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Class homework

by ssgmatter » Thu May 13, 2010 8:44 am
Educational Theorist: Recent editorials have called for limits on the amount
of homework assigned to children. They point out that free-time activities
play an important role in childhood development and that large amounts of
homework reduce children’s free time, hindering their development. But the average homework time for a ten year old, for example, is little more than 30 minutes per night. Clearly, therefore, there is no need to impose the limits these editorials are calling for.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the educational theorist’s
argument relies?

A. The free-time activities that ten year olds engage in most are all
approximately equally effective at fostering development

B. Regularly doing homework assignments improves children’s academic
performance.

C. Individual teachers are not the best judges of how much homework to
assign the children they teach

D. In most schools, if not all, the homework assignments given are of a
length that does not diverge widely from the average.

E. Free-time activities rarely teach children skills or information that they
can use in their academic work

Why A is not the correct or the wrong option here?......Any explanations????
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Amit
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by analyst218 » Thu May 13, 2010 12:17 pm
ssgmatter wrote:Educational Theorist: Recent editorials have called for limits on the amount
of homework assigned to children. They point out that free-time activities
play an important role in childhood development and that large amounts of
homework reduce children’s free time, hindering their development. But the average homework time for a ten year old, for example, is little more than 30 minutes per night. Clearly, therefore, there is no need to impose the limits these editorials are calling for.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the educational theorist’s
argument relies?

A. The free-time activities that ten year olds engage in most are all
approximately equally effective at fostering development

B. Regularly doing homework assignments improves children’s academic
performance.

C. Individual teachers are not the best judges of how much homework to
assign the children they teach

D. In most schools, if not all, the homework assignments given are of a
length that does not diverge widely from the average.

E. Free-time activities rarely teach children skills or information that they
can use in their academic work

Why A is not the correct or the wrong option here?......Any explanations????
because the argument is not abt the effectiveness of free time but rather the length.
if one student spends 10 mins doing HW and another spends 1 hour. then the avg length of 30 mins on which the argument is based on is no longer held true.

OA. D..
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by paddle_sweep » Fri May 14, 2010 9:52 pm
I don't get how 'D' is the answer.
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by bupbebeo » Fri May 14, 2010 10:29 pm
ssgmatter wrote:Educational Theorist: Recent editorials have called for limits on the amount
of homework assigned to children. They point out that free-time activities
play an important role in childhood development and that large amounts of
homework reduce children’s free time, hindering their development. But the average homework time for a ten year old, for example, is little more than 30 minutes per night. Clearly, therefore, there is no need to impose the limits these editorials are calling for.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the educational theorist’s
argument relies?

A. The free-time activities that ten year olds engage in most are all
approximately equally effective at fostering development

B. Regularly doing homework assignments improves children’s academic
performance.

C. Individual teachers are not the best judges of how much homework to
assign the children they teach

D. In most schools, if not all, the homework assignments given are of a
length that does not diverge widely from the average.

E. Free-time activities rarely teach children skills or information that they
can use in their academic work

Why A is not the correct or the wrong option here?......Any explanations????
assumption is unstated premises, without which a conclusion will become invalid.

educational theorist argue that because children spend only average 30 minutes per day ( small amount ) to study. Therefore, no need to impose limits.

Now, let consider the answer choice D. if there is a divergence from average, for example, some children study 5 minutes per day, others learn 5 hour per day. As you can see, then student spend 5 hours to study will have no time to play if we don't impose a limit. Here, the theorist assumes that no divergence from average. It means that most students learn around 30 minutes per day ( tiny amount of time ). In conclusion, without the assumption as stated in D, the conclusion can't be valid.


Let consider answer A. do you see, without A, do you think the conclusion will be invalid. absolutely not. therefore, A cannot be a assumption.
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Dec 15, 2016 4:19 am
ssgmatter wrote:Educational Theorist: Recent editorials have called for limits on the amount
of homework assigned to children. They point out that free-time activities
play an important role in childhood development and that large amounts of
homework reduce children’s free time, hindering their development. But the average homework time for a ten year old, for example, is little more than 30 minutes per night. Clearly, therefore, there is no need to impose the limits these editorials are calling for.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the educational theorist’s
argument relies?

A. The free-time activities that ten year olds engage in most are all
approximately equally effective at fostering development

B. Regularly doing homework assignments improves children’s academic
performance.

C. Individual teachers are not the best judges of how much homework to
assign the children they teach

D. In most schools, if not all, the homework assignments given are of a
length that does not diverge widely from the average.

E. Free-time activities rarely teach children skills or information that they
can use in their academic work

Why A is not the correct or the wrong option here?......Any explanations????
I received a PM regarding answer choice A.

Apply the NEGATION TEST.
When the correct answer choice is negated, the conclusion will be invalidated.

A, negated:
The free-time activities that ten year olds engage in most are not all
approximately equally effective at fostering development.
This negation seems to weaken the PREMISE that free-time activities
play an important role in childhood development.
A premise is a FACT; it cannot be weakened.
Eliminate A.

D, negated:
In most schools, if not all, the homework assignments given are of a
length that diverges widely from the average.
This negation invalidates the conclusion that there is no need to impose limits on the amount of homework assigned to children.
Since the negation of D invalidates the conclusion, D is an assumption: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to hold.

The correct answer is D.
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