A potentially dangerous consequence of obtaining large amounts of polling data is that… a. public skepticism is likely to lead policy makers to ignore valuable polling data
b. constant reports of polling results intensify the horse-race atmosphere of a campaign
c. the Internet has made polling tools increasingly unreliable
d. policy makers are less well informed than the general public about polling data

An artist entered into a written agreement to sell a patron a partially finished painting once it was complete. the patron later learned that the artist planned to sell the painting to a third party who offered to pay the artist more than the contract price. the patron filed suit to compel the artist to sell the painting to her in accord with the terms of their agreement, while the artist denied that the painting the artist planned to sell to the third party was the subject of the agreement with the patron. at trial, the patron did not introduce the written agreement or explain its absence. rather, the patron sought to testify that, when she signed the agreement, the artist had pointed to the painting in question and stated that it was the patron’s painting. the artist’s attorney objected to the testimony that the artist identified the painting as belonging to the patron. how should the court rule? asustain the objection, because the artist’s statement was hearsay. bsustain the objection, because the patron failed to produce the written agreement or explain its absence. coverrule the objection, because the statement is not hearsay. doverrule the objection, because the statement was relevant.

Read the aphorisms. be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. an open foe may prove a curse; but a pretended friend is worse. a true friend is the best possession. according to these aphorisms from benjamin franklin's poor richard's almanack, what might happen if a person is careless in choosing a friend? it is best not to have friends because they will usually betray you. casual friends are often the best and can be more trusted than enemies. a person who has betrayed you can sometimes become a good friend. a friend who is not carefully chosen can be worse than an enemy.

“dear sir: it is with great reluctance, i trouble you on a subject, which does not fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress, than i have felt, since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs. i mean the present dreadful situation of the army for want of provisions, and the miserable prospects before us, with respect to futurity. it is more alarming than you will probably conceive, for, to form a just idea, it were necessary to be on the spot. for some days past, there has been little less, than a famine in camp. a part of the army has been a week, without any kind of flesh, and the rest for three or four days. naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their sufferings, to a general mutiny or dispersion. strong symptoms, however, discontent have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most acitive efforts every where can long avert so shocking a catastrophe.” what’s the central idea?