A seat at the debate

Text: an original contemporary personal account-style practice extract.

I went to the school debate expecting to prefer the most confident speaker. The first team had a polished opening and a colourful slide. Yet I could not work out where their main figure had come from. The second team paused to check a page in their folder before answering a question from the audience.

I valued the second team’s answer because they named the survey behind their figure. I also liked their willingness to admit that the survey covered only one year group. Their argument seemed narrower after that admission, but it was easier to judge. I wrote those reasons on my voting slip rather than simply choosing the team that sounded most certain.

From the paragraph beginning “I valued”, give two reasons the writer valued the second team’s answer.