Question

The current proposal to give college students a broader choice in planning their own courses of study should be abandoned. The students who are supporting the proposal will never be satisfied, no matter what requirements are established. Some of these students have reached their third year without declaring a major. One first-year student has failed to complete four required courses. Several others have indicated a serious indifference to grades and intellectual achievement.A flaw in the argument is that it does which one of the following?(A) avoids the issue by focusing on supporters of the proposal(B) argues circularly by assuming the conclusion is true in stating the premises.(C) fails to define the critical term "satisfied"(D) distorts the proposal advocated by opponents(E) users the term "student" equivocally

Answer 1

A flaw in the argument is that it:

A. avoids the issue by focusing on supporters of the proposal.

Step-by-step explanation:

The writer of the passage makes his opinion clear: a certain proposal must be abandoned. We would expect him to provide strong, solid reasons for such an opinion, but he fails to do so when he says, "The students . . . will never be satisfied, no matter what requirements are established." This statement is more of a biased assumption than it is a reason. As a matter of fact, the writer's focus on supporters almost sounds as an attack. He tries to back the statement up with a couple of weak pieces of evidence, mentioning "some" students, "one" student, "several others". But that is far from enough, and it does not even constitute statistical evidence. Simply put, he does not have enough facts, enough evidence to make his opinion and his focus on supporters a solid one.