heyholetsgo wrote:
Most graduates of art schools go on to support themselves with a variety of odd jobs that have little or nothing to do with the graduates’ artistic training. This has led to major doubts regarding how well the art schools are preparing their students for careers in art.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the author’s criticism of art schools?
A: The curricula of most art schools tend to reflect the needs of the art world.
B: There are some graduates of art schools who go on to careers within the art world.
C: The purpose of an art school education is to ensure that students will be able to secure jobs in their fields.
D: People who intend to earn their livings in the field of art choose to go to art school to increase the quality of their work.
E: Students attend art schools with the intention of earning their livings in the art field.
I'm still having problems with these if true questions. What's wrong with E? Is there a good shortcut to get them right like the negation test for assumptions?
THX!
Official Explanation:
Conclusion: This has led to major doubts regarding how well the art schools are preparing their students for careers in art.
Premise: Most graduates of art schools go on to support themselves with a variety of odd jobs that have little or nothing to do with the graduates’ artistic training.
Assumption: There’s no other way to interpret the facts. The fact that most art students end up in careers having little to do with their training means that art schools are not preparing their graduates well.
The word strengthen in the question stem indicates that this is a strengthen question. The author concludes that there are doubts regarding how well the art schools are preparing their students for careers in art, based on the evidence that most graduates of art schools go on to…jobs that have little or nothing to do with the graduates’ artistic training. Insofar as the author takes this evidence to mean that art schools may not be preparing their students well, the argument exhibits the interpretation of evidence pattern.
The standard assumption involved in the interpretation of evidence pattern is that there’s no other way to interpret the facts. Because this is a strengthen question, the correct answer will support the assumption that there is no other way to interpret the evidence other than questioning how well art schools…are preparing their students for careers in art. Evaluate the answer choices, looking for one that bolsters this interpretation.
Choice A: No. This choice weakens the author’s criticism. If The curricula of…art schools…reflect[s] the needs of the art world, then this suggests that art school graduates are well prepared by their schools for careers in art.
Choice B: No. This choice weakens the author’s criticism. If some graduates…go on to careers within the art world, then this supports the idea that these graduates are well prepared for careers in art.
Choice C: Correct. This choice reinforces the author’s interpretation of the evidence. If The purpose of an art school education is to ensure that graduates…secure jobs in the arts, and yet most graduates end up in jobs that have little to do with…artistic training, then this supports the idea that art schools are not preparing their students well.
Choice D: No. Whether people…choose to go to art school to increase the quality of their work is out of scope. The reason that people choose to go to art school has no bearing on the question of whether art schools do well preparing them for careers in art.
Choice E: No. The intention of art school students is out of scope. The idea that art students have the intention of earning their livings in the art field has no bearing on the question of whether art schools do well preparing them to do so.
The correct answer is choice C.