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Support More and more computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are being produced, and it is thus Support increasingly unnecessary for practicing engineers to have a thorough understanding of fundamental mathematical principles. █████████████ ██ ████████ █████████ ███ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████████ ███████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████████ ███ █████ █████████ █████████

Argument Summary

The author points out that, because computer programs are being produced that can solve mathematical problems in engineering, it’s becoming less important for engineers to understand “fundamental mathematical principles.” The author argues that, to free up space for “other important subjects,” the curriculum for engineers in training should place less emphasis on mathematical principles.

Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████████ ███████ ███ ████████ █████ ███ ███ ██████████████ ██████

Question Type

Weaken

The argument relies on a few assumptions. For example, the author assumes that engineers will have access to these computer programs, and that these computer programs produce accurate solutions to mathematical problems. The author also seems to believe that the only reason engineers need to understand fundamental mathematical principles is to solve certain mathematical problems, and not for any other reason. An answer choice that undermines any of these assumptions would effectively weaken the argument.

The effective use ██ ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ████████ ██ █████████████ ██ ████████████ ███████████

Correct. (A) tells us that engineers don't just need an understanding of mathematical principles to solve mathematical problems on their own, but also to operate these computer programs that can solve such problems. So (A) effectively weakens the argument that engineers should no longer be trained as thoroughly in mathematical principles.

99%

Many of the ████████ ████████ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ████

Incorrect. (B) actually strengthens the argument by confirming one of the assumptions we pre-phrased above: that engineers have access to these computer programs.

Development of composites ███ █████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ █████ ████ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ██████████

Incorrect. (C) confirms another assumption the argument makes, which is that there are "other important subjects" that the curriculum should focus on instead of mathematical principles. So (C), if anything, mildly strengthens the argument.

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Incorrect. Similar to (B), (D) confirms one of the assumptions the argument makes: that engineers have access to or are able to use these new computer programs. So (D) also strengthens, not weakens, the argument.

The engineering curriculum ███████ ████████ ████ ███████████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ██ ███ █ ███████ ██ ████████ █████████

Incorrect. (E) seems to be trying to strengthen the argument's assumption that engineering students will be able to use these computer programs. So (E) doesn't weaken the argument.

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