Tom: Employers complain that people graduating
from high school too often lack the vocational
skills required for full-time employment.
Therefore, since these skills are best acquired on
the job, we should require high school students to
work at part-time jobs so that they acquire the
skills needed for today's job market.
Mary: There are already too few part-time jobs for
students who want to work, and simply requiring
students to work will not create jobs for them.
Which one of the following most accurately describes
how Mary's response is related to Tom's argument?
(A) It analyzes an undesirable result of undertaking
the course of action that Tom recommends.
(B) It argues that Tom has mistaken an unavoidable
trend for an avoidable one.
(C) It provides information that is inconsistent with
an explicitly stated premise in Tom's
argument.
(D) It presents a consideration that undercuts an
assumption on which Tom's argument depends.
(E) It defends an alternative solution to the problem
that Tom describes.