You are given a statement and four arguments. Choose the comment about…
2019
You are given a statement and four arguments. Choose the comment about arguments from the given options below: Statement: Should class VI students have board examination? Arguments: I. Yes. This will motivate the students to study and get higher marks, and thus more knowledge can be imbibed at a younger age. II. No. The students will be forced to study and won't enjoy the process. III. Yes. In today's competitive world the students need to be prepared right from the beginning to face such difficult examinations. IV. No. This will add pressure on tender aged students and leave very little time for them to play.
- A.
Only arguments II, III and IV are strong
- B.
Only arguments I, II and IV are strong
- C.
Only arguments I and III are strong
- D.
Only arguments I and IV are strong
Attempted by 5 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
An argument is judged strong or weak on its own merit. A strong argument is directly relevant to the statement and rests on a substantial, practical, reasonable consideration; a weak argument is superficial, built on an unsupported assumption, or merely restates the proposal without a real reason. When several arguments accompany a statement, each one must be tested independently against this bar.
Testing each argument against this bar:
Argument I — weak. It assumes that holding a board examination will, by itself, motivate young students and cause more knowledge to be 'imbibed'. Marks reflect performance, not knowledge, and there is no established basis that early high-stakes testing deepens learning; the claim is an unsupported assumption, not a substantiated reason.
Argument II — strong. Compelling very young students to study for a high-stakes examination can turn learning at the foundational stage into a joyless, pressured exercise, which is a recognised pedagogical drawback and a substantive objection.
Argument III — strong. Preparing students early to cope with demanding examinations is a practical, widely accepted rationale in a competitive academic environment.
Argument IV — strong. Heavy examination pressure on tender-aged children, together with sharply reduced time for play, is a genuine developmental concern rather than a trivial one.
Note that three of the four offered combinations count argument I among the strong arguments; since argument I fails the bar, every set that relies on it collapses. Only the set that drops I and keeps II, III and IV survives.
Hence the strong arguments are II, III and IV — matching 'Only arguments II, III and IV are strong.'