Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students reveal

Question

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students revealed that the plurality of students in an eastern, big-city, private university was liberal, whereas in a state-supported, southern college, the plurality was conservative. Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin, and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.

CR41661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.
B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.
C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.
D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.
E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.

ID: 500126
CR41661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

GKomoku · Accepted Answer

Analysis of the given prompt: Argument analysis.PNG Question stem: Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above? Question type: Inference (must be true) Answer choice analysis: A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors. Analysis of (A) : This choice compares political orientations of students with their parents. This orientations similar to parent's when students start college than when they are senior. Analysis in terms of prompt: If we consider given informations in the given prompt. There is no supportive information about student's parent's political orientation or any comparison between. A is incorrect B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college. Analysis of (B) : We have some correlation here, senior student's PO (political orientation) depends on his/her experience in college, implying that by time spent in college student tends to change his/her point of view. Analysis in terms of prompt: We do have some information about trends that that were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students. So difference between senior student and beginner student is on his/her experience gained during the college years. This information supported by the prompt, hence B is correct. C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East. Analysis of (C) : We have comparison here, Senior students from South is more likely conservative than Senior students from East. Analysis in terms of prompt: This is really tricky answer, if we were not VERY careful while reading the stimulus we could have chosen this answer as correct. This answer choice talks about senior students, conservative POs, and East and South originality. All this information exists in the passage but connected in a different way. We don't have comparison in the given stimulus, moreover it is clearly stated that POs of the students have nothing to do with students region of origin. C is incorrect D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations. Analysis of (D) : It states that determining factor about student's PO whether their college is state-supported or private. Analysis in terms of prompt: So far in the prompt only determining factor of the student's PO is college experience not college type. D is incorrect E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success. Analysis of (E) : There is a tendention for students to become more conservative PO, because of pressure for financial success. Analysis in terms of prompt: We don't have any information about why senior students choose to be conservative or liberal. E is incorrect B is the answer

chetan2u · Answer

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students revealed that the plurality of students in an eastern, big-city, private university was liberal, whereas in a state-supported, southern college, the plurality was conservative. Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin, and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.

CR41661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

The plurality of students in an  eastern, big-city, private university  was  liberal , whereas in  a state-supported, southern college , the plurality was  conservative .
Orientations were independent of the  student's region of origin , and 
the trends were much  more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students .

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

Without looking at the choices, we can say that the trends were acquired in college from the words  more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students

A. The para says that the orientations is independent of region of origin

B. This is exactly what can be inferred. Correct.

C. The para says that the orientations is independent of region of origin

D. Too extreme. The words ' more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students ' give us reason to believe that the choice is not correct.

E. Not true, as the senior students in eastern, private university become more liberal with time. Even the reason 'pressures for financial success' is never talked of in the para

B

globaldesi · Answer

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students revealed that the plurality of students in an eastern, big-city, private university was liberal, whereas in a state-supported, southern college, the plurality was conservative. Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin, and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.

CR41661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

Two conclusions from passage above.

Factors such as university type, region play a role in political views
These view grow from junior to senior level.

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.  No dicussion for parents . hence out of scope 
B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college. Good option since its stated in the line "the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students". Lets keep it  
C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East. From south does not consider type of university university. Missing information 
D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations. Same as above there are others factors also. such as region 
E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success. No discussion for financial pressure. Out of scope 
IMO it should be B

willacethis · Answer

In this question, how are we sure that the political orientation is dependent on the experiences as mentioned in the correct option B?

Thanks!

kitipriyanka · Answer

aalakshaya : As the passage states in hypothesis 'Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin, and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.
'
So, any answer choice which infers the difference is due to location is incorrect.
Now think, what is it that separates seniors from beginners. It is the time duration that they have already spent in college and the experience that they have gained.
That's why B. 
Hope this answers your query.

KaranB1 · Answer

aalakshaya

We can infer the same by reading below excerpt of the prompt.

and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.

aggvipul · Answer

This is an Inference question.  Pls note that in Inference questions(as the name suggests) the goal is to find information from the answer choices that has to 100% compliant with the passage information. 
It must also to be noted that no layer of assumption has to be made in Inference question.

Premise- Comparison b/w students PO of south and east campuses; PO is independent of student's region of origin
Goal- Information from answer choices that is 100% compliant with the passage

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.-   No info. about parents in the passage  
B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.-  Bingo! this can be safely taken away from the passage as the passage mentions- PO "trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students" 
C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.-  Clearlr mentioned "Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin" in the argument 
D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.-  No such claim can be made with 100% certainty 
E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.-  No such claim can be made with 100% certainty

aggvipul · Answer

aggvipul · Answer

This is an Inference question.   Pls note that in Inference questions(as the name suggests) the goal is to find information from the answer choices that has to 100% compliant with the passage information. 
It must also to be noted that no layer of assumption has to be made in Inference question.

Premise- Comparison b/w students PO of south and east campuses; PO is independent of student's region of origin
Goal- Information from answer choices that is 100% compliant with the passage

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.-   No info. about parents in the passage  
B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.-   Bingo! this can be safely taken away from the passage as the passage mentions- PO "trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students"  
C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.-   Clearlr mentioned "Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin" in the argument  
D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.-   No such claim can be made with 100% certainty  
E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.-   No such claim can be made with 100% certainty

GMATNinja · Answer

Awesome that this has generated so much discussion! I'll throw in my two cents, just in case somebody finds it helpful.

Here's the thing: we don't have to be  sure  of anything! The questions asks, "Which of the following hypotheses is   best  supported  by the observations stated above?"

Since 1) "orientations were independent of the student's region of origin" and 2) "the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students", the data  seems  to indicate that "the political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college."

Do we know for sure that this is the case? No. Choice (B) makes the  most  sense, given the information in the passage, so it's the  best  answer.

energetics · Answer

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.
 -- out of scope because parents aren't mentioned anywhere, we can't make this comparison
 
  B. The political orientations of college seniors depend  significantly on experiences they have had while in college.  
 -- sounded iffy because it's a bit of stretch but all the other choices end up being way worse, this is the only thing we can infer from the argument.

C. A college senior  originally  from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior  originally from the East.
 -- prompt explicitly says "Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin" so this is completely wrong

D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is  the determining factor  in college students' political orientations.
 -- the strong language ruins it, it's not the only determining factor because the prompt also mentions the east vs. south as well as private vs. public difference, so there's 2 possible factors that contribute.

E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.
 -- this would be a common sense conclusion but it's out of scope

mba757 · Answer

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.
 This is a stretch. How do we know it’s not consistent (between freshman year to sophomore year)?

B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.
  Best of the lot. We know that oritentations were independent of the student’s region of ORIGIN and trends = more so in seniors (than in beginning students). The trend could be substantiated by the way the college experiences just shape you as a person.

C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.
 This seems to directly contradict the premise – “orientations were independent of the student’s region of origin

D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.
 Way too strong. “…is the determining factor”? There are too many qualifiers in the passage for this to be concluded.

E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.
 Chose this answer. However, this isn’t supported. This focuses narrowly on one side of the argument and brings in financial success (as a real-world answer trap).

Mrinalsingh13 · Answer

I was confused between B and D due to similar reasons only - no answer is 100% correct. So, the answer that makes the MOST sense to me was D. The reason everyone is giving for B is that political orientations are much more pronounced in college seniors - hence, experiences shape political orientations. However, my reasoning is - aren't these experiences tied to the college? Students can have various experiences, but doesn't the fact that colleges in the south tended to have students more leaning towards conservative than in the east and the fact that the origin of students DO NOT play a part in their orientation mean that it is indeed their COLLEGES which shape their political orientations? And that since the colleges differ in location - it surely plays a role in determining students' political orientations?

I get that location isn't the complete determining factor, but we have to find the answer that makes the most sense right? To me D made more sense than B. Can anyone correct my reasoning, please? Thanks!

GMATNinja · Answer

The passage directly contrasts  two  factors that differ between colleges with more liberal students and colleges with more conservative students. These factors are:

eastern vs. southern location 
 private vs. state suppoted

(D) singles out just  one  of these factors:
 
There's no indication that this element is " the  determining factor" in students' political orientations. It is just as likely that the other factor -- eastern vs. southern location -- is the most important element, or that a combination of the two elements is what truly determines students' political orientation.

Because (D) arbitrarily singles out one factor as "the" thing that determines political orientation, (D) is not supported by the information in the passage.

Compare that to (B):
 
Here, we get a much more broad statement -- political orientation depends significantly on "experiences" that student have in college. These experiences could be driven by any number of the factors listed in the passage. Because trends were more pronounced in seniors than in younger students, it's reasonable to say that something about the college experience impacts students' political orientation.

(B) is supported by the passage, and is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

kovid231 · Answer

Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the observations stated above?
 Q.Type: Inference
Solving strat: 99% True vs 100% True
Observation for Inference q. type: Entire passage is important since an inference can be drawn from any element and not just the conclusion.

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students revealed that the plurality of students in an eastern, big-city, private university was liberal, whereas in a state-supported, southern college, the plurality was conservative. Orientations were independent of the student's region of origin, and the trends were much more pronounced in seniors than in beginning students.

CR41661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

Eastern,big city, private university kids=Liberal
Southern college, state owned=conservative
Orientation independent of student's state of origin
Trends more pronounced in college seniors

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.
 Obvious NO. We know the orientation is independent of origin. 
B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.
 Maybe, let's keep it for now. We will look at this closely in the second pass, first pass is to remove obviously wrong q. 
C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.
 Let's keep it for now 
D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.
 Can't say that is the difference, we could have known this had there been comparisons given between both state owned and private colleges of both regions. Can't say this right now. 
E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.
 Confronted with pressures? - We don't know the reason. This is an easy one out.

Okay, so we are left with B and C. Let's look at them closely.

B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.

I can say this is 100 % true, since we know the orientation wasn't from origin it developed in college days and has been more pronounced in seniors, hence they probably witness something that shapes this.

C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.
 This was tempting for me as it uses the absolutely correct words, seniors from south, seniors from east. 
Seniors in colleges in south are conservative (is not =) All people in south are conservative. Same for people from East. 
Maybe it is just something that happens in colleges.

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. The political orientations of college students are more similar to the political orientations of their parents when the students start college than when the students are seniors.
This is absolutely irrelevant and have the slighest implication therefore out

B. The political orientations of college seniors depend significantly on experiences they have had while in college.
Since there is a chang induced while the students are in the college therefore it can only happen from the experience gained therefore let us hang on to it

C. A college senior originally from the South is more likely to be politically conservative than is a college senior originally from the East.
Region doesn't have any impact on the students therefore out

D. Whether their college is state-supported or private is the determining factor in college students' political orientations.
It is not a determinig factor therefore out

E. College students tend to become more conservative politically as they become older and are confronted with pressures for financial success.
THis is out of context reasoning therfore out

Therefore IMO B

jabhatta2 · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB   avigutman  ChiranjeevSingh   AnishPassi  
 - all 5 answers choices have flaws. So how to pick (B) over (A) ?

Below are my flaws regarding (B) - i see that (A) also has flaws too but i thought (B)'s flaws were much more eggregious.

(A) explains well  why students become more liberal or more conservative as they become seniors.   
  (B) i dont think really touched on why this shift happens specifically

jabhatta2 · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB   avigutman  ChiranjeevSingh   AnishPassi

Flaws of (B) per my understanding

Lets say -

big-city, private collegs=  Harvard, Yale, Boston Unversity  
state-supported, southern college =  Texas A&M / Florida College/ South carolina College

Flaw 1  
(B) says the orientation of seniors depend on experiences they had while in college.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Flaw 2

Flaw 3   If you select (b) - you are being asked to believe

What 'experiences' could be SO DIFFERENT at  yale / harvard/ boston  vs  texas A&M / Florida U/ South carolina  university THAT students become MORE LIBERAL in the first case but more conservative in the second case ? What are some examples ?

We all have gone to college / univeristy -- is your experience at University X really so different than my experience at University Y ?

We are students at the end of the day. All universities have a set format -- classroom teaching or practicals followed up by examinations.

What could be SO FUNDAMENTALLY different.

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students reveal

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Studies of the political orientations of 1,055 college students reveal

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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