Q26

[jennifer]

WHY IS A INCORRECT AND C CORRECT. IS IT THE WORD "ALL" EXPERTS IN THE FIELD...I THOUGHT P II WAS BACKGROUND INFORMATION, THEREFORE THAT IS WHY I CHOOSE A...THANKS

[cyruswhittaker]

Choice A is wrong for a couple reasons.

The paragraph presents facts about the tulip market in the 17th century, but then in the second half of the paragraph, it goes into Mackay's view for the phenomenon that took place.

So the first reason that A is wrong is that it's too narrow: it doesn't just "present facts." That might be part of what the paragraph does, but the question is asking for the purpose of the paragraph as a whole.

And also, the "all experts" part of choice A is unsupported, and in fact, would appear contradictory in the second half of the passage. Mackay presents a particular theory to explain the phenomenon. Thus, this would not be considered a "fact," and certainly it wouldn't be considered to be accepted by "all," since we know that Garber disagrees with it.

C accurately reflects the purpose of the second paragraph. It is presented to explain the background info in which Mackay developed his theory, and in the subsequent paragraph, it is this particular inference that Garber disagrees with.

[noah]

I agree - it's rare that background information in a RC passage is just that. Usually it's used to support one side of the scale or another.