PrepTest 131, Section 2, Question 12
A theoretical framework facilitates conceptual organization of material(40 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Athere is no(18 more words not shown)
- Btheoretical frameworks are(11 more words not shown)
- Ceven the best(15 more words not shown)
- Dthe value of(19 more words not shown)
- Ethere is no(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A theoretical framework can help organize material and open up productive lines of research. Those sound like genuine benefits. But can it capture every main trend in history?
The author says no: the past is too complex. That limits what a framework can accomplish, but it doesn't erase the benefits already described. It also doesn't by itself prove the historians wrong about frameworks being the best approach. The best available method could still leave something out.
What we’re looking for
For the unfinished conclusion, stay with the limitation the argument actually establishes. Historical analysis within a theoretical framework cannot capture all the main trends. I wouldn't turn 'not comprehensive' into 'worthless' or add a comparison with subjects the passage hasn't discussed.
Working the answers
- A
'No benefit ever' is much stronger than the stated limitation. Indeed, the opening sentence gives benefits: organizing material and expanding research. A method can have those advantages without capturing everything. A wipes out the benefits instead of acknowledging the limitation.
- B
We haven't compared history with any other discipline. Frameworks might have greater limitations elsewhere, or fewer; the passage doesn't tell us. A limitation within history cannot establish that frameworks are less useful there than in every other field.
- CCorrect
If a theoretical framework cannot capture all the main trends because history is too complex, doing the analysis as well as possible within that framework won't eliminate the limitation. Even the best such analysis will leave some main trends uncaptured. This carries the author's objection into the conclusion without claiming that frameworks have no value.
- D
The opening does connect historians' recommendation with the organizational and research benefits. But repeating a reason for that recommendation doesn't complete the author's response to it. The final premise concerns the framework's inability to capture every main trend, and D draws no conclusion from that limitation.
- E
The passage doesn't say the two approaches are identical. A framework might change how historians organize material or extend their research while still being incomplete. Incompleteness doesn't establish that using a framework makes no difference.
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