Question

An author writes the following paragraph for an argumentative essay:

In 2012, parenting organization Children Matter Most questioned 200 adults about television's influence on their families. 76 percent of the respondents admitted they had witnessed their children demonstrating improper or embarrassing behavior they felt originated from television. Examples ranged from offensive language to aggressiveness to age-inappropriate actions. Parents fingered reality shows, daytime talk shows, and adult-themed cartoons as the worst influences.

For which of the following claims does the paragraph best provide support?

Television has three types of shows that affect children negatively.
Television is a bad influence on children.
Television offers good and bad programming for families.
Television provides entertainment for people of all ages.

Answer 1

The excerpt mainly focuses on the general idea that television has a bad influence on children, so I would say the best answer choice is "television has a bad influence on children." It doesn't focus too much on the three types of shows, but otherwise that would be the second best answer. Let me know which one is correct, but I believe it's B.

Answer 2

Answer: B) Television is a bad influence on children.

Step-by-step explanation: In the given excerpt of an argumentative essay we can see that the claim that the paragraph best provide support is that television is a bad influence on children. We can see that this claim is supported by statistics ("76 percent of the respondents admitted they had witnessed their children demonstrating improper or embarrassing behavior they felt originated from television") and also with examples of shows that can produce inappropriate behaviors on children like reality shows, daytime talk shows, and adult-themed cartoons.