Q1 - failure to become properly

[bernard.agrest]

Stimulus: F: failure to register to vote prevents 1/3rd of the people from doing so, if local election boards made it easier to register more would vote. S: The high number who don’t vote is still high, despite attempts to make it easier to vote. Surveys show that the reasons people to don’t vote is because they think their vote doesn’t do anything. We need to change that belief if more people are to vote.

There is a disagreement on WHY people aren’t voting. F says it is because it is hard to register, while S says it is because people don’t think their vote matters.

Question stem: what do they disagree on?

A) No discussion.
B) (Correct answer choice), this is the exact problem.
C) No discussion for S.
D) S does not say they have MADE it easier.
E) No discussion for F.

[ohthatpatrick]

Very nicely done!

I'll flesh out a few of those, just in case anyone is more tempted by the incorrect answers (but my brain would have been saying the more succinct reasons you gave).

(A) neither person talks about whether changing the process would be cumbersome. F says that the process itself is cumbersome.

(B) Not a perfect answer because it makes it sound like there is ONE reason why people don't register. However, we know that F thinks that the cumbersome nature of the registration process is a factor that dissuades people, and S disagrees, citing an alternative factor that SHE believes dissuades people. So we have ammunition to back up this answer.

(C) Neither person ever discusses actually voting.

(D) S indicates that local boards have tried to simplify. F doesn't make any backwards looking statement, so he definitely doesn't weigh in on whether local boards have/haven't done this. F is only making a forward looking claim that IF things were simpler, more people would register.

(E) F never discusses public confidence in voting at all, and technically S never discusses WHY the public lacks confidence.