Critical Reasoning

Nursing schools cannot attract a greater number of able applicants than they currently do unless the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are solved. If the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level, either the profession will have to lower its entrance standards, or there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses. It is not certain, however, that lowering entrance standards will avert a shortage. It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards of the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained.

Which one of the following can be property inferred from the passage?
(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently does.
(B) The nursing profession will have to lower its entrance standards if the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level.
(C) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, high quality health care will be maintained.
(D) If the nursing profession fails to solve the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses.
(E) The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are no solved.

OA - D

Source - Aristotle CR / LSAT

IMO E

IN a fix between A and E then saw option A literally para phrases the first stmt of the passage.

g000fy wrote:Nursing schools cannot attract a greater number of able applicants than they currently do unless the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are solved. If the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level, either the profession will have to lower its entrance standards, or there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses. It is not certain, however, that lowering entrance standards will avert a shortage. It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards of the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained.

Which one of the following can be property inferred from the passage?
(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently does.
(B) The nursing profession will have to lower its entrance standards if the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level.
(C) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, high quality health care will be maintained.
(D) If the nursing profession fails to solve the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses.
(E) The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are no solved.

Source - Aristotle CR / LSAT

E too

IMO it is E.

Here a close look at If and either or statements is needed to arrive at the answer.

Guys, the OA is D

I looked this question up and the correct answer is indeed E.

The final sentence makes this happen. "It is clear that with either a shortage of nurses or lowered entrance standards of the profession, the current high quality of health care cannot be maintained."

Answer Choice E says, "The current high quality of health care will not be maintained if the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions in the nursing profession are not solved." This is pretty much the same thing!

Let me just mention something about answer choice A...

Remember that this question is about eliminating the answer choices that could be false.

Choice A says, "(A) If the nursing profession solves the problems of low wages and high-stress working conditions, it will attract able applicants in greater numbers than it currently does."

This is not actually what the stimulus says. Choice A focuses on the fact that if you do solve the problems then good things will happen, but the stimulus says that if you do not solve the problem bad things will happen - "If the pool of able applicants to nursing school does not increase beyond the current level, either the profession will have to lower its entrance standards, or there will soon be an acute shortage of nurses." This does not mean that if the pool of applicants is increased that good things will happen.

It is like this -- if you do not take the GMAT you do not go to Business school (this is what the stimulus is saying) versus if you do take the GMAT you will go to Business school (this is answer choice A).

Was a nice explanation . Says opp is not true always right ??

I think A is a trap of what call " contrapositive"

If X cause Y = If not Y cause Not X

bvn -

That is close, but not quite true. I like the way that you are going to the language of arguments. While it is not strictly necessary on the GMAT it can help. We discuss this in the Veritas Arguments book

If Answer Choice "A" were the "contrapositive" it would be something that must be true. My example is, "If you score a 700 then you must have studied." This is saying that studying is necessary. The contrapositive is created by taking away something that is necessary (as you very correctly mentioned above). So the contrapositive here would be "If you do not study then you will not get a 700."

Answer Choice A on this particularly problem may being trying to get to the contrapositive, but it fails to do so. If it were the contrapositive it would be the correct answer. Instead, it does not take away what is necessary, it takes away something that is sufficient. In my example above it would be like saying, "If you do not score a 700 then you must not have studied."

Do you see the difference there? It is quite possible to study very hard and then not get a 700 for a variety for reasons, for example I remember reading of a student who found that there were jackhammers being used while he took his test. This will keep you from a 700 no matter how much you have studied!