Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1's use of the lighthouse example?

Question

Text 1
The lighthouse is the textbook public good: its beam reaches every passing ship, payers and free-riders alike, so no private builder can charge for it — government provision is the only path to lit coasts.

Text 2
The textbook skips the archives. For two centuries, private parties in Britain built and ran lighthouses, collecting 'light dues' from ships when they docked at nearby ports — imperfect pricing, but workable finance. The clean theoretical impossibility was, in practice, a functioning industry.

Accepted Answer

A. By citing historical cases in which private parties successfully financed lighthouses. Text 2's whole argument rests on the historical record of privately financed lights funded through port fees — exactly the rebuttal it would give to Text 1's textbook example.

Answer

B. By agreeing that no lighthouse was ever privately funded — Text 2 asserts the opposite: private lighthouse finance existed for centuries.

Answer

C. By arguing that lighthouses were unnecessary for navigation — Neither text doubts lighthouses were needed; the dispute is who can fund them.

Answer

D. By proposing that lighthouse keepers be paid higher wages — Wages appear nowhere in either text.

Craft and Structure practice question

Answer: A. By citing historical cases in which private parties successfully financed lighthouses

Why the other answers are wrong

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