题目选项分析

It is ludicrous to assert that the math department's new policy, allowing the use of nonprogrammable calculators during exams, is discriminatory. Though a calculator can be expensive, and some students will not be able to purchase one, the department is not requiring that students use one, it is only allowing them to do so if they desire. Thus, any student who does not purchase a calculator for use on his exams will not be penalized; he or she will be no worse off at exam time than he or she was prior to the policy change.

To which of the following would the opponents of the math department's new policy be most likely to refer, in an attempt to have the new policy abolished?

【选项】When calculators were not allowed, more than half of all students failed their math exams.