Q13 - Administrators of educational institutions are

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Determine the Function

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: This reason is mistaken (it's wrong to think that computerized education will let schools teach more courses with fewer teachers)
Evidence: Computerized instruction requires more time of instructors, so reducing teachers would mean reducing the number of courses offered.

Answer Anticipation:
The claim in question is an opinion held by the administrators. Based on this opinion, teachers fear for their job security. The author is telling the worried teachers, "Don't worry about this -- computerized instruction requires MORE, not less, time of instructors." We could describe this claim as the basis of fear for the people the author is trying to calm down. Or we could simply say that the author disputes the accuracy of this claim.

Correct Answer:
C

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) This claim is definitely not an explanation (backwards looking). It's a prediction (forward looking).

(B) The argument doesn't try to solve this problem; it denies that this problem exists.

(C) Yes, ultimately. The author does go against this claim, so we should consider this answer.

(D) This is NOT a premise. The author opposes this idea.

(E) This is nowhere near the conclusion. Someone ELSE said this claim, not the author.

Takeaway/Pattern: It's easy to lose sight of the fact that the author's conclusion, "THIS REASON is mistaken" is referring to the claim they're asking us about. The claim is uttered in the first sentence, and then the second sentence refers to it obliquely as "the same reason". Then the third sentence, the conclusion, refers back to it via the 2nd sentence. So you need to climb the ladder of referents to structurally see that the author's conclusion is calling the first sentence a mistake. OR, it suffices to know that the author's argument appears after the BUT/YET/HOWEVER pivot and to understand that the author's premise is basically saying the opposite of the first sentence.

#officialexplanation

[mrudula_2005]

Can you help me undertand why A is wrong here? Is that not exactly what the statement in question is doing? I do see how C is correct but really A is accurate as well in my opinion. Thanks!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT2]

I can definitely see why (A) was tempting --

The statement mentioned in the stimulus is the reason why the teachers fear computers.

But (A) is not correct because the statement represents the reason itself, and not an explanation for the reason. I know that sounds like semantics, but here's an analogous argument to illustrate.

"Many people in Japan dream of being eaten by whales. Many people in California dream of the same thing."

"Being eaten by whales," (which would play the equivalent of the part in question in our argument) is the substance of the dream, but it is not an explanation for why the people in California have the dream.

Furthermore, "possible" is not correct here -- it is the reason.

[mrudula_2005]

I can definitely see why (A) was tempting --

The statement mentioned in the stimulus is the reason why the teachers fear computers.

But (A) is not correct because the statement represents the reason itself, and not an explanation for the reason. I know that sounds like semantics, but here's an analogous argument to illustrate.

"Many people in Japan dream of being eaten by whales. Many people in California dream of the same thing."

"Being eaten by whales," (which would play the equivalent of the part in question in our argument) is the substance of the dream, but it is not an explanation for why the people in California have the dream.

Furthermore, "possible" is not correct here -- it is the reason.

Thanks so much for your prompt response! I did suspect that the "possible" is where it goes wrong but I'm not following the first part of your explanation. Maybe I can clarify how I thought A fit.

When (A) states: "It is presented as a possible explanation of an observation that follows it."

I took "It" to equal ==> the statement that "the educational use of computers enables schools to teach far more courses with far fewer teachers"

and I took "an observation" to equal ==> "Many teachers fear computers..."

When read this way, is it not valid for me to say that A is accurate were it not for the word "possible" - that is, if we rewrote (A) to say "It is presented as the explanation for an observation that follows it" isn't that correct?

[vik]

Nope, if you rewrite Ans A as, "It is an explanation...," it is still incorrect.

The statement that follows it is, "Teachers fear computers for this reason."

So Ans A is saying, "Computers can lead to less teachers is the reason teachers fear computers for this reason" or "Computers can lead to less teachers is the reason teachers fear computers because computers can lead to less teachers." That is not correct. It is circular language.

The reason 'teachers fear computers for this reason' is that they will be laid off, not this reason.

So to make ans A correct, it will need to be rewritten as, "Because they may get laid off is the the reason teachers fear computers because computers can lead to less teachers." or

"Because they may get laid off is the the reason teachers fear computers for this reason."

Think of this example. 'The LSAT is tough. That is the reason I fear the LSAT.'

Above, statement I is not why Statement II.

[Michelle5]

Hello, I was wondering if someone could explain answer choice "B" and why it is incorrect? Thank you!

[timmydoeslsat]

The statement of "educational use of computers enables schools to teach more courses with less teachers than the traditional method" is something that states is mistaken. The conclusion of this argument is that very idea, that this reason, a reason that admins of schools are excited and teachers are nervous, is a reason that is mistaken.

The rest of the argument goes to show how those computers would necessarily lead to either more teachers or less classes.

So the statement in question is not a statement that the argument sets out to solve. The idea in question is like an illusory idea that the argument states simply can't be true.

[bramon.elizabeth]

Would someone mind posting the argument core?

Thank you!

[soyeonjeon]

Can someone help me understand why D is incorrect?

I have difficulty seeing that D is incorrect because in the first sentence of the stimulus, the author takes a positive(or neutral) stance toward the quoted part. While the author does refute the quoted part later in the stimulus, I thought that "..administrators ...are enthusiastic about" and "Many teachers fear computers for the same reason" weigh equally, wherein the author cannot be refuting against the quoted statement and thus crossed out C.

Is the author saying that the both enthusiastic one AND the fearful teachers are mistaken?

Hope I make sense.

[sumukh09]

D is incorrect because the quoted part is not offered as support for the main conclusion. The quoted part is challenged by the author by the last sentence of the argument which is the premise that supports the conclusion ie) that teachers' fear about computerized instruction enabling schools to teach more courses with fewer teachers is mistaken.

The author does refute against the quoted statement in the argument because he claims the opposite effect would occur ie) more, rather than less, instruction from teachers will be required.

[economienda]

What made me hesitant to choose (C) was the last sentence, particularly the part that says: "Computerized instruction requires more, not less, time of instructors…"

I thought to myself, "well, (C) can't be true, i.e. it doesn't refute anything because schools can still fire teachers but require that the remaining teachers work more hours. So many teachers' fear (that they will get fired) is warranted. This is consistent with the quote above."

I was so caught up thinking about the aforementioned that I didn't re-read the last sentence to fully grasp its meaning. I was running out of time so I ended up going with (B). And btw, I've seen answer choices in other PrepTests that have similar wording as (B). Are answer choices that say that "an argument is trying to solve a statement of a problem" invariably wrong?

[jm.kahn]

The question stem is about "the statement that the educational use of computers enables schools to...."

But the argument doesn't have this statement. Argument only has "they believe educational use of computer WILL enable schools to teach...." It doesn't have the same meaning as the one in question stem as it's only administrators belief.

This seems to be grammatical issue in the question stem. Shouldn't the question have asked about the statement using the same context instead of stating it as a sort of fact? Expert comments?