【A】According to Wikipedia, an urban legend is “a modern genre of stories rooted in local popularculture, usually comprising fictional stories that are often presented as true, with macabre or humorouselements.” Some urban legends are outright horror stories meant to scare people. They are explicit intheir warnings of government conspiracies, attacks by criminals, and so forth. Others are ridiculousgraphic tales intended to shock. An urban legend may be based on reality, but over time it can take onthe outlandish proportions of myth.
        While the term “urban legend” dates back to at least as far as the late 1960s, the advent of theInternet has massively increased both the number and range of urban legends. Two that regularly popup are the “email tax” and the story of Craig Shergold. The email tax legend says that the US PostalService is going to impose a five-cent tax on every email sent to make up for lost postage fees, sincepeople now send electronic mail instead of using the postal system. The Shergold legend for its part,was initially true. It tells of a young British boy with a cancerous brain tumor who wanted to enter theGuinness Book of World Records by way of a chain letter campaign. Although notice was given thatthe boy was cured in 1991, he was still receiving thousands of letters and business cards as late as 2013.
        Needless to say, many people have been affected by urban legends because they’re gullible andget embroiled in stories with fantastic themes. Attempting to serve as definitive sources of truth, severalurban legend investigative bodies have emerged. Two of the better known are the websites Snopes.comand the television program Mythbusters. While Snopes.com generally limits itself to research,Mythbusters conducts entertaining experiments to test the veracity of myths old and new.
        Some urban legends are so convincing, however, that laws are enacted because of them. Oneexample is the falsehood that using a cell phone while pumping gasoline can ignite the fumes. Firedepartment testing and other experiments have proven this is not true. The likely culprit is static electricdischarge when people touch the metal pump handles.
        There’s no doubt that urban legends will continue to permeate our culture and shape our world.Nevertheless, the efforts of dedicated truth-seekers may help keep us rooted in reality despite ourinstinctive attraction to the sensational.
【題組】31.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
(A) To spread some popular stories that aren’t true.
(B) To prove that some popular stories aren’t true.
(C) To create a new story and make people believe it.
(D) To make people more careful about believing stories.