Schools should make participation in sports compulsory for students. Sports help children to not only channel their abundant energy in the right way, but also to become physically healthy and strong. Nowadays, children experience a sedentary lifestyle as they mostly remain indoors with their laptops or mobile phones. Sports would be a means of recreation, and it provides students with an opportunity to interact with other children of their age. Sports also help children de-stress and develop traits such as perseverance, discipline, and team spirit. By playing sports, children realize that a game is not simply about losing or winning but also about their attitude toward the victory or the loss. The spirit of sportsmanship can help one build good relations with people and go a long way in life.

Question

Schools should make participation in sports compulsory for students. Sports help children to not only channel their abundant energy in the right way, but also to become physically healthy and strong. Nowadays, children experience a sedentary lifestyle as they mostly remain indoors with their laptops or mobile phones. Sports would be a means of recreation, and it provides students with an opportunity to interact with other children of their age. Sports also help children de-stress and develop traits such as perseverance, discipline, and team spirit. By playing sports, children realize that a game is not simply about losing or winning but also about their attitude toward the victory or the loss. The spirit of sportsmanship can help one build good relations with people and go a long way in life.
     Parents, however, often voice the concern that time spent on sports can adversely affect a child's academic performance. Most often, children devote a lot of time to games and sports. As a result of this, they have no time to work on assignments or attend remedial classes. Even if they do try to study, they would be too tired to pay attention or understand the content. Playing sports can cause physical injuries, which not only forces students to miss classes in school but can also lead to serious health issues. But current research studies have found that participating in sports increases students' overall academic performance. So, parents are obviously wrong and need to do more research. Therefore, it is very important that children learn to balance their studies and sports.

4
Which statement weakens the author's claim that schools should require students to participate in sports?
 A. 
Nowadays, children experience a sedentary lifestyle as they mostly remain indoors with their laptops or mobile phones.
 B. 
Therefore, it is very important that children learn to balance their studies and sports.
 C. 
The spirit of sportsmanship can help one build good relations with people and go a long way in life.
 D. 
So, parents are obviously wrong and need to do more research.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The statement that weakens the author's claim that schools should require students to participate in sports is:

B. Therefore, it is very important that children learn to balance their studies and sports.

This statement suggests that participation in sports could potentially interfere with academic performance and highlights the need for balance, which can be seen as a counterargument to making sports participation compulsory.