In a certain university course, some of the students took their own handwritten notes on the lectures, while others studied from a printed set of notes written by the course instructor; no student used both kinds of notes. The students who took their own notes performed substantially better on the course exams than did those who used the notes written by the instructor. Clearly, the students' own notes must have been more complete or easier to understand than the instructor's, or else the students who took their own notes were simply those who were more motivated to do well in the course.
Which of the following statements, if true, most weakens the argument in the passage above?
a) In other classes at the same university, students who both wrote their own notes and used the pre-printed instructor notes were among the highest-performing students on class exams.
b) The exams were not written by the course instructor.
c) Studies have shown that the physical act of note-taking aids in the recall of what is noted, even for those who never review the notes.
d) The instructor's notes were written in language that was so florid and wordy as to make the points difficult for students to comprehend.
e) Students in the course were not allowed to refer to any notes, whether their own or the instructor's, while taking the course exams.
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Answer explanation please
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Hi Rastis,
This CR prompt is based on the idea of "causality" - the idea that X causes Y to happen. When you're weakening a causal argument, there are a couple of different options, but the most common option on the GMAT is to say that SOMETHING ELSE caused Y to happen (it wasn't X).
The Facts:
-In a University Course, students either took their own notes or used ones provided by the instructor.
-Students who took their own notes performed substantially better on course exams than those who used the notes from the instructor.
The Conclusion:
-The students who took their own notes did a more complete job of taking notes, or the notes were easier to understand (than the instructor's, or the students who took their own notes were more motivated to do well.
The Logic:
The argument here is that any of the 3 above factors (more complete notes, easier to understand notes, more motivated students) can be used to explain why the students who took their own notes performed better than those who used the instructor's notes.
We want to weaken this causal idea, so we need an answer that gives us a DIFFERENT REASON for why those students performed better. Answer C is the only answer that gives us another reason (notice how it also refers to the students who would have taken their own notes).
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
This CR prompt is based on the idea of "causality" - the idea that X causes Y to happen. When you're weakening a causal argument, there are a couple of different options, but the most common option on the GMAT is to say that SOMETHING ELSE caused Y to happen (it wasn't X).
The Facts:
-In a University Course, students either took their own notes or used ones provided by the instructor.
-Students who took their own notes performed substantially better on course exams than those who used the notes from the instructor.
The Conclusion:
-The students who took their own notes did a more complete job of taking notes, or the notes were easier to understand (than the instructor's, or the students who took their own notes were more motivated to do well.
The Logic:
The argument here is that any of the 3 above factors (more complete notes, easier to understand notes, more motivated students) can be used to explain why the students who took their own notes performed better than those who used the instructor's notes.
We want to weaken this causal idea, so we need an answer that gives us a DIFFERENT REASON for why those students performed better. Answer C is the only answer that gives us another reason (notice how it also refers to the students who would have taken their own notes).
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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vivekvijayan
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Hi Rich,
I had a doubt. Doesn't C show that the students who took the notes were more motivated as they took the effort of writing those notes?
Vivek
I had a doubt. Doesn't C show that the students who took the notes were more motivated as they took the effort of writing those notes?
Vivek
