Very tired at the moment but gonna try and guess this one.

Strengthen the argument that more industrial economy (through factories) will lead to more jobs

(A) Industrial jobs tend to pay higher wages and offer greater opportunity for advancement than do agricultural jobs.
Doesn't talk about opportunities for employment but prospects when employed.
(B) Many more citizens of Country X currently attend school and employment training centers than did in the previous decade.
Would weaken as it would mean employment opportunities are arising through training not factories.
(C) Each of the new factories, on average, employs half as many workers from Country X as each of the 12 original factories did a decade ago.
I believe it may be this as it shows that the factories are employing almost 10 times as many people as before. (200/2=100 compared to 12)
(D) The number of factories in Country X is expected to continue to increase for at least another decade as new industries are introduced.
Statement talks about now not the future
(E) In the previous decade, the minority of citizens of Country X who worked in factories earned wages well above the national median.
Talks about wages not employment opportunities

So, answer is C
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Hello and thanks for the replies. The OA is C.

Knewton explanation:The question asks us to support the idea that the increase in the number of factories in Country X (evidence) corresponds to an increase in employment opportunities for its citizens (conclusion).

A good way to form a pre-phrase for a strengthener is to identify an assumption on which the argument relies and then affirm that assumption. In this case, the argument depends on the fact that the number of people employed by each new factory is high enough such that the total number of current factory employees (scattered among 200 sites) is higher than the number of total factory employees (scattered among 12 sites) one decade ago.

Choice C is correct. If there are currently half as many people per factory as there were a decade ago, the total number of employment opportunities must have increased. For example, if each of the 12 factories a decade ago employed 1,000 people from Country X, then those factories employed 12,000 people total. Even if, per choice C, the 200 current factories only employed half as many people each (500), there would still be 100,000 factory workers total—a far cry from the total 12,000 total factory workers one decade ago.

Choice A states that industrial jobs provide better pay and more opportunities for advancement than do agricultural jobs. This information relates to the quality, rather than quantity, of job opportunities. The argument claims that the citizens of this country will have more opportunities, not better ones.

Choice B states that more citizens of Country X currently attend school and employment training than did previously. This may be evidence of an overall improvement in the country's economy and infrastructure, but it does not strengthen the idea that there are more employment opportunities as a result of the increased number of factories.

Choice D states that the number of factories is expected to continue to increase in the future. While this, too, may be evidence of an overall economic upturn for Country X, it is irrelevant to the question of whether or not these new factories provide increased employment opportunities.

Choice E, like choice A, provides evidence that industrial jobs offer better—but not necessarily more—opportunities to citizens of Country X than do agricultural jobs.

Choice C is correct.
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