Critical Reasoning

The Metropolitan Cooking Academy surveyed prospective students and found that students wanted a curriculum that focused on today's healthy dining trends. In order to reverse the trend of declining interest in the school's programs, administrators propose a series of new courses focused on cooking exotic species of fish, alternative grains such as quinoa, and organically produced vegetables.

Which of the following, if true, supplies the best reason to suspect that the proposed new courses will increase interest in the Metropolitan Cooking Academy?

(A) Cooking fish, grains, and vegetables relies on the same culinary fundamentals as does the preparation of other ingredients.

(B) In the food and beverage industry, many employers no longer have time to train apprentices and therefore demand basic culinary skills from their new hires.

(C) Local producers in the area near the Metropolitan Cooking Academy are excellent sources of exotic fish and organic vegetables.

(D) Many other cooking schools have found a decline in the level of interest in their programs.

(E) Many advocates of healthy dining stress the importance of including fish, grains, and organically produced vegetables in one's diet.

OA: E

What does the question mean by "best reason to suspect"? I guess it is a weakening question. But OA seems to strengthen the conclusion.

neeti2711 wrote:The Metropolitan Cooking Academy surveyed prospective students and found that students wanted a curriculum that focused on today's healthy dining trends. In order to reverse the trend of declining interest in the school's programs, administrators propose a series of new courses focused on cooking exotic species of fish, alternative grains such as quinoa, and organically produced vegetables.

Which of the following, if true, supplies the best reason to suspect that the proposed new courses will increase interest in the Metropolitan Cooking Academy?

(A) Cooking fish, grains, and vegetables relies on the same culinary fundamentals as does the preparation of other ingredients.

(B) In the food and beverage industry, many employers no longer have time to train apprentices and therefore demand basic culinary skills from their new hires.

(C) Local producers in the area near the Metropolitan Cooking Academy are excellent sources of exotic fish and organic vegetables.

(D) Many other cooking schools have found a decline in the level of interest in their programs.

(E) Many advocates of healthy dining stress the importance of including fish, grains, and organically produced vegetables in one's diet.

OA: E

What does the question mean by "best reason to suspect"? I guess it is a weakening question. But OA seems to strengthen the conclusion.

"Suspect," isn't used to mean "be suspicious of" or "doubt" here. Rather, it's used to convey something more akin to"believe." If I suspect Tim is cheating, I believe Tim is cheating.

We need to look at the subsequent relative clause to determine what we're tasked to find. In this case we want the best reason to suspect that the proposed new courses will increase interest, so we want something that, if true, would cause someone to believe that interest in courses would increase.