In November 1753, the British author Sarah Fielding accepted half the

Question

In November 1753, the British author Sarah Fielding accepted half the payment for her novel  The Cry  and asked that the other half, when due, go to her “or to whomsoever I shall appoint,” perhaps indicating that the remaining share was intended for someone else. Indeed, many think that the novel was a collaborative venture between Fielding and Jane Collier. This particular collaboration was likely enough, as the two were close friends with common interests. They wrote jointly authored letters, were both published authors with a lively interest in each other’s work, and were enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fiction central concerns of  The Cry . However, contemporaries ascribed the work solely to Fielding, and there is nothing in the novel that is incompatible with Fielding’s other writings.    1 
 1. The passage presents which of the following as evidence in favor of Fielding and Collier’s having collaborated in writing  The Cry ?

I. Their friendship
II. Their joint authorship of correspondence
III. Their approach to fiction

A. I only
B. I and II only
C. I and III only
D. II and III only
E. I, II, and III

2 
 2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would agree with which of the following claims about  The Cry ?

A. It develops themes commonly found in published works.
B. It reflects an interest in the purposes to which fiction may be put.
C. It contains elements that are incompatible with any of Collier’s solo writings.
D. It shows that the extent of Collier and Fielding’s shared interests was not
as wide as is generally thought.
E. Parts of it were written jointly by Fielding and Collier.

RC Butler 2022  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 288 Date: 19-Jul-2022
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2022 .  Click here for Details

Naman1313 · Answer

Can someone explain Ques 2 ? 
why ans C is incorrect ?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would agree with which of the following claims about The Cry?

Explanation

The passage states that The Cry’s  “central concerns”  are  “didacticism and innovation in fiction,”  so  Choice B  is correct. The passage does not discuss how popular the novel’s themes are (Choice A), whether the writing is compatible with Collier’s (Choice C), or what the novel shows about the extent of Collier and Fielding’s joint interests (Choice D). Finally,  Choice E  is incorrect, as the author of the passage never takes a stand on whether the novel was written by Fielding alone or in collaboration with Collier.

Answer: B

UtkarshAnand · Answer

Isn't Choice E supported by the fact that the author does take a stand implying the collaborative effort of Fielding and Collie by saying (especially the part in bold) "This particular  collaboration was likely enough , as the two were close friends with common interests......Tey wrote jointly authored letters, were both published authors with a lively interest in each other’s work, and were enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fiction central concerns of The Cry"?
Please help me understand.
Thanks.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

UtkarshAnand  This is quite tricky, but from the context, "likely  enough " does not mean the same as "likely", and does not mean that the author fully agrees with the opinion of "many" in the prior sentence: "many think that the novel was a collaborative venture".

The language "likely enough" and the rest of that sentence admits that there is some reasonable logic for the "collaborative venture". However, the author does not go so far as to take a strong stand either way.

We then see the author make a contrasting point in the next sentence, signaled by the Contrast Marker word, " However ": "However, contemporaries ascribed the work solely to Fielding,..."

Note that on the GMAT, there is a common "Myth" pattern similar to this question:
Many people believe X.
However, they are wrong because...

Or, another similar structure uses a concession/contrast word such as "while".
It's commonly believed that X.
While X may seem true from earlier data, new data shows that X is wrong.

After seeing this pattern many times, you may become particularly alert when you notice language such as "Many people believe...", and see if there is contrasting language that follows. Also, make sure to always distinguish clearly between the author's belief and any other groups' beliefs.

lionx7 · Answer

Q1 is wrong.

OA:

All three choices are correct. The question asks what is offered as evidence of the joint
authorship of The Cry.
Choice A is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier “were close friends.”
Choice B is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier “wrote jointly
authored letters.”
Choice C is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier were both “enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fiction.

BUT

I understand how the passage reconciles Fielding with approach to fiction (Fielding was a enthusiastic supporter of something, and this topic was an important concern in The Cry. Ok.

The passage does state that both Fielding and Collier (" Their  appraoch to fiction") were enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fiction, but it doesn't explicitly state that this was Collier's personal approach to writing fiction. It indicates support rather than an approach. Maybe fielding

Given this clarification, III might be considered a less definitive piece of evidence compared to I and II. Therefore, the best answer based on the passage should be: I and II.

There is no way to infer this kind of information, without stepping outside of the box. But this would be a violation against the basic rules of GRE (this passage is from the GRE Verbal Question Pack). The question also says: "The passage  presents.."  This means the answer must be stated in the passage. It doesn't say suggest, infer, would, should, could bla bla bla. It says PRESENT.

If you dont agree with me, please feel free to correct me. Thanks.

trialid1 · Answer

I couldn't clearly understand why D is wrong.
The passage says that generally people thought they had shared interest in this part :-

Indeed, many think that the novel was a collaborative venture between Fielding 
 and Jane Collier. This particular collaboration was likely enough, as the two were close 
 friends with common interests.

and then author contrasts this using this part

However, 
 contemporaries ascribed the work solely to Fielding, and there is nothing in the novel 
 that is incompatible with Fielding’s other writings.

So can't it be said that the author would agree with the statement that their shared interest were not as wide as generally thought ?

Also what is the evidence that the author also believes that Fielding and Collier did not write Cry together? Author has only said that the contemporaries ascribed the work solely to Fielding.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Yes! Fixed now.

Thank you.

Ishaan30 · Answer

This was a bit tricky and admittedly, even I thought about the same thing. Turns out, it was a vocabulary gap for me that made me think so.

Didacticism is the practice or philosophy of emphasizing moral or instructive qualities in art, literature to teach the audience.  This qualifies as an approach, even loosely so, to fiction and that is what we were meant to infer. But I totally fell for the same trap you did and it was only after some thinking that I could connect the dots of what the passage wanted us to understand. 
Hope this helps,
Regards.

Ishaan30 · Answer

Good find!
In the question... 
 
We need to find something that the author would definitely agree with. Now, it is a little tricky to infer that when the passage says...

The passage claims that contemporaries ascribe the work only to fielding, and (as a side note to prove this) there is nothing in the novel incompatible with  Fielding's  other writings.  The passage does not mention it being incompatible with Collier's writings so it could be compatible with Collier's writings but contemporaries probably deem it more rooted to Fielding.  
Hence, option D is eliminated  because the passage does not state a claim that the novel was different from Collier's writings, it just states that it was compatible with Fielding's other writings. 
Hope this helps,
Regards.

RuchaShende · Answer

For the 2nd question, I considered the option "B" because in the passage it says, " They wrote jointly authored letters, were both published authors with a lively interest in each other’s work, and were enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fiction central concerns of The Cry. "

The author does not concern himself with whether they had co-written it or not. But the above line, does say that both writers were supporters of innovation or option "B"- It reflects an interest in the purposes to which fiction may be put.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The passage discusses the question of the provenance of the eighteenth-century novel The Cry and suggests that the novel could have been a collaboration between two authors, but that at the time of its publication it was believed to be the work of only one writer, Sarah Fielding.

Official Explanation

1. The passage presents which of the following as evidence in favor of Fielding and Collier’s having collaborated in writing The Cry?

All three choices are correct. Te question asks what is offered as evidence of the joint authorship of Te Cry.

Choice A  is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier  “were close friends.”

Choice B  is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier  “wrote jointly authored letters.”

Choice C  is correct: the passage states that Fielding and Collier were both  “enthusiastic supporters of didacticism and innovation in fction.”

Answer: A,B,C

In November 1753, the British author Sarah Fielding accepted half the

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

In November 1753, the British author Sarah Fielding accepted half the

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