under my bed is said to lead to an amazing treasure, but it's almost impossible to open and I think it actually leads to an ultra-powerful demon anyway.
- Everybody who wants a go on the flying camel ride, raise your elbows now.
- Dancing through the streets all day, bursting into song.
- I was in a good conversation with Billy Bob Lawrence Laurence Lauwrynce Anderson Fullerton III until he asked me, "How many eggs do you reckon I'll have to throw before Celine Dion will agree to go out with me?"
- If they take a right at the chocolate yeti sculpture, they'll be in the nonsense rhyme district.
- Nobody here wants to hear about your solid-gold Maserati, you ridiculous clod of dirt.
- Those without a semi-functional spleen should leave through the cyan door.
- Do not go through the Portal of Despair, unless you like endless beige and being shown pictures of the Portal Guardian's 1,372 great-great-great-grandchildren.
- Why does this room seem to be constructed of lemon-meringue pie?
- What a stunning replica of Michelangelo's Pieta in garlic butter!
- How truly outrageous it is to be fed prime rib and lobster bisque in this way!
- Which way is it to the spaghetti menorah bazaar?
- If I were to get an alpaca tattoo, would that make me part-Andean?
- If this house is actually filled with ketchup, I am going to be very irritated with somebody.
- If those pigs can fly, then I'm the Dread Pirate Spider-Witch.
- This mighty blowing wind of treacherous Fate.