Bored by History

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Bored by History

by italian7745 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:43 am
Most students are bored by history courses as they are usually taught, primarily because a large amount of time is spent teaching dates and statistic. The best way to teach history, therefore, is to spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures and very little on dates and statistics.

Each of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends EXCEPT:

(A) One should avoid boring one's students when teaching a history course.

(B) It is not incompatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend very little class time on dates and statistics.

(C) It is possible to recount the lives of historical figures without referring to dates and statistics.

(D) It is compatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures.

(E) Students are more bored by history courses as they are usually taught than they would be by courses that spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by tanviet » Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:04 am
b, c, d, e are defender assumption and so incorrect.

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Re: Bored by History

by oagostinho » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:06 am
italian7745 wrote:Most students are bored by history courses as they are usually taught, primarily because a large amount of time is spent teaching dates and statistic. The best way to teach history, therefore, is to spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures and very little on dates and statistics.

Each of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends EXCEPT:

(A) One should avoid boring one's students when teaching a history course.

(B) It is not incompatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend very little class time on dates and statistics.

(C) It is possible to recount the lives of historical figures without referring to dates and statistics.

(D) It is compatible with the attainable goals of teaching history to spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures.

(E) Students are more bored by history courses as they are usually taught than they would be by courses that spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures.
IMO A.

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by pandeyvineet24 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:47 am
A for me.

For options (B) & D,
Since teachers concluded that best way to teach is either to spend less time on dates & statistics (option B) or to spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures (option D), therefore these 2 options align with attainable goals of teaching history

(C) It is possible to recount the lives of historical figures without referring to dates and statistics. - This is an underlying assumption in the argument.


(E) Students are more bored by history courses as they are usually taught than they would be by courses that spend most class time recounting the lives of historical figures. - Argument clearly states this as a reason fot changing the strategy of teaching history

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by gmatmachoman » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:27 am
Vote for A

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vote for A too

by n_niaz » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:33 am
seems kinda straighforward

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by sbasha » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:38 am
its A , cool
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by mehravikas » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:41 pm
IMO - A

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by umaa » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:28 pm
IMO A. Yes... Its a straight forward question.
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by italian7745 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:08 pm
OA is not A...anyone else ?????

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by arorag » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:16 pm
its B....

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by Sher1 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:23 pm
I think E is the best answer as it provides a generalized statement rather than an assumption. All other choices seem to be related to the topic.

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by scoobydooby » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:48 pm
would go for C

the passage advocates more time on recounting lives of historical figures and less time on dates/statistics. it doesnt say no (without=no) time on statistics. so C need not be assumed.

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by Nee-Mania Vidic » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:23 pm
so whats the damnnn OA? :D

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by Musicolo » Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:23 pm
I was gonna go for A as it does seem streightforward question. If it is not A, could you tell us what the source of this question is?