The correct answer should be the editorial page because editorials are opinion pieces that reflect the opinions of the publication.
The correct answer is B. It is more structured to emphasize the importance of one idea over the other. I hope this helped.
If this is an excerpt from a story, I wouldn’t be of much help. But from a layman's perspective, it seems like the character is attempting to please the failed humorist or he or she would have been frank. This in turn may have triggered a chain reaction, prompting the humorist to continue with his jokes which would have further affected the character. He or she is also giving the former a false sense of happiness and appreciation.
This passage may not affect the whole story in a remarkably discernible manner, but it definitely proves the character's penchant for politeness. And that may be be a deciding factor in his or her further decisions that ultimately define the plot of the story.
