- Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:42 am
#88345
Hi gabcarras,
The first thing to notice in this stimulus is that the second legislator uses one primary reason to support his argument - the fact that considerations of male/female balance have no place in science. It seems like the second legislator believes that the gender imbalance in research is fine or acceptable. Since we are trying to weaken his argument, we are looking for an answer choice that will tell us that these considerations do have a place in science.
Answer choice (E) drives this point most directly. It says that the restriction to males in the research groups (the male/female imbalance) results in inadequate science. This means that the gender imbalance does have a place in science, because it is resulting in science that is not good. Because this directly weakens the second legislator's argument, this is the correct answer.
In contrast, answer choice (A) does not really tell us information that directly weakens the second legislator's argument. Even if the research is sponsored by both male and female taxpayers, we can't use that to say that the gender imbalance considerations do have a place in science. In fact, it almost seems like answer choice (A) is trying to strengthen the second legislator's argument by saying that since both male and female taxpayers support the research, the gender imbalance is fine as it is.
We are always on the search for the best answer, and here, we see that answer choice (E) most directly counters the second legislator's argument. Hope that helps!
Poonam Agrawal
PowerScore Test Preparation
