Teacher: Journalists who conceal the identity of the sources they quote stake their professional reputations on what may be called the logic of anecdotes. This is so because the statements reported by such journalists are dissociated from the precise circumstances in which they were made and thus will be accepted for publication only if the statements are high in plausibility or originality or interest to a given audience – precisely the properties of a good anecdote.
Student: But what you are saying, then, is that the journalist need not bother with sources in the first place. Surely, any reasonably resourceful journalist can invent plausible, original. or interesting stories faster than they can be obtained from unidentified sources.
17. The student's response contains which one of the following reasoning flaws?
(A) confusing a marginal journalistic practice with the primary work done by journalists
(B) ignoring the possibility that the teacher regards as a prerequisite for the publication of an unattributed statement that the statement have actually been made
(C) confusing the characteristics of reported statements with the characteristics of the situations in which the statements were made
(D) judging the merits of the teacher's position solely by the most extreme case to which the position applies
(E) falsely concluding that if three criteria, met jointly, assure an outcome, then each criterion, met individually, also assures that outcome
18. Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the teacher's argument?
(A) A journalist undermines his or her own professional standing by submitting for publication statements that, not being attributed to a named source, are rejected for being implausible, unoriginal, or dull.
(B) Statements that are attributed to a fully identified source make up the majority of reported statements included by journalists
in stories submitted for publication.
(C) Reported statements that are highly original will often seem implausible unless submitted by a journalist who is known for solid, reliable work.
(D) Reputable journalists sometimes do not conceal the identity of their sources from their publishers but insist that the identity of those sources be concealed from the public.
(E) Journalists who have special access to sources whose identity they must conceal are greatly valued by their publishers.
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