#27 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (E).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

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


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

[Khodi7531]

I was between A and E and chose A. I thought A understood and considered the first paragraph of whole passage. Because even though there weren't sides taken by the author, it was the exposing of misunderstanding mentioned in the first paragraph.


The entire passage goes off from that really showing the differences between the colonials and english and their thoughts/approaches to government. I mean I don't get how "explain an aspect of the relationship" captures that whole idea. What am I missing?

[Shannon Parker]

I was between A and E and chose A. I thought A understood and considered the first paragraph of whole passage. Because even though there weren't sides taken by the author, it was the exposing of misunderstanding mentioned in the first paragraph.


The entire passage goes off from that really showing the differences between the colonials and english and their thoughts/approaches to government. I mean I don't get how "explain an aspect of the relationship" captures that whole idea. What am I missing?

While the passage could be described as exposing a misunderstanding, it would be a "misunderstanding" that the colonists and or English had at the time, the difference in understanding of the term constitution. Answer choice A, is referring to a misunderstanding that has characterized descriptions of that relationship since (i.e., a misunderstanding on the part of historians). There is nothing in the passage about such a misunderstanding and therefore answer choice A is incorrect. Answer choice is the correct answer because the passage explains how the citizens of England and the colonists approached government differently, especially with respect to the powers of the government and where that power derived from.

Hope this helps.
Shannon

[MeliXi]

why is it not B?

[Adam Tyson]

Thanks for the question, MeliXi! The passage is only about a difference between how the English and the Americans viewed the power of their respective governments and the source of that power, and doesn't ever address how the English treated Americans. Answer B requires us to make some outside assumptions and think about what we believe about history, and we should not bring in that outside information in answering RC questions that fall broadly into the "Must Be True" category (which is most of them, by far).

A good prephrase here might have been "to contrast the views of the English and the Americans towards their governments", or perhaps "to show a that despite certain similarities, these two groups had some differences in the way they did things." Nothing about how they behaved towards each other, but about how each behaved or thought about themselves.

[MeliXi]

sorry, my head must have been in the clouds, but I meant - why not C?
I thought it was C because the "ongoing debate" was which peoples were more "loyal to the English political tradition." I thought the discussion of the differences in the political institutions supported this claim.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi MeliXi!

Answer choice (C) states: "settle an ongoing debate about the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that the purpose of the passage is to settle any debate. A debate requires at least two different viewpoints. In this passage, we mainly only get the author's viewpoint. The author is not arguing against another viewpoint or telling us about two different viewpoints. So I would not characterize the passage as settling a debate.

It's true that the first paragraph mentions that the colonials and the English "debated" and that the colonials claimed they were "more loyal to the English political tradition." But that's slightly different than saying that they were debating specifically over who was more loyal to the English tradition. Also, I would not say that the passage settles that debate. The passage discusses how American institutions were structurally similar to English institutions but that their attitudes toward them differed. The passage is more about why they had differing interpretations of institutions that they shared than it is about settling a debate between them.

Also, answer choice (C) refers to "a debate about the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries." The debate as described in the answer choice is not the same as a debate over who is more loyal to the English political tradition. The answer choice describes a debate about the relationship between England and its colonies, not whether the colonials or the English are more loyal to English traditions. The passage talks about the relationship between England and the colonies insofar as it discusses their structurally similar institutions but differing interpretations. But there is not any debate about that relationship that the author refers to.

Primary purpose is closely tied to the main point of the passage and in some ways is just a more abstract version of that. It is also important for both main point and primary purpose to really hone in on the author's viewpoint, since the author is the one who has a purpose in writing the passage.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey