One of the most vexing problems in historiography is dating an event when the us

Question

One of the most vexing problems in historiography is dating an event when the usual sources offer conflicting chronologies of the event. Historians should attempt to minimize the number of competing sources, perhaps by eliminating the less credible ones. Once this is achieved and several sources are left, as often happens, historians may try, though on occasion unsuccessfully, to determine independently of the usual sources which date is more likely to be right. Which one of the following inferences is most strongly supported by the information above?

Options:

A . Some of the events for which there are conflicting chronologies and for which attempts have been made by historians to determine the right date cannot be dated reliably by historians.

B . Attaching a reliable date to any event requires determining which of several conflicting chronologies is most likely to be true.

C . Determining independently of the usual sources which of several conflicting chronologies is more likely to be right is an ineffective way of dating events.

D . The soundest approach to dating an event for which the usual sources give conflicting chronologies is to undermine the credibility of as many of these sources as possible.

E . No wonder that centuries after it happened, the Black Death is still a bestseller.

Answer: Option B
:
B
A. Answer Option A is too strong. The questions states "on occasion unsuccessfully” whereas the option A states "cannot”. In Inference question we cannot choose strong answer options.
B. Correct Answer. It is a very light option. Moreover it is the summary of the question and not a rephrasing of the last line alone.
C. The language is too strong in saying independent determination is an ineffective way of dating
D.The soundest approach is not the topic being discussed. Moreover we are eliminating less credible sources and not undermining the credibility of those sources.

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