- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#23051
Complete Question Explanation
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (C)
Scholars believe that because a history book contains several inconsistencies, the book must draw its information from more than one source.
The scholars ignore the possibility that the history book is simply a copy of a previous source that contained inconsistencies.
The conditional wording of this choice is "Conclusion Follows → Choice True," which means that you are supposed to identify a necessary assumption of the argument. Since the scholars ignore a possibility, the correct answer will likely address that possibility.
Answer choice (A): This choice does not clearly address the issue except to make it harder to understand why the inconsistencies exist. If you read into this choice (you should not), you can argue that it makes it likely that if discrepancies make their way through to the final product, it is because the author was overwhelmed, and on that basis you can argue that this choice supports the idea of multiple sources. That argument has limited value. Furthermore, the book could utilize multiple sources even if the author was unaware of the possible discrepancies, so this incorrect choice is unnecessary.
Answer choice (B): Whether or not the average reader would recognize the inconsistencies is irrelevant to the number of sources the history book utilizes.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. Since the scholars ignore the possibility, they assume that the history book does not simply copy a source that contained inconsistencies.
Answer choice (D): This choice is vulnerable to the same general critique as is answer choice (A). The fact that this choice is specific to the author in question does not make this choice necessary.
Answer choice (E): If the author of the book was familiar with all available source material, that makes it highly likely that the author drew on multiple sources even unintentionally. However, an author would only have to be familiar with a few sources to utilize multiple sources, so it might be unnecessary that the author was familiar with all the available source material.
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (C)
Scholars believe that because a history book contains several inconsistencies, the book must draw its information from more than one source.
The scholars ignore the possibility that the history book is simply a copy of a previous source that contained inconsistencies.
The conditional wording of this choice is "Conclusion Follows → Choice True," which means that you are supposed to identify a necessary assumption of the argument. Since the scholars ignore a possibility, the correct answer will likely address that possibility.
Answer choice (A): This choice does not clearly address the issue except to make it harder to understand why the inconsistencies exist. If you read into this choice (you should not), you can argue that it makes it likely that if discrepancies make their way through to the final product, it is because the author was overwhelmed, and on that basis you can argue that this choice supports the idea of multiple sources. That argument has limited value. Furthermore, the book could utilize multiple sources even if the author was unaware of the possible discrepancies, so this incorrect choice is unnecessary.
Answer choice (B): Whether or not the average reader would recognize the inconsistencies is irrelevant to the number of sources the history book utilizes.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. Since the scholars ignore the possibility, they assume that the history book does not simply copy a source that contained inconsistencies.
Answer choice (D): This choice is vulnerable to the same general critique as is answer choice (A). The fact that this choice is specific to the author in question does not make this choice necessary.
Answer choice (E): If the author of the book was familiar with all available source material, that makes it highly likely that the author drew on multiple sources even unintentionally. However, an author would only have to be familiar with a few sources to utilize multiple sources, so it might be unnecessary that the author was familiar with all the available source material.
...history book".... double negative = positive; hence: ...author did use a source". When I did this one, had an issue negating it but believe my approach in retrospect is the correct way?