PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 12
Passage A The path a historical novelist has(486 more words not shown)
Passage A(209 more words not shown)
Passage B(285 more words not shown)
Both authors would be likely(8 more words not shown)
- AThe truth of(9 more words not shown)
- BUnintentional mistakes tend(10 more words not shown)
- CMost writers usually(8 more words not shown)
- DThe tendency of(10 more words not shown)
- EReaders expect complete(5 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Both authors must disagree with the answer. Their shared position is that some departures from fact belong in these kinds of writing. That should make us suspicious of a claim demanding complete accuracy, but we still need support from each writer.
What we’re looking for
A discusses inventions that readers can accept when they're subtle and convincing. B explicitly distinguishes an autobiography reader's trust from the factual expectations brought to a newspaper article.
Working the answers
- A
A doesn't discuss emotional vividness as a test of truth. B distinguishes factual accuracy from emotional truth, but whatever we make of B's position, we lack the required rejection from both writers.
- B
A supports this distinction: effective lies add to the story, while mistakes detract. B's tolerance of false memories cannot make this something both reject.
- C
Neither writer tells us how often most writers succeed. Saying that invention needs skill isn't evidence that most writers possess—or lack—that skill.
- D
Neither gives a trend showing that invention increases over time. Describing it as necessary now doesn't establish a claim about its past or future frequency.
- ECorrect
A's defense depends on readers accepting some purposeful departures from fact in historical fiction; only certain distortions go too far. B is more explicit: the trust given to autobiography differs from the trust given to factual reporting. Neither accepts complete factual accuracy as a universal reader expectation.
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