notwithstanding wrote:
The Testament of William Thorpe was published around 1530 as an appendix to Thorpe's longer
Examination. Many scholars, however, doubt the attribution of the
Testament to Thorpe because, whereas the
Examination is dated 1406, the
Testament is dated 1460. One scholar has recently argued that the 1460 date be amended to 1409, based on the observation that when these numbers are expressed as Roman numerals, MCCCCLX and MCCCCIX, it becomes easy to see how the dates might have become confused through scribal error.
Which of the following, if true, would most support the scholar's hypothesis concerning the date of the
Testament?
(A) The sole evidence that historians have had that William Thorpe died no earlier than 1460 was the presumed date of publication of the
Testament.
(B) In the preface to the 1530 publication, the editor attributes both works to William Thorpe.
(C) Few writers in fifteenth-century England marked dates in their works using only Roman numerals.
(D) The
Testament alludes to a date, "Friday, September 20," as apparently contemporaneous with the writing of the
Testament, and September 20 fell on a Friday in 1409 but not in 1460.
(E) The
Testament contains few references to historical events that occurred later than 1406.
ID - CR13108
William Thorpe
Step 1: Identify the Question
The words if true and support indicate that this is a Strengthen the Argument question.
Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument
ToWT pub = 1530, dated 1460
Exam dated 1406
© S: ToWT actually 1409 b/c confuse roman numeral
Step 3: Pause and State the Goal
On Strengthen questions, the correct answer should make the conclusion at least somewhat more likely to be valid. In this case, you want to support the scholar’s hypothesis that work is actually from 1409 rather than 1460.
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right
(A) This information suggests that the date of Thorpe’s death is not firmly established. This does not directly influence the publication date of The Testament because the argument states that it is not clear whether The Testament should be attributed to Thorpe.
(B) Attributing the works to Thorpe on the date of publication does not provide any additional information as to when Thorpe may have written The Testament. It could have happened in 1906 or 1460 (or some other date entirely).
(C) This information weakens the scholar’s argument because it is less likely that there would have been confusion over the date due to Roman numerals (because the date may also have appeared somewhere in regular numbers).
(D) CORRECT. This information provides an additional reason to believe The Testament was published in 1409 rather than 1460: The book discusses an event that apparently occurred during the writing of The Testament and this date occurred in 1409 but not 1460.
(E) The fact that few post-1406 references are in the book does not help clarify between the two possible publication dates; someone could write a book now that only referenced events before 1406. If there were mentions of events after 1409, that would provide evidence supporting the theory that The Testament was published in 1460.
Here is how I solved
(A) The sole evidence that historians have had that William Thorpe died no earlier than 1460 was the presumed date of publication of the Testament.
Irrelevant to the question asked since we do not need to know when William Thorpe died
(B) In the preface to the 1530 publication, the editor attributes both works to William Thorpe.
Does not help ascertain the date , only the author
(C) Few writers in fifteenth-century England marked dates in their works using only Roman numerals.
Few, when used without a preceding 'a', means "very few" or "none at all". On the other hand, a few is used to indicate "not a large number".
The way this answer choice is written it actually weakens the scholars hypothesis because if almost no one wrote their dates using only Roman Numeral , the chance of scribal error is lower.
(D) The Testament alludes to a date, "Friday, September 20," as apparently contemporaneous with the writing of the Testament, and September 20 fell on a Friday in 1409 but not in 1460.
Is correct since September 20, 1460 was not a Friday and Indeed it was a Friday in 1406 hence it strengthens the argument. correct
(E) The Testament contains few references to historical events that occurred later than 1406.
tHIS actually weakens the argument. If true then obviously it cant belong to 1406 since it contains info after. Therfore it weakens the argument ,
close
+1 Kudos
