Question

Claim: The school day should be extended by two hours so that students can get more instructional time.

What statement is an example of a reasonable counterclaim to this claim?

A. Many students have jobs, and an extended school day would interfere with their work schedules.
B. Teachers are spending too much time teaching subjects that are not relevant to their real lives.
C. Many teenagers like to sleep late, and having school start so early would affect their ability to learn.
D. A closed campus would help to deter students from skipping classes and leaving school early.

Answer 1

A. Many students have jobs, and an extended school day would interfere with their work schedules.

This is a reasonable counterclaim to this claim. There is a direct cause and effect between extending the school day and student work schedules. Option B does not have a direct interaction between the two topics. The extended school day has nothing to do with the curriculum the teachers are teaching. Option C is also not a reasonable counterclaim, because it only is a problem if the school day started earlier. An easy rebuttal would be that the school day would be extended into the afternoon, not the morning. Option D is completely irrelevant to the issue.

Answer 2

I would say the answer is A