Excerpt from "a witch trial at mount holly" by benjamin franklin then came out of the house a grave, tall man carrying the holy writ before the supposed wizard etc., (as solemnly as the sword-bearer of london before the lord mayor) the wizard was first put in the scale, and over him was read a chapter out of the books of moses, and then the bible was put in the other scale, (which, being kept down before) was immediately let go; but, to the great surprize of the spectators, flesh and bones came down plump, and outweighed that great good book by abundance. after the same manner the others were served, and their lumps of mortality1 severally were too heavy for moses and all the prophets and apostles. which phrase from the excerpt most clearly makes the witch trial seem ridiculous? "…flesh and bones came down plump.…" "…carrying the holy writ…" "…as solemnly as the sword-bearer of london…" "…came out of the house…"

A Witch Trial at Mount Holly is a short text that was printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette on October 22nd, 1730. It was believed that this document was originally written by Benjamin Franklin but up to this date, there is no clear evidence that he indeed wrote it. Whatever the case, this document publishes the apparent testimony of Franklin, who witnessed the execution of a person due to the practice of witchcraft. In general, the document shows the perception that the observer has on the procedures carried before him. The description gives the impression that the speaker cannot believe what he is witnessing and much less believe the way that the condemend man is deemed worthy of living or not, measuring his level of guilt and culpability against the weight of the Holy Bible and particularly the Books of Moses. It seems unbelievable for the author of the text that a man´s guilt or innocence can be weighed against a book and thus, almost sarcastically, when the man´s weight surpasses that of the book and the man falls to his inevitable death, the author almost mocks this by saying that "flesh and bone came down plump, and outweighed that great good Book by abundance". This is why the correct answer is A.