The Black Death, a severe epidemic that ravaged fourteenthcentury Europe, has intrigued scholars ever since Francis
Gasquet's 1893 study contending that this epidemic greatly intensified the political and religious upheaval that ended the
Middle Ages. Thirty-six years later, historian George Coulton agreed but, paradoxically, attributed a silver lining to the Black
Death: prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led survivors of the epidemic into the
Renaissance and subsequent rise of modern Europe.

In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor
contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism. In arguing
that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, the Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively
insignificant factor. This became the prevailing view until after the Second World War, when studies of specific regions and
towns revealed astonishing mortality rates ascribed to the epidemic, thus restoring the central role of the Black Death in
history.

This central role of the Black Death (traditionally attributed to bubonic plague brought from Asia) has been recently
challenged from another direction. Building on bacteriologist John Shrewsbury's speculations about mislabeled epidemics,
zoologist Graham Twigg employs urban case studies suggesting that the rat population in Europe was both too sparse and
insufficiently migratory to have spread plague. Moreover,Twigg disputes the traditional trade-ship explanation for plague
transmissions by extrapolating from data on the number of dead rats aboard Nile sailing vessels in 1912. The Black Death,
which he conjectures was anthrax instead of bubonic plague, therefore caused far less havoc and fewer deaths than
historians typically claim.

Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death. His
speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative
of medieval conditions, while his unconvincing trade-ship argument overlooks land-based caravans, the overland
migration of infected rodents, and the many other animals that carry plague.

1. According to the passage, the post-Second World War studies that altered the prevailing view of the Black Death involved which of the following?
A. Determining the death rates caused by the Black Death in specific regions and towns
B. Demonstrating how the Black Death intensified the political and religious upheaval that ended the Middle Ages
C. Presenting evidence to prove that many medieval epidemics were mislabeled
D. Arguing that the consequences of the Black Death led to the Renaissance and the rise of modern Europe
E. Employing urban case studies to determine the number of rats in medieval Europe

OA:A

"he Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively insignificant factor. This became the prevailing view until after the Second World War, when studies of specific regions and towns revealed astonishing mortality rates ascribed to the epidemic, thus restoring the central role of the Black Death in history."


2. The "silver lining to the Black Death" (the highlighted text) refers to which of the following?
A. The decay of European feudalism precipitated by the Black Death
B. Greater availability of employment, sustenance, and housing for survivors of the epidemic
C. Strengthening of the human species through natural selection
D. Better understanding of how to limit the spread of contagious diseases
E. Immunities and resistance to the Black Death gained by later generations

OA:B

The question prompts us to look at the first paragraph for an answer. When we are pointed to a specific part of a passage, we need to look there for the answer-not to look in other parts of the passage. And we just need to know what the "silver lining" is? That is, what was good in a bad situation. 

So we really only need to look at one sentence to know the answer. I have left the sentence above. In this sentence, we see a classic use of the colon. The author tells us an idea, and then after the colon, we have more detail of that idea. We get an example to prove or explain what came before the colon. 

What comes after the colon will be our answer. The author says that "prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led...rise of modern Europe." Well what does that all mean? "Engendered" means basically "created" or "brought about." "Prosperity" means "doing well." Thus we can see that the "silver lining," or the positive in a negative situation was that with less people around, the people alive didn't have to compete so much for resources, like food, shelter, and work. Only one answer choice mentions these concepts. Only one answer choice perfectly paraphrases this part of the sentence. That's why we end up with the answer we do.


3. The passage suggests that Twigg believes that rats could not have spread the Black Death unless which of the following were true?
A. The rats escaped from ships that had been in Asia.
B. The rats were immune to the diseases that they carried.
C. The rats population was larger in medieval Europe than Twigg believes it actually was.
D. The rats population primarily infested densely populated areas.
E. The rats interacted with other animals that Twigg believes could have carried plague.

OA:C

so, when you do these detail questions, you should keep one main principle in mind above all else: stick with what they actually tell you!
the "inferences" made in these problems are VERY far from inspired insights, and VERY close to the original statements. for instance, if a passage were to say Jim is taller than Corey, then one possible "inference", in the GMAT sense of that term, would be Corey is shorter than Jim. 
yes, seriously.

with that in mind -- think inside the box -- here's what the passage actually says about twigg's theory of why rats couldn't have spread the plague:
Twigg employs urban case studies suggesting that the rat population in Europe was both too sparse and insufficiently migratory to have spread plague.
there it is, ladies and gentlemen:
1) there weren't enough rats to spread the plague.
AND
2) the rats didn't migrate enough to spread the plague.

so, you are looking only for the opposite of one of these two statements: either "more rats" or "more migratory". these are the only possible answers; anything else is, in essence, a random guess.

none of the choices says "more migratory".
choice (c) says "more rats", so, we have a winner.

--

the reason why (a) is wrong is that it's basically made up at random.
note that the language in the question is pretty strong: COULD NOT have spread the plague UNLESS...
in other words, you need something that, according to twigg, would be absolutely required for the rats to have spread the plague.
per the above discussion, there are only two such absolute requirements: (1) more rats, (2) the rats were more migratory.

if you have choice (a), then that may be one way in which the rats could have been more migratory, but it's certainly not the only way -- definitely not a requirement.
(c) is a requirement.


4. The author's attitude toward Twigg's work is best characterized as which of the following?
A. Dismissive
B. Indifferent
C. Vindictive
D. Cautious
E. Ambivalent

OA:A

"Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death."

5. The passage is primarily concerned with
A. demonstrating the relationship between bubonic plague and the Black Death
B. interpreting historical and scientific works on the origins of the Black Death
C. employing the Black Death as a case study of disease transmission in medieval Europe
D. presenting aspects of past and current debate on the historical importance of the Black Death
E. analyzing the differences between capitalist and Marxist interpretations of the historical significance of the Black Death

OA:D

Since the author talks about multiple views and debates around the impact and historical significance of the Black Death, option (D) is the best answer choice.

6. Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?
A. The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.
B. The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.
C. European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.
D. The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians.
E. The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.

OA:E

from the passage:
Graham Twigg employs ... studies suggesting
that the rat population in Europe was ... too sparse ... to have spread plague.

^^ this means "he doesn't think that rats spread the plague, since, he says, there just weren't enough of them."

this translates directly into choice C: the rats couldn't have spread the plague effectively unless there were more of them (than what graham thinks, anyway)

In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism. In arguing that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, ...

^^ there you go.

'merely' = this is all it was; it wasn't anything else. so, kosminsky is saying that this is the entire significance of the plague. (he is also saying that the significance is minimal.)

sohe is saying that we can understand the (small) significance of the plague entirely in terms of its (small) effect on this economic stuff.