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Many high schools send students to special courses to

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suyashjhawar

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16 Sep 2010, 10:17

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Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the MOST effective challenge to this argument.

A) Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.

b) Schools that have sent students to the courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.

c) The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.

d) The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.

e) Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by twenty percent.

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KarishmaB

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Updated on: 05 Oct 2022, 22:00

Originally posted by KarishmaB on 15 Nov 2012, 18:54.
Last edited by KarishmaB on 05 Oct 2022, 22:00, edited 1 time in total.

Vineetk

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

Conclusion: Language courses are a waste of time and money.

Weaken the conclusion.

A - Some schools do not send students to language courses. They have better knowledge of the exam since they have been participating for a long time. Some schools send students to language courses. They do not have as much knowledge since they have not been participating for long. Hence language courses for these schools may not be a waste of time and money.

The only confusion could be with E. Notice that E talks about the 'number of students' who passed. The total number of students appearing for the test could have increased which would have increased the number of students who passed even if the passing rates remained the same. Until and unless we have some more numbers, we cannot say that E weakens the conclusion.

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ezhilkumarank

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16 Sep 2010, 18:43

suyashjhawar

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the MOST effective challenge to this argument.

A ) Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
b) Schools that have sent students to the courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
c) The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
d) The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
e) Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by twenty percent.

I am confused with the OA given here.

Option A - Seems to corroborate with the argument.
Option B - Corroborates with the argument.
Option C - Irrelevant.
Option D - Irrelevant.

Option E - Although it is not very convincing, it is the best bet of all the options.

Any other thoughts???

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siyer

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16 Sep 2010, 19:17

We need to find a fact which would weaken the language teachers argument that the courses are a waste of time and money.

b) Schools that have sent students to the courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
c) The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
d) The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
These do not weaken the argument.

e) Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by twenty percent.
This does not explicitly mention that the increase in passing was due to the special courses.

A ) Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
Since the schools which do not send students to special courses were the only ones who participated in the exams prior to 1995 they had better knowledge of the exams and hence had a higher average score. This weakens the argument. So A is the correct answer.

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ezhilkumarank

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16 Sep 2010, 19:49

siyer

I am still confused.

Help me understand this clearly.

The argument notes that a) language courses are a waste of time. b) high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do [highlight]since 1995[/highlight]. The highlighted text - [highlight]since 1995[/highlight] means on or after 1995.

Now option A talks of prior to 1995 and also talks of students not attending the courses but still having better knowledge of the exams thus supporting the argument that the courses are a waste of time. Isn't option A just supporting whatever is presented in the stimulus???

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siyer

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16 Sep 2010, 22:58

Quote:

The argument notes that a) language courses are a waste of time. b) high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The highlighted text - since 1995 means on or after 1995.

Now option A talks of prior to 1995 and also talks of students not attending the courses but still having better knowledge of the exams thus supporting the argument that the courses are a waste of time. Isn't option A just supporting whatever is presented in the stimulus???

The students who do not attend the special courses are in the schools who have prior knowledge of the exams. So the schools help them with their exams whereas students from the other schools do not have that advantage and hence attend special courses.

So the special courses would be a waste of time only for the students of those schools who had participated in the exams prior to 1995. For the students of other schools, it would not be a waste of time.

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Dreamy

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17 Sep 2010, 05:55

ezhilkumarank

siyer

I am still confused.

A for me too.

This answer weakens by saying the schools, which did not send students for special courses already has knowledge on the exam to prepare the students well.

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gsothee

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18 Sep 2010, 23:55

In this weaken question we have to contest the conclusion that special courses are waste of time and money.

Option that provides information about the benefits of the course is winner.

A ) Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.

Hence the schools who report better scores without sending the students to special courses had benefited from the courses earlier, therefore other schools that are sending the students to the special courses now will benefit from the courses.

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geturdream

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27 Sep 2010, 02:13

had to go with A as other options do not weaken the argument at all.
A talks about before 1995 when the schools which do not send the students to the courses are the only one which participated in the exams, but it does not have any reference to post 1995

But the other options are irrelevant. So picked A

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14 Nov 2012, 05:12

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

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14 Nov 2012, 07:18

Vineetk

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

Basically we want an answer choice that weakens the argument. Only option A is the contender. If a school has better knowledge of exam or expertise in the particular area, it doesnt need to send its students to language school and also would be able to better provide the education. Thus the results. However, other schools still need to send students for such courses

Ans A it is.

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ankur1901

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06 Nov 2013, 05:37

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Vineetk

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

Sorry i am still not clear as to why is E incorrect. Why do you say that it talks about number? It says that number of students increased by 20%. so if usually there were 100 students passing the exam after 1995 after attending the language course the pass % increased to 120. Its still % and not absolute numbers.

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KarishmaB

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06 Nov 2013, 06:10

ankur1901

VeritasPrepKarishma

Vineetk

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

(E) says that "the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%". The number of students who passed implies nothing about number of students who appeared since we don't know how the passing rates have changed.
Say prior to 1995, 200 students used to appear for the exam and 50% i.e. 100 used to pass. Now say 240 appear and still 50% i.e. 120 pass. The 'number of students who passed' has increased from 100 to 120 (i.e. by 20%) but that doesn't imply that students are performing better now. They are performing the same as before since the pass percentage is the same (in very restricted terms).

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Sidhrt

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01 Dec 2013, 07:59

Hi Ankur1901

you right, Well the conclusion is whether the language course is waste of time and money or not.And option A only affects the premise" --that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995--" without affecting the conclusion.

how people who support option B will prove that that the course is waste of time for another school ( in fact for all other schools as the tone of conclusion says). Moreover, the question is about language exam score ( which E clearly indicates) not overall score.Hence E suits better.

Even if , E says that the 20% rise is due to increase in number of students then in itself it infers that more people are joining this course.
thanks
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08 Jan 2016, 18:58

picked E, because the argument says MANY. nevertheless, many might be a small portion overall. Thus, the only one that actually works is A. if schools who do not send, know better the exam, the teachers of these school know better how to prepare the students.

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gmatser1

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09 Jan 2016, 06:17

I originally thought E, read A again, got lazy and picked E.

Don't get lazy! When you've narrowed it down take the 30 more seconds to really refine your answer!

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28 Jun 2017, 00:37

E is wrong because we know nothing about the comparison between 2 types of school.

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28 Jun 2017, 01:00

Imo A
The argument can be understood by taking sets A and B
A =does not send students to prepare
B=Send students to prepare
Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
If A does not send its students outside to prepare for the exam ,it does not mean that the quality of the program is not good .
Because there are other colleges which might use it for good .

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10 Jun 2023, 14:15

KarishmaB

Vineetk

Many high schools send students to special courses to prepare them for language exams. Some language teachers criticize these courses and point out that high schools which do not send their students to special courses have reported a higher average score than those which do since 1995. The language teachers say that the courses are a waste of time and money.

Which of the following, if true, is the most effective challenge to this argument?

A. Those schools which do not send students to the courses have better knowledge of the exams since they are the only schools which participated in the exams prior to 1995.
B. Schools that have sent students to courses since 1995 have experienced a greater drop in their scores than they had prior to 1995.
C. The cost of these courses run by outside teachers has risen dramatically since 1995.
D. The poor design of courses to prepare students for the language exams is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness.
E. Since 1995, the number of students who passed the language exams has risen by 20%.

Please explain your answer.

also KarishmaB we don't know -these students belong to which school, one which sent them to language courses or the one which does not send them .

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Jayraj10110

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25 Jun 2024, 22:29

E is not an option because it talks about increase in % of students passed and it could consist of students who did not opt for external courses as if you carefully read the argument it states that many schools send their students to coaching and not all so some them might study from the school itself. therefore it does not imply anything as to whether the increase is due to the courses only.

correct me if i am wrong