Question

read the claim.
the overuse of social media has led to a decline in the academic performance of this country’s high school students.
which reasons are logically sound and could be used to support the claim? select two options.
☐ high school students are spending more time on social media than they are studying and completing homework.
☐ grades at a specific high school are worse this year than they were 20 years ago, when social media was not a distraction.
☐ social media is causing many problems in society, including a lack of attention and a more negative attitude toward education among students in my neighborhood.
☐ you can read several articles about students around the country causing problems at school rather than focusing on academics.
☐ standardized test scores dropped or remained stagnant in many states in 2017, which was the peak year to date for social media use.

Explanation:

1. The first option directly links increased social media time to reduced study time, creating a clear logical connection to lower academic performance for the country's high school students.
2. The fifth option connects a national peak in social media use to a widespread drop/stagnation in standardized test scores, providing broad, country-level evidence that aligns with the claim about national high school student performance.
3. The second option only uses one specific school, which is too narrow to support a claim about the entire country's students.
4. The third option is limited to a local neighborhood, not the whole country, and makes vague claims about attitude rather than direct academic performance.
5. The fourth option focuses on "causing problems" instead of measuring academic performance, so it does not directly support the claim about declining academic performance.

Answer:

A. High school students are spending more time on social media than they are studying and completing homework.
E. Standardized test scores dropped or remained stagnant in many states in 2017, which was the peak year to date for social media use.