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- Tue May 03, 2016 10:55 am
#23851
Complete Question Explanation
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (C)
Even though almost everybody knows that Mark Twain was a writer, almost no one knows that Samuel Clemens was one, even though Mark Twain is Samuel Clemens. To resolve the paradox, ask yourself why. Obviously, if few people knew that Mark Twain was Samuel Clemens in the first place, then no wonder they never heard of Samuel Clemens. Answer choice (C) allows both sides to be factually correct and provides a possible cause for the situation.
Answer choice (A): If the public has never read anything by Samuel Clemens, this might explain why very few people know that he was a writer. However, it is still unclear how they know about Mark Twain. This answer choice makes the discrepancy even more confusing and is therefore incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice only tells us that those who do know of Samuel Clemens also know of Mark Twain. This still doesn’t explain the pervasive absence of knowledge about Samuel Clemens.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above.
Answer choice (D): Even if many of us believe conflicting things about authors, it is unclear why most of us do not believe anything at all when it comes to Samuel Clemens. This answer choice is too general to resolve the specific paradox here.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice further clouds the issue. If some people know that “Mark Twain” is a pseudonym for Samuel Clemens, it is reasonable to expect them to know that Samuel Clemens was a writer.
Resolve the Paradox. The correct answer choice is (C)
Even though almost everybody knows that Mark Twain was a writer, almost no one knows that Samuel Clemens was one, even though Mark Twain is Samuel Clemens. To resolve the paradox, ask yourself why. Obviously, if few people knew that Mark Twain was Samuel Clemens in the first place, then no wonder they never heard of Samuel Clemens. Answer choice (C) allows both sides to be factually correct and provides a possible cause for the situation.
Answer choice (A): If the public has never read anything by Samuel Clemens, this might explain why very few people know that he was a writer. However, it is still unclear how they know about Mark Twain. This answer choice makes the discrepancy even more confusing and is therefore incorrect.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice only tells us that those who do know of Samuel Clemens also know of Mark Twain. This still doesn’t explain the pervasive absence of knowledge about Samuel Clemens.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. See discussion above.
Answer choice (D): Even if many of us believe conflicting things about authors, it is unclear why most of us do not believe anything at all when it comes to Samuel Clemens. This answer choice is too general to resolve the specific paradox here.
Answer choice (E): This answer choice further clouds the issue. If some people know that “Mark Twain” is a pseudonym for Samuel Clemens, it is reasonable to expect them to know that Samuel Clemens was a writer.