It is true that students who do the majority of their learning

Question

It is true that students who do the majority of their learning on computer screens from a young age can be at a higher risk of developing myopia later in life, with the most significant risk being increased risk of degenerative myopia as a result of too much near-work. Classroom-based learning which does not involve computers represents the traditional alternative to the growing popularity of e-learning. It provides face-to-face “real-world” instruction, which allows students’ vision more depth-of-field variety as instruction occurs. Therefore, non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students and their visual development.

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
 
A- If given the choice, students will continue to work on computers rather than in the “real world” even after they report some eye strain.
 
B- Eye function is hindered less by depth-of-field variety learning than by near-work.
 
C- Eyes are not damaged in similar ways working on a computer screen and reading a textbook.
 
D- The risk of myopic damage caused by prolonged focus on screens is unacceptably high.
 
E- Some computers cannot be programmed to stimulate wider depth-of-field at regular intervals to counter-balance any prolonged eye strain

SonalSinha803 · Answer

IMO E.

A - irrelevant

B - it talks about hindering eye function, but to some extent seems like it a possible assumption. ( Hold)

C. Out of scope.

D. It is an inference. Hence, eliminate.

E. Yes. Negate this and the conclusion is completely destroyed. If some computers can help in stimulating wider depth of field then e - learning still could be an option and it does not impact vision.

Thus, between E and B, E is more specific.

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Rollroll · Answer

i marked C but later realized that B is better than C. argument (conclusion ) shatters on negating B

SonalSinha803 · Answer

Yup what is the OA....lots of confusion between B and E.

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TaN1213 · Answer

It is true that students who do the majority of their learning on computer screens from a young age can be at a higher risk of developing myopia later in life, with the most significant risk being increased risk of degenerative myopia as a result of too much near-work. Classroom-based learning which does not involve computers represents the traditional alternative to the growing popularity of e-learning. It provides face-to-face “real-world” instruction, which allows students’ vision more depth-of-field variety as instruction occurs. Therefore, non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students and their visual development.

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?

Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?
  Between B and E:

B- Eye function is hindered less by depth-of-field variety learning than by near-work.
 
E- Some computers cannot be programmed to stimulate wider depth-of-field at regular intervals to counter-balance any prolonged eye strain

E talks about some computers with the ability of depth-of-field while the conclusion talks about a broader comparison between these two techniques. E provides very little support to the conclusion because:
1. talks about 'some'----> Cannot be safely extrapolated to a broader conclusion.
2. E needs us to make another assumption that providing wider depth-of-field at  regular intervals by 'some computers'  affects the eyes in just the same way as done by non-computer-based learning.

B, on the other hand, points directly to the comparison. 
--B--

Nightmare007 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja , 
 I am quite confused to choose between B and E. Can you please explain to me why B is better than E. I suppose both are assumptions. Though i agree B is strong assumption while E is weak support.

Thank you

dcummins · Answer

I believe that if you negate E it actually strengthens the conclusion.

AbhishekDhanraJ72 · Answer

It provides face-to-face ???real-world??? instruction, which allows students??? vision more depth-of-field variety as instruction occurs. Therefore, non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students and their visual development.

here sentence after therefore is main conclusion so we would want an asumption for that only... right? so why B????

here sentence after therefore is main conclusion so we would want an asumption for that only... right? so why B????

Saharsh95 · Answer

E does look like an appealing choice but B definitely takes over E.

Option E analysis: Negate option 'E'. Even if "Some" computers can help in stimulating wider depth of field, how are we so sure that the same computers will be used by the students for e-learning. What if these computers are not available for learning and student use. Having a computer that fixes the depth of field for your eyes does not guarantee its presence in the field of education for learning purposes. Even if they are used, we do not know what percentage of the students are they used by?

Option B analysis: On the other hand, if you look at answer choice B, it points to the CORE of the argument by solving the problem of eye function. If you negate B, it would imply that Eye function is hindered (equally or more) by depth-of-field variety learning than by near-work. If eye function also presents the same hinderance, why would one opt for classroom learning over e-learning then and thus it would break the conclusion.

ngochuyen1904 · Answer

Conclusion

1. Non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students
2. Better for visual development

Premise:

Non-computer-based learning: too much near-work
  Classroom-based learning: allow vision more depth-of-field variety

Pre-think

Unstated premise is to link premised stated above and conclusion: 
Eye is more damaged by too much near-work than by more depth-of-field variety

C provides this piece of information

Taulark1 · Answer

E is wrong because it says ' Some  ' computers cannot be programmed. 
Now lets negate it and say Even if some computers  CAN  be programmed , (say 10-20 or 50 , out of 100)
we can still say non-computer based learning is better than e-learning(because they provide a wider depth of field )

P.S -> the question deals with one factor (depth-of-field ) so we have to remain within the scope of the argument to figure out an assumption

akankshasehgal16 · Answer

Even I face a lot of issues in some difficult assumption questions. However, whenever I find myself confused about a trap choice such as (E), eliminating it does not SUFFICIENTLY break the argument, it merely states that there is a possibility to consider when computers do not strain the eyes, and in many cases computers will still keep on damaging the eye.

However, if we negate (B), we get that the hinderance posed by the two modes - the computer and the classroom are same, which conveys that classroom learning is NOT BETTER than online mode, and this destroys the argument without leaving any room for any other possibility.

Hence (B)

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A- If given the choice, students will continue to work on computers rather than in the “real world” even after they report some eye strain.
 Students preference doesn't affect the passage the slightest

B- Eye function is hindered less by depth-of-field variety learning than by near-work.
 If it hinders more then there is no purpose of advocating face to face learning

C- Eyes are not damaged in similar ways working on a computer screen and reading a textbook.
 Reading isn't taken up in the passage so provinding support for the same doesn't help much

D- The risk of myopic damage caused by prolonged focus on screens is unacceptably high.
 This is simply restating and Gmat doesn't prefer strong words and wide proclomations

E- Some computers cannot be programmed to stimulate wider depth-of-field at regular intervals to counter-balance any prolonged eye strain
Some doesn't help the wider no of computer that's taken into question

Therefore IMO B

bronaugust · Answer

To solve this question, let us deploy    IMS's four-step technique   .

STEP #1  ->   IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE

To identify the question type, we must read the question stem. The question stem states, 'Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument depends?' Clearly, we are dealing with an assumption question.

Now that we have identified the question type, let us proceed to the second step.

STEP #2 ->    DECONSTRUCT THE ARGUMENT

In an assumption question, it is a must to deconstruct the argument by figuring out the conclusion and the premise. Let us now read and deconstruct. In the argument, the word 'therefore' does a great job of letting us know what the author's conclusion is.

CONCLUSION:   Non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students and their visual development.

PREMISE:   Students who do the majority of their learning on computer screens from a young age can be at a higher risk of developing myopia later in life, with the most significant risk being increased risk of degenerative myopia as a result of too much near-work. Classroom-based learning which does not involve computers represents the traditional alternative to the growing popularity of e-learning. It provides face-to-face “real-world” instruction, which allows students’ vision more depth-of-field variety as instruction occurs.

Now that the argument is deconstructed, let us proceed to the third step.

STEP #3 ->  FRAME A SHADOW ANSWER

To frame a shadow answer, we need to know what the correct answer is supposed to do. In an assumption question, the correct answer almost always bridges the gap between the conclusion and the premise. The conclusion says that non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for young students and their visual development. The premise does not speak of visual development but does talk of myopia, which is caused by too much near-work. The premise also speaks of face-to-face "real-world" instruction, which allows students’ vision more depth-of-field variety learning. For the author to conclude that non-computer-based learning is a better alternative to e-learning for students' visual development, he must be assuming that the better the depth-of-field variety, the less the visual degeneration.

SHADOW ANSWER:   The better the depth-of-field variety learning, the better the visual development/the less the visual degeneration.

Now that we have framed a shadow answer, let us proceed to the final step.

STEP #4   ->   PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

We can eliminate all answer options that do not closely match with the shadow answer we have come up with.

A- If given the choice, students will continue to work on computers rather than in the “real world” even after they report some eye strain. -   NOT A MATCH   -  The argument does not concern itself with what the students will or will not do if given a choice.  -   ELIMINATE

B- Eye function is hindered less by depth-of-field variety learning than by near-work. -   MATCHES THE SHADOW ANSWER   -  If eye function is hindered as much or more by depth-of-field variety learning as near-work, the conclusion will be invalidated.  -   KEEP

C- Eyes are not damaged in similar ways working on a computer screen and reading a textbook. -   NOT A MATCH   -  The argument does not talk of textbooks in the first place.  -   ELIMINATE

D- The risk of myopic damage caused by prolonged focus on screens is unacceptably high. -   NOT A MATCH   -  Even if the damage was not unacceptably high, the author could still arrive at the conclusion he has arrived at. -    ELIMINATE

E- Some computers cannot be programmed to stimulate wider depth-of-field at regular intervals to counter-balance any prolonged eye strain. -   NOT A MATCH   -
 Not worried about what SOME computers cannot be made to do.  -   ELIMINATE

VerbalBot · Answer

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It is true that students who do the majority of their learning

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It is true that students who do the majority of their learning

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