“On the whole,” Ms. Dennis remarked, “engineering students are lazier

Question

“On the whole,” Ms. Dennis remarked, “engineering students are lazier now than they used to be. I know because fewer and fewer of my students regularly do the work they are
assigned.”

Ms. Dennis’ conclusion depends on which of the following assumptions?

A. Engineering students are working less because, in a booming market, they are spending more and more time investigating different job opportunities.

B. Whether or not students do the work they are assigned is a good indication of how lazy they are.

C. Engineering students should work harder than students in less demanding fields.

D. Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms. Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was.

E. Laziness is something most people do not outgrow.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The conclusion that engineering students are lazier now than they used to be does not follow from the stated observation that fewer and fewer of Ms. Dennis’ students regularly do the work they are assigned. In fact, the conclusion is not in any way supported by the reported observation unless it is also true that failure to do the assigned work indicates laziness. That latter proposition must therefore be one of the tacit assumptions underlying the conclusion.  B best expresses this assumption and is thus the correct answer.

A is incorrect. Ms. Dennis concludes that her students are lazy on the basis of what she sees as a consequence of that laziness. This choice suggests a cause of that laziness. But Ms. Dennis does not have to make any assumptions about the causes of that laziness in order to draw her conclusion. C is also incorrect. This comparison between the work demands on engineering students and those on other students is irrelevant to the question of whether the work habits of engineering students have changed over time. The fourth answer choice is incorrect. If Ms. Dennis believed that the reason for her own students’ decreasing performance was her own declining effectiveness, she would not think of her students as exemplifying trends among engineering students in general. The last answer choice is also incorrect. Whether laziness is outgrown is irrelevant to the question of whether work habits of engineering students have changed over time.

piyatiwari · Answer

B is right.

Conclusion relates not doing assigned work to being lazy. This is our assumption.

a. Engineering students are working less because, in a booming market, they are spending more and more time investigating different job opportunities. >> Maybe reasoning behind the conclusion. Not an assumption.

b. Whether or not students do the work they are assigned is a good indication of how lazy they are. >> Correct.

c. Engineering students should work harder than students in less demanding fields.>> Out of scope

d. Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms. Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was. >>> Again,, not an assumption

e. Laziness is something most people do not outgrow. >> Out of scope

tuanquang269 · Answer

It is long time for me to study GMAT. In this case, the professor considered the result of task assigned to students is the good indicator of how lazy the students are. Even the student work hard in other field, but they still do not complete the tasks assigned by the professor, the students still be categorized as lazy ones.

TGC · Answer

Premise: Fewer are doing the work that is assigned to them
Conclusion: They are lazier than they used to be in past.

(A).With or without this conclusion holds as it is.
(B). This Evaluates the argument,how it has been considered as an assumption
(C). OOS (out of scope)
(D). This options weakens argument and provides alternative reasons of not doing assigned work
(E). OOS

Fellas,

Plz justify the OA, and how you reached to OA.Plz pour in your line of reasoning.

POE Plz

Rgds,
saurabh

egmat · Answer

Dear Saurabh,

Please find the analysis below:

Conclusion:  The author's conclusion is that "student's are getting lazy"
 Supporting fact:  This conclusion is based on the fact that fewer students are doing the work on time.

Hence what is the assumption: Turning work late is an indication of laziness. If this is not true, then the conclusion breaks down. Because, if turning work late is not an indication of laziness them the author has no reason to conclude that student's are getting lazy.

On another note, Evaluate and assumption answer choices are twins. An evaluate answer choice is based on an assumption.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Free-Session-button.png

TGC · Answer

I got your point,however the OA just evaluates the argument by saying "whether or not".

If the answer to it is Yes/No it either strengthens it or weakens it , now where does assumption came into picture !!!

Rgds,
Saurabh

krrish · Answer

my take:

A : L non relevant 
B: i dint understand this properly so holding this. 
C: Looser : 
D: we cant assume this. 
E: OOS
 B is the only option left, so i have taken this B

ppskc1989 · Answer

Let us look at the options.

Option A :  Engineering students are working less because, in a booming market, they are spending more and more time investigating different job opportunities.
 Nothing is actually mentioned in the argument on how engineering students spend their time.
 Hence Option A is incorrect.

Option B :  Whether or not students do the work they are assigned is a good indication of how lazy they are.
 Ms. Dennis seems to conclude about the laziness of engineering students by observing the change in the number of students who do the assigned work regularly.
  Option B is correct .

Option C :  Engineering students should work harder than students in less demanding fields.
 Nothing about "less demanding fields" has been mentioned. Irrelevant.
 Option C is incorrect.

Option D :  Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms. Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was.
 This can be a reason for the decrease in the number of students who complete their assigned work regularly. However, this is not the assumption made by Ms. Dennis. 
 Hence Option D is incorrect.

Option E:  Laziness is something most people do not outgrow. 
 This too is not the assumption made in drawing the conclusion.
 Hence Option E is incorrect.

So Option B is the correct answer.

VerbalBot · Answer

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“On the whole,” Ms. Dennis remarked, “engineering students are lazier

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“On the whole,” Ms. Dennis remarked, “engineering students are lazier

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