Question

read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers.
(the passage below is excerpted from an essay published in the early twentieth century.)
every child has to learn the language he is born to, it is certain that he will make mistakes in the process, especially as he is not taught it by any wise system, but blunders into what usage he can grasp from day to day
now, if an adult foreigner were learning our language, and we greeted his efforts with yells of laughter, we should think ourselves grossly rude. and what should we think of ourselves if we further missed him by setting absurd words and phrases before him, encouraging him to further blunders, that we might laugh the more, and then, if we had visitors, inciting him to make these blunders over again to entertain the company? yet this is common household sport, so long as there is a little child to act as zany* for the amusement of his elders. the errors of a child are not legitimate grounds of humour, even to those coarse enough to laugh at them, any more than a toddling baby’s falls have the same elements of the incongruous as the overthrow of a stout old gentleman who sits down astonished in the snow
*zany: a person who tries to be funny by acting in a silly way
the primary function of the anecdote recounted in the fourth and fifth paragraphs is to
a emphasize a point by presenting an absurd example
b reinforce readers’ preconceived ideas in order to underscore a truism
c present a hypothetical case that challenges the author’s argument
d offer a model of etiquette for readers to emulate

Explanation:

The anecdote of the adult foreigner making language blunders (and being laughed at) is an absurd, relatable example. It supports the author's point that laughing at a child's language mistakes is as unreasonable as laughing at this foreigner's errors, by drawing a parallel between the two situations to emphasize the core argument.

Answer:

A. emphasize a point by presenting an absurd example