PrepTest 135, Section 2, Question 18
Historian: In rebuttal of my claim that West(48 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(13 more words not shown)
- AStuart's discussions with(11 more words not shown)
- BIt is more(10 more words not shown)
- CStuart's contemporaries were(4 more words not shown)
- DStuart's work was(6 more words not shown)
- EBecause of Stuart's(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A diary isn't a complete inventory of everything that influenced its author.
Mentioning West's work only once doesn't show that Stuart was unaffected by it. The historian offers several reasons to see a connection: Stuart met West, Stuart's close friend Abella studied under West, and Stuart used West's terminology when Stuart's contemporaries did not.
That last detail matters. A phrase everyone uses wouldn't point very strongly toward one particular source. Here, the wording was distinctive in Stuart's time. Together with the personal connections, it makes some influence from West a reasonable inference.
What we’re looking for
For the most-supported question, keep the conclusion modest. These facts favor some influence; they don't give a detailed account of exactly how it happened or how the terminology later became common. We should be able to defend the answer from this evidence without adding a missing conversation or a new history of the words.
Working the answers
- A
Abella offers a possible route of influence, but the passage doesn't establish that discussions with Abella actually supplied that route. Perhaps Stuart picked up the terminology directly from West or from reading West's work. A selects a specific mechanism the evidence leaves open.
- B
The historian is supporting influence from West to Stuart. Nothing here establishes that influence in the other direction was more likely. Reversing the names changes the claim we have evidence for.
- C
Stuart's contemporaries didn't use West's terminology. That doesn't mean West had no influence on them. They could have adopted an idea or a method without adopting the distinctive vocabulary. This answer treats one possible sign of influence as the only possible sign.
- DCorrect
Saying Stuart's work was 'not entirely free' from West's influence means West had at least some influence. The meetings, the connection through Abella, and especially the distinctive shared terminology support that limited claim. We don't need to show that West determined everything about Stuart's work.
- E
The terminology is common now, but we aren't told how it became common. Stuart might have helped spread it, or other people might have done so independently. This adds a causal story about later usage that the historian's statements don't establish.
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