Sunderland College has historically had an outstanding football team. In its 50-year history, the team has had more winning seasons than any other team in the state. In the last 10 years, however, the team has been on an astoundingly rapid downward spiral-with eight losing seasons. Coach Wilson is unquestionably responsible for this losing streak. Since he was hired 10 years ago, the team has not won a single championship. If Coach Wilson is allowed to continue managing the team, there is little hope of a winning season in the near future.

Which sentence best explains the effect of the words astoundingly and unquestionably in the passage?

1. They help the reader visualize how quickly the team declined.

2. They stress the degree to which coach Wilson is incompetent.

3. They help the reader determine how many games the team has lost.

4. They stress the amazing skill of the team before Coach Wilson took over.

Although from the first sentence, the use of the adverb "outstandingly" helps the reader see how much the team has declined, its main objective in the passage is to show coach Wilson's degree of incompetence.

This was made clearer when another adverb "unquestionably" was linked to the "losing streak" mentioned earlier in the passage. In other words, starting 10 years ago, after a new coach was hired, Sunderland College astoundingly could not win a single championship, which unquestionably indicates the degree to which coach Wilson is incompetent.