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Question 1
E
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Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
35% (02:54) correct
65%
(03:06) wrong
based on 1072
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
B
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Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
37% (01:11) correct 63%
(01:11) wrong
based on 1189
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
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:
68% (01:01) correct 32%
(01:13) wrong
based on 1140
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
D
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Difficulty:
5%
(low)
Question Stats:
82% (01:06) correct 18%
(01:21) wrong
based on 1099
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
In the ancien régime—pre-Revolutionary France's rigidly hierarchical feudal order—the form, fabric, and color of a garment announced a person's position within that order. It did so systematically and transparently. Dress differences, between aristocrats and commoners and within the aristocracy, openly performed sociopolitical functions—self-affirmation for some, subordination for others. The fact that the common people generally could not afford luxurious dress largely maintained the system. This economic basis was buttressed by the continued issuance of sumptuary laws—laws regulating consumption—that codified dress differences. For the aristocracy these were protectionist measures ensuring their monopoly of luxury and thus luxury's differentiating function. Brocades, linings, furs, feathers, lace, gold and silver trimmings, and expensive dyes were by law the aristocracy's to wear, hence transparent markers of high status.
With feudalism's decline, the clothing system's economic basis eroded. A rising middle class could increasingly afford luxury and, as part of its self-fashioning, emulated the aristocracy in manners and dress. This appropriation of aristocratic styles (with aristocrats' consequent adopting of new styles to differentiate themselves), meant that dress less reliably indicated social position. In the seventeenth century, the aristocracy issued even more sumptuary laws to maintain the clothing system. During Louis XIV's reign (1643-1715), even such details as gold braid and buttons were minutely regulated. These measures failed to discourage the rising middle class. Originally a prerogative of birth and rank, luxury was increasingly claimed by anyone with the desire and means to buy it. As a Parisian attorney observed in 1745, "Today luxury is widespread, and because money rules, everything is topsy-turvy in Paris." The meanings of dress became (temporarily) opaque and fashions pace of change, formerly a slow evolution over centuries, accelerated dramatically. With this, modern fashion emerged as "something adopted temporarily, on the basis of collective but ephemeral preferences."
In 1793, a formal decree was issued that epitomized the rupture: "No person of either sex can force any citizen, male or female, to dress in a particular way..; everyone is free to wear the garment or garb suitable to his or her sex that he or she pleases." Thus did France's Revolution legally mark the end of the ancien régime's dress system.
With feudalism's decline, the clothing system's economic basis eroded. A rising middle class could increasingly afford luxury and, as part of its self-fashioning, emulated the aristocracy in manners and dress. This appropriation of aristocratic styles (with aristocrats' consequent adopting of new styles to differentiate themselves), meant that dress less reliably indicated social position. In the seventeenth century, the aristocracy issued even more sumptuary laws to maintain the clothing system. During Louis XIV's reign (1643-1715), even such details as gold braid and buttons were minutely regulated. These measures failed to discourage the rising middle class. Originally a prerogative of birth and rank, luxury was increasingly claimed by anyone with the desire and means to buy it. As a Parisian attorney observed in 1745, "Today luxury is widespread, and because money rules, everything is topsy-turvy in Paris." The meanings of dress became (temporarily) opaque and fashions pace of change, formerly a slow evolution over centuries, accelerated dramatically. With this, modern fashion emerged as "something adopted temporarily, on the basis of collective but ephemeral preferences."
In 1793, a formal decree was issued that epitomized the rupture: "No person of either sex can force any citizen, male or female, to dress in a particular way..; everyone is free to wear the garment or garb suitable to his or her sex that he or she pleases." Thus did France's Revolution legally mark the end of the ancien régime's dress system.
1. According to the passage, each of the following is true of some period in pre-Revolutionary France EXCEPT:
(A) Dress marked differences among members of the aristocracy.
(B) Luxury was considered to be a prerogative of birth, not means.
(C) Most common people could not afford luxurious dress.
(D) Styles in dress were slow to change.
(E) Sumptuary laws provided the foundation for the ancien régime's dress system.
(A) Dress marked differences among members of the aristocracy.
(B) Luxury was considered to be a prerogative of birth, not means.
(C) Most common people could not afford luxurious dress.
(D) Styles in dress were slow to change.
(E) Sumptuary laws provided the foundation for the ancien régime's dress system.
2. According to the passage, the primary intended function of the sumptuary laws passed in France in the ancien régime was to
(A) ensure that scarce luxury goods remained available for aristocrats
(B) reinforce the monetary constraints that kept the clothing system in place
(C) make it easy to identify those who could not afford luxuries
(D) discourage emulation among the various ranks within the aristocracy
(E) subordinate the prerogatives of birth and rank to the rule of law
(A) ensure that scarce luxury goods remained available for aristocrats
(B) reinforce the monetary constraints that kept the clothing system in place
(C) make it easy to identify those who could not afford luxuries
(D) discourage emulation among the various ranks within the aristocracy
(E) subordinate the prerogatives of birth and rank to the rule of law
3. The passage most likely mentions the attempt to regulate gold braid and buttons during Louis XIV's reign in order to provide evidence of
(A) the aristocracy's anxiety over the waning of their control over the clothing system
(B) an unprecedented attention to detail that made enforcing sumptuary laws impractical during his régime
(C) the popularity of these items among a rising middle class intent on emulating aristocratic style
(D) confusion over their meaning within an increasingly opaque clothing system
(E) their scarcity and the need to protect the aristocracy's access to them
(A) the aristocracy's anxiety over the waning of their control over the clothing system
(B) an unprecedented attention to detail that made enforcing sumptuary laws impractical during his régime
(C) the popularity of these items among a rising middle class intent on emulating aristocratic style
(D) confusion over their meaning within an increasingly opaque clothing system
(E) their scarcity and the need to protect the aristocracy's access to them
4. Each of the following statements is supported by information in the passage EXCEPT:
(A) During the ancien régime, social roles and status were strongly regulated.
(B) Some members of France's rising middle class did not abide by the sumptuary laws.
(C) The anti-sumptuary legislation of the French Revolution was in part the culmination of a process that began much earlier.
(D) Most of the middle class's attempts to emulate the aristocracy were clumsy and unconvincing.
(E) The rise of the French middle class helped shift attitudes about the bases of luxury consumption, from hereditary entitlement and codified norms to economic means and individual desire.
(A) During the ancien régime, social roles and status were strongly regulated.
(B) Some members of France's rising middle class did not abide by the sumptuary laws.
(C) The anti-sumptuary legislation of the French Revolution was in part the culmination of a process that began much earlier.
(D) Most of the middle class's attempts to emulate the aristocracy were clumsy and unconvincing.
(E) The rise of the French middle class helped shift attitudes about the bases of luxury consumption, from hereditary entitlement and codified norms to economic means and individual desire.
31 Aug 2024, 21:15
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(E) Sumptuary laws provided the foundation for the ancien régime's dress system.
The fact that the common people generally could not afford luxurious dress largely maintained the system. This economic basis was buttressed by the continued issuance of sumptuary laws—laws regulating consumption—that codified dress differences.
Econonomic basis was the primary reason. The Sumptuary laws helped buttress( supported) this economic basis.
