PrepTest 141, Section 2, Question 21
Most of the students who took Spanish 101(26 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(21 more words not shown)
- AAt least some(16 more words not shown)
- BMost, if not(18 more words not shown)
- CMost of the(8 more words not shown)
- DAt least one(16 more words not shown)
- EMore than half(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Most students showed up every time. Could one of those students have received a grade below B minus?
No. Every student below B minus missed at least one class. Someone with perfect attendance therefore can't be in that low-grade group. That doesn't promise an A or even a B. It promises B minus or higher.
What we’re looking for
Now combine that with “most.” More than half the class had perfect attendance, and every one of those students earned at least B minus. So more than half the class earned B minus or higher. That's the inference I want; the choices need to preserve the boundary, including students who earned exactly B minus.
Working the answers
- A
We don't know that anyone earned an A minus or higher. Perhaps the highest grade in the class was B plus. Also, the attendance rule doesn't say that a high grade requires perfect attendance: someone could miss a class and still earn an A. A's particular overlap isn't established.
- B
Missing a class doesn't guarantee a grade below B minus. The given rule goes from the low grade to a missed class, not from a missed class to the low grade. Students who missed classes could still have earned high grades. We have no basis for saying most of them fell below B minus.
- C
“Higher than” leaves out exactly B minus. Imagine that 80 percent of the class attended every session and earned B minus, while the remaining students missed classes and earned lower grades. The facts would be satisfied, but most students would not have earned a grade above B minus.
- D
This could happen, but it doesn't have to. All the students earning B minus or higher might have had perfect attendance, with every student who missed a class earning less. The premises don't require a high-enough grade and a missed class to overlap.
- ECorrect
More than half attended every class, and none of those students can have earned below B minus. Those students alone establish that more than half earned B minus or higher. We don't need to know how well the students with absences did to draw that conclusion.
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