#1 - A student has taken twelve courses and received a B

[8scn]

Why is B not correct? For B, my reasoning is: having a broad range of knowledge is irrelevant to succeeding in this particular course. I eliminated A because shouldn't it increase the student's chances of succeeding with a B in the course if he is receiving extra help from smarter students?

[Steve Stein]

Keep in mind that the four wrong answer choices will successfully strengthen the argument that the student is likely to get a B in the present course, much like she has in the majority of past cases.

If she is getting extra help, as answer choice A provides, this does not strengthen the argument--in fact, it seems to make it less likely that her current performance will be consistent with her past performances.

Answer choice B, on the other hand, does strengthen the author's argument, since previous broad subject coverage makes her past twelve performances a more accurate basis for predicting the grade she'll earn in the course that she's currently taking.

Tricky! let me know if that makes sense--thanks!

~Steve

[8scn]

Thanks very much, I understand now. I agree that it is quite tricky, especially for a first logical reasoning question.

[queenbee]

Hi
Not sure I follow the reasoning. If the student is studying with other smart students, should that increase her chances of doing well? If the 12 previous courses she took were broad in nature, that doesnt guarantee that this course is broad in nature.
Any chance you can provide more clarity?
Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

You're right about answer A, queenbee - studying with a bunch of outstanding students rather than studying alone should improve her chances of getting a better grade, maybe an A this time. That's exactly why this is the correct answer! This is an "Except" question, so we want the one answer that will not strengthen the claim that she will probably get another B. Every other answer choice helps to support the claim that this course will turn out like the majority of other courses, so they all strengthen that claim and are, therefore, wrong answers. Answer A doesn't help that argument, and may in fact weaken it, so it's the exception we are looking for!

[lounalola]

How does answer D strengthen the argument?

[Adam Tyson]

Getting a B in the majority of 12 classes could mean just 7 of them, lounalola. That wouldn't be nearly as convincing as getting Bs in 11 of the 12 classes. D helps the argument by strengthening the evidence that was offered in favor of the conclusion.

If it helps, imagine that it was 100 classes instead of just 12. What would be more convincing to you: getting a B in 51 of those classes, or getting a B in 99 of those classes?

[georgetteknowsbest]

Why A is the correct answer? 

If she is getting extra help surely it aids in supporting the argument? The answer is yes.
But you have to take into account the statement that "she previously studied on her own".
What does this mean for the argument? Well, it suggests that when she did receive those grades did not need help, but now for the new exam she needs help. This means she is getting extra help than before, which implies she is not as academically strong as she was when studying for the last courses that got her a B,

[Jeff Wren]

Hi georgette,

If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend reading Adam's earlier post (Post #5), as it specifically addresses Answer A.

I will only add that the argument is basing its conclusion (that the student will likely get a B in this course) on the student's past performances, in which the majority of the grades were Bs. The argument is basically assuming that this new course will be similar to the others for the student.

Any answer that shows how the new course is different from the other earlier course would weaken the argument. Answer A does exactly this.

Now, there is no way to know for sure whether the situation in Answer A indicates that the student will do better in this new course (such as getting an A) or worse. At first glance, receiving help from outstanding students suggests that the student may actually do better this time due to having a benefit that the student didn't have before. However, it is also possible that student actively sought out help from outstanding students for this course because the student was struggling more than usual.

Either way, the fact that the student is studying differently for this course weakens the conclusion that the student's performance will be similar to the prior courses.