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Passage: 'Students who attend coaching classes outside school perform better on entrance exams than students who do not. Therefore, attending coaching classes IS the cause of higher entrance-exam scores.' Which, if TRUE, MOST weakens the causal claim?

ASome coaching teachers are former school teachers
BCoaching classes are expensive
CStudents with higher motivation and parental encouragement are both more likely to choose coaching AND would have scored higher even without coaching
DCoaching classes meet for two hours per day
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Students with higher motivation and parental encouragement are both more likely to choose coaching AND would have scored higher even without coaching
A common-cause variable (motivation + parental encouragement) drives both the choice of coaching and the higher scores. Without controlling for it, the causal inference is unsupported.
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