后天就考了，求助！(manhattan public school v.s. private school)

nonentity

According to a recent research study, more than 90% percent of graduates of private high schools in a certain county continue their education in college. By contrast, only 65% of graduates of public high schools subsequently pursue college education. Therefore, if parents in the county wish to increase the likelihood that their children will attend college, they should send them to private rather than public schools.


Which of the following statements would most seriously weaken the argument above?

Graduates of private schools typically score higher on standardized tests and other tests of academic achievement.

While private schools are typically very expensive, attendance of public school is free for the residents of the county.

In comparison with graduates of private schools, a substantially greater proportion of public school graduates receive need-based financial aid for their college education.

In comparison with private schools, public schools provide more opportunities for student involvement in sports and other athletic activities, which almost always increase the likelihood of students’ acceptance to colleges.

Since most public schools are located in rural areas of the county populated primarily by farmers, nearly 30% of students from public high schools choose to pursue farming occupations rather than apply to colleges.


KEY: E
错选了C。。
感觉E是在说那些学生是因为在乡下的公立大学，才弃学从农的。
E的意思难道不是：因为很多公立学校都在乡下，所以30%的公立学生才选择了弃学从农。
那么如果选择了多数不在乡下的私立学校，那30%的公立学生不就不会选择弃学从农了吗？


而C选项：更多比例的公立学校学生都接受了生活必须的补助。
这就说明了，公立学校学生大多都是经济上没有条件去college，而不是因为公立学校教学质量不好而不能继续college教育。。


因此我就选了C。。


以下是manhattan的官方解释：
The argument concludes that children are more likely to attendcollege if they are sent to private high schools instead of public highschools. The basis for this claim is the higher percentage of graduates ofprivate schools pursuing college education. It is assumed that public schoolsare inferior to private schools as a training ground for college. Any statementthat provides an alternate explanation for the fact that publicschool graduates attend college at lower rates than private school graduateswould weaken the argument.

Another way to interpret this question involves the concepts ofcorrelation and causation. The argument’s premise states that private schoolattendance (vs. public school attendance) is highly correlated with collegeattendance. The conclusion of the argument is essentially that private schoolattendance CAUSES college attendance (and therefore, parents ought to sendtheir children to private schools to ensure eventual college attendance). Thisconclusion depends on the assumption that the causation does NOT work the otherway – in other words, that “readiness or desire to attend college” does notinfluence the choice of public or private school. Any evidence that readinessor desire to attend college DOES influence the choice of public or privateschool will weaken the argument.
(A) While higher test scores might increase students' chances ofadmission to college, they are unrelated to whether students will actuallyattend college. Even if one could prove that earning higher test scores makes astudent more likely to attend college, this statement would not weaken theargument, but rather strengthen it.

(B) Since the conclusion centers on the likelihood of attending college,economic and financial considerations are outside the scope of the argument.

(C) Since the amount of need-based aidis not directly related to whether a student will attend college, thisstatement is outside the scope of the argument.

(D) While better athletic opportunities could increase students’ chances of admissionto college, they are unrelated to whether students will actually attendcollege. Also, even though the advantages of public school mentioned in thisstatement were taken into account by the study, the proportion of graduates ofpublic schools attending colleges remains substantially lower than theproportion of graduates of private schools.

(E) CORRECT. Thisanswer choice demonstrates that the difference in the percentage of graduatesattending colleges stems not from anyadvantage provided by private schools but from the fact that a subset of thegraduates of public high schools simply choose to pursue a different careerpath. In other words, 30% of the graduates of public schools voluntarily choose not to pursue a college education. Yet65% - out of the 70% of graduates remaining - end up in colleges.This statement indicates extremely high college matriculation rates forstudents who want to attend college after graduation from public high schools.
Using the concepts of correlation and causation, this answerchoice provides the alternative causation for the correlation observed. Inother words, "desire to attend college" is ALREADY lower in the ruralareas where public schools happen to be located. According to this evidence, attendanceat private or public school is the effect, not the cause, of "desire toattend college."

dengts

Good explanation.
C:you can't draw your conclusion from C because C is not a strong evidence.Perhaps the graduates of public schools receive need-based financial aid just because they love money so much that they falsely report that they are poor.
E:the students who choose public school are just want to be a farmer after graduating.It is their desires that make them choose public school.