Most of the fastest growing jobs in today's economy will require a college degree, but many new jobs such as home health aide and desktop publisher require knowledge other than that gained from a degree. For workers in those jobs, good basic skills in reading, communication, and mathematics play an important role in getting a job and developing a career. From this information, what can be validly concluded about today's economy?

Introduction / Context:
This question is about drawing logically valid conclusions from a short passage. The passage contrasts fastest growing jobs that require a college degree with many new jobs that do not require degree based knowledge but still demand strong basic skills. It specifically names home health aide and desktop publisher as examples of those jobs. We must decide which conclusion follows directly and safely from the information given, without adding extra assumptions or overstating the claims.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Most of the fastest growing jobs will require a college degree.
• Many of the new jobs being created, for example home health aide and desktop publisher, require knowledge other than that gained from a degree.
• For workers in those jobs, basic skills in reading, communication, and mathematics play an important role in getting a job and developing a career.
• The phrase those jobs refers to jobs like home health aide and desktop publisher mentioned just before.

Concept / Approach:
The key move is to track the reference of pronouns such as those jobs. In the final sentence the passage states that for workers in those jobs, basic skills play an important role in getting a job and developing a career. Those jobs clearly includes desktop publisher. Therefore we can safely conclude that such skills are important for desktop publishers. On the other hand, statement B says the majority of all new jobs require knowledge beyond degrees. The passage only says many of the new jobs, which is weaker than majority. Thus B goes beyond what is stated and is not valid. Option C is invalid because B is invalid, and option D is incorrect because statement A is supported.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the example jobs: home health aide and desktop publisher are given as examples of new jobs that require knowledge other than that gained from a degree.Step 2: Notice that the phrase those jobs in the final sentence directly refers to this group of example jobs.Step 3: The text clearly states that for workers in those jobs, good basic skills in reading, communication, and mathematics play an important role in getting a job and developing a career.Step 4: Since desktop publisher is one of those jobs, the statement in option A about desktop publishing careers is just a specific restatement of the general claim and is therefore valid.Step 5: Evaluate statement B. The passage never uses terms like majority or most for the group of new jobs that require knowledge other than degree knowledge. It only says many, so we cannot logically upgrade many to majority.Step 6: Therefore, A can be concluded, B cannot, so the correct choice is option A.

Verification / Alternative check:
Re read the passage carefully to confirm that there is no statement claiming that more than half of all new jobs are of the non degree knowledge type.Verify that the phrase those jobs grammatically refers to home health aide and desktop publisher type jobs, which supports applying the sentence about skills directly to desktop publishers.Check that no other answer choice more accurately reflects the given information than option A.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B exaggerates the passage by changing many to majority, which is logically invalid.Option C claims both A and B are correct, but because B is not supported, C is also wrong.Option D is wrong because at least one conclusion, namely A, is clearly supported by the passage.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to overlook the difference between many and majority in logical reasoning questions. Examiners often use this subtle difference to test careful reading.Another pitfall is losing track of what a phrase like those jobs refers to; if that reference is misread, candidates may fail to see that statement A is directly supported.

Final Answer:
Thus the safe and valid conclusion is that skills in reading, communication, and mathematics play an important role in developing a career as a desktop publisher.