Logical reasoning PrepTest 127 · Section 1 · Question 23

Question prompt

Columnist: Even if the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Goal - Get graduates jobs
Approach 1 - Technical training for a particular job
Approach 2 - Teach liberal arts
Liberal arts teaches reasoning skills that help people adapt to jobs they don’t have training for
Conclusion - Universities should focus on Approach 2 and not Approach 1

Answer Anticipation

This argument has two features for us to explore - the goal/approach structure, and the comparison in the conclusion. The former helped us with our Summary and understanding of the argument itself; the latter is going to help us with our analysis of the logic and the anticipation of the correct answer.
When an argument reaches a conclusion that compares two approaches (and recommends one over the other), the premises need to establish two things. First, it needs to establish the criteria by which the comparison will be made. Second, it needs to talk about those criteria for both approaches.
Here, the stimulus does establish the relevant criterion - universities should make students employable. That’s the goal the conclusion is conditioned on, so the premises do establish that employability is the key criterion.
However, it doesn’t fully dive into and compare that criterion for the two approaches.
What do we learn about the approaches and how they line up with employability? Well, we learn that technical training is narrow and prepares someone for a particular job. That seems to line up with the goal quite well, actually! We don’t learn if the broader liberal arts do any particular job training, however.
We also learn that the liberal arts teach reasoning skills that allow someone to adapt to different jobs. But it isn’t established that technical training doesn’t do this. If technical training also teaches reasoning skills, then this benefit is a wash and doesn’t help to establish liberal arts as superior.
Since the comparison on the criterion is incomplete, the correct answer in this Strengthen question will likely address that. Any answer that talks about any of the noted benefits of the given approaches or that establishes one as being a better way to prep people for jobs could strengthen this argument.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It is better for Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The argument is conditioned on universities setting up their students as employable, and there’s no indication that liberal arts provides a better “education” than technical training, so this answer falls between cutting against the argument and being out of scope.
  2. B
    Many people with narrow Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer is too weak to affect the argument (“Many people”), but even if it were stronger, it would argue for technical training instead of a liberal arts education.
  3. C
    Having a series of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    How interesting someone’s working life is is out of scope - employability is related to the ability to get a job, not the ability to be interested in one’s work.
  4. D
    Having a general understanding Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    What’s more “important” is out of scope - what makes one more employable is the relevant consideration.
  5. E
    Technical training does not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    This answer establishes that the noted benefit to employability of a liberal arts education isn’t present in technical training, thus strengthening the argument that a liberal arts education is superior.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 9%
  5. E Credited 80%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

View all discussions Start a discussion