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- Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:07 pm
#74096
Complete Question Explanation
The correct answer choice is (E).
For this question, we are asked to find an answer choice that indicates something that at least some historians believed prior to the use of pollen analysis in the study of the history of the Irish landscape. The last sentence of the second paragraph tells us that in many cases, pollen analysis "can serve to supplement or correct the documentary record" (lines 19-20). Paragraphs 3 and 4, then, provide examples of how pollen analysis has corrected the record. Paragraph s tells us that pollen analysis corrected the historians' belief "that such soils were not tilled to any significant extent until the introduction of the moldboard plough to Ireland in the seventh century A.D" (lines 26-29). Paragraph 4 tells us that pollen analysis corrected the historians' belief that the flax "plant was being cultivated in Down before the eighteenth century" (lines 42-44). Either of those corrected beliefs would make for a good answer choice in this question.
Answer choice (A): Flooding is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.
Answer choice (B): We need to be careful with this answer choice because it's similar to the corrected belief we found in Paragraph 3, but it's not quite there. The historians' belief in paragraph 3 was that "such soils were not tilled to any significant extent until the introduction of the moldboard plough in the seventh century A.D." (lines 26-29). That's not enough to support the strong statement that "Cereal grain was not cultivated anywhere in Ireland until at least the seventh century." Remember that the vast majority of RC questions (this one included) are some form of Must Be True, meaning we need to be able to prove the correct answer using the information provided to us in the passage. The statement "were not tilled to any significant extent" is not enough to prove the statement "was not cultivated anywhere." So this answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): The first paragraph tells us that the documentary sources traditionally used by historians "provide a fragmentary record at best" (lines 4-5) and goes on to say that reliable accounts for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were scarce. Therefore, we have no evidence that historians believed these histories were well documented.
Answer choice (D): Madder is presented in the last paragraph as an example of something for which pollen analysis is unable to determine anything about the history of the landscape. Therefore, pollen analysis would be unable to correct any historians' beliefs regarding madder.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This answer choice provides us with the corrected historians' belief regarding flax from Paragraph 4.
The correct answer choice is (E).
For this question, we are asked to find an answer choice that indicates something that at least some historians believed prior to the use of pollen analysis in the study of the history of the Irish landscape. The last sentence of the second paragraph tells us that in many cases, pollen analysis "can serve to supplement or correct the documentary record" (lines 19-20). Paragraphs 3 and 4, then, provide examples of how pollen analysis has corrected the record. Paragraph s tells us that pollen analysis corrected the historians' belief "that such soils were not tilled to any significant extent until the introduction of the moldboard plough to Ireland in the seventh century A.D" (lines 26-29). Paragraph 4 tells us that pollen analysis corrected the historians' belief that the flax "plant was being cultivated in Down before the eighteenth century" (lines 42-44). Either of those corrected beliefs would make for a good answer choice in this question.
Answer choice (A): Flooding is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.
Answer choice (B): We need to be careful with this answer choice because it's similar to the corrected belief we found in Paragraph 3, but it's not quite there. The historians' belief in paragraph 3 was that "such soils were not tilled to any significant extent until the introduction of the moldboard plough in the seventh century A.D." (lines 26-29). That's not enough to support the strong statement that "Cereal grain was not cultivated anywhere in Ireland until at least the seventh century." Remember that the vast majority of RC questions (this one included) are some form of Must Be True, meaning we need to be able to prove the correct answer using the information provided to us in the passage. The statement "were not tilled to any significant extent" is not enough to prove the statement "was not cultivated anywhere." So this answer choice is incorrect.
Answer choice (C): The first paragraph tells us that the documentary sources traditionally used by historians "provide a fragmentary record at best" (lines 4-5) and goes on to say that reliable accounts for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were scarce. Therefore, we have no evidence that historians believed these histories were well documented.
Answer choice (D): Madder is presented in the last paragraph as an example of something for which pollen analysis is unable to determine anything about the history of the landscape. Therefore, pollen analysis would be unable to correct any historians' beliefs regarding madder.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This answer choice provides us with the corrected historians' belief regarding flax from Paragraph 4.