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#22696
Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)

There are two main points in the stimulus:

(1) individual students will learn differently from the same curriculum material; and

(2) some students will need different help than others to master a curriculum.

There are other, smaller pieces of information conveyed, including about what experienced teachers know and the nature of individual student learning, but those are smaller points than the two main ideas above.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice, as it nearly repeats statement (2), above. Different help is, by definition, unequal treatment. Again, do not let your opinion about "unequal treatment" lead you away from this choice. As soon as two students are treated in any differing way, the treatment is immediately "unequal" (which isn't to say "bad," but to instead just mean "different").

Answer choice (B): this answer is made more difficult to understand because the test makers insert a definition into the middle of the answer, which is an intentional distractor. When we remove that definition, the answer choice boils down to: "The rate and quality of learning depend on the quantity of teaching an individual student receives in any given curriculum." In other words, the more teaching you get, the better and faster one learns. This is a sentiment that most people in the real world would largely agree with, but is it proven by the just the statements given above in the stimulus? No, because the stimulus focuses on different types of help, which may include more help but doesn't necessarily have to be more help. Consequently, we cannot definitively draw this answer as a conclusion.

Answer choice (C): This answer reflects a belief commonly held in the real world, but there is nothing in the stimulus that indicates that more experienced teachers cause a student to learn more. We do know experienced teachers understand that students need different types of help, but this implies nothing of whether the experienced teachers are better than others at giving it (or being successful at it; there could be many new teachers equally well able to convey knowledge as an experienced teacher).

Answer choice (D) cannot be true. Statement (2) says that students need different exposure.

Answer choice (E) places a value judgment on what teachers should do. While many people would agree with this statement, like choices (B) and (C), it does not fall from the premises.
 reop6780
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#10173
I initially selected A, but switched to B. I could not see the flaws of B at that moment, and still need to clarify them.

Which part of B is wrong?

- The way it defines learning as, "the acquiring of the ability to solve problems within a given curriculum area," or "the quantity of teaching" ?

I am struggling to find out to what extent the answer is still regarded as rephrasing.

I would appreciate the explanation to determine the ambiguous boundary of "still" right answer.

Thank you

Hyun Kim
 David Boyle
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#10212
reop6780 wrote:On the page 32, question number 40, the answer is A.

I initially selected A, but switched to B. I could not see the flaws of B at that moment, and still need to clarify them.

Which part of B is wrong?

- The way it defines learning as, "the acquiring of the ability to solve problems within a given curriculum area," or "the quantity of teaching" ?

I am struggling to find out to what extent the answer is still regarded as rephrasing.

I would appreciate the explanation to determine the ambiguous boundary of "still" right answer.

Thank you

Hyun Kim
Dear Hyun:

The problem with B is it falsely tries to posit the importance of a ratio between quantity and the other things mentioned (rate, quality). Maybe the ratio doesn't matter. Moreover, the passage discusses rate, quality, quantity of learning, but B talks about quantity of teaching, vis-à-vis rate and quality of learning, so it doesn't follow the stimulus closely enough.
I'm not sure what you're talking about with "still", but it may not be important here.

David
 BostonLawGuy
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#49585
Being a Must be True question with what seems like conditional and formal logic, it appears that it is amendable to diagramming. I could be mistaken. Could you check my diagram?

students treated equally :arrow: learning varies
Master curriculum :some: not treated equally

Chain up the logic using contrapositive:

equal treatment :arrow: learning varies :arrow: not master curriculum

I treated this as any other conditional logic and ignore the "some" which gives me the right answer as follows:

master curriculum :arrow: learning not vary :arrow: unequal treatment.
 Adam Tyson
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#49975
Your results are perfect, BLG, but your second diagram is not correct, in that the way you wrote it would be translated as "there are at least some people who master the curriculum who are not treated equally." That's not what the author said or meant in this stimulus.

The sufficient condition is "master a given curriculum." The necessary condition is "some of them need different types of help than others." This is not a "some" statement of formal logic, but a true necessary condition that could be paraphrased as "needs will vary." You could also say that is the negation of "treated equally," which allows us to make that chain as you ultimately did.

While your technical approach was flawed, your instincts for the reasoning were sound and made the technical error unimportant. That's great, you have to listen to your gut! Work on the technical aspects just in case your good instincts fail you at some point, and you'll be in great shape.
 kwcflynn
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#60866
Hi!

Would you be able to provide a more thorough explanation why (B) and (C) are wrong?

Thank you in advance.
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 Dave Killoran
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#61396
kwcflynn wrote:Hi!

Would you be able to provide a more thorough explanation why (B) and (C) are wrong?

Thank you in advance.
Hi K,

I've expanded the discussion of B and C in the main explanation in the first post above. I hope that helps. Thanks!
 saygracealways
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#75102
Hi PowerScore,

I understand that for (A) "unequal treatment" refers to "different help", but I'm still unsure about the latter part of the answer choice "in order to ensure equality with respect to the educational tasks they master" since the stimulus says "if all students are to MASTER A GIVEN CURRICULUM, some of them need different types of help". Where is the link between mastering educational tasks/curriculum and EQUALITY WITH RESPECT? Does "equality with respect" derive from the first sentence "all treated equally", and if so, how are we to make that link?

I chose (B) because the stimulus says if students have identical exposure to curriculum, then the rate, quality and quantity of learning will vary. I equated "quantity of teaching" in (B) with "exposure to curriculum", so based on the quantity/exposure of teaching/curriculum, the rate and quality of learning are affected. Could you please let me know where my faulty reasoning is coming from here as well?

Thank you so much!
 Adam Tyson
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#75133
I think you may be misinterpreting the phrase "with respect", saygracealways. That just means "regarding" or "about" or "on the subject of". So the answer means "On the subject of what tasks students master, unequal treatment is needed to get equal results."

The problem with answer B is that it focuses on the QUANTITY of teaching - how much teaching a student gets on a subject. But the stimulus says not just that some students need MORE teaching, they need different TYPES of teaching.
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 anureet
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#89986
I fail to understand why D is wrong. The stimulus states that " when individual students are all treated equally in that they have identical exposure to the curriculum material.."

D states that all students should have identical exposure to learn the material being taught in any curriculum".

I just don't understand the explanation provided for why D is wrong.

Thank you!

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