Q22

[stacksdoe]

Is the correct answer (C) ?

[ohthatpatrick]

The correct answer is (D).
(You shouldn't ever need to use the forum to find out which answer is correct. Just check the answer key at the back of your test)

== complete explanation ==

Question Type: Main Point

Pre-phrase:
I normally try to find a "most valuable sentence" somewhere in the passage that seems to be the Main Point.

Main Point = Topic + Purpose

The topic is speculative bubbles, more specifically the Dutch tulip market's supposed speculative bubble.

What is the author's purpose in discussing it? The author is presenting Peter Garber's argument, which says that the Dutch tulip market was NOT really a speculative bubble.

The most common places to find a Most Valuable Sentence are
1. after the words "but / yet / however / recently"
and
2. as the last sentence of the 1st paragraph

This passage is very friendly by giving us both. Lines 12-15 give us the framing idea that gets unpacked over the rest of the passage.

=== answer choices ===

(Beware EXTREME, OUT OF SCOPE, and TRUE, BUT TOO NARROW)

(A) Keep it. The only difference between this and lines 12-15 is that lines 12-15 are specifically about Garber and Mackay, whereas this seems more generalized.

(B) Eliminate. Too specific. 12-15 is saying that Mackay's conclusion was wrong about it being a speculative bubble. This is talking about something smaller, a specific detail Mackay would have missed.

(C) Eliminate. Too narrow. This is covered in the first few lines. But where is Garber? Mackay? Dutch tulips? All the main characters of the passage?

(D) Keep it. Sounds like 12-15.

(E) Eliminate. Too narrow. This is like (C). Nothing about Garber, Mackay, the Dutch, or speculative bubbles?

Comparing (A) to (D) back to line 12-15, it's clear that (D) is a much tighter fit.

(A) sounds like the author has already agreed with Garber and is presenting this argument herself. But the passage's author never states her opinion. The 3rd paragraph is just presenting Garber's evaluation.

(D) sounds like an incredibly close paraphrase of our Most Valuable Sentence, lines 12-15.

[massuda18]

RE: A vs. D

You need to be able to distinguish where the author is speaking and where a critic/expert/whoever else is speaking. In this passage the author never gives an opinion. Just states 2 experts' opinions as the facts that they are.