Question

yay or nay on daylight saving time?
1 during the spring in most of the united states clocks “spring forward” to daylight saving time. on the second sunday in march, clocks are set ahead one hour. in the fall, clocks “fall back” from daylight saving time to standard time. on the first sunday in november, clocks are set back one hour. it has not always been this way, nor does it always have to be this way.
2 the original purpose of setting the clock ahead in the spring was to extend evening daylight by one hour. those who came up with the idea thought a little extra daylight in the evening would be beneficial. with more daylight in the evening, kids can frolic outside longer. stores attract more people when there is still daylight available after working hours. extended daylight is more conducive to playing and watching sports.
3 another reason for setting the clock ahead one hour in the spring was to reduce energy usage. the idea was that people would not use as much electricity if they could depend on the sun for an extra hour of lighting and/or heating. in fact, benjamin franklin made a similar suggestion in a 1784 essay claiming that people would burn less candles.
4 however, not everyone is in favor of setting the clock forward in the spring and back in the fall. it can be disruptive to farmers whose work hours are synced to sundown. it can also disturb peoples sleep patterns, especially seniors and children. time changes have been known to cause havoc for billing, record - keeping, and travel arranging. some people say simply perturbs them to have to remember when to change the clocks. plus, the american journal of cardiology reports that the disruption of setting clocks forward in the spring increases ones risk for experiencing a myocardial infarction, or heart attack, in the days following the switch.
5 bob denzel of wisconsin is so against adjusting the clocks biannually that he has created a petition signed by thousands of citizens that could possibly convince legislators to end daylight saving time. his pet peeve for our timekeeping system started when he was in college. “im still angry about the time i slept in on the day we were supposed to set our clocks ahead one hour. i rushed off to my college campus to take a very important final exam, and i missed it! all because of the nonsense of daylight saving time,” said bob.
6 currently, more than 70 countries follow the daylight saving time system. however, some are reevaluating whether or not to continue the practice. at this time in the united states, hawaii and most of arizona have opted out, never setting their clocks forward or back while the rest of america does. they always use standard time, never having to deal with the hassle of resetting clocks but missing out on the extended daylight in the evenings. in our history, there have been times when the entire united states chose not to follow the daylight saving time system and just stuck with standard time. should america just stick with standard time all year long?
7 there are those who are against using daylight saving time and are in favor of sticking with standard time year - round, but there is an alternative most people have never heard about because it has never been tried. according to the plan, the next time we set our clocks ahead one hour in the spring, we would never set our clocks back again. we would have a new standard time that would be one hour ahead of our current standard time. we would leave our clocks alone forever. we would reap the benefits of having extended sunlight in the evening and it would eliminate the hassle of messing with the time. a simple act of the united states congress could instantly make it so.
8 so, readers, what do you think? what is your opinion on this topic? do you think we should keep using the daylight saving time system? should we get rid of it? should we go one step further and change the standard time? i would love to hear what you
the reader can infer that the timekeeping system we use was established by federal law. which sentence from the text best supports this inference?
a. those who came up with the idea thought a little extra daylight in the evening would be beneficial.
b. in fact, benjamin franklin made a similar suggestion in a 1784 essay claiming that people would burn less candles.
c. currently, more than 70 countries follow the daylight saving time system.
d. a simple act of the united states congress could instantly make it so.

Explanation:

The key idea is to find a sentence that implies the time - keeping system is due to federal law. Option D mentions that a simple act of the United States Congress could change the situation, suggesting that the existing time - keeping system is a result of federal (congressional) action.

Answer:

D. A simple act of the United States Congress could instantly make it so.