Teacher: Journalists who conceal the identity of the sources they quote stake their professional reputations on what...
tomgbeanOctober 10, 2019
B
I eliminated B because the answer choice does not say that the teacher intended that the statements be made by the unidentified sources...rather the answer choice only indicates that the statements be made...the statements could have been made by anyone including the journalism staff or the journalist him/herself.
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The teacher is discussing the procedure for quoting unidentified sources. The only way that these statements can be published is if they are plausible, original, or interesting.
The student responds to the teacher's claim about quoting unidentified sources by saying that the journalist could just make up a story that has one those three aspects.
I understand your concerns about the wording of B, but I'll explain why it is the correct answer. The rules given by the teacher apply to statements taken from a source. We do not know what rules the teacher has about a made up story. When the student changes the scenario, she is not understanding the teacher's claim. She applies the teacher's rules to a different concept.
The word "statement," as it is used in this passage, is something that is given by a source, witness, etc., and collected by the journalist. The teacher differentiates a statement from an anecdote, but the student doesn't seem to understand this distinction. The teacher is only saying that these claims will be published if they have the properties of a good anecdote. That does not mean any good anecdote is worthy of publishing.
