Bunuel wrote:
Editorial within local Williamsburg newspaper: Here in Williamsburg, we have an amazing educational opportunity in the form of the extraordinary colonial project that takes visitors back in time to the early days of American history. It has come to my attention that very few local schools take students on field trips there, and I believe that students are missing out on this opportunity. All local schools should be required to take the students to the colonial center, and funding should be provided to make this recommendation a reality. A visit to this wonderful place will benefit all school children and will offer them an experience they will cherish for years.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument made in the editorial?
(A) Williamsburg schools focus heavily on field trips with hands-on activity, and the colonial center in Williamsburg provides such opportunities for students.
(B) The writer of the editorial is the head of the marketing department at the colonial center and has been charged with increasing student traffic there.
(C) Local schools have polled the families of students, and it has been found that 99% of students have already visited the colonial center with their families.
(D) The colonial center at Williamsburg already offers significant discounts to school groups, and the city has little money to provide additional funding.
(E) Gasoline prices have risen sharply in the last few months, causing schools to cut back on field trips and focus on projects that can be completed in the classroom.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Overview: In this question, the student must consider an editorial in the Williamsburg newspaper, in which the writer claims that all students in local schools should be required to attend the colonial center at Williamsburg because of its exceptional historical value. The question asks the student to consider which of the answer selections most undermines the writer’s argument. To do this, the student must consider the substance of the argument – that “students are missing out on this opportunity,” that “very few local schools take students on field trips” to Williamsburg and thus that “All local schools should be required to take the students to the colonial center, and funding should be provided to make this recommendation a reality” – and then consider what would most undermine the reasonableness of this argument.
The Correct Answer:C Answer choice (C) claims that local schools have already polled families and have found that almost all the students in the local schools have already visited Williamsburg with their families. Although this does not call into question the editorial writer’s claim that the schools are not taking students to the colonial center, it does offer a reason for why schools do not do so, and it strongly undermines the claim that students are missing out on the opportunity to visit the center. Therefore, answer choice (C) undermines the argument that schools should be required to take students to the center and that extra funding should be made available. Therefore, answer choice (C) is most correct.
The Incorrect Answers:A If anything, answer choice (A) only validates the editorial writer’s argument by indicating that the local schools in the Williamsburg area focus on the kind of field trips that the colonial center would offer. Answer choice (A) can be eliminated at once.
B Although answer choice (B) suggests that the editorial writer is motivated by the writer’s job (as head of marketing for the colonial center, responsible for bringing more students there), that the writer has this job does not necessarily undermine his argument itself. If the writer’s claim that very few children from local schools have been to the colonial center is true, for example, then perhaps the argument is still strong. Answer choice (B) is incorrect.
D Like answer choice (A), answer choice (D) provides support to the writer’s argument by indicating that the school would receive a discount, so the funding itself would not create too much of a burden. Answer choice (D) can be eliminated immediately.
E Answer choice (E) provides a reason for why the schools might refrain from pursuing too many field trips in recent months, but the editorial indicates that the lack of field trips to the colonial center is not a new concern but an ongoing one. Additionally, since the writer of the editorial is arguing for funding, the price of gasoline should not be as much of a concern, as that would be budgeted into the funding. Answer choice (E) does not sufficiently undermine the editorial and is thus incorrect.