souvik101990 wrote:
Nursing schools cannot attract a greater number of able applicants than they currently do unless the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are solved. If the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level, either the profession will have to lower its entrance standards, or there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses. It is not certain, however, that lowering entrance standards will avert a shortage. It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards of the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained.
Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently does.
(B) The nursing profession will have to lower its entrance standards if the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level.
(C) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, high quality health care will be maintained.
(D) If the nursing profession fails to solve the problems of low wages and high stress working conditions, there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses.
(E) The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are no solved.
Given:
'Solving low wages problem' is necessary for 'attracting more applicants to nursing school'(Note that 'Unless A, B' is equivalent to 'Only if A, then not B')
If no. of applicants doesn't increase, one of 2 things will certainly happen - either 'lower entrance standards' or 'shortage of nurses'Even lowering entrance standards may not avert shortage (or it may avert shortages)
If either of these two things happens, current high quality will fall. Look at the options now.
(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently does.'Solving low wages problem' is NECESSARY for 'attracting more applicants to nursing school', not SUFFICIENT.
(B) The nursing profession will have to lower its entrance standards if the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level.
If no. of applicants doesn't increase, one of 2 things will certainly happen. So it is not necessary that the profession will have to lower its entrance standards. It could suffer shortage too instead.
(C) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, high quality health care will be maintained.
Again, 'Solving low wages problem' is NECESSARY for 'attracting more applicants to nursing school', not SUFFICIENT. So we don't even know whether more applicants will be attracted, let alone whether high quality care will be maintained.
(D) If the nursing profession fails to solve the problems of low wages and high stress working conditions, there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses.
If the 'low wages' problem is not solved, number of candidates applying will not increase. Then one possibility is shortage but the other is lowering entrance standards. Lowering entrance standards may not avert shortages, but it may. Hence we cannot say that there WILL BE shortage.
(E) The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are no solved.Correct. Resolving low wages is necessary to increase applicants. If we do not resolve low wages, number of applicants will not increase. Then either there will be shortage or lower entrance standards. In both these cases, high quality will be lost.
Hence current high quality will not be maintained if the low wages issue is not sorted.
Answer (E)
Check the video on necessary and sufficient conditions here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmlwcTlHZz8