Logical reasoning PrepTest 129 · Section 3 · Question 1

Correct. Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Top students—Worked, early classes, no social lives
Bottom students—No jobs, early classes, social lives

Answer Anticipation:
This question asks us to explain the different grades found by two groups of students. Both groups had early classes—so that piece of information is unlikely to lead to an explanation—but two differences are highlighted. The group that did well in history classes worked but didn't have social lives, whereas the group that did poorly didn't work and had active social lives. The correct answer should therefore connect the different ways these students spend their time outside of class to how they perform in class.

Answer Explanation:
If students who lose study time because of work tend to find other time to study, whereas students who lose study time to parties don't, then that would explain how the working group ended up with better grades than the others—they studied more.

Key Takeaway:
Paradox questions will frequently highlight different outcomes between two groups or scenarios and ask you to explain that discrepancy. A correct answer will have to bring up a relevant difference to explain the outcomes.

Incorrect. This answer doesn't connect to grades at all, so it's out of scope. At best, it suggests that the working group would be tired for their morning classes—certainly not the best way to learn!

Incorrect. Both groups of students—those who did well and those who didn't—were in early history classes, so this answer doesn't highlight a difference between the groups. Additionally, there's no indication that those early history classes were chosen by either group.

Incorrect. First, this answer contrasts the students with part-time jobs to those with full-time jobs, whereas the paradox compared students with any type of jobs to those who didn't work. Second, ignoring that, this answer requires making a jump between those majoring in a class and those doing well in the class.

Incorrect. While this answer choice provides an explanation for why students with part-time jobs might do better in class, it doesn't explain the positive performance of those students with full-time jobs. Even for the part-time students, in not comparing them to the non-working students' stress levels, this doesn't really provide an explanation—after all, having an active social life could very easily provide release from stress, as well.