A critical thinker is someone who uses specific criteria to evaluate reasoning, form positions, and make decisions.

Evidence, premises, support, or justification are synonyms for…

For the following short reading, what is Lydia's conclusion? (Background note: a U.S. Supreme Court ruling requires that states provide free public education to children of illegal aliens. The Census Bureau estimates that there are between one and six million illegal aliens in the U.S. Others say 10 million is a more accurate estimate.) Lydia: What a ridiculous ruling. In effect, it rewards lawbreakers. Silas: What do you mean? Lydia: Illegal aliens are lawbreakers; they enter the country without permission. If the states have to provide their children with free education, that means the taxpayers, U.S. citizens, are being made to provide benefits for people who have no right to them. Silas: Sure, it seems that way, but think of the other side of it. Rightly or wrongly, those people are living in this country, and it's in the interests of society to educate the children so that they can become good citizens. Anyway, the children are not responsible for their parents' illegal acts. They are innocent victims and the state should regard them no differently from the children of citizens.

What is the third step of the decision-making method described in the text?

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