Question

Read the excerpt.

People who think clearly would never vote against year-round school. The only people arguing against it selfishly want to take long summer vacations. Year-round school will instead address the very serious problem of students falling behind in school during the summer. Teachers will waste less time re-teaching what students learned the year before. Shorter but more frequent breaks will give students the time off they need and teachers time to plan. There are really no downsides.

What purpose does the author’s use of ad hominem serve?

to show how schools suffer from having summer vacations
to emphasize the selfishness of people who want summer vacations
to provoke an emotional response from the reader about summer vacation
to describe the time wasted by teachers after summer vacation

Answer 1

to emphasize the selfishness of people who want summer vacations

Explanation: the ad hominem attacks opponents’ motives (calling them selfish) to discredit their position rather than addressing their arguments.