An e-GMAT Question - Advisor: The government of city of Benz

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Hello Everyone,

Here's a question from the e-GMAT bakery. I hope you enjoy solving it :)

Advisor: The government of city of Benzaria should discontinue the requirement from all schools to provide video recordings of classroom sessions to the students. The costs implications to maintain such a facility is quite significant for the schools. On the other hand, the benefit is non-existent as can be seen from the fact that since the implementation of the plan, the difference in the test score of students in Benzaria and that of students in Karamal hasn't come down even though Karamal hasn't implemented this program.

Critique: I disagree. The implementation of the program in Benzaria has forced the government in Karamal to maintain better school standards in order to compete with Benzaria for federal government funds that are allocated on the basis of the average student test scores in the city.

Which of the following statements is an assumption underlying the Critique's argument?

A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors.
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools.
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions

Thanks,
Chiranjeev
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by mathrupradeep » Wed May 21, 2014 6:54 pm
A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors. Out of scope
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools. Looks good
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions Out of scope
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students Sounds some what close
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions I think not related

Looks like answer is B

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by e-GMAT » Wed May 21, 2014 7:15 pm
mathrupradeep wrote:A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors. Out of scope
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools. Looks good
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions Out of scope
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students Sounds some what close
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions I think not related

Looks like answer is B
Hi,

Good attempt! It seems you could shortlist your options to 2 (B and D) and ultimately chose B.

I would suggest that you re-look at these two options.

An assumption is a required statement for the argument to hold. Do you think the critique's argument will not hold if option B were not true?

Looking forward to your reply :)

Thanks,
Chiranjeev

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by kinji@BTG » Sat May 24, 2014 11:03 am
e-GMAT wrote:Hello Everyone,

Here's a question from the e-GMAT bakery. I hope you enjoy solving it :)

Advisor: The government of city of Benzaria should discontinue the requirement from all schools to provide video recordings of classroom sessions to the students. The costs implications to maintain such a facility is quite significant for the schools. On the other hand, the benefit is non-existent as can be seen from the fact that since the implementation of the plan, the difference in the test score of students in Benzaria and that of students in Karamal hasn't come down even though Karamal hasn't implemented this program.

Critique: I disagree. The implementation of the program in Benzaria has forced the government in Karamal to maintain better school standards in order to compete with Benzaria for federal government funds that are allocated on the basis of the average student test scores in the city.

Which of the following statements is an assumption underlying the Critique's argument?

A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors.
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools.
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions

Thanks,
Chiranjeev


A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors.
- This is not even mentioned in Critique's argument
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools.
- Not the assumption in Critique's argument - Negation of the statement is the assumption of Advisor's argument
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions
- This is not what Critique is saying
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students
- This is the assumption on which Critique's argument is based on - Hence Correct.
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions
- Out of scope

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by Kamal2014 » Fri May 30, 2014 12:07 am
Hi,
Does negating option B really affect the argument? I feel the answer is D . The reason being the statement of the critic which says that the Federal funds are allocated based on the avg student test scores in the city. B completely neglects this point. D is the only option which supports this point by saying that the scores have increased in Karamal city. Please do clarify

Thanks in advance!
e-GMAT wrote:
mathrupradeep wrote:A. The requirement of recording classroom sessions have led the schools in Benzaria to hire better quality instructors. Out of scope
B. Test scores are not the only way to compare student performance across different schools. Looks good
C. Student test scores in Benzaria cannot be increased significantly without the requirement on the schools to video record the classroom sessions Out of scope
D. The better school standards in the city of Karamal have led to better test scores for its students Sounds some what close
E. The student attendance in the classrooms in Benzaria hasn't decreased after the introduction of the requirement to video record classroom sessions I think not related

Looks like answer is B
Hi,

Good attempt! It seems you could shortlist your options to 2 (B and D) and ultimately chose B.

I would suggest that you re-look at these two options.

An assumption is a required statement for the argument to hold. Do you think the critique's argument will not hold if option B were not true?

Looking forward to your reply :)

Thanks,
Chiranjeev

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by appy_fizz » Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:30 am
The main arguement of the critique is that he completly disagrees with the fact that the students of the state Benzaria have not benefitted. There must be some evidence as a result of which he is saying so and the evidence he quotes is the fact that " the schools of the other mentioned state has maintained their better standards as a result of which the GAP between the scores is maintained. If the standard of the schools in the state of Karamal would not have been good then how come they will still compete with the students of Benzaria?

Hence the answer in my opinion should be D.