Group 3 Question 12: The administrators of a high school need...

Argument:
(1) A high school needs to choose between two science books a. Science Now and b. Science Stories.
(2) Science Now costs more and has less in-depth pages compared to Science Stories
(3) Despites these flaws, the High-schools plans purchasing Science Now

Question:- Explain this paradox

Pre-thinking: Science Stores has more in-depth pages, but what if the information in these pages is irrelevant. In that case this "positive factor" actually turns out to be a "flaw"


This choice does throw some negative light on Science Stores. BUT, in-order to accept this choice we will need to assume that "full-page illustrations" are an important aspect for the High-school.

We can hold onto this choice till we don't get a better choice.


Okay, so we know that "Science Now" is more expensive that "Science Stories" AND if the school purchases in bulk they will get a discount. BUT will discount make "Science Now" at least as cheap as "Science Stories"? Even if it does, what about the more in-depth information that "Science Stories" has?

Certainly this choice doesn't help us understand why the High-School made this choice.


Ahh. Now it all adds up. "Science Stories" has more information BUT most of it is outdated. In essence, this choice converts the positive element "has more in-depth information" to a negative one "this in-depth information is outdated"

Correct. Now we can drop (A)


Okay, so? they are best for 11th and 12th. But are they best for the 10th? if yes then that would explain why the school prefers "Science Now". Since no information is given to prove this fact, this choice appears to be irrelevant.


Well, until we are given information that the High-School loves this president or in some way selects all those companies where the president works in, this information is irrelevant.

Correct Choice: (C)

Official Explanation:

The administrators of a high school need to choose between two new science textbooks for their 10th graders. One of the books, Science Now, costs considerably more, and is considered less in-depth, than the other book, Science Stories. Despite this, the administrators have chosen to purchase Science Now.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain why the school administrators chose to purchase Science Now rather than Science Stories?

(A) Science Stories has fewer full-page illustrations than does Science Now.
(B) The publishers of Science Now will lower the price of the book if a school has purchased other book titles that they have published.
(C) Science Stories was published several years earlier than Science Now and contains outdated material and inaccuracies.
(D) The publishers of Science Now also publish 11th and 12th grade material that is widely considered the best currently available.
(E) For the past 10 years, the high school used science textbooks that were published by a company whose president is now president of the company that publishes Science Now.

Question Type: Strengthen
Boil It Down: High school needs to choose a new science book. Science Now is more expensive and less thorough than Science Stories - but they’re choosing Science Now anyway.
Goal: Find the option that best explains WHY the school is choosing Science Now over Science Stories.

Analysis:

This question is asking for evidence that would strengthen the administration’s conclusion. No evidence (premises) supporting this conclusion is provided.

Conclusion: Science Now is a better choice than is Science Stories despite the higher price and less in-depth material.

To strengthen the conclusion, there must be a strong enough reason that Science Now is the better choice. Choice C clearly states that Science Stories is outdated and inaccurate. Those are two strong reasons to select the other book.

(A) Science Stories has fewer full-page illustrations than does Science Now.
This points out a difference between the two books, but does not provide a clear reason why one is a better choice. How important are the illustrations? It’s not clear. Perhaps the school would prefer that the book have fewer illustrations.

(B) The publishers of Science Now will lower the price of the book if a school has purchased other book titles that they have published.
This choice would only work if we knew that other books would be purchased AND if we knew that the price difference is sufficient to select Science Stories.

(C) Science Stories was published several years earlier than Science Now and contains outdated material and inaccuracies.
This is the correct choice. It gives a clear reason why one book is preferable to the other. No more info is needed.

(D) The publishers of Science Now also publish 11th and 12th grade material that is widely considered the best currently available.
This doesn’t directly affect the choice to purchase the 10th grade book, and that’s all we care about.

(E) For the past 10 years, the high school used science textbooks that were published by a company whose president is now president of the company that publishes Science Now.
This doesn’t directly affect the choice to purchase the book. There are too many links that we would have to supply to make this choice work.

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