A Letter to a Student I wonder if you will let a stranger say a word
to you? I have heard that you are a young
woman of some ability. I have heard that you are
neglecting your school work because you have
become hopeless of trying to do anything in the
world. I am very sorry for this. How any human
being whose fortune it is to live in these times
should despair of life is almost unbelievable.
And if that person is, as I am, of Negro lineage
with all the hopes and yearnings of millions of
human souls dependent in some way on her
striving, then her bitterness amounts to crime.
There are in the U. S. today tens of thousands
of black girls who would be happy to have the
chance of educating themselves that you are
neglecting. If you train yourself as you easily can,
there are wonderful chances before you. You
can join the ranks of 15,000 Negro women
teachers, of hundreds of nurses and physicians,
of the growing number of clerks and
stenographers. Ignorance is a cure for nothing.
Get the very best training possible. The doors of
opportunity will fly open before you. On the other
hand every time a black person neglects a
chance, it makes it harder for others of the race
to get such a chance. Do you want to cut off the
chances of the boys and girls of tomorrow?

Adapted from a letter by W. E. B. Du Bois to an
African-American girl, 1905.

What is a possible reason for the girl's hopelessness?
A.
She thought she wasn't smart enough to go to college, so there was no point in studying.
B.
She couldn't go to school because she had to go to work to support her family.
C.
She had seen her race discriminated against in the workplace and elsewhere.