Critical Reasoning

BTGmoderatorRO wrote:According to a recent research study, more than 90% percent of graduates of private high schools in a certain county continue their education in college. By contrast, only 65% of graduates of public high schools subsequently pursue college education. Therefore, if parents in the county wish to increase the likelihood that their children will attend college, they should send them to private rather than public schools.

Which of the following statements would most seriously weaken the argument above?

(A) Graduates of private schools typically score higher on standardized tests and other tests of academic achievement.

(B) While private schools are typically very expensive, attendance of public school is free for the residents of the county.

(C) In comparison with graduates of private schools, a substantially greater proportion of public school graduates receive need-based financial aid for their college education.

(D) In comparison with private schools, public schools provide more opportunities for student involvement in sports and other athletic activities, which almost always increase the likelihood of students' acceptance to colleges.

(E) Since most public schools are located in rural areas of the county populated primarily by farmers, nearly 30% of students from public high schools choose to pursue farming occupations rather than apply to colleges.

OA is e

why is Option E preferred to option D as the correct answer here?

I am happy to help. Firstly, let us deconstruct the argument into its premises and conclusion.

Premise: 90% of the graduates of private high schools go on to pursue college education; only 65% of public high school graduates go on to pursue college education

Conclusion: Parents should send their kids to private schools if they want to increase the likelihood that their children will attend college.

A good way to weaken this argument would be to say that it's irrelevant whichever school type the parents send their children to. In other words, we want the correct answer to say that even if parents sent their children to private high schools, the likelihood of these children going on to attend college would remain the same (65%)

A and B are completely out of scope - the students' grades and/or the fees of a particular school type is irrelevant. Eliminate these.

C. In comparison with graduates of private schools, a substantially greater proportion of public school graduates receive need-based financial aid for their college education - Interesting to know, but even after receiving more need-based financial aid, the proportion of public high school grads going on to pursue college education is still a lowly 65%. INCORRECT

D. In comparison with private schools, public schools provide more opportunities for student involvement in sports and other athletic activities, which almost always increase the likelihood of students' acceptance to colleges - Same as C. Even if public high schools increase the students' likelihood for getting accepted into accepted, the fact of the matter is that only 65% of such students go on to pursue college degrees. INCORRECT

E. Since most public schools are located in rural areas of the county populated primarily by farmers, nearly 30% of students from public high schools choose to pursue farming occupations rather than apply to colleges - CORRECT. This options shatters the correlation between students attending private high schools and likelihood of going on to pursue college education by telling us about some specific factors unique to the geography of the county, resulting in the students of these public schools not applying to colleges. In other words, even if we sent these students to private high schools, they still would end up pursuing farming occupations since the county is populated primarily by farmers. Therefore, the school type is irrelevant, and sending these students to private high schools wouldn't result in an increased probability of them getting accepted to colleges.

Hence, E is the best answer.

Please let me know in case anything doesn't make sense.