PrepTest 125, Section 4, Question 23
Politician: The current crisis in mathematics education must(48 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AIf students spend(19 more words not shown)
- BThe current crisis(20 more words not shown)
- CFew subjects are(14 more words not shown)
- DOnly if we(21 more words not shown)
- EStudents' spending a(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What counts as a crisis in math education? Not knowing calculus is different from not being able to add. I'd want more detail before accepting the politician's description in real life. But this question asks what follows from the statements, so we'll accept them and track the requirements.
To remain competitive, we must solve the math crisis. To solve the crisis, we must use successful teaching methods. And a teaching method can't succeed unless it gets students to spend significant time studying outside class. Each step requires the next one.
Follow the connection all the way through: we can't have the promised economic competitiveness without the outside study. But the answer doesn't have to mention both ends. It could simply connect solving the math crisis with outside study, skipping over the successful-teaching step in between. I'd look for one of those supported connections.
What we’re looking for
Be careful about direction. The politician gives us things that must happen for success. That doesn't mean doing any one of them guarantees success, or even helps if the other needed pieces are missing.
Working the answers
- A
Outside study is required to solve the crisis; it isn't promised to solve the crisis by itself. Students could put in the time while the teaching still failed in some other way. A turns a necessary part of the solution into a guarantee of the whole solution.
- BCorrect
Solving the math crisis requires successful teaching, and successful teaching requires significant outside study. So solving the crisis requires that study. “Will not be overcome unless” expresses exactly that requirement: without the study, we cannot get the result. B joins two links without claiming that study alone is enough.
- C
We haven't ranked math against other subjects. History or writing could be just as important, while the current problem happens to be in math. A claim that math education must improve doesn't establish that few other subjects matter as much.
- D
This makes economic competitiveness a requirement for students to study outside class. Our chain goes the other way: outside study is required for the successful teaching needed to address the crisis and remain competitive. Students could study even if the country never achieved that final goal.
- E
“Would help” sounds weaker than a guarantee, but it still promises a benefit the passage doesn't establish. Something can be required without helping on its own when other requirements remain unmet. The politician tells us we cannot reach the goal without outside study, not what improvement that study will produce by itself. B stays with the required relationship.
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