The Middlebury school district has a statewide reputation fo

The only possible answer is D

The argument mentions that students are not finding time to take part in extracurricular activities as they are busy completing their homework .
They get harder homework as each passing year .

D gives us a reason why the students are finding no time for the extracurricular activities as they are taking much longer to finish the homework because they have not improved their abilities.

Maybe it is first or one of a few questions that I have seen, in which some options can not even be assumptions.

D the only one that fits.

conclusion is king and says: Students in high school spend more time in completing homework as compared to the previous year and left with no time for extra currculars,So its important for argument to assume that students ability to complete homework in time and then finding time for sports is declined or not improvng, so thinking on these lines lets look at answer choices


The conclusion drawn above is based on the assumption that
A) the teachers in the Middlebury School District should assign homework to students that is no more difficult than the most difficult homework they received the previous year. -same as in premise-so incorrect
B) the teachers in the Middlebury School District should be recognized for being as demanding as they are.-same as in premise
C) it is more important for a student in the Middlebury School District to complete their homework when they are a senior than when they are in first grade. -out of scope
D) the scholastic abilities of the students in the Middlebury School District do not improve enough each year to allow them to complete their homework assignments in the same amount of time as was required for the year before. -Correct, negate it it will break conclusion
E) some students in the Middlebury School District are more concerned with completing their homework assignments than with participating in extra-curricular activities.[/quote] -out of scope

Lets say a student in class 10th ( Indian students will get this) got a set of home work from teacher X for Math in 2019-- let us assume the toughness of the hw was ~ 70%, now this year the same teacher is giving hw for 10th for Math assuming the toughness goes up ~ 80%. This is my understanding of the passage . Now please tell me whether my understanding is correct, if it is then how can D be the right answer. My point of contention is as follow:
1) The argument i not talking of scholastic abilities anywhere.
2) based on the above reasoning how does my learning from my junior class help in solving in the higher class

We know that each year the homework gets tougher and tougher; Also, we know that it is the same set of teachers that are assigning such homework.

The conclusion states that students spend almost all of their free time (outside school hours) to complete these homework.


Say that teacher "A" (who belongs to the The Middlebury school district) has been assigned Batch 'X' this year. Based on the information provided in the passage, we know that "A" will definitely assign more tougher homework for batch 'X' than those that were assigned to Batch 'Y' (the batch assigned to her last academic year). These two batches comprise of a different set of students. So, if the conclusion (that students continue to spend almost all of their free time (outside school hours) to complete these homework) has to hold true year after year, then it must certainly mean that their problem solving capacity has remained at the same level.

So, one would have to assume that problem solving capacity of students has not improved at all, in order for the conclusion to hold true. Hence, the correct answer should highlight this assumption.


I have rephrased the answer choices in my own words (As shown below), without changing the original meaning:

(A) the difficulty level of homework should remain the same - as you can see, this is just a mere suggestion and obviously is not an assumption that supports the stated conclusion. Hence, eliminate (A)

(B) talks about the recognition of teachers, a topic that is irrelevant to the conclusion drawn. Hence, eliminate (B)

(C) here, a comparison is being drawn between the priorities of doing homework for seniors and juniors. This is irrelevant to the conclusion drawn. Hence, eliminate (C)

(D) talks exactly about whats mentioned in the highlighted section (shown above). Hence, (D) is the right answer.


(E) The concern of students as highlighted in (E) does nothing to support the conclusion drawn. Hence, eliminate (E).

I did not understand. Batch x is current year batch y was previous how is it related to the time spent in doing hw. Batch y is a different set than batch x

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My intention here was to establish the idea that the difficulty level of homework assigned was different for the two mentioned batches (specifically: Batch Y had a comparatively easier level of homework than that assigned by the same teacher to batch X, which is her current batch. in other words, Batch X has been assigned a higher difficulty level homework as compared with what was assigned to batch Y).

With that being said, if the homework solving capacity (aka the scholastic capabilities as mentioned in D) has not improved, then we can draw an inference that both batch X and Batch Y have the same 'homework solving capability' (keep this idea in mind)

we already know that Batch X has been assigned a higher difficulty level homework as compared with what was assigned to batch Y. when we add the highlighted premise ( that both batch X and Batch Y have the same 'homework solving capability') to the premise written in green, then it would mean that batch X would take more time to complete the homework as compared to the time taken by batch Y.

For D to be the answer
what if every year the questions given are so tough that it does require higher Iq to solve. so how it can be established that students are not competent enough, what if questions are way too difficult.
Acc to me E should be the answer as the argument tells that all of their day is consumed in homework

The first thing to keep in mind is that the passage presents an argument by an unnamed person or group. We are meant to take any premises as true, but we are allowed to find fault with a conclusion based on those premises. If we are looking for a necessary assumption, we need only fill a logical void between X and Z (the conclusion), a void that fits the line of reasoning in the passage. That is, our task is not to question What if? and supply our own reasonable assumption for a related argument. We have to stick to the one presented.

Answer choice (E) suffers from a few issues. For one, why does the information apply to just some students? How can we make that determination? The passage mentions the students and high school seniors as complete groups. Then, as mikemcgarry pointed out above, how are we to know what any students must be concerned with (i.e. their thoughts or preferences) when the passage gives us nothing to lean on? For all we know, every single student or senior prefers to focus on academics rather than on extra-curricular activities. Or maybe their parents simply force them to forgo extra-curriculars to earn good grades. We cannot make a reasonable case, one way or the other, based on information in the passage.

Answer choice (D) fills the void nicely. Consider a drag-and-drop strategy if you are uncomfortable with the negation technique (one I myself disfavor). Simply insert the answer choice between premise and conclusion to see if the logical gap is filled.

Premise: Each teacher assigns harder homework to their classes than that assigned by the same class's teachers during the previous year.

Assumption: [T]he scholastic abilities of the students in the Middlebury School District do not improve enough each year to allow them to complete their homework assignments in the same amount of time as was required for the year before.

Conclusion: The students, therefore, unfortunately spend more time completing their homework than they did the previous year, to the point where high school seniors spend all of their time outside of school completing their homework, and have little time left over for extra-curricular activities.

The conclusion may be wayward, but the progression of ideas is seamless, and the conclusion cannot be properly drawn without the assumption inserted. Answer choice (E) raises a much different consideration that impedes the logical flow from premise to conclusion, for reasons discussed earlier:

Premise: Each teacher assigns harder homework to their classes than that assigned by the same class's teachers during the previous year.

Assumption: {S}ome students in the Middlebury School District are more concerned with completing their homework assignments than with participating in extra-curricular activities.

Conclusion: The students, therefore, unfortunately spend more time completing their homework than they did the previous year, to the point where high school seniors spend all of their time outside of school completing their homework, and have little time left over for extra-curricular activities.

Perhaps you can see the difference now. With this particular conclusion and question, answer choice (D) is the winner, hands down. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew