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22 Apr 2020, 01:10
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C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
49% (02:21) correct
51%
(02:37)
wrong
based on 5145
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People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed. There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers. Surprisingly, however, 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?
A. People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.
B. Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.
C. People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
D. The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.
E. In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?
A. People generally do not take a new job that is offered to them while they are employed unless the new job pays better.
B. Some service and clerical jobs pay more than some managerial and professional jobs.
C. People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
D. The percentage of employed people who were engaged in job searches declined from 2005 to 2009.
E. In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.
ID: 500293
CR67850.02
CR67850.02
24 Apr 2020, 21:08
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We have three facts.
- People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed.
- There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers.
- 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.
How do we reconcile these facts? We need something that explains why the outcome is different from what would be expected.
Only another factor affecting whether people search for a new job while employed would cause the outcome to be different from the expected outcome.
Does (E) provide such a factor?
Does this choice provide an additional factor that would affect whether people search for new jobs while employed? What factor would that be? All this choice tells us is that managerial and professional jobs are more likely to be filled by people with college degrees than service and clerical jobs are. It doesn't give us any reason to believe that people in managerial and professional jobs won't search for new jobs or that people in service or clerical jobs will search for new jobs.
The truth is that choice (E) doesn't really tell us much that we don't already know. We already know that managerial and professional jobs are more likely to be held by people with college degrees than other jobs are, and (E) confirms that.
In fact, if anything, (E) deepens the paradox, because it tends to indicate that people without college degrees in managerial and professional jobs are being replaced by people with college degrees, conceivably increasing the percentage of such jobs held by people with college degrees, who, according to the passage, are more likely than people without degrees to search for new jobs while employed.
So, (E) is not our correct answer.
There's only one choice that provides the factor we need, choice (C).
That choice certainly provides another factor affecting why people search for new jobs while employed: feeling overqualfied.
Now, do we know for sure that people in service and clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified than people in managerial and professional jobs? No. So, this choice is not ideal, because we don't have the means to clearly connect this choice either to service and clerical jobs or to managerial and professional jobs. In fact, it could be that people in managerial and professional jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their jobs than are people in service and clerical jobs.
All the same, this choice is the ONLY ONE that provides any kind of factor that would affect whether people would search for new jobs while employed. So, we are stuck with this choice.
Further, we could make the case that a person is more likely to feel overqualified in a service or clerical job than in a managerial or professional job. Do we know that to be the case for sure? No, but that idea is reasonable and, thus, provides an additional reason to choose (C), because, if people in service and clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their positions than are people in managerial and professional jobs, then people in service jobs' feeling overqualified would explain why they searched for new jobs while employed just as often as people in managerial and professional jobs did, even though people in service jobs are less likely to have college degrees than people in managerial and professional jobs.
So, since choice (C) is the only one that provides what we need, and because it is at least plausible that people in service or clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their positions than are people in managerial or professional jobs, (C) is the best answer.
- People with a college degree are more likely than others to search for a new job while they are employed.
- There are proportionately more people with college degrees among managers and other professionals than among service and clerical workers.
- 2009 figures indicate that people employed as managers and other professionals were no more likely than people employed as service and clerical workers to have searched for a new job.
How do we reconcile these facts? We need something that explains why the outcome is different from what would be expected.
Only another factor affecting whether people search for a new job while employed would cause the outcome to be different from the expected outcome.
Does (E) provide such a factor?
- (E) In 2009 employees with no college degree who retired were more likely to be replaced by people with a college degree if they retired from a managerial or professional job than from a service or clerical job.
Does this choice provide an additional factor that would affect whether people search for new jobs while employed? What factor would that be? All this choice tells us is that managerial and professional jobs are more likely to be filled by people with college degrees than service and clerical jobs are. It doesn't give us any reason to believe that people in managerial and professional jobs won't search for new jobs or that people in service or clerical jobs will search for new jobs.
The truth is that choice (E) doesn't really tell us much that we don't already know. We already know that managerial and professional jobs are more likely to be held by people with college degrees than other jobs are, and (E) confirms that.
In fact, if anything, (E) deepens the paradox, because it tends to indicate that people without college degrees in managerial and professional jobs are being replaced by people with college degrees, conceivably increasing the percentage of such jobs held by people with college degrees, who, according to the passage, are more likely than people without degrees to search for new jobs while employed.
So, (E) is not our correct answer.
There's only one choice that provides the factor we need, choice (C).
- (C) People who felt they were overqualified for their current positions were more likely than others to search for a new job.
That choice certainly provides another factor affecting why people search for new jobs while employed: feeling overqualfied.
Now, do we know for sure that people in service and clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified than people in managerial and professional jobs? No. So, this choice is not ideal, because we don't have the means to clearly connect this choice either to service and clerical jobs or to managerial and professional jobs. In fact, it could be that people in managerial and professional jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their jobs than are people in service and clerical jobs.
All the same, this choice is the ONLY ONE that provides any kind of factor that would affect whether people would search for new jobs while employed. So, we are stuck with this choice.
Further, we could make the case that a person is more likely to feel overqualified in a service or clerical job than in a managerial or professional job. Do we know that to be the case for sure? No, but that idea is reasonable and, thus, provides an additional reason to choose (C), because, if people in service and clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their positions than are people in managerial and professional jobs, then people in service jobs' feeling overqualified would explain why they searched for new jobs while employed just as often as people in managerial and professional jobs did, even though people in service jobs are less likely to have college degrees than people in managerial and professional jobs.
So, since choice (C) is the only one that provides what we need, and because it is at least plausible that people in service or clerical jobs are more likely to feel overqualified for their positions than are people in managerial or professional jobs, (C) is the best answer.
19 Dec 2020, 09:27
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When we’re presented a passage with a paradox, it’s important that we identify what exactly is paradoxical. So, let’s first identify the two pieces of the passage that are seemingly contradictory.
In other words, it seems that, compared to our expectations, fewer managers are searching for new jobs or more workers are searching for new jobs. How is it that managers are more likely to have a college degree but NOT more likely to search for a new job?
(E) indicates that a manager that retires without a college degree is more likely to be replaced by someone with a college degree than a worker that retires without a college degree. But that merely implies that people with college degrees are more likely to be managers than workers. The passage already told us this. So, rather than resolve the paradox, (E) just reinforces what we already knew and what made the 2009 figures seem paradoxical. If anything, (E) contributes to the discrepancy. Eliminate (E).
(C) is the only answer choice remaining. While it’s definitely not perfect, it's the best we can do, and it is correct.
I hope that helps!
- People with college degrees make up a greater proportion of managers and professionals (managers) than they do of service and clerical workers (workers).
- BUT managers are no more likely than workers to search for a new job.
In other words, it seems that, compared to our expectations, fewer managers are searching for new jobs or more workers are searching for new jobs. How is it that managers are more likely to have a college degree but NOT more likely to search for a new job?
Quote:
(A) is interesting. It tells us that people don’t TAKE a new job unless it pays better. Perhaps, we could assume that it would be harder for managers to find better paying jobs than workers, so (A) is tempting. But (A) still talks about whether people TAKE a new job, and the passage described a paradox about people who SEARCH for a new job. So, (A) doesn’t really get at the heart of the paradox. Eliminate (A).
Quote:
All that (B) tells us is that SOME workers get paid more than SOME managers. But that really doesn’t provide any valuable information. First, we probably already knew that SOME workers get paid more than SOME managers (depending on industry, experience, etc.). But more importantly, it still doesn’t explain why workers are searching for jobs as much as managers. If anything, it tells us that workers are getting paid well, and it gives us more reason to expect that workers would not be searching for a new job. Eliminate (B).
Quote:
Let’s think about (C). If people who feel they are overqualified are more likely to search for a new job, then perhaps another factor, apart from college degrees, is driving the 2009 figures. In other words, managers/professionals are presumably less likely than service/clerical workers to feel overqualified, seeing the managers’ jobs bear additional responsibility. If feeling overqualified leads one to search for a new job, then workers, who are more likely to feel overqualified, would be more likely to search for a new job. This could counteract the effect of having a college degree, and it would help explain the discrepancy. (C) isn’t a perfect answer, and there are certainly other variables at play. But we’re looking for the BEST answer that MOST helps to resolve the paradox. So, let’s keep (C).
Quote:
(D) merely provides information as it relates to job search trends over the course of 2005 to 2009. The problem is that these trends apply to both workers and managers, so this does not help explain why workers are at least as likely as managers to search for a new job. Eliminate (D).
Quote:
If I were playing a bad-version of the “word-matching” game on this question, I’d definitely choose (E). It has all the key words that are in the passage, which makes it a very appealing answer choice. I see “2009”, “college degree”, “managerial or professional job”, and “service or clerical job”. If I’ve shut my brain off, this all makes (E) very tempting because it seems to have all the right words/phrases. But let’s think about what (E) is actually telling us.
(E) indicates that a manager that retires without a college degree is more likely to be replaced by someone with a college degree than a worker that retires without a college degree. But that merely implies that people with college degrees are more likely to be managers than workers. The passage already told us this. So, rather than resolve the paradox, (E) just reinforces what we already knew and what made the 2009 figures seem paradoxical. If anything, (E) contributes to the discrepancy. Eliminate (E).
(C) is the only answer choice remaining. While it’s definitely not perfect, it's the best we can do, and it is correct.
I hope that helps!
