PrepTest 120

Incorrect. This answer provides an alternative explanation—it's not that interest has gone down, it's that fewer people are reporting data. If there are fewer schools reporting, that would bring the number down even if applicants were stable.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Bizarro Weaken

Stimulus Summary:
Phenomenon - Applicants for art history Ph.D.s has gone down each of the last 4 years
Explanation - There's declining interest in art history careers over the past 4 years

Answer Anticipation:
This argument falls into a common pattern—the Phenomenon/Explanation pattern. It brings up a phenomenon—the decline in applicants for a specific program. It then concludes an explanation—a decline in interest in art history careers.

When a Weaken question has an argument that falls into this pattern, the correct answers generally deal with alternative explanations. To weaken the argument, they should raise alternative explanations. Let's head down to the answers and find the four that do this, or provide evidence against the provided explanation.

Answer Explanation:
The age of the applicants has nothing inherent to do with the reasons that people are or aren't applying for that degree, so this answer is out of scope and thus is correct in this Bizarro question.

Key Takeaway:
When a Weaken question has a stimulus that falls into the Phenomenon/Explanation pattern, expect answers about alternative explanations!

Incorrect. If the data is suspect, then it's not even clear there is a phenomenon to explain, and thus any explanation for it is suspect. As such, this answer weakens the argument.

Incorrect. This answer suggests an alternative explanation for the decline in applications. It's not that there's less of an interest in art history jobs, it's just that employers are hiring people for those jobs without a Ph.D.

Incorrect. If the decline in applicants is coming from foreign applicants, then the conclusion about North Americans might not hold. It could be that they are applying for these programs at the same rate (and the overall decline is due to foreign applicants), so interest in art history jobs could be just as strong as ever among that group.