PrepTest 141, Section 3, Question 9

Working the answers

• A

  Her involvement was prolonged, but the text doesn't establish that a very long fieldwork period distinguished her from most other anthropologists. Length of study and participation in the activity are different features. The explicit comparison concerns the latter.

• B

  She studied African origins of Caribbean dances and later adapted techniques for North American performance. That doesn't establish that relating traditions to her own culture was what distinguished her research from most other anthropologists'. Her African American identity alone cannot supply that comparison.

• C
  Correct

  She participated in the dances herself instead of trying to gather information from complete detachment. That involvement helped her understand both the cultural practices and the actual techniques. It is the difference the author directly identifies.

• D

  The account doesn't describe a high political significance that she attached to the research. The inclusion of African American themes in later choreography is not the same claim about her research attitude.

• E

  Prior familiarity is not identified as the distinguishing feature. Her training made her capable of studying and learning the techniques, but the text doesn't say she already knew the particular cultural practices before she arrived.