Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or
those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and
of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore,
called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express
devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to
these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold,
that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that
would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give
his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his
limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as
an hart."
Which statement best describes why this excerpt contains an example of deductive reasoning?
A. It contains specific details that support a variety of different ideas.
B. It begins with broad statements and ends with more specific ones.
C. It uses clear examples that are easily understood by all readers.
D. It starts with a very simple idea and builds to a much grander idea.
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The statement that best describes why this excerpt contains an example of deductive reasoning is:
B. It begins with broad statements and ends with more specific ones.
In the excerpt, the speaker starts with overarching questions about national independence and the exclusion of certain groups from its benefits, then moves toward more specific emotional appeals regarding the ideal response to freedom and gratitude that would arise if those principles were truly extended to all.
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