Q6

[WaltGrace1983]

I thought that this was a pretty good question and was surprised to see no discussion on it.

We are supposed to find something that would WEAKEN the AUTHOR's argument in the last paragraph. His argument is roughly this:
--Conferences fall short of communities
----because discriminate (education/economic)
----because self-selecting / intentional

We should find something that would say that communities are either NOT exactly self selection or that they do NOT exactly discriminate.

(A) More accepting of diversity is a stretch. Just because they are more accepting doesn't necessarily mean that they are a more diverse bunch. Not the best but it is OKAY so I'll keep it.

(B) This looks really good. This would destabilize the argument that communities discriminate due to cost. If computer technology is become more and more affordable and accessible to a bunch of different backgrounds, maybe the author's point is less well-founded. At this point, I am pretty sure (B) is correct.

(C) The author pretty much agrees with this though. The author openly acknowledges the respect felt by people in online communities. Eliminate.

(D) So what? This is much like (C) in that it doesn't really do too much to the argument at worst and, at best, will actually fall in line with the author's argument.

(E) Eh. Conventions? I don't think this is really a match for anything the author said.

(B) seems to be clearly better than the rest. (B) is the correct answer.

[JackK349]

the fifth edition gives answer B as correct but the following explanation is supportive to A. I am confused.