Differences in clothing can serve to highlight differences in

Question

Differences in clothing can serve to highlight differences in people's financial means. When a school requires students to wear uniforms in school, all students in that school are clothed in exactly the same way. Therefore, by requiring students to wear uniforms, schools make it so that the way students are dressed when they go to school no longer highlights differences in financial means.

Which of the following, if true, most undermines the above conclusion?

A. Students who wear uniforms to school can express their individuality through choices of hairstyle.

B. For the parents of some students, the cost of a uniform represents a significant part of the budgets that they have for all clothing.

C. Most students who go to schools that require the wearing of school uniforms wear uniforms only when either in school or traveling to or from school.

D. Most schools that require students to wear uniforms in school are located in and serve less affluent communities.

E. For some clothing retailers, selling school uniforms is a significant source of revenue during the back to school shopping season.

Source: TTP Beta Testing

MartyTargetTestPrep · Accepted Answer

D: Schools that require students to wear uniforms in school are located in less affluent communities.

In other words, for an entire school:

more affuent - no uniforms

less affluent - uniforms

So, D indicates that while wearing uniforms results in financial means no longer being highlighted by clothes within a school, uniforms highlight differences in financial means between student populations of entire schools.

So D conflicts with the conclusion, which states that the way they are dressed NO LONGER HIGHLIGHTS differences in financial means.

deepmaity · Answer

I will choose answer B.

Schools are relatively capable of reducing socioeconomic differences by introducing   uniforms is based on the assumption that families of all socioeconomic backgrounds are capable of purchasing uniforms and making that purchase is not a significant financial burden on families whose children wear school uniform.
To undermine the statement, option B does the best job by introducing the fact that for the parents of some students, the cost of a inform represents a SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE BUDGETS that they have for all clothing. It also means that if the uniform system is made non-compulsory, then this part of significant cost is reduced.

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Aj558 · Answer

Conclusion - Uniform removes socioeconomics highlights. D - UNIFORM seven as identifier for low class. 
IMO - D

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pushpitkc · Answer

Is the OA correct? Why do we eliminate Option C?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Conclusion: By requiring students to wear uniforms, schools make it so that the way students are dressed when they go to school no longer highlights differences in financial means.

The conclusion is about the way students are dressed when they go to school.

C says that students going to schools that require the wearing of wear uniforms only when they are either in school or going to and from school. So, while C may seem to indicate that students wear something other than uniforms, C confirms that the way students are dressed WHEN THEY GO TO SCHOOL is in uniforms.

Therefore, C is in line with what the argument has stated and changes nothing, and therefore, C does not weaken the conclusion.

C is a trap answer designed to seem to weaken the argument. It sounds as if it makes a difference, but really it does not.

pushpitkc · Answer

Thanks a ton for the clarification.

Jimbo1912 · Answer

D is the best answer among the 5, but I do not believe it undermines the conclusion.

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Madhavi1990 · Answer

I picked D 
a) hair = individuality, but is not a concern of uniform which talks about clothes
b) money of the parent - yes but again an expensive uniform can hide the lack of income of the family in question
c) uniforms are worn during going or attending school - well that's what they're supposed to do, right?
d)  WEAKENS - if uniforms are worn by poorer schools, any one will know immediately about their financial status. Just a tidbit of info, this often happens in Indian schools : they often provide a uniform so that kids actually have something designated to wear, but this doesn't mean anything, as the type of school won't change (i.e.
 low income area school) 
e) Umm, totally irrelevant

rohitt911 · Answer

I don't like the questions. We need to make an assumption, that the school will have students from the same community, for D to be correct.

Please do correct me if I am wrong.

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MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Where I come from, for the most part schools serve the communities in which they are located. So, going with the idea that students from the community in which a school is located attend that school seems to be more based on common sense than based on assumption.

I do agree, however, that some schools do not get many students from the communities in which they are located. So, perhaps I should edit the question to tie up what could be a bit of a loose end.

TeenaChoudhary · Answer

For me all the choices do not weaken the argument.
Answer choice D says about between schools , but in making conclusion "by requiring students to wear, a school ensures that the way students are clothed when they are in school does not highlight the differences in financial means."
So why are we comparing students of one school which require clothing and one school which doesn't, If one school put this rule on the students of that particular school then their students can't be highlighted in financial means when they are in that school. Right?
And by the way, it is not necessary that only particular community kids will join the school if school is located in particular community.

saicharansingh · Answer

MartyTargetTestPrep

C. Most students who go to schools that require the wearing of school uniforms wear uniforms only when either in school or traveling to or from school.

For the above logic to hold must the option not say "in school and travelling to and from school" instead of "either in school or traveling to or from school."

What if the students wear uniforms while travelling to and from school but do not wear uniforms while in school?

Hope my question made sense. Awaiting your thoughts on this

Thanks in advance for your time!

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Notice that the passage makes clear that the argument is about what happens "when a school requires students to wear uniforms in school."

An answer choice can't contradict the passage. So, we have to interpret what (C) says as agreeing with what the passage implies, which that the students in question do wear the uniforms in school.

vijayakrishnan · Answer

I agree with Teena here. The question isn't clear and the answer choice D only makes sense if you are comparing students from one school to another. The question talks about "a" school. So "a" school that adopts uniforms cannot highlight differences between students. A possible answer choice would have been "most students go to school in personal vehicles and do not use public transportation". And the explanation is that the students could all be wearing the same uniform BUT differences in financial means will be highlighted if they arrive in say a BMW vs a Corolla.

kabirgandhi · Answer

Hi, thank you for the explanation!

However, I don't think we can eliminate C just on the basis of the fact that it tells us that students wear uniforms in school and to and from school. Since the conclusion of the argument alo mentions school outings, if students only wear uniforms in and on the to/back from school, their differences could still be highlighted, if they do not wear these uniforms on school outings, which would weaken the conclusion that schools, by requiring students to wear uniforms, can reduce the highlighting of the differences in their financial means on BOTH school outings and in school.

Differences in clothing can serve to highlight differences in

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