#14 - Concept Reference, Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Question Classification. The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[avengingangel]

So, I chose A because of lines 31-35 ("First...than do the records of church courts.") Bam. It's perfectly reasonable to think the author would give that opinion in response to the first hypothesis (mainly because the author DID do that, right there in the passage!) I agree that "It is untrue" is a little strong (since the author only says the first hypothesis is less plausible), but I liked this answer a lot more than any of the other choices! And, therefore, as has been noted to me many times before, I chose the "least worst" answer choice.

BUT, apparently it wasn't the credited answer, so:
1) Is the "untrue" language the only reason A is wrong? and
2) What in the heck does C (the correct answer) even mean ???


Thanks !!!!!!!!

[Adam Tyson]

The first, best reason for rejecting answer A, angel, is that first word, "untrue". There is no support for the idea that the author would agree that it isn't true, only that it is less plausible, as you pointed out. Your prephrase should probably start with "it is unlikely", making it a snap to eliminate answers A, D and E in a jiffy.

Why does the author say it is unlikely? Because at the same time and place, civil lawyers were disciplined a lot more. See around line 32:

First, the English civil law courts, whose ethical standards were similar to those of ecclesiastical courts, show many more examples of disciplinary actions against legal practitioners than do the records of church courts.

That's what answer C is saying - it's unlikely that the canon lawyers were so great at following the rules because civil lawyers appeared to be much worse (at least according to the records), and by the way a lot of them were the same folks. It's an argument by comparison. Read a few lines beyond that quote and you get more support for C's reasoning-by-comparison.

I hope that clarifies it for you!

[lathlee]

I had c) or E) as final answer but went with E) cuz line, council of Basel example (47-51) and in England medieval church record are extraordinarily rich. (51_ 54) and (L 14-20) Florentine guild of lawyers example followed by the lines of "IN THE FEW RECORDED EPISODES OF DISCIPLINARY ENFORCEMENT.."

it is directly supported at least based on the evidences by the author

[Francis O'Rourke]

Hi Lathlee,

You may be misinterpreting the question. To restate it, number 14 is asking us what the author would say to someone who said "canon lawyers didn't get into trouble because they didn't do anything unethical (they followed standards scrupulously)."

First, you should recognize that this hypothesis matches up fairly well with the hypothesis presented in lines 23-24. The author clearly rejects this hypothesis in favor of the idea that Medieval canon lawyers likely protected themselves from punishment for failing to live up to standards of conduct.

This eliminates answer choice (E) from contention immediately. This answer choice claims that the author agrees with the hypothesis presented in the question and in lines 23-24.