#6 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

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!

[ChicaRosa]

Why is answer choice E wrong while C is correct?

I thought it was E because the passage does mention about widows acquiring land and having control of the land.

Is answer choice C saying that some women (widowed and married women) had certain amount of power despite their exclusion from public roles?

Thanks!

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Chica,

This a good example of a "correct the record" kind of situation common as a thematic template for many LSAT RC passages. In effect, the raison d'être of this passage is to present a viewpoint, usually the prevailing, "conventional wisdom" perspective, and then enumerate counterexamples to this view, sometimes with the intention not of entirely dismantling a narrative but rather enriching it or fleshing it out. This is just such a passage.

Thus, the "Main Point" question will at the very least allude to this contrast, presenting the existing understanding or overriding situation and subsequently describing how the passage deviates therefrom. A Main Point question must also match the passage in scope and tone and accurately convey the author's viewpoint.

For this passage, you might prephrase:

"Passage is about role of women in late medieval England, how they exercised considerably more economic and social power than one might expect, given the contemporaneous restrictions on women's independence"

Or you could prephrase:

"Even back in jolly olde England women were straight running the show while the men thought they were in charge"

Probably the former rather than the latter.

C is an excellent match. In re your question about E, you must remember that answers are not correct by virtue of any particular term(s) they include but rather by how well they answer the question in its entirety. Answer choice E is too narrow and correctly expresses neither the purpose of this passage nor the viewpoint of the author.

I hope this helps.