LSAT－15－2－9

9.     h.D. programs are valuable only if they inculcate good scholarship and expedite the student’s full participation in the field. Hence, doctoral dissertations should not be required in the humanities. Undertaking a quality book-length dissertation demands an accumulation of knowledge virtually impossible for those relatively new to their disciplines. The student consequently either seeks to compensate for poor quality with quantity or ends up spending years producing a work of quality. Either way, the dissertation is counterproductive and frustrates the appropriate goals of the doctoral program.

The claim that doctoral dissertations should not be required in the humanities play which one of the following roles in the argument?

(A) It provides essential support for the conclusion.

(B) It is an example illustrative of a general principle concerning the goals of Ph.D. programs.

(C) It is what the argument is attempting to establish.

(D) It provides evidence for the assumption that requirements for degrees in the humanities differ from requirements for degrees in other disciplines.（C）

(E) It confirms the observation that the requirement for a dissertation can frustrate the goals of a doctoral program.

my understanding for the roles that the calim play in the argument is : the claim provides assumption for the conclusion.

I think the conclusion is : dissertation is conunterproductive and frustrates the appropriate goals of the doctoral program,which is based on two premises:

1. phd programs are valuable only if they inculate good scholarship and expedite the student's full participation in the field.

2.because to accomplish the real goal of 1 is very hard,so students either present poor qulity dissertations or time-consuming good qulity dissertations

then we get the conclusion .

why C?

1。如果最后一句话是结论，则第二句话无法对该结论其作用。最后一句话应该是1，3，4话的结论。1，3，4句话是做后一句话的前提。

2。正是由于博士论文不好（最后一句话），所以人文科学才不必要有博士论文（原文结论）。你不能说正是由于人文科学不必要有博士论文，所以博士论文才不好。举个例：你可以说因为CD的版主都不好，所以不必要有LAWYER当版主。但你不能说因为不必要有LAWYER当版主，所以CD的版主都不好。