Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you publis

Question

Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you published last week written by Robert Duxbury. Your readers should know that Mr. Duxbury recently published his own book that covered the same topic as my book, which you asked him to review. It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

The author of the letter above makes her point by employing which method of argument?

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review.
(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review.
(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review.
(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review.
(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (A) . It took me 01:20.

Pre-thinking  
Such criticism may not be fair: it employs personal attack and avoids direct discussion of the subject.

Now check all answers 
(A) It matches the last sentence: It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book. It ascribes the unfavorable review penned by Mr. Duxbury to his self-aggrandizement.

(B) No. It never attack the competing book directly.

(C) No. No contrast is made. We only know that both cover the same subject.

(D) In a way, (D) is similar to (A). But (D) is a bit vague: If the author of the unfavorable review decided to promote his book by belittling the competing book under review, we might question the legitimacy / ethics of such judgment but not necessarily the judgment itself. We understand the judgment but question its righteousness. 
Still, (D) is a strong contender.

(E) No. No reasonable author would take this position. Many books are likewise reviewed.

Nishantanand1992 · Answer

Hi..

I think E is the best of the option.

And below is my reasoning for the same.

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review.-  There is no mention about the motives of the author in the argument 
(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review.-  The author does not attack the book; he is simply stating that the review is unfair because both the reviewer and him are involved in a similar kind of a work 
(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review.-  Argument states that both have similar topic for writing 
(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review.-  There is no mention of this in the argument  
(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.  CORRECT

Jaidude · Answer

IMO its A 
The Author writes to the editor cause she feels the review of her book by a rival is Unfair.
A is in similar lines to our prethinking.

sumitkrocks · Answer

(A)  is correct

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review.
Yes-   It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.   - Blaims the motives

(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review.
There is not attack on the book

(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review.
No comparison is made

(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review.
No validation or assessment is made

(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.
Not mentioned explicitly, but she later says that Mr. Duxbury should not have done such negative review intentionally, Indicating she would have been okay with a fair review. we can eliminate E

SohGMAT2020 · Answer

Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you published last week written by Robert Duxbury. Your readers should know that Mr. Duxbury recently published his own book that covered the same topic as my book, which you asked him to review. It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

So, the author here feels that since there is a conflict of interest of the reviewer, since the reviewer has his book published in the same area. The reviewer may not be neutral and may have some motive to belittle other works in the same area.

The author of the letter above makes her point by employing which method of argument?

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review. Yes this is correct as explained above.

(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review. No the author is not attacking the other book but attacking the motive or intention of the reviewer as he has a conflict of interest. Eliminate

(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review. No he is not making comparisons of the books itself. Eliminate

(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review. This is tricky. But again the judgement of the reviewer may be good but he is writing a biased review because of his own motives. Eliminate

(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work. Yes this might be true but this is not the method of reasoning the author uses to express their grievance. Eliminate

vrsthe1 · Answer

Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you published last week written by Robert Duxbury. Your readers should know that Mr. Duxbury recently published his own book that covered the same topic as my book, which you asked him to review. It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

Notes: The author wrote a book. someone published a review of the book. reviewer is a competitor hence the review is unfair.

The author of the letter above makes her point by employing which method of argument?

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review. -->  not attacking the motives 
(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review. -->  not attacking the book of the reviewer. 
(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review. -->  Not contrasting her own book  
(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review. -->  not questioning. 
(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work. --> simply stating that the reviewer felt the need to belittle a competing work. hence should not have been reviewed by him.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you published last week written by Robert Duxbury. Your readers should know that Mr. Duxbury recently published his own book that covered the same topic as my book, which you asked him to review. It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

The author of the letter above makes her point by employing which method of argument?

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review.
(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review.
(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review.
(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review.
(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.

B and C are clearly out.
Between D and E, I reject E because argument mentions attack about author ( by RD)

between D and A,
I felt A is better because it is more of a personal attack rather than judgement .
Maybe judgment was right but his motive is waht highlighted in the context.

Lets mark A.

crazyBuny · Answer

Straight One. Answer lies in the conclusion.  It is regrettable that Mr. Duxbury should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

(A) Attacking the motives of the author of the unfavorable review.
 Author feels that Mr. Duxburry did this to belittle the author's book and not because Mr. Duxburry genuinely did not like the book. This is the correct choice. 
 
(B) Attacking the book on the same topic written by the author of the review.
 He/she never complained about the quality of Mr. D's book.

(C) Contrasting her own book with that written by the author of the review.
 Author did not compare anything about the books except for mentioning that both books are on same topic. And that is not an attack.

(D) Questioning the judgment of the author of the unfavorable review.
 Author is not questioning. He is in fact attacking straight by saying it is regrettable.

(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.
 Author is not attacking the editor. Author is attacking Mr D. That is the key.

mSKR · Answer

Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on  the unfair review you published last week written by Robert Duxbury.  Your readers should know that  Mr. Duxbury  recently published his own book that covered the same topic as my book, which you asked him to review. It is regrettable that  Mr. Duxbury  should feel the need to belittle a competing work in the hope of elevating his own book.

The author of the letter above makes her point by employing which method of argument?

(A) Attacking the  motives of the author  of the unfavorable review.
(B)  Attacking the book  on the same topic written by the author of the review.
(C)  Contrasting her own book  with that written by the author of the review.
(D) Questioning the  judgment of the author  of the unfavorable review.
(E) Stating that her book  should not have been reviewed by the author o f a competing work.

B and C are clearly out.
Between D and E, I reject E because argument mentions  attack about author ( by RD)

between D and A,
I felt A is better because it is more of a personal attack rather than judgement .
Maybe judgment was right but his motive is waht highlighted in the context.

Lets mark A.

Konstantin1983 · Answer

Tricky choice between A and D. I opted for A because the author doesn't question the judgment of the author of the review, she attacks him on the basis that he wrote a book on the same topic. He/she doesn't mention any judgments

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option A

(A)  Attacking the motives  of the author of the unfavorable review.
-  Correct 
The intention of bais approach and favorism to another,is reflected through the words of writer, it clearly indicates, the motives of one to another.

(B)  Attacking the book   on the same topic written by the author of the review.
-  wrong  
Comparison is between two author, not with book

(C)  Contrasting her own book  with that written by the author of the review.
-  wrong  
- as per passage, book topic is same worked by both author.

(D)  Questioning the judgment  of the author of the unfavorable review.
-  Wrong 
- judgement is a strong word, used for seeking justice, but in passage, the author is accuseing

(E) Stating that her book should not have been reviewed by the author of a competing work.
-  wrong 
- Author is accusing to another, no comparison with books

VerbalBot · Answer

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Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you publis

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Dear Editor: I feel obliged to comment on the unfair review you publis

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