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Text Solution:

Breakdown of the argument:

Background: Personalized learning allows students flexibility to determine what topics to    study and in what order.

Background: In theory, students in personalized learning programs will feel more     motivated to learn and will learn more and learn faster.

Conclusion: In practice, students in personalized learning programs can find their learning efforts frustrated and lose motivation.

The cue word because indicates that the final sentence adds support for the conclusion. So, this is essentially a Strengthen the Argument question.

The author provides no evidence for students’ finding their learning efforts frustrated and losing motivation. So, the correct answer will present a premise that makes the conclusion more likely to be true.

Let’s rephrase the final sentence as a question:

Why can students in personalized learning programs find their learning efforts frustrated and lose motivation?

(A) schools have found that effectively applying personalized learning methods can require hiring additional teachers

This choice does not explain why students become frustrated and demotivated.

If additional teachers are hired, students should be less likely to be frustrated and demotivated. So, there is still no evidence to support the conclusion.

Thus, this choice does not complete the passage.

CORRECT ANSWER(B) learning can be difficult when the order of topics is inexpertly chosen, as understanding of one topic can be the basis for learning about another

This choice explains why students become frustrated and demotivated.

Students are unlikely to be experts at choosing topic order. Additionally, an ineffective order of topics can make learning difficult.

So, if students choose ineffective orders, they are more likely to find their learning efforts frustrating and lose motivation.

Therefore, this choice logically completes the passage.

(C) students in a group studying the same topics at the same time can motivate each other and help each other learn

This choice does not explain why students become frustrated and demotivated.

This information could support the conclusion that studying together is better than personalized learning.

However, the existence of a better method does not explain why personalized learning causes frustration and demotivation.

As there is still no evidence to support the conclusion, this choice does not complete the passage.

(D) some schools that go from traditional methods to personalized learning methods see student achievement gains, while others see reductions in achievement

This choice does not explain why students become frustrated and demotivated.

Schools that see achievement gains are irrelevant to the argument, because students in schools with gains are not frustrated and demotivated.

We need to find support for the conclusion that students are frustrated and demotivated. Knowing that some schools see achievement reductions does not explain why the reductions occur.

Thus, this choice does not complete the passage.

(E) some students are more excited than others to take advantage of the benefits of personalized learning programs

This choice does not explain why students become frustrated and demotivated.

This information could explain why some students do well with personalized learning, but it does not explain why some students do not do well.

Furthermore, not being as excited is not the same as losing motivation.

There is still no evidence to support the conclusion, so this choice does not complete the passage.