Critical Reasoning

Vocational centers sponsored by federal programs have proven to be ineffective, unsuccessful, and too costly, and should be discontinued. These programs, designed for disadvantaged young people aged 16-20 and entering the workforce, have been administered in nearly all 50 states. The main goal of these programs is to train and place young men and women in primarily blue-collar and clerical positions

Which of the following, if true, most forcefully undermines the conclusion above?

A) A large percentage of the graduates of these vocational centers have ended up in jail or on welfare.

B) The federal government has an obligation to aid impoverished, uneducated, and disadvantaged people in our society.

C) The cost per person in these centers is less per year than for a federal prisoner or welfare recipient, and the skills learned are valuable for many professions.

D) Training young people for blue-collar positions is more costly than providing free tuition for them at state universities for four years.

E) These same government programs should be made available to all young people regardless of economic status




OA C

Please cite reasons for choosing/rejecting each answer choice and please do not see the OA before you're done answering.

Source: BTG questions

Where is the question here?

No question here? And B,C and D,E look identical

Mohit bhai...
Sawal to likho!!

adi_800 wrote:Mohit bhai...
Sawal to likho!!

oops. - Edited the post

I would have thought B

C) The cost per person in these centers is less per year than for a federal prisoner or welfare recipient, and the skills learned are valuable for many professions.

While C weakens the conclusion (which is that the prog needs to be discontinued), it draws a comparison of these disadvantaged people with "prisoners" and "welfare recipients" in a very stereotypical and offensive way...

There seems nothing in the passage to warrant this comparison, while the answer seems to be based on this comparison to say that look at least the vocational prog is cheaper than handling these people in jail or giving them welfare... and these scum also pick up additional skills to boot!

Why should we think that way?

gmat1011 wrote:I would have thought B

C) The cost per person in these centers is less per year than for a federal prisoner or welfare recipient, and the skills learned are valuable for many professions.

While C weakens the conclusion (which is that the prog needs to be discontinued), it draws a comparison of these disadvantaged people with "prisoners" and "welfare recipients" in a very stereotypical and offensive way...

There seems nothing in the passage to warrant this comparison, while the answer seems to be based on this comparison to say that look at least the vocational prog is cheaper than handling these people in jail or giving them welfare... and these scum also pick up additional skills to boot!

Why should we think that way?

That's what i thought, some of these BTG questions are weird.

mohit11 wrote:

gmat1011 wrote:I would have thought B

C) The cost per person in these centers is less per year than for a federal prisoner or welfare recipient, and the skills learned are valuable for many professions.

While C weakens the conclusion (which is that the prog needs to be discontinued), it draws a comparison of these disadvantaged people with "prisoners" and "welfare recipients" in a very stereotypical and offensive way...

There seems nothing in the passage to warrant this comparison, while the answer seems to be based on this comparison to say that look at least the vocational prog is cheaper than handling these people in jail or giving them welfare... and these scum also pick up additional skills to boot!

Why should we think that way?

That's what i thought, some of these BTG questions are weird.

'C' weakens the conclusion best by touching upon the cost factor. None of the other choices weaken the conclusion at all. 'B' only talks about obligation but does not talks about the effectiveness of the program or about the cost. Choose 'C'.

Conclusion : Vocational centers sponsored by federal programs have proven to be ineffective, unsuccessful, and too costly, and should be discontinued

C undermines the conclusion by hitting cost factor.

It also mentioned that skills learned are valuable for many professions. This makes program effective and successful.