#8 - Specific Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (B).

Answer choice (A):

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

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):


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

[bghose]

General: Line 15 says that Stilgoe claimed "romantic-era distrust" be be present in the 1830s, and it vanished in the decades after 1880.

Per Stigloe, it was present from the 1830s right up to 1880 (after which Stilgoe believed that it vanished). So any time period outside of [1830-1880] is wrong. This eliminates C) and E) which have 1880+.

My analysis of the answer choices are as follows:

A) Uses "technological innovation" which is broader than just the railroad that Stilgoe is concerned with. Eliminated.

D) seems to have similar scope issues as A) in that social and economic developments during the 1830s is way broader than just the discussion about the railroad.

Thus A), C), D), E) have been Eliminated. Which leaves B) as the last answer standing by process of elimination. It has the correct time period and also mentions railroad although the "commonly held attitude" part bothers me since I could not locate support for it in the passage.

Can someone clear this up for me?

[Steve Stein]

Good question--that's a particularly challenging passage because of the shifts from viewpoint to viewpoint. Question 8 asks what Stilgoe implies with the phrase "romantic era distrust."

In the first paragraph, the author discusses a disagreement about public attitudes with regard to the railroad, and says that Stilgoe addressed this issue by saying that there was a general distrust of the railroads that dissipated during the decades after 1880. This is relayed by correct answer B--that "romantic era distrust" implies that there was a general distrust of the railroads during that period.

At the beginning of the second paragraph, the author of the passage asserts that the attitude the distrust was not actually a commonly held attitude, as Stilgoe claims, but rather the attitude of a minority of intellectuals, etc. Answers A and D both address this minority, which is discussed by the author, but not by Stilgoe.

I hope that's helpful--let me know whether this clears that one up--thanks!

~Steve

[bghose]

Yes, your explanation clears this question up for me; thank you very much!

[bghose]

Hi Steve,

Upon re-reading the passage, I came upon lines 27-29 which say that "Stilgoe is wrong...the critical attitude of these writers was typical of the period". The author has made it abundantly clear that in her view the attitude belonged to a minority of intellectuals. The lines above imply that the (according to the author) Stilgoe would have thought those to be "typical" (or commonly-held) attitudes [the author clearly thinks that Stilgoe thought so; not sure whether the author's position should be taken as evidence that Stilgoe held the same view]. This could provide more support for the "commonly-held" phrase which was troublesome to me to begin with, in addition to what you suggested. Please comment.

This brings me to a larger issue:-

Is beating-one-passage-down-to death at all a useful strategy? As you mentioned in your reply, this passage was challenging; would detailed scrutiny of each answer choice bestow any transferable knowledge (in helping uncover some sort of pattern) which could help in tackling other passages? If so, what would be the key takeaways from this passage which would apply more broadly to other passages?

Thanks!

[Steve Stein]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. First, I would agree that the lines you referenced further underscore Stilgoe's perspective about the railraods, reinforcing the notion that Stilgoe saw the general public attitude as one of distrust.

As for your question about transferable knowledge, I don't think that an awareness of Stilgoe's perspective on romantic era attitudes will necessarily be helpful in other contexts, and on the actual test, I wouldn't recommend taking the entire section's time on this one passage either.

With that said, going through a passage like this can be a valuable mental workout--you work on this ability more deliberately during your practice, and you get better and faster as you go. Another benefit: if you can follow all of the shifts in perspective that the author takes us through in this passage, tracking perspectives in other passages should, in many cases, seem much simpler by comparison.

I hope that's helpful! Please let me know whether this answers your questions--thanks!

~Steve

[Nicholas Noyes]

Hi,

So I chose answer D. Can you please tell me why that is wrong? Is it because I got the information of this passage from the second paragraph and not the first?

Thank You,
Nicholas

[Adam Tyson]

I think there are a few problems with answer D, Nicholas, and the first is that the passage, and Stilgoe's book, appear to be dealing ONLY with railroads. Answer D is far too broad! "Romantic era distrust" may be limited just to the railroads, and there is no reason to believe that it extended to any other social or economic developments.

Also, it is the author, not Stilgoe, that looks at the railroad's broader impact on social and economic developments. We're supposed to be looking for what the author thinks Stilgoe meant, not what the author thinks about what Stilgoe wrote. Subtle difference there, perhaps, but crucial!

Finally, Stilgoe is not the one that implying that the view was held only by a minority of intellectuals. The author is saying "Stilgoe is wrong - it wasn't widespread, but limited to those few intellectuals." We need to know what Stilgoe was implying, not how the author responds to that implication.

Start with a prephrase, as we always should. What did Stilgoe mean to refer to when using that phrase? A general feeling among the population between about 1830 and 1880 that the railroads were not so great. The author disagrees that it was a general feeling, but indicates that Stilgoe thought it was (and was wrong).