MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 49: Answer and Explanation

Home > MCAT Test > MCAT critical analysis and reasoning skills practice tests

Test Information

Question: 49

4. Suppose a public school board were to demand teachers use fewer hours to prepare instruction so that the school board can save money. In response, the author would most likely:

  • A. praise the board for striving to find more efficient ways to deliver services.
  • B. support the board's commitment to quality education.
  • C. withhold judgment and suggest the decision be considered within a larger context.
  • D. criticize the school board for undermining public education.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

C This is a New Information question.

A: No. See paragraph 4: "Efficiency … is not a goal, but an instrument to achieve other goals." The author would not necessarily see cutting costs as an important goal in its own right for the school board.

B: No. In the passage, the author argues that efficiency in and of itself does not equate with quality: "Efficiency is not an end, but a means to achieve valued ends" (paragraph 4). In paragraph 5, the author writes: "What, for example, is an effective education? To answer that question, we would first have to discuss the purposes of education, a discussion that is informed by values, and only then could we come to some understanding of the criteria of effectiveness." Therefore, the author would not automatically equate saving money with quality education (more likely, the opposite).

C: Yes. Consider paragraph 5: "Even when efficiency is used correctly as a means, when it is understood as the most cost-effective way to achieve our goals, much of our public discussion is fuzzy about its purpose. What does effectiveness mean? What, for example, is an effective education?" So, any discussion of the merits of cutting costs depends on a larger discussion of the goals of cutting costs. Thus, this is the author's most likely response.

D: No. The author's main idea is that efficiency should be used as a means rather than an end, but this answer takes that idea too far by implying the author is opposed to the idea of efficiency (in education) altogether.

Previous       Next