PrepTest 158, Section 1, Question 16
Passage A is adapted from an essay by(467 more words not shown)
Passage A(235 more words not shown)
Passage B(240 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- Ato trace the(6 more words not shown)
- Bto find fault(8 more words not shown)
- Cto examine shifting(6 more words not shown)
- Dto explain why(7 more words not shown)
- Eto argue that(6 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What are both writers doing, beyond sharing a topic? Each evaluates a way of studying plagiarism. Ricks attacks a historical approach that reduces moral distinctions to power. Kewes agrees that some approaches are bad, then criticizes treating those failures as grounds for dismissing historical inquiry more broadly. Our prediction is criticism of an approach to scholarship.
Working the answers
- A
The history of plagiarism is the subject of the scholarship under discussion, but the writers don't themselves trace its development through successive periods. Evaluating a historical account isn't the same as supplying that history.
- BCorrect
Both find fault with ways of approaching the topic. Ricks objects to removing moral considerations; Kewes shares his objection to poor historical work and adds that his response goes too far. They needn't agree on the full remedy to share this critical purpose.
- C
B mentions variations in attitudes, but examining changes in scholarly attitudes is not the central task shared by both. A is primarily a criticism of Rosenthal's approach, not a survey of scholars' changing positions.
- D
Neither explains why this kind of scholarship became dominant. Criticizing an approach doesn't establish its dominance or give a causal account of its popularity.
- E
A does criticize a particular book. B doesn't organize its argument around proving that book deeply problematic; it evaluates Ricks's broader response and defends responsible historical inquiry. The purpose must fit both.
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