kaplan CAT 2 Verbal Question #8 (CR)

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kaplan CAT 2 Verbal Question #8 (CR)

by andy9923 » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:53 pm
Hi all,

Today I took Kaplan's GMAT premiere program 2008 CAT 2 and came across this CR question that I think is a bit odd. I want to see what everyone thinks about this question:

Congress is considering a "National Service" program under which high school graduates who need federal assistance for college would serve for two years in the military or on a community service program rather than receive and repay a government-sponsored loan. Proponents say that it will show the nation's youth that everyone benefiting from the rights of a democratic society must also recognize his or her responsibilities to that society. Which one of the following points would be most useful to an opponent of the National Service program?

1) Students who choose not to go to college should not be obligated to participate in a National Service program.
2) Women would have fewer choices of positions in the military.
3) Students well-off enough not to need federal financial assistance could forego National Service
4) The federal assistance offered by a National Service program would not be adequate to completely pay for a college education.
5) Today's youth are greatly lacking in civic values and social responsibility.

The official answer is 3.

Even though I read the answer explanations, I am still not convinced that official answer is correct. I don't see how students who do not need financial assistance for college have anything to do with this proposed "National Service" program. IF the argument of the proponent is about the responsibilities EVERYONE in a democratic society should have, then the students described in answer choice (1) should be included as well. What I am trying to say is that the student group in (1) and (3) are essentially the same: they are those who do NOT need this financial assistance.

I thought 4 was the "best" answer to this question. What does everyone else think? Thanks

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by sethids » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:57 pm
Lets take a look at all the answer choices. I'll mention the correct one in the end.

1. The arguement doesn't state that students who do not want to go to the college are under any obligation to participate in the program.

2. Talks specifically about women and not students in general.

4. We are talking of assistance here and its not necessary that the assistance has to be 100%.

5. Describes the social attribues of the youth which the program is trying to address.

3. To be able to oppose the idea of the program, we need to show that the program is ineffective or not as effective as described. Look at the statement in the arguement "it will show the nation's youth that everyone benefiting from the rights of a democratic society must also recognize his or her responsibilities to that society". Here everyone includes those students as well who would not need financial assistance. They will continue to enjoy their rights without having to serve in the program because they are not required to do so.
Hence, there will not be a sense of responsibility propagated to this section of the youth as desired by the program and calls into question the effectiveness of such a program.

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by NSNguyen » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:41 am
The argument misassump that all youth like to go to college.

what happen when all youth do not like to go to college?

C reveal this gap. rest OOS
Please share your idea and your reasoning :D
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by sethids » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:01 pm
NSNguyen wrote:The argument misassump that all youth like to go to college.

what happen when all youth do not like to go to college?

C reveal this gap. rest OOS
I don't think the argument incorrectly assumes that all youth like to go to college. Also, option C does not reveal anything about the interest of the youth in going to college. The argument simply states that everyone enjoying the rights should understand their duties and that's the intent of the program being introduced.
C points out to a gap that a section of the youth is not obligated to serve as per the program because they don't need to. This is what renders the program ineffective.