In the last paragraph, why does the author use the word "universal" to describe the stories?
A.
to make it seem like the author's opinion is really a fact
B.
to suggest that survival stories can be enjoyed by everyone
C.
to give the sense that there are millions of stories to be read
D.
to convince the reader that the author is an expert
Passage:
Survival Stories Keep the Reader Coming Back for More
by T. Herlinger
There is nothing like a good survival tale, especially one where the hero or heroine has to use cleverness and intelligence to make it through. My favorites as I was growing up were stories like My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, about a boy who gets lost in the Catskill Mountains and has to live off the land. When the weeks go by and he hasn't been rescued, the boy even carves out an old tree trunk to use as shelter. I was enthralled by how he learns to use the natural world around him to survive.
The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, is another gripping story of survival. No one who's read the book could possibly forget the part where there's a blizzard and they have to brave sub-zero temperatures and blinding snow in order to feed their animals. Before the storm, the father had strung a rope from the house to the barn, and that's what they use to reach the animals when they can't see a thing in the snow. I was amazed at the characters' ability to make the best with what they had, and to come up with clever solutions to impossible situations like the blizzard.
What is it about these stories that made me read them over and over? I've never been to the Dakotas, where the Wilder book is set, and I've only driven through the Catskills. Yet something about these stories is universal. They are about survival, which everyone can relate to on some level. They are also about ordinary people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. We can all relate to that, too. But what keeps me and countless others coming back to the books is that incredible feeling of joy when the character triumphs over nature and survives in spite of the odds. It always makes me want to stand up and cheer. I find these books to be sources of comfort, as well. They tell me that if I were ever to get into such life-and-death circumstances, I could depend on my own wits and intelligence to get me through.