Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 3, Question 20 (Necessary Assumption)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Necessary Assumption questions ask for the unstated premise the argument depends on.
- Try the negation test. If negating a choice wrecks the argument, that choice is the necessary assumption.
- Every question on this test is original, written to the same logical skeletons as real questions, and Steve checked every one himself before release.
The question
Conventional teacher-preparation programs place each candidate in a single classroom and require candidates to follow a fixed lesson script, whereas newer programs rotate candidates through several classrooms and require them to improvise lessons. Once hired, graduates of the newer programs are quicker than graduates of conventional programs to abandon a lesson that is going badly and to try unfamiliar methods. That readiness to change course is therefore what will keep graduates of the newer programs in teaching beyond their 5th year at higher rates than graduates of conventional programs.
20. Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?
- (A)It is financially practical for preparation programs to place each candidate in several classrooms and to supervise improvised lessons.
- (B)The quality of the schools that hire a program's graduates has little bearing on whether those graduates remain in teaching.
- (C)A teacher who remains in the profession beyond a 5th year must be able to use many different instructional methods.
- (D)Some graduates of conventional programs leave teaching because they are too hesitant to depart from a lesson that is failing.
- (E)Every classroom in which a newly hired teacher is placed calls for improvised lessons.
DWhy (D) is correct
The argument concludes that readiness to abandon a failing lesson and try something else is what will keep newer-program graduates in teaching past their 5th year at higher rates than conventional-program graduates. That conclusion needs hesitation to change course to actually cost some conventional graduates their careers; if sticking with a failing lesson never drove anyone out of teaching, the newer programs' edge in flexibility wouldn't explain higher retention. (D) supplies exactly that link: some conventional graduates leave teaching because they're too hesitant to depart from a lesson that's failing.
Why the other answers are wrong
AWhy (A) is wrong
(A) isn't required, since the conclusion is about which graduates stay in teaching, not about whether programs can afford several classrooms per candidate.
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) isn't needed either: the argument doesn't have to rule out school quality as a factor.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) overshoots, since the argument only needs that hesitancy costs some conventional grads their careers, not that every teacher who lasts past year 5 commands many methods.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) isn't necessary. The argument concerns a general readiness to change course, not whether every classroom calls for improvised lessons.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Necessary Assumption. Necessary Assumption questions ask for the unstated premise the argument depends on.
How do I get better at Necessary Assumption questions?
Try the negation test. If negating a choice wrecks the argument, that choice is the necessary assumption. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
