D. INCLUDING THE FACT THAT THE POVERTY LINE IS REGULARLY RAISEDTO...

34. d. Including the fact that the poverty line is regularly raisedto account for inflation would signifi-cantly strengthen the conclusion that more families were living in poverty in 1990 despite the lowerpercentage of families under the poverty line. Choice ais an opinion that expresses anger at statisticalmanipulation but does not provide a premise that would further support the conclusion. Choice boffers information that might help account for a normal difference in the number of families living inpoverty, but the passage doesn’t argue that fewer families were in poverty in 1990; rather, it argues theopposite. Choice cis essentially irrelevant. Democrats and Republicans may have certain agendas andinstitute certain social policies, but this is not relevant unless the reader knows a specific Democraticor Republican measure taken to affect the poverty level. Choice esuggests that many more poor peopleneeded assistance in 1990 than 1980, but it is essentially irrelevant without further information show-ing the correlation between welfare recipients and the poverty line; it may be an apples-to-orangescomparison. You would need to know if any significant changes in welfare policy occurred in theinterim.