Question

(1) at the last school board meeting, the board approved a new grading system. (2) starting next school year, the lowest grade a student can get on his or her report card is 50. (3) the teachers strongly protested the new policy, but the board approved the new policy, and it was unanimous. (4) i agree with the teachers on this issue. (5) this grading policy is a mistake for our school. (6) i am a junior who makes as and bs. (7) i know that the grade i get is the grade i earned. (8) if i let the quality of my work slip, then i get a lower grade. (9) the students in this school who refuse to do any work should get a grade that reflects their lack of effort. (10) last six weeks, i saw the report card of a boy in my class. (11) reading down his report card, i saw 17, 15, 22, and other low grades. (12) in the future, his grades will be 50, 50, 50, etc. (13) his grades will be about 30 points higher through no effort on his part. (14) this artificial raising of grades will give an unfair advantage to these students. (15) most of the schools in the area give students the grades they earn. (16) students in our school will get higher grades than students in other schools, even if they do the same amount of work. (17) the school board defended its position by quoting dropout statistics and connecting them to grades. (18) they theorize that students who make very low grades cant bring their grades up enough to pass. (19) the students will get disheartened and dropout. (20) the board thinks that keeping averages at 50 will give the kids a better chance to bring the grades up to passing. (21) i know the board feels that it is select the correct answer. which of these sentences could be added to the end of the third paragraph (sentences 14 - 16) to support the ideas in that paragraph? a. i can make higher grades if i study hard for tests and do my homework on time. b. each school has its own school board that makes decisions about policies. c. one boy in my class made zeroes in four of his classes because he never worked. d. this grading difference creates an unfair comparison between students.

Explanation:

The third paragraph (sentences 14 - 16) discusses the unfairness of the new grading system. Option D directly addresses the unfair comparison between students, which aligns with the ideas in that paragraph. Option A is about personal effort and grades, which is not related to the unfairness of the system. Option B is about school boards in general, not the specific unfairness of the grading system. Option C is an example of a student's past grades but does not support the idea of unfair comparison in the context of the new grading system.

Answer:

D. This grading difference creates an unfair comparison between students.