PrepTest 156

This is close to our anticipation but misses the mark slightly. We want an answer choice that says, "Historical awareness is distorted by the view that history has been shaped by only a few famous heroes or notorious villains." This answer choice omits the part about "history being shaped by" a few heroes and villains. As far as we know, the popular narratives people use to learn history do not imply that there have only been a few heroes and villains, so this answer choice neither strengthens nor is necessary to this argument.

Alternatively, this is the argument we'd make if we used the backup plan (note that we simplified and negated this answer choice):

"Most people learn history through popular narratives. These narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history. But, historical awareness isn't necessarily distorted by the view that there have only been a few heroes and villains. So, popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted."

This doesn't read like a well-written, cogent argument. The part that follows "But" doesn't contradict what came before it. The narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history, not that there have only been a few heroes and villains. Since the "But" part doesn't challenge the statement that came before it, it also won't support the conclusion that popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted. So, this answer choice doesn't pass the backup test.

No matter which approach we use, we can confidently cross off (A).

This is irrelevant to the argument, so it neither strengthens nor is necessary to it. The historian doesn't argue that popular historical narratives distort "historical reality" — as in, what really happened historically. Rather, the historian argues that popular historical narratives distort "historical awareness" — people's understanding of what happened historically. So, this answer choice doesn't address the historian's argument, and we can cross it off.

Alternatively, this is the argument we'd make if we used the backup plan (note that we simplified and negated this answer choice):

"Most people learn history through popular narratives. These narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history. But, narrative history doesn't always distort historical reality. So, popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted."

This doesn't sound like a well-written, cogent argument. The part that follows "But" doesn't support the conclusion. The conclusion is about historical awareness, but the part that follows "But" is about historical reality. Without knowing more about how distortions of historical reality affect popular historical awareness, we can't say that this argument adds up. So, this answer choice doesn't pass the backup test.

No matter our approach, we can be confident that (B) is not the correct answer.

This isn't quite what we anticipated, and it neither strengthens nor is necessary to this argument. This answer choice explains how most historical narratives sustain readers' interest. But it doesn't address either new term in the argument. This answer choice doesn't tell us that the implication that a few heroes and villains shaped history "distorts" our historical awareness or that "popular historical awareness" is shaped by how the implications we learn about history. So, this answer choice doesn't address the flaws in this historian's argument, and we can cross it off.

Alternatively, this is the argument we'd make if we used the backup plan (note that we simplified and negated this answer choice):

"Most people learn history through popular narratives. These narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history. But, most historical narratives do not sustain interest by implying that a few famous heroes and notorious villains have shaped all of history. So, popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted."

This doesn't sound like a good argument. The part that follows "But" doesn't really contradict or challenge the statements that came before it. It just suggests that implying that a few heroes and notorious villains shape history doesn't sustain interest in these narratives. But people may still develop their ideas about history from these narratives, so these narratives may distort popular historical awareness. So, this answer choice doesn't pass the backup test.

No matter our approach, we can confidently eliminate (C).

This contains many of the same ideas as our anticipation, making it a very tempting answer choice. But it might help to translate this into an "if-then" statement to compare it to our anticipation. We'll use the "then" keyword "only" to translate it to, "If it doesn't distort our awareness of history, then it must not be written with the purpose of sustaining readers' interest." The flipside of that statement is, "If it's written with the purpose of sustaining readers' interest, then it distorts our awareness of history."

That's very close to our anticipation, but it introduces a new idea: the purpose for which a narrative is written. We don't know that popular historical narratives were written with the purpose of sustaining readers' interest. We know that they do sustain readers' interest, but that doesn't mean this was the writer's intent. Therefore, this neither strengthens nor is necessary to the historian's argument.

Alternatively, this is the argument we'd make if we used the backup plan (note that we simplified and negated this answer choice):

"Most people learn history through popular narratives. These narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history. But, if it's written with the purpose of sustaining readers' interest, then it may not distort our awareness of history. So, popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted."

This doesn't sound awful, but it doesn't quite pass the backup test. The part that follows "But" doesn't really contradict or challenge the statements that came before it, as the previous statements don't tell us that the narratives were written to sustain readers' interest. So, this argument doesn't sound very compelling.

Whichever approach we use, we can cross off (D).

As we anticipated, this connects the gap in the argument by showing that narratives that imply a few heroes and villains shaped history distort history. (We wish it said "distort our understanding of history," but this is close enough.) This strengthens the argument by telling us that the popular narratives that imply that history is shaped by a few heroes and villains will distort our understanding of history, supporting the conclusion's take that the popular understanding of history is inevitably distorted.

We also need to know that this implication will distort history. If this implication didn't distort our understanding of history, the historian wouldn't have any evidence that popular historical awareness is inevitably distorted. If this implication didn't distort our understanding of history, then the narratives this historian cites as evidence wouldn't lead to a distorted understanding of history. Since the argument falls apart if we deny this answer choice, we can be confident that the answer choice is a necessary premise.

Alternatively, we can evaluate this answer choice using the backup plan. Here's the argument we'd make if we used the backup plan (note that we simplified and negated this answer choice to make this easier to read):

"Most people learn history through popular narratives. These narratives imply that a few heroes and villains shaped all of history. But, the implication that a few heroes and notorious villains shaped all of history doesn't necessarily distort history. So, popular historical awareness may not be inevitably distorted."

This sounds like a good argument that's easy to follow. Unlike the previous answer choices, the part that follows "But" challenges the statements that came before it. That part also supports the conclusion. Yes, even if we learn history through narratives implying that a few heroes and villains shaped history, these narratives don't always distort history. If most people can have an accurate understanding of history despite these narratives, then popular historical awareness may not be distorted. So, this argument passes the backup test.

No matter our approach, we can be confident that (E) is the correct answer.