In preparing her argument on the drawbacks of this country’s reliance on fossil fuels, Lucinda uncovers a statistic that supports her position but is also so startling she has trouble believing it. What factors should influence her decision on whether or not to use the evidence?

What will be an ideal response?

Use of the statistic should be driven by the speaker’s confidence in its reliability. Lucinda
should do additional research to confirm the accuracy of the evidence. She should use the
evidence if she believes it would not harm her credibility and be aware that if she had trouble
believing it she might expect a similar reaction from the audience. Finally, she should weigh the
advantages of using unique and dramatic support against the liabilities of such evidence (i.e., it
could be rejected as exaggerated).