Question

the following is a draft of a student paper. it may contain errors.
community garden
(1) the student council has been notified by the school administration that the community garden on campus will be closing this year (2) apparently, the cost of maintaining the community garden does not seem to be justified. (3) there are many different benefits of having a community garden. (4) the student council is asking everyone to submit a short statement that can be presented to the school for keeping the garden. (5) we believe it would be a great loss to the students and would like to hear everyones opinions.
2
the author needs to develop the paragraph on the strengths and limitations of the claim and counterclaim. which text would be best to add to the paragraph?
a. while it may be true that the garden takes a lot of maintenance, it is no more than other areas of the school; therefore, it is an unjustified reason to close the community garden.
b. although the garden does not seem to be used by everyone, students still get to enjoy seeing the garden on campus.
c. while it may be true that the garden does not seem to be well used, it does benefit the student body in many ways. for example, science classes have been more interactive with access to the garden.
d. although the time to maintain the garden can be consuming, we could all sign up to volunteer.

Explanation:

• Option A only addresses maintenance as a reason and dismisses it, but doesn't fully develop the claim - counterclaim relationship.
• Option B just mentions students enjoying seeing the garden, which is a weak development.
• Option C first acknowledges a possible limitation (not well - used) and then presents a strength (benefits the student body, e.g., in science classes), which is a good development of claim and counterclaim.
• Option D focuses on a solution (volunteering) rather than developing the strengths and limitations of the claim and counterclaim.

Answer:

C. While it may be true that the garden does not seem to be well used, it does benefit the student body in many ways. For example, science classes have been more interactive with access to the garden.