#21 - 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!

[biskam]

I really struggled with this passage even after doing a blind review.

I chose D then E but found that C was correct. I ruled out C because I thought it didn't encompass enough of the passage since it only covered the substance in the third paragraph. But now I'm wondering if the third paragraph and the first paragraph were linked and that I'm entirely missing on the main point of the passage.

In my opinion I found the main point (my prephase) to be that the author was uncertain with the author's claims regarding the status of the commercial elite as the wealthiest. Am I wrong?

Would really really appreciate help with this.

[lunsandy]

I also had the same issue and chose D for this question. I found "orthodox view" too narrow since it was not introduced until line 43. Can someone speak to this?

Thanks a lot!

[James Finch]

Hi Biskam and Lunsandy,

This is a tough question because it requires test takers to realize that the passage author is describing and two critiquing two separate parts of Rubinstein's study, the location/distribution of wealth and the relationship of wealth to power. So as a Main Point question, the answer choice must address both those subjects to be correct.

Answer choice (D) addresses the distribution of wealth within the country, which is the first aspect of Rubinstein's study mentioned in the passage, but fails to mention the relationship of wealth to power that the third paragraph is concerned with. So (D) is only half correct, and thus a wrong answer.

(E) doesn't mention either of the major subjects of the study, but concerns only the final line of the passage, a caveat that more research is needed to confirm Rubinstein's claims. However, it is the claims themselves that the passage is most concerned with, not whether they are likely to be confirmed or not; the author only cautions that more research is needed, but doesn't take a stand on whether that research can or will happen. So (E) is also incorrect.

(C) deals with the scope of the claims ("challenged but not disproven") that the passage makes about the study, and then describes the two major claims it is concerned with: "distribution of wealth and relationship of wealth to power," describing perfectly what the passage is concerned with and its tone towards those subjects.

Hope this helps!