No nation can long survive unless its people are united by a common tongue. For
proof, we need only consider Canada, which is being torn asunder by conflicts
between French-speaking Quebec and the other provinces, which are dominated
by English speakers.
Which of the following, if true, most effectively challenges the author’s
conclusion?
(A) Conflicts over language have led to violent clashes between the Basquespeaking minority in Spain and the Spanish-speaking majority.
(B) Proposals to declare English the official language of the United States have
met with resistance from members of Hispanic and other minority groups.
(C) Economic and political differences, along with linguistic ones, have
contributed to the provincial conflicts in Canada.
(D) The public of India, in existence sine 1948, has a population that speaks
hundreds of different, though related, languages.
(E) Switzerland has survived for nearly a thousand years as a home for speakers
of three different languages.