PrepTest 133, Section 4, Question 22
Passage A Central to the historian's profession and(481 more words not shown)
Passage A(193 more words not shown)
Passage B(296 more words not shown)
Both passages are concerned with(7 more words not shown)
- AWhat are the(8 more words not shown)
- BWhat must historians(9 more words not shown)
- CHow did the(5 more words not shown)
- DIs the scholarship(5 more words not shown)
- EWhy do the(12 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Our two main-point predictions both concern objectivity in historical scholarship. A describes an ideal of factual discipline and neutrality; B argues that historians can be objective without being politically neutral. We need the question both are addressing, even though their answers differ.
Working the answers
- A
Neither account identifies the most serious flaws in recent scholarship. A discussion of bias doesn't establish that it outranks every other problem historians face.
- BCorrect
This turns our general prediction about objectivity into a question about practice. A's historians should put facts first and insulate themselves from political loyalties. B's historians should reject unsupported interpretations and fairly consider opposition, while retaining their commitments. Both address how to prevent bias from distorting scholarship.
- C
We aren't given a history of how the ideal originated. Describing the ideal and debating its requirements are different from tracing its development.
- D
A does mention relativist historians and rejects one of their claims. But B doesn't evaluate the soundness of their scholarship, so this isn't the shared question.
- E
A acknowledges that interpretations have changed across generations. It doesn't explain why they changed, and explaining that historical change isn't B's task either.
More Main Point questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Main Point questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.