Columnist: If you received an unsigned letter, you would likely have some doubts about the truth of its contents. Bu...

Naz on November 18, 2014

The columnist first states that when one receives an unsigned letter, they will have feelings of doubt about the truth of its contents. She then points out that in a similar scenario--news stories that include statements from anonymous sources--the content of these stories are usually quoted with "the utmost respect."

The columnist states that it's logical to feel doubt in the unsigned letter scenario, since "their anonymity makes it possible for them to plant inaccurate or slanted statements without ever having to answer them," and so "it makes sense to be skeptical" of the anonymous sources for these news stories, as well.

So, what the columnist does is illustrate a situation where a specific attitude of doubt would make sense so that she can prove her point that a similar feeling of doubt would be just as logical in an analogous situation, i.e. answer choice (A).

Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

jstaff on August 30, 2018

What makes A a better answer choice than C?

Max-Youngquist on August 31, 2018

@jstaff (A) is a better answer because we are comparing two analogous situations (i.e. an unsigned letter vs. a news story with anonymous sources). (C) instead refers to making an inference about situations of the SAME type based on a hypothetical situation of that type. An example of that would be to say "If you read a story in the Times with an anonymous source, you wouldn't trust the story. Therefore no newspaper stories with anonymous sources can be trusted." I hope that helps!