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18 Mar 2020, 01:21
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
74% (01:51) correct
26%
(02:11)
wrong
based on 446
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In a recent experiment, a high school English teacher interspersed real, commonly used proverbs with several nonsensical proverbial-sounding statements that he had made up. He then asked his students to evaluate all of the statements on the list. In general, the students found the bogus proverbs and the real proverbs to be equally full of wisdom and meaning. The teacher concluded that proverbs attain their status as proverbs more through frequent usage than through their inherent wisdom.
Which one of the following, if true, would most effectively challenge the teacher’s conclusion?
(A) Some proverbs are used more frequently than others.
(B) There were more real proverbs than bogus proverbs in the list of statements.
(C) There are stylistic differences between proverbial and proverbial-sounding statements.
(D) Some students view a statement in one way and other students view the same statement in a very different way.
(E) The students selected as evaluators were too inexperienced to judge the wisdom of the statements.
18 Mar 2020, 04:07
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E is the right answer.
Premise: n a recent experiment, a high school English teacher interspersed real, commonly used proverbs with several nonsensical proverbial-sounding statements that he had made up. He then asked his students to evaluate all of the statements on the list. In general, the students found the bogus proverbs and the real proverbs to be equally full of wisdom and meaning.
The authors conclusion of the argument is based on the finding that the students generally found the bogus proverbs and the real proverbs to be equally full of wisdom and meaning. What about if the students are that evaluated the real proverbs and bogus proverbs don't have the requisite expertise to determine the wisdom in the real and bogus proverbs. Definitely, the author's conclusion above will be called into question. In other words, a necessary assumption for this argument is that the students used as evaluators for the real and bogus proverbs have the requisite expertise to determine the wisdom in a statement. So when it becomes true that these students actually do not have the requisite expertise to make such judgment on the statements, then the argument falls apart. Option E states that the students selected as evaluators were too inexperienced to judge the wisdom of the statements and this is in line with this reasoning, so, E is the right answer.
Quote:
Conclusion: proverbs attain their status as proverbs more through frequent usage than through inherent wisdom.
Premise: n a recent experiment, a high school English teacher interspersed real, commonly used proverbs with several nonsensical proverbial-sounding statements that he had made up. He then asked his students to evaluate all of the statements on the list. In general, the students found the bogus proverbs and the real proverbs to be equally full of wisdom and meaning.
The authors conclusion of the argument is based on the finding that the students generally found the bogus proverbs and the real proverbs to be equally full of wisdom and meaning. What about if the students are that evaluated the real proverbs and bogus proverbs don't have the requisite expertise to determine the wisdom in the real and bogus proverbs. Definitely, the author's conclusion above will be called into question. In other words, a necessary assumption for this argument is that the students used as evaluators for the real and bogus proverbs have the requisite expertise to determine the wisdom in a statement. So when it becomes true that these students actually do not have the requisite expertise to make such judgment on the statements, then the argument falls apart. Option E states that the students selected as evaluators were too inexperienced to judge the wisdom of the statements and this is in line with this reasoning, so, E is the right answer.
Quote:
This information neither strengthen nor weaken the argument above. Why? Because this statement does not add the extra information needed to weaken or strengthen the argument. If this option were to add an extra caveat that those proverbs used more frequently are considered more important or accorded higher status than those not used frequently, then this argument will be strengthened. On the other hand, if this option were to add that some proverbs used sparingly are considered more useful or accorded higher status than some of the proverbs that have been used more frequently, then the argument will be weakened. A is incorrect.
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This is irrelevant. It doesn't matter whether there were more bogus proverbs than real proverbs in the list and vice versa. As long as the evaluators have the capability to determine if the proverb is bogus or not, this information does not weaken the argument. B is incorrect.
Quote:
Just as in B, the question is, can the evaluators differentiate between real and fake proverbs? Once they have what it takes to make a judgment on whether a proverb is fake or bogus, the stylistic difference is irrelevant. C is incorrect.
Quote:
Despite the differences in the way they view the statements, they still came to the conclusion that the fake and real proverbs all depict wisdom. So, the difference in their view of the statements is irrelevant. The question still remains about their capacity to make a judgment on the statements as to whether they are fake or real proverbs. D is incorrect.
Quote:
Correct as per the reasoning above.
18 Mar 2020, 04:36
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The conclusion is that proverbs and non-proverbs have equal wisdom in them, but some of them are classed as proverbs because of their frequent usage. The teacher came to the conclusion after performing the experiment with a few students.
To weaken this, only one answer choice come close
(E) The students selected as evaluators were too inexperienced to judge the wisdom of the statements.
The conclusion of the teacher was based on the experiment where the students were evaluators. If the quality of evaluators are questionable, this also puts the evaluation (conclusion) in question as well. Hence this weakens the argument.
To weaken this, only one answer choice come close
(E) The students selected as evaluators were too inexperienced to judge the wisdom of the statements.
The conclusion of the teacher was based on the experiment where the students were evaluators. If the quality of evaluators are questionable, this also puts the evaluation (conclusion) in question as well. Hence this weakens the argument.
