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 emilysnoddon
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#25553
For this question, I was deciding between answer choices D and E. I felt as though D was incorrect because it prioritizes what the author's opinion by saying "the issues with which writers of women's legal history OUGHT MOST to concern themselves" I felt as though this phrase was too strong and beyond the scope of the passage and therefore chose answer choice E. Can you please point me in the direction where answer choice D is supported and why this phrase is not beyond the scope of the passage. Thank you!!
 Adam Tyson
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#25598
I find two areas that support the idea that the author thinks there ought to be more study of women's legal history from the perspective that he describes as lacking. First, early in the first paragraph the author tells us that the dearth (shortage) of such scholarly studies is "a serious deficiency". That tells us that she thinks there should be more, and sets the tone for the rest of the passage, which is critical of and disappointed at that lack.

The other support I find is in the last sentence, where the author tells us that the current state of our knowledge in this area is "fragmentary at best, though the situation is slowly improving." She is again critical of the lack of study, and supportive of a change in the right direction. In other words, more such study is better.

Revisit those claims, coupled with the overall critical tone of the passage, and see if you don't agree that our author would probably say that we ought to have more study concerned with issues related to women's legal history with the perspective that she is describing as lacking.
 emilysnoddon
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#25601
I see your points and I actually had underlined both of those parts and took them into consideration. My issue with answer choice D was the word MOST. If the answer choice had said ought to concern themselves with the topic more I would have definitely agreed. I'm just having a hard time seeing where it is justified that this is of the highest importance to warrant the word most. I think I might be misinterpreting the phrase though. Let me know what you think and thanks for your response it did help me see the strength of the criticism.
 Emily Haney-Caron
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#25941
Hi Emily,

I see what you're saying, but I don't think "most ought" is too strong here. The author makes it clear that those sources are insufficient for expanding scholarship to so far ignored areas and remedying the "fragmentary" nature of the scholarship. I think the author would agree that the most important areas to study right now are the ones that haven't been studied sufficiently yet, to address that fragmentary state of the knowledge. Does that help?
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 ashpine17
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#92215
When it comes to these author’s attitude questions is this a must be true because it starts with can be inferred? I’ve been trying to get help on another similar but slightly different question type from the February 1997 exam but no one has responded. That question is also an author’s attitude but it’s worded in this way: it can be inferred that the author is most likely to believe which one of the following. Is that a must be true or most strongly supported?
 Adam Tyson
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#92264
"Can be inferred" makes this a stronger Must Be True variant, ashpine17, rather than a softer "most strongly supported" question, although both should be handled in the same way, by reference to the facts found in the text without any outside assumptions or knowledge. And bear in mind that even for a Must Be True question we are still expected to select the best answer of the choices presented. Sometimes you might feel that the best answer is not necessarily true and yet you still must select it because it has more support than any of the other answer choices (which typically have no support at all).
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 bonbon94
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#119474
So is D correct because the author think the sources used currently are not good? I thought the answer was E because the sources being studied only examined one aspect of medivial history and the author was arguing these sources need to be used to examine the effect on women as well. But was the author actually saying the current sources available aren't relevant and other, or new, sources need to be used?
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 Jeff Wren
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#120057
Hi bonbon,

Before reading the answers, it is important to first return to the passage and prephrase how the author feels about these sources based on the clues provided in the passage itself.

The sources mentioned in the question appear in the first paragraph, specifically around lines 12-15. The author is critical of these sources. This can be determined by the description of the current sources as a "serious deficiency" (line 7) and by the sentence immediately following lines 12-15, "But these sources are of little help in determining ..." (my emphasis)(lines 15-16) followed by a list of topics that the author thinks are really important to the study of women's legal history, such as whether women were intimidated/harassed in court.

Knowing that the author is critical of these sources, an answer such as Answer E, which begins "they are valuable" should be eliminated because the tone is completely wrong. The tone is also wrong for Answers A and B, which are neutral and positive. Answer C is also negative in tone, but it is wrong because the reason/details provided are incorrect.

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