Calling LR geniuses.....................you know who you are!

[ChiGirl]

Ok, I'm annoyed here. (A) is the correct answer but I chose (E).

The reforms to improve the quality of public education that have been initiated on the part of suppliers of public education have been insufficient. Therefore, reforms must be demanded by consumers. Parents should be given government vouchers with which to pay for their children's education and should be allowed to choose the schools at which the vouchers will be spent. To attract students, academically underachieving schools will be forced to improve their academic offerings.

The argument assumes that

(A) in selecting schools parents would tend to prefer a reasonable level of academic quality to greater sports opportunities or more convenient location.
(B) improvement in the academic offerings of schools will be enforced by the discipline of the job market in which graduating students compete
(C) there is a single best way to educate students
(D) children are able to recognize which schools are better & would influence their parents' decisions
(E) schools would each improve all of their acacdemic offerings & would not tend to specialize in 1 particular field to the exclusion of others.

I was able to easily cross off B, C & D.

But when I found out (A) was the right answer, I was like what??   Where did sports opportunities & a more convenient location even come from??! There's no hint of that in the stimulus! How do we even know what the parents of these kids want. We just know that they can choose their kids school w/these gov't vouchers!

I realized I struggled w/this when I corrected my answers & I was writing reasons for the correct & incorrect answers. When I came to this one, I was blank on reasons.

Help please!

[CLSHopeful]

Ok, I'm annoyed here. (A) is the correct answer but I chose (E).

The reforms to improve the quality of public education that have been initiated on the part of suppliers of public education have been insufficient. Therefore, reforms must be demanded by consumers. Parents should be given government vouchers with which to pay for their children's education and should be allowed to choose the schools at which the vouchers will be spent. To attract students, academically underachieving schools will be forced to improve their academic offerings.

The argument assumes that

(A) in selecting schools parents would tend to prefer a reasonable level of academic quality to greater sports opportunities or more convenient location.
(B) improvement in the academic offerings of schools will be enforced by the discipline of the job market in which graduating students compete
(C) there is a single best way to educate students
(D) children are able to recognize which schools are better & would influence their parents' decisions
(E) schools would each improve all of their acacdemic offerings & would not tend to specialize in 1 particular field to the exclusion of others.

I was able to easily cross off B, C & D.

But when I found out (A) was the right answer, I was like what??   Where did sports opportunities & a more convenient location even come from??! There's no hint of that in the stimulus! How do we even know what the parents of these kids want. We just know that they can choose their kids school w/these gov't vouchers!

I realized I struggled w/this when I corrected my answers & I was writing reasons for the correct & incorrect answers. When I came to this one, I was blank on reasons.

Help please!

This is a "Necessary" question. The bold sentence is the conclusion. The stimulus reads educational reform initiated by educators failed. So now it's up to the parents to tell government where the money should be spent. Conclusion reads because schools will want the parents to support them, it will force those lowly schools to improve. Which means, it's necessary that parents will not pick school based on non-academic areas, like sports competitiveness of schools. Author assumes parents are concerned primarily with academic education.

If you negate A, it will destroy the conclusion. So A is the right answer.

[blairchuckalways]

^^ Exactly. Just remember with assumption questions (necessary assumption questions, that's for you Lind) to always always check your answer by logically negating it and seeing if it destroys the conclusion. If it doesn't, go back through and find the one that does. Key to assumption questions -- conclusion conclusion conclusion.

[ChiGirl]

Makes sense! Thank you guys.  And girls.

How do you know that it's a necessary assumption Q? I mean I know with words like "required," "depends upon," and so forth- it's obvious but how about w/this question stem?

[CLSHopeful]

Makes sense! Thank you guys.  And girls.

How do you know that it's a necessary assumption Q? I mean I know with words like "required," "depends upon," and so forth- it's obvious but how about w/this question stem?

it asks what the author is assuming. In other words, author doesn't state what the assumption is but expects you to understand his/her position without explicitly expressing it. Like if i said "I'm going to ace the LSAT on saturday," im also implying the assumption that i won't get sick, get lost on the way, or whatever to be there. It's necessary that I don't get lost, because if I get lost on the way to LSAT, im not going to ace the LSAT. so the implication is assumed. It's my unstated assumption.

[Lindbergh]

Yeah, the author here feels that Parent choice will force schools to improve academically, but that only follows if parents care about academics over location, sports, etc.  If parents care more about spots, location, etc., then school may not have to improve academics at all.

And when they ask what the author is assuming, they're not asking for what would be enough (Sufficient) to make the conclusion follow -- because after all, there may be many things that would be enough to make the conclusion follow.  They're rather asking what specifically the author must be assuming -- what needs to be assumed -- for the conclusion to work.

[ChiGirl]

Oh thank you guys!!!

I have another one that's been troubling me......would you mind??

I just don't want to wear out my welcome.

[Lindbergh]

Oh thank you guys!!!

I have another one that's been troubling me......would you mind??

I just don't want to wear out my welcome.

The worst they can do is say no.

[ChiGirl]

Actually the question was directed at you too Brad Pitt.

Oh thank you guys!!!

I have another one that's been troubling me......would you mind??

I just don't want to wear out my welcome.

The worst they can do is say no.

[Lindbergh]

Actually the question was directed at you too Brad Pitt.

Oh thank you guys!!!

I have another one that's been troubling me......would you mind??

I just don't want to wear out my welcome.

The worst they can do is say no.

Just post it already!!!