George: The economics taught in college is very confusing—and that’s

D seems to support George’s argument, but the other choices are just so irrelevant it’s the only choice left.

If the college professors agree on the articles about college economics, then the students are less likely to adhere so fiercely to what they learned in college.

the answer should be "C" because of following reasons,
"D" states that Professors agree with college journal articles that strongly criticize college economics , which is a too broad choice, this choice states that the article criticize the college economics but it does not say that why & how?? reason might be due to lack of real world economics exposure or due to teaching outdated curriculum etc.

Now let's see why "C" is a correct choice,
"C" states that “Right” and “wrong” are relative terms in the field of economics. thus "Right" & "Wrong" are not absolute terms in the field of economics.
For example if you were raised to believe that cows are sacred, yet in many part of the world the cows are food.Thus cow eating at one place would be "wrong" & cow eating at another place would be "Right"
In short it can't be answered simply by saying right/wrong!!

Hope this helps...

Answer is D as the question asks what challenges George's reasoning?? Here George's reasoning is that people who study economics defend it strongly. Hence option D clearly refutes this line of George's reasoning saying that highly educated Economics Profs also agree to criticisms of economics.

How does Option C refute George's reasoning??

ctkrishnan the conclusion made by George is Economics is "wrong" & he argues to prove his conclusion
Now choice "D" says that professors agree with the college economics criticism but it doesn't elaborate the criticism is about what? see my reply above..

@vijayahir... Agreed that option D does not elaborate on criticism and just tells that profs accept criticism. Isn't that enough to prove that ppl who have learned economics don't defend economics as stated by George...

I guess the main problem here is what according to stimulus is the reasoning of George?? Is it Economics is wrong or ppl who have learned economics defending it?

I think Economics is wrong is the premise on which George builds his reasoning that because economics is wrong many learned people defend economics.. and this is proven wrong by Option D.

IMO the line of reasoning runs like this "economics is wrong and ppl who learn it will defend it" . to refute this you can either contradict the first part that says economics is wrong or the second part that says ppl will defend.

i wud personally prefer the second one because that is where the "reasoning" comes into play.

i think D is sufficient to say not all ppl defend it. there is no need to know how or why or what. if professors agree with criticism, enough said, they are not trying to defend. there is evidence to contrary what george said.

C is saying “Right” and “wrong” are relative terms in the field of economics. so what? the key here is "field of economics", not in real world,where george is arguing. if he is arguing about a concept in economics, we can say what is wrong to george might be right to someone else because it is an economical concept and in economics right and wrong are relative. but he is saying the subject as a whole is trash. you cant say this actually "refutes" george's reasoning. refuting IMO should contradict the reasoning. this is like saying george's reasoning may be right for some and wrong for others.

I also thought it was C when i first did this question. Then when I re-read it, I understood D better. I now feel D is the right answer...

C directly attacks the conclusion (which is not the right way to do it). D attacks the reasoning by citing an instance which is not as per the premise

The question is what challenges the George's reasoning

George says that since ppl are force fed and they tend to spend lot of their time to learn it, they tend to defend it at later stages in career or life.

Only D challenges the George's reasoning.

Thank you for the question. A real Gem.

Sajjad1994 can you please explain option C -*right” and “wrong” are relative terms in the field of economics.*

shuklaji, it essentially means that what is right for some people may be wrong for others. This option is incorrect because it does not attack George's reasoning.

Hi expert,
I was confused and don’t know how should I comprehend D.
George’s point is economics is all wrong, and D seems to mean professors also think college economics is wrong, so does D strengthen George’s point?
Any expert can help? and thanks in advance.

This is a tough question.

Lets start from the basics. What is the question?
Which one of the following, if true, would most directly challenge George’s reasoning?

We have to choose an answer which challenges the REASONING. Not challenges Goerge's opinion.

So what is George's reasoning?
"and if, by chance, someone does waste all that time and learn it, he or she will be inclined to defend it ferociously and pass it on to others."

So George says if you study something, you WILL defend it.

Well D weaken's this. D says -
"(D) Many economics professors agree with journal articles that strongly criticize college economics."
So economic professors have studied economics, but still agree to journals criticising college economics. Which means people who have studied economics are NOT defending their subject. Weakens. Case closed. Boom.

AnirudhaS wow great explanation. I didn’t catch George‘s core point exactly. Thanks so much.

George’s reasoning is that all the students protect the economics because they wasted a ton of time to learn it.

Option A talks about careers and that too in other fields. So out of scope

Option B compares grades of economics and other subjects, also out of scope

Option C is irreleant

Option D is the CORRECT answer here because it weakens the argument by stating that professors, who must have been already studied economics, agree with journal articles that strongly criticize college economics, and this option goes against the argument and hence weakens it.

Option E again is out of scope.

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