Adjust Rhetorical Choices Based on Audience Practice Test

A student submits the following editorial to the local newspaper. The intended audience is city residents who vote on a ballot measure to raise the monthly water bill by $4 to replace aging lead service lines.

Passage:

Look, if you vote “no” on replacing lead pipes, you’re basically saying you’re cool with neurotoxins in kids’ brains. The chemistry is not your opinion: lead ions interfere with synaptic function, and even low parts-per-billion exposure correlates with IQ loss. Our city’s distribution network is a 70-year-old patchwork of galvanized steel and lead goosenecks, and pretending “filters will solve it” is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken femur.

The ballot measure is $4 a month. That’s one fancy coffee. If $4 is what stands between you and safe water, then maybe you should rethink your priorities instead of whining on Facebook. Plus, the EPA’s updated Lead and Copper Rule is coming; compliance costs will hit us either way, so we might as well do it now and stop embarrassing ourselves.

And before anyone says “my house isn’t that old,” congratulations, but water doesn’t respect your property lines. It’s a shared system. If you want a city that attracts families and businesses, stop acting like replacing infrastructure is optional.

Question (Revision): Which revision would best adapt the argument to its intended audience without weakening the claim?

A student writes the following op-ed for the school newspaper. The audience is the student body and administrators. The issue is whether the school should start at 8:45 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m.

Passage:

Starting school at 7:30 a.m. is a relic, and keeping it is basically choosing tired students on purpose. Sleep science is clear: teenagers’ circadian rhythms shift later, so forcing early wake-ups creates chronic sleep debt. That’s not “being lazy”; it’s biology.

But every time this comes up, adults panic about buses like it’s the end of civilization. Yes, transportation is complicated. That’s not a reason to ignore student health. Districts that changed start times reported improved attendance and fewer first-period failures. If we can coordinate football schedules across counties, we can coordinate buses.

Honestly, if you’re an adult who says “I got up early and I survived,” congratulations on surviving the 1800s mindset. We should not run a modern school like a factory whistle.

Question (Goal-effectiveness): Given the author’s goal of persuading both students and administrators, which aspect is least effective for the intended audience?