Q19 - Editorial: Painting involves

[brandonhsi]

I am not exactly sure why (B) is a wrong answer choice. My guess is (B) uses the word "likely", but only conditional statements given in the question. (E) is correct, because it uses conditional language too.

[sumukh09]

This question doesn't really have much to do with the conditional language in the stim but rather the essence of the argument being put forward.

B talks about the likelihood of making progress which isn't really what the argument is getting at in its analogy with painting. Basically the underlying layers have to be properly applied ie) the preparation for the overall product to be "complete"

E is correct because the student's overall education depends on the initial experience (or, the preparation/underlying layers) much like how painting depends on the proper application of the underlying layers.

[Emily Madan]

PT68, S3, Q19 (Inference-Completes the Argument)

(E) is correct

This question is asking us to infer how the argument would conclude. Unlike with some other inference questions, with this specific flavor we know we are going to use all the other parts of the argument and a strong prephrase will be useful. Here, they’ve given us two analogous situations, one involving painting, and one involving education. The author explains that painting involves the application of layers, the most important of which are the initial coats.

If you notice the formal logic language in the first sentence, you can diagram that statement as:

If painting layers adhere satisfactorily --> the underlying layer has been properly applied

With this background, we need to determine what conclusion the author would have inserted into the blank space. The first part of the sentence is about painting and how reemphasizes how important the initial layer is. It makes sense that the second part would be about education, perhaps reemphasizing how important the initial layer is.

(A) While this answer choice does talk about the initial contact with a student, we have no information about being undemanding or not. If anything, this answer seems to deemphasize the importance of the initial contact rather than saying it’s the most important step. Eliminate it.

(B) This answer choice talks about students needing a grasp of the fundamentals. Let’s leave it.

(C) This is about teaching methods, not about the first years of education being the most important. Eliminate it.

(D) This answer talks about the difficulty of teaching. Eliminate it.

(E) This answer choice is also about a student’s initial education. Leave it.

We’re left with only (B) and (E). To decide between these, assess which we can infer from the facts in the stimulus. (B) makes a prediction about what will happen if students have a grasp of the fundamentals. Our stimulus puts emphasis on the fundamentals, but doesn’t necessarily make any claim as to what the result of these fundamentals will be. This answer choice is too much of a stretch.

Answer choice E emphasizes the fundamentals, without taking the extra leap to make predictions. Additionally, the logic is identical to the conditional logic we pulled out of the stimulus:

If education is successful --> initial education experience is important

Because painting and education are said to be similar in this way, we can certainly infer this statement. (E) is the correct answer.

[griffin.811]

As with the above posters, I was between B and E.

The reason E is correct is because the language matches better with the stim. We are told that the MOST IMPORTANT steps in painting are those related to preparation (or the initial phases)

E matches this language nicely by saying the education as a whole depends ABOVE ALL ELSE (aka most important) on the initial phases.

B is incorrect because it takes us down the road of probability which isn't discussed in the stim.

[niksethi12]

Take it down to B and E.

Stimulus states (Success/Satisfactory) --> Underlying Layer Applied.

B = Underlying Layer Applied --> Success.....WRONG. MISTAKEN REVERSAL.

E= Success ---> Underlying Layer/Student's initial experience...CORRECT!