LR Drill Set 13, Question 12
Although many seventeenth-century broadsides, popular ballads printed on(68 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(6 more words not shown)
- ALike other forms(25 more words not shown)
- BIn many moralizing(23 more words not shown)
- CSome seventeenth-century ballad(8 more words not shown)
- DThe clergy occasionally(15 more words not shown)
- EWell-educated people of(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Buying a ballad with a moral message doesn't tell us why someone bought it.
Maybe the buyer wanted entertainment: a good story, striking language, or something interesting to sing. The moral statement could be part of the package without being the attraction. Reading about a value also doesn't automatically mean agreeing with it or taking it seriously.
There's a separate sampling question. Many purchasers needn't be most people in the century. A large-looking group of buyers could still be a small fraction of the population. Think of the difference between people who attend specialized lectures and the public at large: the interests of the selected audience don't automatically describe everyone.
What we’re looking for
The author is already arguing for caution, saying these purchases don't establish widespread seriousness about moral values. To strengthen that argument, I'd look for a reason not to make the leap. Perhaps the buyers weren't representative, or perhaps they had a different reason to want the ballads. Evidence of an entertainment motive would fit that second route.
Working the answers
- A
Poor literary quality doesn't tell us what buyers wanted from the works. Someone could take a clumsily written moral message seriously. Or someone could enjoy a poorly written story. The judgment of quality doesn't connect the purchases to either motive, so it doesn't support the author's concern very directly.
- BCorrect
Many of the supposedly moralizing ballads were mainly sensational stories about crime and adultery, with a pious stanza attached. That makes the label 'moralizing' less informative about the attraction of the whole work.
A buyer could want the dramatic story and give little attention to the moral added at the end. The answer therefore supplies a concrete alternative motive for buying. It doesn't prove buyers had no moral values, or that reading about wrongdoing makes someone immoral. It weakens the attempted inference from the ballads' moral passages and popularity to their readers' moral seriousness.
- C
Some sellers also offered sermons. That tells us what else was for sale, not why people bought these ballads or what the buyers believed. We can't assume the same customers bought both products, much less infer their reasons for either purchase.
- D
The clergy used some broadsides to warn against drinking. That shows what the clergy wanted to communicate in that setting. It doesn't show how ordinary buyers reacted or why they purchased ballads elsewhere. The speakers and the behavior being explained have changed.
- E
Educated people's contempt for the ballads or their sellers doesn't establish purchasers' motives. The buyers might disagree with that assessment and value the moral content, or buy for entertainment. E leaves the key uncertainty intact rather than supplying a specific reason to favor the author's caution.
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