The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student

+1 D

In the inference question the correct answer must only contain data from the argument. Another way of saying this is that the correct answer can be a paraphrase of the premise. Option "D" here is the paraphrase of the premise stated in the argument.

Not entirely sure why 'A' is not right, I selected 'D' because it is more of a paraphrase of the statements in the argument and 'A' sounds a little too firm (A student would only be deterred)...Maybe a Verbal expert can come to the rescue...

I do not completely agree with option D.

Option D says : The math teacher needs to make students aware about the policy and the consequences.

BUT the passage clearly says that to attain the teachers goal 2 things are needed:

1 the students had to believe that the consequences for cheating were severe
2 the professor had the means to discover cheaters and enforce the punishment against them.

option D doesn't relate to point 2.
so, i think option A is better answer choice.

EXPERTS PLS HELP.

Thank you.

Remember that absolute language is almost always incorrect on CR questions!

Adding on to why (A) is incorrect - one of the goals for the professor is have classroom honesty. That certainly would be one thing that might deter students from cheating and thus, 'being discovered and punished' isn't the only thing

What's the source? A and D are closer than they should be. While I agree that D qualifies as an answer, I don't see why A doesn't. The stimulus tells us that for the atmosphere to prevail, the students have to believe that punishments are there and that THE PROFESSOR HAS THE MEANS TO DISCOVER CHEATERS.

Now, D does say that the professor will make students aware of the consequences, but tells us nothing about whether students would believe that they would be discovered while cheating, and thus, even after knowing the professor's policies, may cheat on the exam not knowing that they will be caught.

Option A clearly states that the students will know that they would be discovered and punished. I don't really think that this is good quality question. Experts, please comment.
Request mikemcgarry to chip in.

I agree that this is not a good question. The writing is nothing like that of a real GMAT CR question (the first sentence doesn't really make sense, and you'd never see a cliché like "would make students think twice or even three times" in an official question). And all of the answer options are logically problematic. It doesn't make much sense to even discuss low-quality questions like this, since there often is no good justification for the correct answer.

D

Fear of punishment and corresponding loss of privileges deters students from cheating. So, why they fear? They will fear if they believe the consequences of cheating. So, how they will develop such belief? Such belief will be developed if they are informed about the consequences of cheating. So, if a teacher wants to prevail this situation in classroom, the teachers should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences.

A is wrong because it does not say that punishment is harsh. Maybe the student knew he/she could be punished, but the punishment wasn't considered to be a big deal....

Official Explanation

A conclusion for this argument is requested. In order to accurately assess his students on exams, the professor desires to eliminate cheating from his classroom. He believes that a tough policy on cheating will deter students from cheating. Therefore, he is more likely to reach his goal if he announces his policy on cheating and makes it known that he will track down cheaters and punish them. The answer is (D).

I don't think it is a LSAT question. I have checked. If someone can, please remove the LSAT tag

The passage discusses the math professor's belief that fear of punishment and loss of privileges would deter students from cheating. Let's evaluate the answer choices in light of this information:

(A) A student would only be deterred from cheating if he knew he would be discovered and punished.
- This inference aligns with the professor's belief that consequences for cheating should be severe and enforced, which would make students think twice before cheating.

(B) A student will not cheat on an exam if he feels he is well prepared for the exam.
- This option is not directly supported by the passage. The professor's emphasis is on fear of punishment, not on students' feelings of preparedness.

(C) A student who cheats on an exam believes that he will not be able to pass the exam without cheating.
- This option is not directly supported by the passage. While the professor's beliefs center around consequences and enforcement, the passage doesn't explicitly state that cheaters believe they can't pass without cheating.

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.
- This is a valid inference, as the passage implies that the professor's goals require students to believe in the severity of the consequences.

(E) If the professor wants never to have an incident of cheating in his classroom, his policy on cheating must be stronger than any other professor’s policy on cheating.
- This inference goes beyond what the passage states. The professor's focus is on creating an atmosphere of fear of punishment, not necessarily on having the strictest policy.

Based on the information in the passage, the most properly inferred statement is:

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.