Question

Read these sentences, and then answer the question that follows.

A historian finds a scroll that belongs to an ancient Chinese civilization. The scroll describes how good and kind a ruler was. The historian immediately starts writing a biography of the ruler based on the scroll.

What is likely true about the article that the historian is writing?


A. The article will be credible because the historian is highly qualified and quite famous.

B. The article will be interesting because it presents new information about ancient China.

C. The article will be biased because the historian is using only one source about the ruler.

D. the article will soon be published in a leading historical journal because it contains new facts.

Answer 1

The correct answer is answer C ("The article will be biased because the historian is using only one source about the ruler").

If a historian only took this one scroll to write a biography on its subject (the ruler), it would most likely be extremely misleading and inaccurate. There's no way of getting closer to the truth of any subject without contrasting a variety of opinions from different sources. What if people working for this ruler wrote it in a way that made him look good? What if it was written under pressure? What if it was a complete lie? These and many other questions should come to mind as possible ways in which relying on one source might compromise historical facts.

Hope this helps!