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It is the opinion of the student council that the school's strict proctoring guidelines, which sometimes create situations in which a student may have to take three final exams in quick succession, can be done away with. If, as most faculty appear to believe, take-home exams, which are not proctored anyway, are the only exams on which students might actually dare cheat, then by doing away with the proctoring requirements, the school would allow students to schedule their own final exams without damaging the integrity of these exams. The fact that there is a very small percentage of students who are liable to attempt to cheat on a final exam when they take it within the school's walls is really a separate issue.

In the argument above, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

The ﬁrst is an objection that has been raised against the position taken by the argument; the second is the position taken by the argument.

The ﬁrst is the position taken by the argument; the second is the position that the argument calls into question.

The ﬁrst is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument calls into question; the second is a circumstance on which that judgment is, in part, based.

The ﬁrst is a judgment that has been offered in support of the position that the argument advances; the second is that position.

The ﬁrst is a claim that the argument calls into question; the second is the position taken by the argument.

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Explanation

Reading the question: the prompt is long, but since we have boldfaced language, we need only slice and dice the logical function of the statements.

Sentence

Starts With.../Includes...

Function

1st

"It is the opinion of the student council that"

Council's opinion

2nd

"If, as...faculty believe...take-home exams"

View of faculty

2nd

"then by doing away with..."

Proposed change

2nd

"the school would allow students"

Benefit of proposed change

3rd

"The fact that..."

Elaboration upon benefit

The first sentence gives the council's opinion. The second sentence has a few parts, which we can call 2a through 2c. In 2a, we have the view of faculty, 2b we do away with proctoring, and in 2c we have an effect, a benefit, of making the change proposed by the council. The final sentence gives additional elaboration. So in the first bold portion we have the view of the faculty, and in the second bold portion we have a beneficial effect of making the change proposed by the council. The second is a prediction drawn based on the first one. Although the opinions belong to different people, they are not contrary.

Applying our filter, we can start with the fact that the second boldface is an opinion. That rules out (B) and (C) based on their latter portions. Then we review based on the first boldface, a view that is used as evidence. The boldfaced statements are on the same "side" as each other and as the argument as a whole. That fact rules out (A), (B), (C), and (E). The correct answer is (D).

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