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Updated on: 14 Aug 2019, 09:17
Originally posted by Bull78 on 30 Sep 2012, 15:38.
Last edited by Sajjad1994 on 14 Aug 2019, 09:17, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by Sajjad1994 on 14 Aug 2019, 09:17, edited 1 time in total.
Updated - Complete topic (142).
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Question 1
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
69% (03:31) correct
31%
(03:26) wrong
based on 1596
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
67% (01:30) correct 33%
(01:36) wrong
based on 1955
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
76% (00:58) correct 24%
(01:24) wrong
based on 1903
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
5%
(low)
Question Stats:
79% (00:58) correct 21%
(01:17) wrong
based on 1831
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 5
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
21% (01:31) correct 79%
(01:30) wrong
based on 1796
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 6
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
67% (01:11) correct 33%
(01:20) wrong
based on 1679
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 7
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
63% (01:22) correct 37%
(01:28) wrong
based on 1635
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 8
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
66% (00:41) correct 34%
(00:47) wrong
based on 1599
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
New Project RC Butler 2019 - Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday
Passage # 267, Date : 14-Aug-2019
This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019. Click here for Details
Passage # 267, Date : 14-Aug-2019
This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019. Click here for Details
Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, profoundly influenced by the Lockean notion of liberty, with its strong emphasis on individual rights and self-interest. Yet in his recent book, historian J. G. A. Pocock argues that early American culture was actually rooted in the writings of Machiavelli, not Locke. The implications of this substitution are important: if Pocock’s argument is right, then Americans may not be as deeply individualistic and capitalistic as many believe. Pocock argues that out of the writings of antiquity Machiavelli created a body of political thinking called “classical republicanism.” This body of thought revived the ancient belief that a human being was by nature a citizen who achieved moral fulfillment by participating in a self-governing republic. Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community. To be completely virtuous, people had to be independent and free of the petty interests of the marketplace. The greatest enemy of virtue was commerce. This classical republican tradition is said by Pocock to have shaped the ideology of America during the eighteenth century. Many events in early American history can be reinterpreted in light of Pocock’s analysis. Jefferson is no longer seen as a progressive reader of Locke leading America into its individualistic future; instead Jefferson is understood as a figure obsessed with virtue and corruption and fearful of new commercial developments. Influenced by Pocock, some historians have even argued that a communitarian and precapitalist mentality was pervasive among the eighteenth-century farmers of America.
Yet Pocock’s thesis and the reinterpretation of the history of eighteenth-century America engendered by it are of dubious validity. If Americans did believe in the ideals of classical virtue that stressed civic duty and made the whole community greater than its discrete parts, then why did the colonists lack a sense of obligation to support the greater good of the British Empire? If indeed America has not always been the society of individual rights and self-interest that it is today, how and when did it be come so? Classical republicanism is elitist, and it certainly had little to offer the important new social groups of artisans and shopkeepers that emerged in America during the eighteenth century. These middle-class radicals, for whom John Wilkes and Thomas Paine were spokesmen, had none of the independence from the market that the landed gentry had. They were less concerned with virtue and community than they were with equality and private rights. They hated political privilege and wanted freedom from an elite-dominated state. In short, the United States was created not in a mood of classical anxiety over virtue and corruption, but in a mood of liberal optimism over individual profits and prosperity.
Yet Pocock’s thesis and the reinterpretation of the history of eighteenth-century America engendered by it are of dubious validity. If Americans did believe in the ideals of classical virtue that stressed civic duty and made the whole community greater than its discrete parts, then why did the colonists lack a sense of obligation to support the greater good of the British Empire? If indeed America has not always been the society of individual rights and self-interest that it is today, how and when did it be come so? Classical republicanism is elitist, and it certainly had little to offer the important new social groups of artisans and shopkeepers that emerged in America during the eighteenth century. These middle-class radicals, for whom John Wilkes and Thomas Paine were spokesmen, had none of the independence from the market that the landed gentry had. They were less concerned with virtue and community than they were with equality and private rights. They hated political privilege and wanted freedom from an elite-dominated state. In short, the United States was created not in a mood of classical anxiety over virtue and corruption, but in a mood of liberal optimism over individual profits and prosperity.
1. Which of the following best states the author’s main point?
(A) Classical republicanism could not have been the ideological basis of eighteenth-century America.
(B) Classical republicanism is an elitist theory that was rejected by eighteenth-century artisans and shopkeepers.
(C) Pocock understates the importance of the contributions Machiavelli made to the formation of early American culture.
(D) Pocock fails to capture the great extent to which eighteenth-century Americans were committed to a sense of civic duty.
(E) Pocock’s account of Jefferson is incompatible with Jefferson’s commitment to a Lockean notion of liberty.
(A) Classical republicanism could not have been the ideological basis of eighteenth-century America.
(B) Classical republicanism is an elitist theory that was rejected by eighteenth-century artisans and shopkeepers.
(C) Pocock understates the importance of the contributions Machiavelli made to the formation of early American culture.
(D) Pocock fails to capture the great extent to which eighteenth-century Americans were committed to a sense of civic duty.
(E) Pocock’s account of Jefferson is incompatible with Jefferson’s commitment to a Lockean notion of liberty.
2. The conception of liberty that, according to Pocock, formed the basis of America’s eighteenth-century ideology is most clearly exhibited by which of the following individuals?
(A) The merchant who rebuilds the damaged sidewalk in front of his store in order to avoid potential lawsuits by customers who might fall there
(B) The professor who allows her students to help her design the content and the format of the courses she teaches
(C) The doctor who bows to government pressure and agrees to treat a small number of low-income patients at no cost
(D) The lawyer who argues that a state law prohibiting smoking in public places unfairly encroaches on the rights of smokers
(E) The engineer whose business suffers as a result of the personal time and energy he devotes to a program to clean up city streets
(A) The merchant who rebuilds the damaged sidewalk in front of his store in order to avoid potential lawsuits by customers who might fall there
(B) The professor who allows her students to help her design the content and the format of the courses she teaches
(C) The doctor who bows to government pressure and agrees to treat a small number of low-income patients at no cost
(D) The lawyer who argues that a state law prohibiting smoking in public places unfairly encroaches on the rights of smokers
(E) The engineer whose business suffers as a result of the personal time and energy he devotes to a program to clean up city streets
3. According to the author, eighteenth-century American artisans and shopkeepers had little reason to
(A) support the political efforts of Thomas Jefferson
(B) reject the ideals of classical virtue
(C) embrace the principles of classical republicanism
(D) renounce the political objectives of the British Empire
(E) worry about increasing profits and maintaining general prosperity
(A) support the political efforts of Thomas Jefferson
(B) reject the ideals of classical virtue
(C) embrace the principles of classical republicanism
(D) renounce the political objectives of the British Empire
(E) worry about increasing profits and maintaining general prosperity
4. The author mentions which of the following as a fact that weakens Pocock’s argument about the ideology of eighteenth-century America?
(A) Jefferson’s obsession with virtue and corruption and his fear of commercial development
(B) The precapitalist mentality that was pervasive among farmers in early America
(C) The political decline of artisans and shopkeepers in eighteenth-century America
(D) The colonists’ lack of commitment to support the general welfare of the British Empire
(E) The existence of political privilege in early American society
(A) Jefferson’s obsession with virtue and corruption and his fear of commercial development
(B) The precapitalist mentality that was pervasive among farmers in early America
(C) The political decline of artisans and shopkeepers in eighteenth-century America
(D) The colonists’ lack of commitment to support the general welfare of the British Empire
(E) The existence of political privilege in early American society
5. The passage suggests that, if classical republicanism had been the ideology of eighteenth-century America, which of the following would have resulted?
(A) People would have been motivated to open small businesses and expand commercial activity.
(B) Citizens and politicians would not have been encouraged to agitate for increased individual rights.
(C) People would have been convinced that by pursuing their own interests they were contributing to the good of the group.
(D) The political and social privileges enjoyed by the landed gentry would have been destroyed.
(E) A mood of optimism among people over individual profits and prosperity would have been created.
(A) People would have been motivated to open small businesses and expand commercial activity.
(B) Citizens and politicians would not have been encouraged to agitate for increased individual rights.
(C) People would have been convinced that by pursuing their own interests they were contributing to the good of the group.
(D) The political and social privileges enjoyed by the landed gentry would have been destroyed.
(E) A mood of optimism among people over individual profits and prosperity would have been created.
6. The author implies that Pocock’s argument about the ideology of eighteenth-century America would be more plausible if the argument explained which of the following?
(A) How a society that was once committed to the ideals of classical virtue could be transformed into a society of individual rights and self-interest
(B) How Thomas Jefferson could have become obsessed with individual rights and with prosperity and profits
(C) Why classical republicanism had such wide appeal among those who were free from the demands of the marketplace
(D) Why many colonists who embraced classical republicanism were reluctant to place their individual interests above those of Great Britain
(E) Why the landed gentry in eighteenth-century America should have believed that moral fulfillment is achieved by participating in a self-governing republic
(A) How a society that was once committed to the ideals of classical virtue could be transformed into a society of individual rights and self-interest
(B) How Thomas Jefferson could have become obsessed with individual rights and with prosperity and profits
(C) Why classical republicanism had such wide appeal among those who were free from the demands of the marketplace
(D) Why many colonists who embraced classical republicanism were reluctant to place their individual interests above those of Great Britain
(E) Why the landed gentry in eighteenth-century America should have believed that moral fulfillment is achieved by participating in a self-governing republic
7. According to the passage, Pocock’s theory suggests that many eighteenth-century Americans believed that increasing commercial activity would
(A) force the landed gentry to relinquish their vast holdings
(B) enrich the nation and increase individual rights
(C) cause some people to forfeit their liberty and virtue
(D) create a mood of optimism about national prosperity
(E) strengthen the political appeal of middle-class radicals
(A) force the landed gentry to relinquish their vast holdings
(B) enrich the nation and increase individual rights
(C) cause some people to forfeit their liberty and virtue
(D) create a mood of optimism about national prosperity
(E) strengthen the political appeal of middle-class radicals
8. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) refuting a proposed thesis about eighteenth-century America
(B) analyzing a long-established interpretation of American history
(C) criticizing a set of deeply held beliefs about early American ideology
(D) reconciling opposing interpretations of eighteenth-century American ideology
(E) defending a novel reading of the ideology of eighteenth-century America
(A) refuting a proposed thesis about eighteenth-century America
(B) analyzing a long-established interpretation of American history
(C) criticizing a set of deeply held beliefs about early American ideology
(D) reconciling opposing interpretations of eighteenth-century American ideology
(E) defending a novel reading of the ideology of eighteenth-century America
19 Oct 2017, 21:15
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Luckisnoexcuse
The author first introduces the thinking of most historians (first sentence). Then, the author introduces a proposed thesis contrary to the thinking of most historians ("historian J. G. A. Pocock argues that early American culture was actually rooted in the writings of Machiavelli, not Locke.") The author describes how this proposed thesis would change some interpretations of American history, but then, in the second paragraph, the author describes why "Pocock’s thesis and the reinterpretation of the history of eighteenth-century America engendered by it are of dubious validity."
The author presents the proposed thesis only to refute that theory (to show that it is not valid), and this is the main purpose of the passage.
01 Dec 2021, 16:41
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Question 2
krittapat
I wouldn't worry too much about question 5, since the OA hasn't been verified. But in case it helps, here's a breakdown of question 2.
In the first paragraph, the author describes Pocock's idea of liberty with the following sentence:
Quote:
So according to Pocock, liberty is when people are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the "sake of the community." Let's take a look at question #2.
Quote:
Although rebuilding the damaged sidewalk will benefit the community, the merchant is not doing this as a willing sacrifice of his or her "individual interests." Rather, the merchant rebuilds the damaged sidewalk to avoid a lawsuit. In other words, the merchant is motivated NOT by willingness to sacrifice, but self-interest. Eliminate (A).
Quote:
By allowing her students to help her design her courses, the professor is not "sacrificing" her "individual interests." If anything, getting her students to help her do her work is serving her "individual interests." Get rid of (B).
Quote:
While treating low-income patients at no cost is a sacrifice for the "sake of the community," it's not a willing sacrifice. In fact, the doctor is only making this sacrifice because he or she was pressured by the government. Since this isn't an example of a willing sacrifice, (C) is out.
Quote:
The lawyer is not making a sacrifice, but merely arguing in favor of the rights of smokers. Also, while this action may benefit smokers, it's not being done for the "sake of the community." Eliminate (D).
Quote:
By devoting personal time and energy to cleaning city streets, the engineer is clearly acting for the "sake of the community." Because these actions are done freely (i.e. not because the government is pressuring the engineer), and because they cause the engineer's business to suffer, they are a willing sacrifice. Since this fits the definition of liberty from the passage, (E) is correct.
I hope that helps!
