PrepTest 112, Section 1, Question 15
In one study, engineering students who prepared for(63 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AOne should use(15 more words not shown)
- BHigh-tech solutions to(9 more words not shown)
- CSpending large sums(19 more words not shown)
- DOne should not(20 more words not shown)
- EOne should always(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What were they being tested on? If the engineering exam asked something as easy as two plus two, both groups might do well regardless of their study tools. Fancy equipment could still help on harder work. That's my first hesitation about using these results to judge educational technology.
But read the conclusion carefully. The author doesn't say we should never buy advanced tools. The claim is that we shouldn't always buy them. Even a couple of cases where cheap equipment works just as well can matter to that much narrower recommendation. Showing that expensive equipment helps somewhere else wouldn't settle whether we should buy it in these cases.
I still want the rule connecting performance to the purchase. Someone might enjoy using the fancy computer even when it doesn't improve the exam result. That would be a reason to want it apart from performance. So the results alone haven't told us what should control the decision.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for a principle that helps justify the recommendation. I'd look for this: when cheaper tools do the job at least as well, don't spend extra on the expensive version. That would turn the two comparisons into reasons against always purchasing the advanced equipment.
Working the answers
- A
The military and civilian examples are both being used to compare expensive equipment with cheaper alternatives. The author isn't trying to show that military personnel need different tools from civilians. A draws a rule across the wrong comparison and says nothing about when the extra expense is justified.
- B
This could be a reason against buying high-tech equipment if no knowledgeable people were available to use it. But the studies don't tell us that either group lacked such people. Their evidence concerns comparable performance with cheaper tools, not the inability to operate the advanced tools. B doesn't give us the rule needed to move from those results to the purchase recommendation.
- C
This compares how justified spending is in military and nonmilitary training. We need to compare the expensive and cheap options within the examples. Large spending could be equally justified in both settings, or equally unjustified, while C remains true. That doesn't tell us why the availability of an effective cheap option should count against the purchase.
- DCorrect
This says not to buy the expensive teaching aid when a cheaper tool is at least as effective. That matches the rule we wanted.
Apply it to the engineering students: toothpicks and string produced results no worse than the expensive computer. Apply it to the military personnel: the inexpensive cardboard model worked at least as well as the costly simulator. In each case, the cheaper alternative meets D's standard, so D supports passing on the expensive aid.
“At least as effective” matters because the results don't have to be exactly equal; the cheap tool could even perform better. And D doesn't prohibit all advanced purchases. It rules them out when an adequate cheaper option is available, which fits the author's modest claim that we shouldn't always buy them.
- E
Giving students a variety of materials isn't the same as choosing between an expensive tool and a cheaper tool that works just as well. A variety could consist entirely of inexpensive materials, or it could include expensive ones. E doesn't explain why the results of these studies justify declining the advanced purchase.
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