PrepTest 142, Section 4, Question 21
Letter to the editor: When your newspaper reported(67 more words not shown)
The argument in the letter(8 more words not shown)
- AIf a claim(19 more words not shown)
- BOne should be(17 more words not shown)
- CIf a media(23 more words not shown)
- DPeople who think(15 more words not shown)
- EA newspaper should(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Being trustworthy doesn't make every extraordinary claim equally easy to accept.
If someone tells me they saw a meteor, I can understand accepting the report without demanding much more. If the same person says they saw an alien spaceship, I would want stronger evidence. That doesn't require accusing the person of lying or declaring alien spacecraft impossible. It means the content of a claim can affect how much support it needs.
The letter treats the newspaper's different reactions as unjustified bias because Hanlon is trusted in the community. But the letter itself admits that the spaceship claim is extraordinary. Why shouldn't the paper examine that claim more critically?
What we’re looking for
We're looking for a principle the letter conflicts with. A rule requiring unusually strong evidence for an extraordinary claim would challenge the idea that Hanlon's reputation alone makes skepticism unjustified.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This principle requires evidence of an extraordinarily high standard before an extraordinary claim is presented uncritically. The letter instead treats Hanlon's good standing as a reason the newspaper shouldn't be skeptical, without supplying support of that special kind.
The rule doesn't forbid reporting the claim. It allows a newspaper to describe what Hanlon says while critically examining whether it is well supported. That distinction directly addresses the skeptical tone the letter attacks.
- B
An intermediary would be someone between the original witness and the newspaper—for example, Hanlon's cousin relaying what Hanlon said. The letter doesn't establish that the newspaper received the claim only through such a person. B's specific reason for skepticism isn't the difference the letter challenges.
- C
This favors continued trust, which points in the same direction as the letter rather than conflicting with it. Also, community trust doesn't establish that the newspaper itself has previously used and trusted Hanlon as a source. C adds that condition without identifying a principle opposed to the letter's reasoning.
- D
This tells a person when to publicize an alleged supernatural observation. The letter concerns how a newspaper should treat a reported claim, not whether Hanlon should have spoken publicly. Nor does an alien spaceship necessarily count as supernatural. D doesn't address the argument's comparison of skeptical and uncritical reporting.
- E
This imposes a condition on publishing a report at all. The letter criticizes the tone of a report that was published; it doesn't say whether the newspaper should publish reports lacking independent confirmation. We aren't told whether such confirmation existed either. A directly addresses how critically an extraordinary claim should be presented.
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