Q18 - Pundit: For many high school graduates

[mshinners]

Question Type:
ID the Flaw

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Many students shouldn't go to college.
Premise: Valued qualities are already possessed by many high school grads.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument establishes that students already have qualities that are valued, but it doesn't establish that these are enough to get someone a job. Any answer that brings up other things bestowed by college that would be relevant to whether someone will get a job are in play.

Correct Answer:
(B)

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Wrong flaw (Comparison). The argument doesn't rely on universities not providing these attributes. Rather, it states many pre-college students already have them. If they already have them, going to college doesn't add anything.

(B) Bingo. The valued traits are great and all, but it seems there's also a requirement for getting a job, and that's a college degree.

(C) The argument doesn't assume that corporations only hire people with these qualities, just that they're valued qualities.

(D) Out of scope. The conclusion is about whether job prospects would be helped, so other reasons to go to college are not relevant to it.

(E) The argument simply states that many high school grads already have these qualities, without mention of how they were developed. Their development doesn't matter.

Takeaway/Pattern: The extreme conclusion here ("no help") told us we should look for other ways that a college degree could be helpful, and that's what we ended up finding in the right answer. Extreme answers like this often ignore alternatives not discussed (but not ruled out) by the argument.

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