#23 - Editorial: Teenagers tend to wake up around 8:00 A.M.

[graciekang]

hi i dont get why (B) is wrong. I thought that because if teenagers have to wake up early, they are more tardy, so that causes more accidents. is the problem 'than teenagers who are well rested'?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi gracie,

You definitely do not want to assume that being tardy causes more car accidents. While that may be true, it may not, and making that assumption would be unwarranted.

As Jonathan mentions in his earlier post (Post #4), Answer B is really providing another benefit to delaying the start of the school day, but the conclusion of the argument is not a general recommendation for starting the school day later, but a specific causal argument about how starting the school day later would reduce car accidents.

Since the argument really relies on the Granville data, an answer that strengthens the connection of the stated cause and effect (as Answer E does by eliminating the possibility that the reduced number of accidents in Granville is simply part of a larger trend) is a great way to strengthen this argument.