Reading comp PrepTest 123 · Section 4 · Question 25

Passage

 In tracing the changing face of the Irish landscape, scholars have traditionally relied primarily on evidence from historical documents. However, Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic: Social Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A problem with studying a certain history is noted
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Irish landscape - Historians rely on documents
    • Problem - Fragmentary, unreliable, and generally limited to military/commerce

Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • A partial solution
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Partial solution - Study fossilized pollen grains
    • Shows changes in vegetation (human and natural causes)
    • What plants grew when
    • Supplement/Correct documentary record (partial)

Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Example of pollen analysis
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Pollen analysis - Cereal grains grown in LL/CD ~400 AD
    • Prior belief - Cereal grains not grown here (clay) until moldboard plough (7th c)
    • New belief - Cereal grains grown before that invention

Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Example 2
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • LL linen
    • Prior belief - Flax (linen plant) was grown before 18th c
    • New belief - Flax pollen only since 18th c, so not grown before

Paragraph 5
  • Paragraph note
    • Limits and example
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Limits exist
    • Example - Can ID genus/family, but not species for some
    • Example of Example - Madder - can’t tell if cultivated or wild based on pollen

Main Point:
Studying fossilized pollen grains can supplement and correct the history of the Irish landscape that is derived from documents (even if it has limitations).

Key Lines?
Lines 3-5 - A problem is highlighted
Lines 10-12 - A partial solution is noted (partial because it’s an “additional means” aside from the incomplete one already noted)
Lines 18-20 - The Author shows how her solution works with the current process
Lines 48-50 - The Author places limitations on her solution

Meta-Structure?
Problem/Solution - This passage presents a problem in Paragraph 1 - the documentary evidence on a topic of interest (the Irish landscape’s history) is incomplete. The Author then presents a solution to that problem - fossilized pollen grains can be used to supplement and correct this record (Lines 10-12; Lines 19-20). However, there are limitations to this solution (Lines 48-50), so it’s a partial solution. When a passage is defined by a Problem/Solution Meta-Structure, the Author’s solution is the main point, reflected in what we wrote above.

Examples - The passage uses several examples to make its point. Paragraph 3 includes an example to show pollen records correcting a prior belief; Paragraph 4 had a separate example for the same purpose. And Paragraph 5 included an example that highlighted a limitation on the method. None of these examples are central, so they’re more likely to show up in questions about specifics rather than in big-picture questions.

Last Thoughts?
Those examples carried a lot of weight in the passage, so we should expect some questions focused on them. It’ll also be important to remember that the Author brought up limitations on her process for analyzing the history of the Irish landscape, so we should be sure that any answer we select that reflects her view is more balanced.

Question prompt

The phrase "documentary record" Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review Lines 20 and 37 for context and then define the type of documentary records being referred to

Answer Anticipation

The question stem refers us to Lines 20 and 37, but the passage also talks about the documentary record in Paragraph 1. There, it brings up the historical documents that historians have relied on to piece together a history of the Irish landscape. These documents were fragmentary, scarce, and focused only on certain matters. We should keep this context in mind, as the later references are likely to the same documents — though we should still check those sections to be sure.
Line 20 brings up the documentary record as something that the pollen record can supplement and correct. This has to be referring to the incomplete documentary record mentioned in Paragraph 1, as the Author would talk about supplementing something she hasn't already discussed. So we're still talking about historical documents from the time periods in question. This is actually enough for us to head to the answers, as the question stem sets it up so the "documentary record" refers to the same thing in both sections, but it does increase certainty if we review Line 37.
Looking there, there's nothing to suggest it's talking about any other documentary record. The sentence following it (Line 39) talks about the record of 18th c linen production, tying it to the documents generated at that time period.
So we should look for an answer saying that the "documentary record" is the surviving documents from the time periods being studied.

Answer choices

  1. A
    documented results of analyses Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 18—20) The pollen analysis can supplement and correct the documentary record, so it can't be the documentary record itself.
  2. B
    the kinds and quantities Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. First, this answer doesn't refer to documents, it refers to the actual pollen fossils. Second, even if we say that this answer deals with the documents recounting this info, that makes it the same as (A).
  3. C
    written and pictorial descriptions Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. The documentary record is one that was generated in the past, not by historians in describing the past.
  4. D
    government and commercial records, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Correct. This answer aligns with our understanding of the passage and the "documentary record" discussed. The passage starts by highlighting that the documents studied — the ones that were made in the past and survive today — are incomplete, and that the pollen record can supplement and correct it. In that context, this documentary record must refer to those primary documents from Ireland's past, making this the correct answer.
  5. E
    articles, books, and other Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. The only difference between this and (C) is that this answer refers to analysis instead of just descriptions, but both of these answers are wrong for the same reason — the documentary record is made up of documents from Ireland's past, not from historians in the present.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 15%
  2. B 8%
  3. C 20%
  4. D Credited 41%
  5. E 17%

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