PrepTest 133, Section 4, Question 26
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 mention propaganda primarily(3 more words not shown)
- Arefute a claim(10 more words not shown)
- Bsuggest that scholars(12 more words not shown)
- Cpoint to a(8 more words not shown)
- Didentify one extreme(5 more words not shown)
- Edraw contrasts with(5 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Both accounts contrast proper historical scholarship with propaganda. A says the historian must not become a propagandist; B describes the discipline needed to keep scholarship distinct from propaganda. My starting thought is a contrast with what happens when historians fail to meet the standard.
Working the answers
- A
Neither mention answers a particular claim made by an opponent. A does discuss relativism elsewhere, but mentioning propaganda isn't presented as a rebuttal to a relativist claim.
- B
No comparison says scholars in other fields are more biased than historians. A's judicial analogy doesn't establish that ranking.
- C
We aren't told that a formerly respected kind of scholarship has recently lost credibility. The word recently adds a change over time that isn't described.
- DCorrect
Propaganda is an extreme historians must avoid. A warns against becoming an advocate or, worse, a propagandist. B warns that wishful thinking and refusal to accept contrary evidence threaten the distinction between scholarship and propaganda. That is the role of the contrast we noticed.
- E
There is a contrast, which makes this tempting. But the purpose isn't to compare historical writing with other persuasive genres. Propaganda marks a danger within the historian's own work when disciplined attention to evidence gives way to a preferred story. D captures that warning more accurately.
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