@Joseph The conclusion here is, "However, this objection misses its mark." What objection? "That curtailing the schools' three month summer vacation would violate an established United States tradition dating from the nineteenth century."
The support provided? "..., in the nineteenth century, the majority of schools closed for three months every summer, but only because they were in rural areas where successful harvests depended on children's labor. If any policy could be justified by those appeals to tradition, it would be the policy of determining the length of the school year according to the needs of the economy."
We are being asked to identify a principle that would provide the strongest justification for the conclusion. Notice that the author is taking issue with people objecting to proposals to extend the US school year by appealing to tradition.
Answer choice (D) states, "Traditional principles should be discarded when they no longer serve the needs of the economy." This would not support the conclusion. The author is not stating that traditional principles should be discarded. He is saying that the people objecting are not appealing to the the correct tradition.
(E) states, "The actual tradition embodied in a given practice can be accurately identified only by reference to the reasons that originally prompted that practice." Notice that this clearly strengthens the argument. The author is saying that the tradition being appealed to would be the policy of determining the length of the school year according to the needs of the economy, i.e. the reason the majority of schools closed for three months every summer in the nineteenth century.
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
knoxygirlJune 7, 2017
Actually I'm not sure it does, could you elaborate a little more? I'm not sure how the correct answer strengthens this at all.
LeeLarueJune 10, 2020
@Mehran, so this is Principle Strengthen Question?
