#14 - Until fairly recently, classroom computers were

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[nrpandolfo]

Why is B wrong over D? Isn't the studies in the stimulus about neglect?

[Malila Robinson]

Hi nrpandolfo,
Answer B is too strong. The argument gives an example where a focus on teaching computer skills leads to neglect of of another skill, but that doesn't mean that will always be the case. Granted the example uses the phrase "studies show" which is more than one study, but that still doesn't lead to the absolute conclusion that you cannot emphasize computer skills without neglecting other skills.
Answer D uses less absolute language: "can result", which is what can be supported by the example that is given in the argument.
Hope that helps,
-Malila

[LSATUSERNAME3]

What type of question is this?

[Adam Tyson]

This is a form of Must Be True question, and the use of "proposition" in the stem means that we are looking for what we usually call a principle in the answer choice. You can also think of it as a rule, a guideline, or just "words of wisdom." What we are looking for is a general rule that the information in the stimulus followed or demonstrated.

One approach to a question like this is to treat it like a Method of Reasoning question and strip away the details in the stimulus to find the underlying abstraction. There's no argument, but there is still an abstract structure under those facts, and it is something like "prioritizing an important new thing can have a negative impact on some important old things." And the use of "can" here instead of something stronger like "must" is important, because all we know is that it happens in this particular situation, and there isn't enough evidence to say that something similar will happen in every similar situation. Keep the prephrase, and your answer choice, "soft" and easy to prove based on the facts.

[goingtosomewhere]

Hi there,

I was wondering if someone could explain why we can generalize computer skills to "recent educational developments" and it would count? I understand that B is too strong of an answer, but am having trouble why D is the best answer.

[Poonam Agrawal]

Hi goingtosomewhere!

You don't necessarily have to generalize computer skills to "recent educational developments." What you can do, however, is just say that the second sentence in the stimulus can be qualified as a recent educational development.

The second statement says that educators argue today that computer training is required to have the skills to compete in the global marketplace. The word "today" qualifies this as a recent development, and you can reasonably say that this pertains to education because the statement is coming from "educators."

Therefore, if you re-word answer choice (D) in terms of information presented in the stimulus, you can say: attempting to keep pace with the growing need for computer training in the global marketplace can result in neglecting basic math and reading skills in favor of computer skills. Hope this helps!