S92-18

Official Solution:


The editor of a local newspaper found that his paper's readership was declining because most articles did not address issues that directly impact readers' lives. To increase readership, the editor decided to print more articles about issues facing the local public school system and contentious school board budget meetings.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to expect that articles focusing on local public schools and the school board budget will succeed in attracting readers?


A. One of the core missions of the local newspaper is to inform local residents about the school board and the public school system.
B. In order to make informed voting decisions, local residents need to be informed about the school board budget and its impact on the public school system.
C. School board meetings are open to the public and make the minutes of every budget meeting readily available to the public.
D. The number of local residents who read newspapers today is smaller than it was ten years ago.
E. The vast majority of the local paper's readership is either employed by the local public school system or has children who attend local public schools.


The editor of a local paper found that readership was falling because articles did not address issues impacting readers. To fix the problem, the editor decided to print articles dealing with the school board and local public schools. This question asks for something that would make it likely that the editor's decision to print more articles dealing with the school board budget and local public schools will succeed in attracting readers.

The passage says that readership is declining because the paper is not printing articles on issues that directly impact readers' lives. Thus, for the editor's plan to succeed, the school system and school board budget must somehow directly impact readers' lives. The correct answer should demonstrate this.

Choice A says that one of the core missions of the newspaper is to inform local residents about school related issues. This does not mean that these are issues that directly impact readers' lives.

Choice B says that to make informed voting decisions, residents have to be informed about the budget and the school system. This does not explain how these issues would directly affect readers' lives.

Choice C says that the minutes of school board budget meetings are readily available, which is irrelevant to whether newspaper readers care about the school board and school system.

Choice D says that residents read fewer newspapers today than they did ten years ago. If this were true, it would mean that residents are simply not reading newspapers, suggesting that nothing the editor does is likely to change this.

Choice E says that people likely to read the paper either work in or have children who attend public school. Therefore, school related issues directly impact the lives of the newspaper readership, making choice E the correct answer.


Answer: E