LSAT 53 - Section 3 - Question 07

The Question Stem reads: Which of the following most logically completes the Educator's argument? This is a Most Strongly Supported Question.

Our Job for an MSS 'fill' question is to complete the argument. The stimulus will give us a set of Premises that will support the Conclusion. Ideally, we will be able to pre-phase the question and have an idea of what we are looking for before we see the answer choices. The Educator begins by claiming only those who are genuinely curious about a topic can successfully learn about that topic. Only is a Necessary Condition Indicator, so we know that being genuinely curious is necessary to learn (if you successfully learned, then you were genuinely curious). The author then goes to explain that successful learners find genuine enjoyment in the learning process itself. Then we see the Context Indicator, "however," indicating a turn to the Educators argument. She claims that "no child enters the classroom with a sufficient amount of curiosity to successfully learn all the teachers must instill." That was a mouthful, but let's break that down.

The first part of this claim is that children are not sufficiently curious to learn. In this context, we mentioned that curiosity is required for learning, but there is a problem: children don't have enough curiosity, so if the children have to learn, they're not going to be able to because they don't have the curiosity they need to learn. Ok, do they need to learn? Yes! The second part of the Educator's claim is that teachers must instill a set of topics in these kids. So if a teacher has to teach a child math, but the child isn't curious enough about math to learn it. What do you think the teacher should do? If you said, "get that child curious," you're on the right track. The Educator concludes that a teacher's job, therefore, is __.

What should we fill in here? Well, earlier, we made the inference that a teacher has to get their kids curious to get the kids to learn. So let's look for an answer choice that gets at that idea.

Correct Answer Choice (A) matches our prephase, albeit in a more confusing way. (A) says “A teacher's job requires the fulfillment of its goals (the goal of getting kids to learn), the stimulation of curiosity (getting kids curious), as well as the satisfaction of curiosity (the kids satisfy curiosity by learning).”

Answer Choice (B) is incorrect. Not only does (B) fail to complete the argument, but (B) seems to contradict what the Context says about learning: that learners find satisfaction in the learning process itself. (B) is unsupported/anti-supported.

Answer Choice (C) says that teachers should focus primarily on topics that students aren't interested in. Why? If students are not interested or curious about the topic, to begin with, then the students won't be able to learn about those topics. If you picked (C), you likely assumed that by focusing on those topics, teachers would get students curious. But we do not know if that will be the case.

Answer Choice (D) is wrong because there is no mention of students taking responsibility for their learning in the argument. Sure, it might make the teacher's job easier, but the stimulus offers no Support for that claim.

Answer Choice (E) is incorrect. If anything, this claim is anti-supported. The stimulus claims that curiosity and satisfaction of curiosity are required to learn. How would a teacher's job become easier if students realized learning wasn't necessarily enjoyable?