GWD 12-11

[GoldDigger]

In general, jobs are harder to get in times of economic recession because many businesses cut back operations. However, any future recessions in Vargonia will probably not reduce the availability of teaching jobs at government-funded schools. This is because Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that education in government-funded schools be available, free of charge, to all Vargonian children regardless of the state of the economy, and that current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

A. The current student-teacher ratio at Vargonia’s government-funded schools is higher than it was during the most recent period of economic recession.
B. During recent periods when the Vargonian economy has been strong, almost 25 percent of Vargonian children have attended privately funded schools, many of which charge substantial fees.
C. Nearly 20 percent more teachers are currently employed in Vargonia’s government-funded schools than had been employed in those schools in the period before the last economic recession.
D. Teachers in Vargonia’s government-funded schools are well paid relative to teachers in most privately funded schools in Vargonia, many of which rely heavily on part-time teachers.
E. During the last economic recession in Vargonia, the government permanently closed a number of the schools that it had funded.








請高人指點各個選項

key: B

[liwuu]

In general, jobs are harder to get in times of economic recession because many businesses cut back operations. However, any future recessions in Vargonia will probably not reduce the availability of teaching jobs at government-funded schools. This is because Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that education in government-funded schools be available, free of charge, to all Vargonian children regardless of the state of the economy, and that current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

A. The current student-teacher ratio at Vargonia’s government-funded schools is higher than it was during the most recent period of economic recession.
B. During recent periods when the Vargonian economy has been strong, almost 25 percent of Vargonian children have attended privately funded schools, many of which charge substantial fees.
C. Nearly 20 percent more teachers are currently employed in Vargonia’s government-funded schools than had been employed in those schools in the period before the last economic recession.
D. Teachers in Vargonia’s government-funded schools are well paid relative to teachers in most privately funded schools in Vargonia, many of which rely heavily on part-time teachers.
E. During the last economic recession in Vargonia, the government permanently closed a number of the schools that it had funded.








請高人指點各個選項

key: B

我說說選b的原因好了,其餘的選項若挖金人有什麼疑問的話,請再詳細提出討論
題目第一句說明在經濟蕭條時,工作不好找,因為很多企業縮編
第二句說明然而在Vargonia的公立學校教職工作不受影響
第三句說明原因為不論經濟情況如何,學費都保持free of charge
要加強此論點就要證明當經濟蕭條時,公立學校的確會發生學童增加的事件,也因此教職工作不會縮編
所以如同b,這幾年經濟狀況不錯,有25%的學生念昂貴的私立學校,所以若是之後經濟狀況不好,這些學童裡面將會有一定的比例轉讀公立學校

[GoldDigger]

沒有疑問~~
很清楚......只是我怎麼也沒想到~~

謝謝~ 8-| 8-| 8-|

[liwuu]

別客氣囉...有任何問題或想法儘管提出來討論吧!!
加油...

[Pufa]

In general, jobs are harder to get in times of economic recession because many businesses cut back operations. However, any future recessions in Vargonia will probably not reduce the availability of teaching jobs at government-funded schools. This is because Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that education in government-funded schools be available, free of charge, to all Vargonian children regardless of the state of the economy, and that current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

C. Nearly 20 percent more teachers are currently employed in Vargonia’s government-funded schools than had been employed in those schools in the period before the last economic recession.

那C是錯在哪裡呢？
是不是把last economic recession改成this economic recession就對了？

[Calvin]

C 即使改成PUFA那樣，也不會是正確答案

原因在於C說的都是"before" economic recession的狀況

跟原題要計論的「在recession，也不會減少老師的需求量」沒有關係

FYI

[Pufa]

喔~(恍然大悟)
問題的核心總是有點朦朧美...
謝謝凱文大！

[jfan]

我做這題的時候不是很有信心的選 A。選 A 的原因在於題目中的 "Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that ..., and that current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded." 選項 A 指出目前的 student-teacher ratio 比過去高，滿足 exceed 的條件，故可期待公立學校老師的人數將不會減少，甚至可能增加。
但如同上面說的，我不是很有信心是因為 current student-teacher ratio not be exceeded 亦可能指這個 ratio 強調在法案實行後適用，過去的 ratio 可能與現在無關。

解答與大家的意見都傾向於 B。主要認為目前有 25% 的學生在私立學校就讀，學費較高，經濟衰退的時候會有學生轉向公立學校，故公立學校的老師人數將因此受惠。
這樣的解釋似乎也相當有哩，但我認為這個選項有兩個問題：
第一個是關於 25% 的部分，作 OG 的 CR 部分讓我感覺 ETS 並不是很偏愛有數字的答案，本題的 25% 究竟代表的是多還是少？意義何在？代表這些學生會轉到公立學校去嗎？
第二個問題延續上面，經濟蕭條將導致私校學生轉到免費的公立學校嗎？本題題目沒有給這樣的假設，選 B 似乎違反 ETS 答案的原則。因為我們可以懷疑經濟蕭條並不會影響所有人，可能原來這 25% 的高所得人口所得並不會受經濟衰退的影響，仍然有能力選擇私校；或者可懷疑私校品質較好，在經濟蕭條時，人們為加強對教育的投資，更傾向於選擇私校。畢竟私校的 substantial fees do not imply prohibitive costs.

我個人認為 A 選項較好，但不是完美，B 選項其合理性，但卻建構在題目沒有的假設上。

剛才看完 CD 的討論後，似乎也沒有定論，希望這邊也可以開始討論一下。

[liwuu]

我個人還是偏好B...因為我覺得ETS通常所考的邏輯觀念並不會很繞
所以B選項有以上的瑕疵,但若從五個選項來看,我還是偏好B
歡迎大家多多討論囉!!

[游客]

這題越看越像A
沒錯阿!!!你要選B比需隱含一個假設
X=>Y並不代表X<=Y
這個很像out of scope的選項
student-teacher ration=student/teacher
文中說current student-teacher ratios not be exceeded=>表示teacher(分母)不會因為學生(分子)變多而變少,會同部增加

再討論!!!

[nicoleliu]

我是選A....
雖然我絕得A也不能非常的support~
但我跟jfan的想法一樣,
B選項只有說25%的學生在經濟好的時候都唸私立很花錢的學校,
要SUPPORT的話, 就要自己去假設這些唸私校的學生在經濟蕭條時會去唸公立學校,
降好像不太對吧.....邏輯不就是自己不能有預設立場ㄇ??

希望大家繼續討論~~~

[Pudding]

看了看大家的討論, 覺得都是在對B沒什麼把握的情況下才回頭去選A...

個人覺得A的問題在於僅點出了現在的 S/T ratio高於最近一次recession 的 S/T ratio, 然而僅憑這一點無法做出任何合理的推斷認為它也會高於下一次recession的比例, 尤其是在實施新條例之後...

我記得我當時也是選了A而且久久沒辦法接受B所說讀私立的人因為recession轉讀公立這件事. 但是後來認為就算私立學校的學生有部份是因為唸不起而quit了, 那麼至少公立學校的學生是不會受影響的, 因為free of charge... 如是, 則還是對原論點起到support的作用...

至於25%的問題, 我想可以把他理解成some就好, 因為我們是要從五個選項中選the best one....

大家繼續討論...

[nicoleliu]

剛剛又看了一次這題~~ 我轉向投B
下面是我在CD上看到mindfree對這題的解說~~我覺得他講的粉清楚!!!
給大家參考參考~~

[轉自CD]
I choose B.

I do not think A and C directly relates to the argument and conclusion here. If you say that we need to make additonal assumption for B to be right, A and C need more assumption. B will then beat A and C because the substantial fee closely relates to recession.

I do not see how A can be right. The high ratio in A can probably prove that the ratio will not be surpassed in case of recession. However, the argument is about whehter the availability of teaching position will be reduced. I do not see how the number of students will be affected by such high ratio in case of recession. Therefore I do not think availability of teacher will be affect. Please let me know if you think otherwise and pls explain.

The explanatin provided by those who picked C is incorrect. Past experience most of the time cannot be used to predict future event unless there is a direct corelation. In this case, the teaching positions are more than before is far from enough to say that the same pattern will repeat in the future. For example, can we say: It rains a lot last year. So it will rain a lot this year. No! Unless we are given a relationship: last year it rains a lot because of XX condition. This year the XX condition will repeat and therefore it will also rain a lot.

D is irrelevant. E is weakening.

One thing I might not make clear is that this is a strengthen question. So a close correlation is not necessary. Only a correlation by common snese is necessary. But I still could not see the relationship by common sense in A and C.

Open to your comment.

[Pudding]

感謝nicoleliu同學的轉載喔~! mindfree的邏輯思路很清晰我蠻佩服他這點... ^_^

[世界和平]

Dear all,

提供個人想法-選A:

作題時，看到B的25%，我就排除該選項了，也沒再思考B是否合理。
至於A的想法如下:

-題目重點:任何的經濟蕭條皆不會影響公立學校老師的工作，因為通過立法=>
-free of charge
-the current s/t ratios not be exceeded

問strength。

思路:
1. 經濟蕭條時會發生:
- 公立學校學生增加，因為便宜。
- 老師減少，因為不景氣。
=>所以一般經濟蕭條時，S/T比例較高，師生比例失調。

2.經過立法後，公立學校便宜到免費，所以下一次經濟蕭條時，學生勢必暴增，但S/T不能比現在S/T高。

3.那跟現在S/T有啥關係呢？讓A來發揮作用。
-A說現在S/T比上一次經濟蕭條時還高，表示現在師生比比經濟蕭條時還不正常。
-再來一次經濟蕭條，學生會多更多。
-但立法限制了S/T不能比現在S/T高，所以公立學校勢必要增加老師，以免S/T比現在S/T高。
=>A加強了立法對老師工作的影響。

這樣說明有無問題??歡迎大家討論。