The principal said to Teacher Wang, who had proposed a teaching improvement plan: "Are you on the side of our school, or on the side of the rival school?" Which of the following responses by Teacher Wang most effectively dismantles this false dilemma?

Answer: C

• AOf course I'm on our school's side—do you even need to ask?✗ Choosing "our school's side" outright concedes that there are only two possible positions—being with our school or with the rival—thereby falling into the principal's false dilemma without challenging its premise.
• BWell, first tell me: which side do you think I'm on?✗ This counters with a question, deflecting the choice temporarily, but it fails to point out that other positions exist; it only delays taking a stance without truly breaking the dilemma.
• CMy proposal aims to make our school better—this isn't a matter of taking sides.✓ Stating that the goal is to improve the school introduces an independent objective that is neither siding with our school nor with the rival, effectively adding a third option and directly negating the necessity of the either-or framing.
• DThe rival school could never come up with such an improvement suggestion.✗ This tries to prove loyalty by disparaging the rival, but it still assumes that only two camps exist and shifts focus to comparing camps rather than discussing the improvement itself, thus missing the core issue.