PrepTest 108, Section 2, Question 13
Ramona: One of the primary values of a(87 more words not shown)
The conversation most strongly supports(11 more words not shown)
- Astudents are stimulated(7 more words not shown)
- Bonly graduates with(7 more words not shown)
- Cnot every university(9 more words not shown)
- Dintellectual growth is(5 more words not shown)
- Efinancial security is(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Ramona is right that exposure to different ideas can have value. But why assume a technical major can't expose students to different ideas? An engineering student might encounter competing ways of solving a problem.
And there are practical costs to staying in school longer, including money and delayed employment. Martin pushes on that practical concern: his brother has an English degree but works as a waiter. One brother's experience doesn't settle the value of every English degree.
Martin also points out that technical majors take some liberal arts classes. That matters, but are those few required classes enough to provide the breadth Ramona wants? We can question both speakers without having to pick a side.
What we’re looking for
Now we're asked what they agree on. My first thought is that both recognize students are choosing technical majors, but I don't have a precise prediction of the shared claim the answers will offer. Let's test the choices against both speakers. Shared ground can be implicit in how they respond to each other; it doesn't have to be a sentence they both repeat.
Working the answers
- A
English is an example of a major Martin mentions, not the only setting in which intellectual growth can happen. Neither speaker rules out history, philosophy, or other classes. We can't turn that one example into an exclusive claim for both speakers.
- B
Martin's brother did not get the sort of job Martin hoped an education would lead to. That doesn't show that only technical graduates get good jobs. Ramona says students choose technical majors to improve their chances, which also doesn't make a technical degree the only route. B is much stronger than their discussion supports.
- CCorrect
Ramona thinks students can miss exposure to a broad range of ideas by concentrating on technical majors. That makes sense only if not every class provides the breadth she values.
Martin responds that technical students still have to take liberal arts classes. He uses those particular classes to answer her concern about exposure. That response supports the same distinction: some classes provide the breadth being discussed in a way other classes don't. If every class did so, the special liberal arts requirement wouldn't do the work he gives it.
They differ over whether the educational choices are a problem, but their exchange supports this modest shared claim. We don't have to infer that all technical courses are narrow or all liberal arts courses are broad.
- D
Ramona emphasizes intellectual growth, while Martin emphasizes practical employment concerns. That is their tension, not an established shared ranking. Neither calling growth a primary value nor pointing to an employment problem shows that both put growth above financial security.
- E
This ranks the same two values the other way. Martin's practical emphasis may make it tempting, but Ramona's concern doesn't establish that she agrees. Both can care about intellectual growth and employment without sharing a rule that one always matters more than the other.
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