PrepTest 158, Section 1, Question 18
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)
It can be inferred that(16 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Kewes thinks Ricks has identified real faults but drawn too broad a conclusion from them. She agrees that reducing morality to power is wrong, yet insists that some historical approaches can reconstruct past attitudes without excusing them. A useful prediction is overreaching or insufficiently nuanced.
Working the answers
- A
Irresponsible would accuse him of failing to meet a responsibility. Kewes's specific criticism is that he doesn't adequately distinguish good historical approaches from bad ones.
- B
She plainly understands his argument and identifies points of agreement. Incomprehensible, meaning impossible to understand, doesn't fit that response.
- C
Nothing suggests that Ricks is deliberately misleading anyone. Disagreeing with the breadth of his conclusion isn't an accusation of deceit.
- DCorrect
Simplistic captures the missing distinction: some historical scholarship is poor, but that doesn't make historical inquiry itself suspect. Kewes thinks his treatment needs room for approaches that explain past views without endorsing them.
- E
Reprehensible means deserving strong moral condemnation. Her qualified criticism, including explicit agreement with Ricks, does not amount to that judgment.
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