A well-known investment-banking firm

Best answer: (E)

Identify the conclusion and the premise(s):
Premise: A well-known investment banking firm often recruits on the campuses of prestigious universities across the country, hiring many brilliantly achieved white graduates for positions at its headquarters in New York City. This same firm also makes it a point to recruit black graduates from smaller universities across the country with similar achievements, although these candidates are almost always sent to a less important office in Maryland.
Premise: The principle of social equality rules out using race and university prestige as relevant consideration in the placing of prospective candidates.

Explanations:
Identify question type and give some tips:
Be careful to stay in scope as you look for the conclusion to draw. In particular, keep in mind that we are considering specifically “white candidates from prestigious universities with stellar achievement records” and “black candidates from smaller universities with stellar achievement records,” not simply “whites” and “blacks” or even “Ivy Leaguers” and “state-schoolers.” It further seems to have been established that locational preference is not a factor (they recruit from across the country).

Scan each answer choice eliminating progressively each “wrong” answer to finish with the “best” answer:
(A) is incorrect; if such a principle were employed “in only a few cases” then it would seem that it was not employed at all. (B) is not necessarily true; remember, we are speaking of those candidates with similar achievement records. If the offices serve different functions and a larger proportion of either blacks or whites is better qualified for one of the other functions, it would be fair to send them to a different office. Nothing suggests the principle could be overruled; (C) is wrong. (D) seems to imply that every new recruit deserves to go to the headquarters, which may not be the case—it is only true that race and class should not count.