Jane: According to an article in this newsmagazine, children’s hand-eye coordination suffers when they spend a great amount of time watching television. Therefore, we must restrict the amount of time Jacqueline and Mildred are allowed to watch television.

Alan: Rubbish! The article says that only children under three are affected in that way. Jacqueline is ten and Mildred is eight. Therefore, we need not restrict their television viewing.

Alan’s argument against Jane’s conclusion makes which one of the following errors in reasoning?


(A) It relies on the same source that Jane cited in support of her conclusion.

(B) It confuses undermining an argument in support of a given conclusion with showing that the conclusion itself is false.

(C) It does not address the main point of Jane’s argument and focuses instead on a side issue.

(D) It makes an irrelevant appeal to an authority.

(E) It fails to distinguish the consequences of a certain practice from the causes of the practice.
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