PrepTest 131, Section 2, Question 17
Teachers should not do anything to cause their(43 more words not shown)
The conclusion is properly drawn(8 more words not shown)
- AA teacher cannot(11 more words not shown)
- BStudents respect honesty(3 more words not shown)
- CStudents' respect for(14 more words not shown)
- DTeachers are able(6 more words not shown)
- EStudents lose respect(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Teachers should never cause students to lose respect for them? That is a strong rule. Being liked and being respected are different, but even a rule about respect could invite a challenge. Imagine students mock a teacher for rescuing a drowning puppy. We might still think the teacher should save it. For this argument, though, let's work with the rule we're given.
The author also says students can detect attempts to hide ignorance. Suppose a student asks me about Tanzania and all I know is that it is in Africa. Inventing a story about a thriving tulip industry would be pretending to know more than I do. According to the premise, students could sense that attempted concealment.
What we’re looking for
Would they then lose respect for me? That's the missing link. Detecting the attempt and losing respect because of it are different things. To make the conclusion follow, we need to connect them: when students sense that a teacher is hiding ignorance, they lose respect. Then pretending to know would do exactly what the opening rule says teachers should avoid.
Working the answers
- A
This gives a reason retaining respect might matter: effective teaching requires it. But the argument already says teachers shouldn't cause a loss of respect. We still need to show that pretending to know causes such a loss. A doesn't make that connection.
- B
Ranking honesty above other things students respect doesn't establish that they lose respect every time they detect a teacher concealing ignorance. They might value honesty highly and still retain their respect for a teacher on a particular occasion. The needed rule concerns the consequence of this behavior, not a ranking of admirable qualities.
- C
How much a teacher knows is different from whether the teacher tries to hide not knowing. Students might respect a teacher who candidly admits a gap in knowledge while reacting differently to an attempted bluff. C doesn't connect the concealment described here to a loss of respect.
- D
The teacher's ability to detect respect isn't the issue. The argument concerns students sensing concealed ignorance and whether that causes them to lose respect. Telling us what teachers can perceive doesn't complete that chain.
- ECorrect
Pretending to know an answer is an attempt to hide ignorance. Students sense such attempts, and E says they then lose respect for the teacher. The opening rule tells teachers not to cause that result. With E added, the recommendation not to pretend follows from the supplied premises.
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