Thanks for the question! So the question is asking us for what each author would agree on about judges conducting independent research.
(A) is the correct answer, since “the structure of a trial” consists of things like cross examination or screening witnesses (discussed in paragraph 2 of passage A), and you can look at around lines 24 for some pretty direct evidence of this. Passage B says that the reasons trial courts get to conduct independent research is because of the live testimony and cross-examination, in other words, the structure.
(B) is wrong because reliable sources aren’t enough for passage B, there has to be live testimony. See lines 37-39. ?(C) is wrong because it directly contradicts what passage A says in lines 27-28.
(D) is wrong because we can’t say for sure what passage A would say about the appellate level, or what passage B would say about the trial level. Each passage only focused on one, so we can’t conclude what it would say about the other.
(E) is wrong because it might apply to appellate judges, but definitely not to trial judges (how would a trial judge usurp their own fact-finding function by conducting research?).
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
