I fully agree and I find this question deceptively tricky. Nailing down the Main Idea exactly is not at all easy.
The key is to fuse together what the author is saying in the last two sentences and, of course, pay attention to transition words.
We have this current problem at the school. Parents aren’t picking their kids up on time and, as a result, the school will have to hire more teachers.
The author suggests that INSTEAD of hiring more teachers, the school could charge a nominal fee. The author is assuming that this fee will impact the parents such that they will choose to pick their kids up at the proper time rather than whatever they have been choosing to do. By picking their kids up on time, the parents will unintentionally be helping the school out in that the school will not have to hire more teachers (hence, the school could charge the fee Instead of hiring more teachers).
A
In order for this fee to work and have the proper effect on the parents, the logic of the argument doesn’t require the parents to simplify their schedule. Really, all the plan requires in order to succeed is for the fee to motivate parents to come pick their kids up on time. However they are able to do this is irrelevant. As
KarishmaB pointed out, the parents could hire an assistant or perform other actions to free up time. It is not necessary to perform the one action of “simplifying the daily schedule.”
Answer D is off topic. We don’t care why the parents choose this school for their kids to attend. We want to find what is the author assuming when he claims that the school could initiate this fee to encourage punctual pickup rather than the inevitable result of hiring more teachers.
C: “parents will find the late pickup fee more objectionable than a tuition hike that would be necessary to pay for staff.”
If the parents did not find this fee more objectionable, then the author is wrong. This argument has no merit.
The plan to INSTEAD charge the fee wouldn’t encourage punctual pickup because parents wouldn’t find the fee more troublesome than a hike in teacher pay. After all, we need the parents to find this fee objectionable. Otherwise, what would spur the parents to come pick their children up on time?
If the parents don’t find the fee more objectionable, they will most likely ignore the fee and continue their current actions. Most will think “who cares? Let them hire more teachers….” In such a case, the author would be wrong in claiming that the school could charge this fee to encourage punctual pickup in place of hiring more teachers. The plan would not reach its goal.
C seems to be the only necessary assumption for the reasoning of the argument to work.
KarishmaB wrote:
avohden wrote:
New project from GMAT Club! Click
hereThe staff of Soundview School is spending more and more of its time taking care of children whose parents do not arrive to pick them up from class on time. As a result, more teachers will have to be hired. The school could, instead, charge parents a nominal fee whenever they fail to arrive to pick their children up on time. This charge would encourage punctual pickup.
The conclusion above depends most strongly on which of the following assumptions?A. Parents will simplify their daily schedules in order to arrive at pickup time punctually.
B. The fee charged for late pickup will not be a significant additional burden to most families that can afford tuition at Soundview School.
C. Parents will find the late pickup fee more objectionable than a tuition hike that would be necessary to pay for additional staff.
D. A staff of highly qualified teachers is part of what encourages parents to bring their children to Soundview School.
E. Parents who have errands to run or other tasks to complete could place their children in dedicated after school daycare programs.
oe to followResponding to a pm:
Argument:
Staff is spending more time taking care of children whose parents get late.
As a result, more teachers will have to be hired.
Instead, charge parents a nominal fee whenever they get late.
This charge would encourage punctual pickup.
The author says that instead of hiring more teachers, levy a fine on the parents who arrive late. This would encourage punctual pick up. The purpose of the plan is to encourage parents to pick students on time. It is not to manage late pick up. So the author says that instead of hiring more teachers (which increases the tuition and hence may encourage parents to pick kids on time), charge a nominal fee for late pickup. That will actually lead to parents arriving on time.
The author is assuming that nominal late charge will be more effective than fee hike in encouraging people to pick on time.
Hence (C) is correct.
Options (A) and (E) discuss how parents will manage arriving early. Note that these are not assumptions. They are not necessarily what parents will do. e.g. parents may not simplify their schedules. They may just re-arrange their schedules to arrive on time. Similarly, parents may not put their kids in school day care - they may ask relatives/friends to help out etc. An assumption needs to be necessarily true for the conclusion to hold. (A) and (E) don't need to be necessarily true.
(B) weakens the argument. If the late fee charged is not significant, parents may not mind it and hence may not arrive on time. So the purpose of the fee hike will be lost.
(D) is out of scope.
Posted from my mobile device