Most universities today offer students a more in-depth

Question

Most universities today offer students a more in-depth and cosmopolitan education than ever before. Until recently, for example, most university history courses required only the reading of textbooks that hardly mentioned the history of Africa or Asia after the ancient periods, or the history of the Americas’ indigenous cultures. The history courses at most universities no longer display such limitations.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?

(A) The history courses that university students find most interesting are comprehensive in their coverage of various periods and cultures.

(B) Many students at universities whose history courses require the reading of books covering all periods and world cultures participate in innovative study-abroad programs.

(C) The extent to which the textbooks of university history courses are culturally inclusive is a strong indication of the extent to which students at those universities get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education.

(D) Universities at which the history courses are quite culturally inclusive do not always have courses in other subject areas that show the same inclusiveness.

(E) University students who in their history courses are required only to read textbooks covering the history of a single culture will not get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education from these courses alone.

Source: LSAT

helloksin · Answer

Interesting Question! 
The way i solved it is:

CONCLUSION : Most universities today offer students a more in-depth and cosmopolitan education than ever before.
GIVEN PREMISE : The history courses at most universities no longer display such limitations, i.e they now mention the history of Africa or Asia after the ancient periods, or the history of the Americas’ indigenous cultures.

To choose an answer, we must find a premise/assumption that  links  the above Given Premise to the given Conclusion. If we are told that including details of Africa's/Asia's recent history, or America's indigenous cultures  makes  a university's education offering more in-depth and cosmopolitan, that would Strengthen the argument.

After going through all options, we hold on to C:  The extent to which the textbooks of university history courses are culturally inclusive is a strong indication of the extent to which students at those universities get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education. 
This statement tells us that having  culturally inclusive history courses   is considered to declare    an in-depth and cosmopolitan education offering from the university

Therefore, answer: C

sobby · Answer

Nice Question:
To strengthen the argument we have to find a link between history of various culture presented in text book and more in-depth and cosmopolitan education offered to students..C does that .

VKat · Answer

Hello Expert,

Why option e is wrong?
Is it very extreme in nature (single culture) ?

emeraldweapon · Answer

Not an expert but will try to answer your question

Option E is wrong because it claims that students learn the history of only one culture. This is incorrect as the argument did imply that students learn about at least history of 3 cultures (Asia, Africa and America)

GMATNinja · Answer

Let's start with the conclusion: "Most universities today offer students a more in-depth and cosmopolitan education than ever before." The author then supports this conclusion with an example: "most university history courses required only the reading of textbooks that hardly mentioned the history of Africa or Asia after the ancient periods, or the history of the Americas’ indigenous cultures."

In other words, in the past, the content of the required reading for university history courses was limited, but "history courses at most universities no longer display such limitations." This argument implies that if a history student's required reading is less limited and covers expanded content (such as the history of Africa or Asia after the ancient periods or the history of the Americas' indigenous cultures), then that student's education is more in-depth and cosmopolitan than that of most university students in the past.

Now let's look at choice E:
 
Choice E only tells us one way to determine if a student will NOT get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education; it does not tell us how to determine if a student WILL get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education. Just because the student's required reading meets this criteria does not necessarily mean the student will get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education. This simply tells us that, according to the author's example, history courses at most universities meet this single criteria and that students in those courses  might  get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education.

Also, notice that the author's conclusion compares universities today to universities in the past, and choice E does not give us any information to compare past and current universities. The author never claims that the required reading of university history courses in the past ONLY covered the history of a single culture. The author simply states that the required reading was limited in the past because it did not cover certain content. So we can't even use choice E to support the author's idea that university education was  less  in-depth and cosmopolitan in the past.

By itself, choice E does not do much to strengthen the argument, so choice C is a much better answer.

guptarahul · Answer

(A) The history courses that university  students find most interesting  are comprehensive in their coverage of various periods and cultures.  Incorrect

(B) Many students at universities whose history courses require the reading of books covering all periods and world cultures participate in i nnovative study-abroad programs.   Incorrect

(C)  The extent to which the textbooks of university history courses are culturally inclusive is a strong indication of the extent to which students at those universities get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education.
 
(D) Universities at which the history courses are quite culturally inclusive  do not always   have courses in other subject areas  that show the same inclusiveness.  Incorrect

(E) University students who in their history courses are required  only  to read textbooks covering the history of  a single culture  will not get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education from these courses alone. Incorrect

stickman · Answer

Hi Charles, so - correct me if I'm completely missing the point - would it be right to say that E is necessary for the argument to hold (i.e. could be an assumption) but is a weaker strengthening option than C? I know it's bad practice to try and make up questions other than what is being asked, but since it's an LSAT question why not

GMATNinjaTwo

GMATNinja · Answer

Hi  stickman , sorry for the delayed reply!

Yes, choice (E) is a bit like a necessary assumption. If a student whose history textbooks are limited  could  still get an in-depth and cosmopolitan education, then the argument wouldn't make much sense.

But, even with (E), we still don't know whether students with culturally inclusive textbooks are necessarily getting in-depth and cosmopolitan educations. So even though (E) is  necessary , it doesn't  strengthen  the argument.

I hope that helps!

chesstitans · Answer

I am unsure whether patterns from LSAT questions are used for real gmat questions. It is because the actual gmat exam will have some questions that look really alienate to test takers.

In this question, C is the assumption that strengthens the argument.

robu1 · Answer

Can we say that the option E is inference of the stimulus , thereby doing the reverse job.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Most universities today offer students a more in-depth

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Most universities today offer students a more in-depth

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards