Q1 - More and more computer programs

[cvfh17]

can I have an explanation of question number 1? thanks

[tommywallach]

Hey Cvf,

In the future, try to give a bit more of your own problems/process when asking about a question. This can help us tailor our responses in terms of what you found difficult about the stimulus or tempting about a wrong answer.

Taking this from the top, it's a weaken question, so we start by isolating the core (premises/conclusion):

Premise: More computer programs solve math problems
Premise: Practicing engineers don't need to know basic math
Conclusion: Programs that train engineers shouldn't focus so much on basic math

(A) CORRECT. If you need to know basic math just to use the computer programs, then schools still need to teach basic math.

(B) is a premise booster. We know we're getting "more and more" of them, which implies that there are already a fair number of them out there.

(C) would strengthen the argument, because it implies that there are lots of new things students ought to be taught (so it would be helpful if less time needed to be spent learning basic math).

(D) is totally out of scope. We don't care about the computers available to engineering firms. And again, this would help the argument, implying that there isn't some difficulty in actually running these computer programs that may render basic math knowledge obsolete.

(E) is also out of scope. We only care about these specific programs, not what engineers know about other programs. And once again, this strengthens the argument, by making it less likely that students will be unable to use the programs (because they are now said to be computer literate in a general way).

Hope that helps!

-t