People who take what others regard as a ridiculous position should not

(A)The first step in this Parallel Reasoning question is to abstract from the specifics of the stimulus. In general terms, the stimulus provides a case in which a statement uttered in response to a particular situation is attacked as an ineffectual response; there are only two possible scenarios, and both expose the futility of the statement (if the original position is wrong, the given response would make matters look worse; if the position is right; the response does nothing to prove it). The parallel choice we’re looking for should therefore show that a given response shouldn’t be used because, whether the party under attack is right or wrong, the response is ineffective. We don’t have to look far. (A) says that when a practice has been denounced, it shouldn’t be defended by saying, “this is how we’ve always done it.” The reason for this is exactly parallel to the original’s “lose-lose” element: if the practice is a poor one, the response makes matters look even worse; if the practice is wise, the answer doesn’t provide good support for it. (A) fits the stimulus form to a T.

(B) Unlike the stimulus, there’s no issue of the initial opinion being right or wrong. Instead of being presented with two cases where a person who eats strange foods is wrong or right to do so, we’re given two ways the response will sound unsatisfying.

(C) also begins with a response people shouldn’t make, but instead of showing why the justification is pointless in the cases of the person being right and being wrong, the argument attacks the response for avoiding the issue.

(D) again fails to show why the scholars’ response is no good whether they are right or wrong, implying instead that they are probably partly right and partly wrong.

(E) fails because it recommends two better ways of responding (admission of error or silence), whereas the stimulus was primarily interested in describing why the original response was no good whether the original statement was right or wrong.