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- Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:00 pm
#36043
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14395)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Since there is not much apparent agreement between the two authors’ attitudes towards objectivity,
we can prephrase the answer to this Author Agreement question as well. They agree that the ideal of
objectivity is central to historical scholarship, but disagree over its definition and ramifications.
Answer choice (A): Neither passage mentions what proportion of historians can claim to have
achieved the goal of objectivity.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The author of passage A defines the ideal of
objectivity as “central to the historian’s profession and scholarship” (lines 1-2), while the author of
passage B suggests that the very possibility of historical scholarship requires a sense of objectivity
(lines 27-32). In the second paragraph of passage B, the author elaborates on that point by suggesting
that detachment is “an indispensable means of achieving deeper understanding” (lines 37-38).
Answer choice (C): This is the Opposite answer. Only the author of passage A would agree that
achieving objectivity requires historians to set aside political allegiances (line 21). The author of
passage B would disagree with that view (lines 34-35).
Answer choice (D): The ability of historians to judge their own objectivity is neither presented nor
alluded to in either passage.
Answer choice (E): Neither passage mentions whether historians who value objectivity are becoming
less common.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14395)
The correct answer choice is (B)
Since there is not much apparent agreement between the two authors’ attitudes towards objectivity,
we can prephrase the answer to this Author Agreement question as well. They agree that the ideal of
objectivity is central to historical scholarship, but disagree over its definition and ramifications.
Answer choice (A): Neither passage mentions what proportion of historians can claim to have
achieved the goal of objectivity.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The author of passage A defines the ideal of
objectivity as “central to the historian’s profession and scholarship” (lines 1-2), while the author of
passage B suggests that the very possibility of historical scholarship requires a sense of objectivity
(lines 27-32). In the second paragraph of passage B, the author elaborates on that point by suggesting
that detachment is “an indispensable means of achieving deeper understanding” (lines 37-38).
Answer choice (C): This is the Opposite answer. Only the author of passage A would agree that
achieving objectivity requires historians to set aside political allegiances (line 21). The author of
passage B would disagree with that view (lines 34-35).
Answer choice (D): The ability of historians to judge their own objectivity is neither presented nor
alluded to in either passage.
Answer choice (E): Neither passage mentions whether historians who value objectivity are becoming
less common.