PrepTest 114, Section 3, Question 19
In explaining the foundations of the discipline known(436 more words not shown)
The primary function of the(7 more words not shown)
- Aoutline the merits(6 more words not shown)
- Bconvey the details(6 more words not shown)
- Canticipate challenges to(5 more words not shown)
- Dexamine the roles(10 more words not shown)
- Eidentify the basis(6 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
My first description would be context: we meet Abrams, learn what historical sociology is, and get his central idea that people and society shape each other. He calls that process structuring. The rest then applies the idea to history, so the opening gives us the starting point for that account.
Working the answers
- A
The paragraph explains Abrams's position rather than evaluating its merits. Presenting his criticism of one-sided approaches isn't the same as assessing how good his own historical method is.
- B
This is tempting because we certainly receive information about his view. But the details of its historical application—contingencies, selected events, and the four-part method—come afterward. The opening establishes the basic idea they build on.
- C
No objections to Abrams are anticipated. He is the one objecting to one-sided approaches; that reverses the direction of the criticism in C.
- D
Structuring is a key term, and it is defined. But the paragraph's purpose isn't to examine terminology. The definition helps introduce the substantive relationship between people and society. D mistakes a tool used in the explanation for its main job.
- ECorrect
The basis is the “continuous process” in which individuals and society shape one another. The next paragraph explicitly extends that process to history. Basis describes the opening's role more precisely than our initial word context: it gives the idea on which the later explanation rests.
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