PrepTest 153, Section 4, Question 26
Social historians have noted that European social and(452 more words not shown)
According to the passage, which(15 more words not shown)
- AIt viewed human(10 more words not shown)
- BIt had adherents(10 more words not shown)
- CIt attempted to(9 more words not shown)
- DIt attempted to(13 more words not shown)
- EIt emphasized the(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Start with the definition in the opening sentence. Grand theories try to account for a broad range of historical phenomena through one ambitious explanation. Freudianism fits because it uses psychological traits to explain culture, politics, and other social interactions. We need that breadth-plus-single-explanation relationship, not just any true feature associated with the theory.
Working the answers
- A
Freud and his followers did regard the relevant psychological traits as universal. But that feature alone isn't what the opening uses to define grand theories. Their ambition is to explain many different phenomena through one explanatory account.
- B
Some adherents treated grand theories as scientific fact, but that describes their influence. A theory's popularity or the confidence of its followers doesn't explain what makes it grand in the stated sense.
- C
Narrative satisfaction helps explain the appeal of these theories. It isn't their defining feature. Many ways of explaining history might provide a satisfying account, including the alternative proposed at the end.
- DCorrect
This restates the opening definition. Freudianism's broad set of subjects is explained through a single psychological account; Marxism supplies the economic counterpart. That scope and explanatory ambition identify the category.
- E
Contingency, particularity, and novelty belong to the author's proposed alternative. The grand theories are criticized for failing to accommodate those features, so E assigns the remedy to the approach being criticized.
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