Until about 1970, anyone who wanted to write a comprehensive history

Question

Until about 1970, anyone who wanted to write a
comprehensive history of medieval English law as it
actually affected women would have found a dearth of
published books or articles concerned with specific
 (5)  legal topics relating to women and derived from
extensive research in actual court records. This is a
serious deficiency, since court records are of vital
importance in discovering how the law actually
affected women, as opposed to how the law was
 (10)  intended to affect them or thought to affect them.
These latter questions can be answered by consulting
such sources as treatises, commentaries, and statutes;
such texts were what most scholars of the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries concentrated on whenever
 (15)  they did write about medieval law. But these sources
are of little help in determining, for example, how often
women’s special statutory privileges were thwarted by
intimidation or harassment, or how often women
managed to evade special statutory limitations. And,
 (20)  quite apart from provisions designed to apply only, or
especially, to women, they cannot tell us how general
law affected the female half of the population—how
women defendants and plaintiffs were treated in the
courts in practice when they tried to exercise the rights
 (25)  they shared with men. Only quantitative studies of
large numbers of cases would allow even a guess at the
answers to these questions, and this scholarly work has
been attempted by few.

One can easily imagine why. Most medieval
 (30)  English court records are written in Latin or Anglo-
Norman French and have never been published. The
sheer volume of material to be sifted is daunting: there
are over 27,500 parchment pages in the common plea
rolls of the thirteenth century alone, every page nearly
 (35)  three feet long, and written often front and back in
highly stylized court hand. But the difficulty of the
sources, while it might appear to explain why the
relevant scholarship has not been undertaken, seems
actually to have deterred few: the fact is that few
 (40)  historians have wanted to write anything approaching
women’s legal history in the first place. Most modern
legal historians who have written on one aspect or
another of special laws pertaining to women have
begun with an interest in a legal idea or event or
 (45)  institution, not with a concern for how it affected
women. Very few legal historians have started with an
interest in women’s history that they might have
elected to pursue through various areas of general law.
And the result of all this is that the current state of our
 (50)  scholarly knowledge relating to law and the medieval
Englishwoman is still fragmentary at best, though the
situation is slowly improving.    1 
 1. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which one of the following to be true of the sources consulted by nineteenth-century historians
of medieval law?

(A) They are adequate to the research needs of a modern legal historian wishing to investigate medieval law.
(B) They are to be preferred to medieval legal sources, which are cumbersome and difficult to use.
(C) They lack fundamental relevance to the history of modern legal institutions and ideas.
(D) They provide relatively little information relevant to the issues with which writers of women’s legal history ought most to concern themselves.
(E) They are valuable primarily because of the answers they can provide to some of the questions that have most interested writers of women’s legal history.

2 
 2. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) The preparations necessary for the production of a particular kind of study are discussed, and reasons are given for why such preparations have not been undertaken until recently.
(B) A problem is described, a taxonomy of various kinds of questions relevant to its solution is proposed, and an evaluation regarding which of those questions would be most useful to answer is made.
(C) An example suggesting the nature of present conditions in a discipline is given, past conditions in that discipline are described, and a prediction is made regarding the future of the discipline.
(D) A deficiency is described, the specific nature of the deficiency is discussed, and a particular kind of remedy is asserted to be the sole possible means of correcting that deficiency.
(E) The resources necessary to the carrying out of a task are described, the inherent limitations of those resources are suggested by means of a list of questions, and a suggestion is made for overcoming these limitations.

3 
 3. According to the passage, quantitative studies of the kind referred to in line 25 can aid in determining

(A) what were the stated intentions of those who wrote medieval statutes
(B) what were the unconscious or hidden motives of medieval lawmakers with regard to women
(C) what was the impact of medieval legal thought concerning women on the development of important modern legal ideas and institutions
(D) how medieval women’s lives were really affected by medieval laws
(E) how best to categorize the masses of medieval documents relating to women

4 
 4. According to the passage, the sources consulted by legal scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provided adequate information concerning which one of the following topics?

(A) the intent of medieval English laws regarding women and the opinions of commentators concerning how those laws affected women
(B) the overall effectiveness of English law in the medieval period and some aspects of the special statutes that applied to women only
(C) the degree of probability that a women defendant or plaintiff would win a legal case in medieval England
(D) the degree to which the male relatives of medieval Englishwomen could succeed in preventing those women from exercising their legal rights
(E) which of the legal rights theoretically shared by men and women were, in practice, guaranteed only to men

5 
 5. As used in lines 37–38, the phrase “the relevant scholarship” can best be understood as referring to which one of the following kinds of scholarly work?

(A) linguistic studies of Anglo-Norman French and Latin undertaken in order to prepare for further study of medieval legal history
(B) the editing and publication of medieval court records undertaken in order to facilitate the work of legal and other historians
(C) quantitative studies of large numbers of medieval court cases undertaken in order to discover the actual effects of law on medieval women’s lives
(D) comparative studies of medieval statutes, treatises, and commentaries undertaken in order to discover the views and intentions of medieval legislators
(E) reviews of the existing scholarly literature concerning women and medieval law undertaken as groundwork for the writing of a comprehensive history of medieval law as it applied to women

6 
 6. It can be inferred from the passage that, in the author’s view, which one of the following factors is most responsible for the current deficiencies in our knowledge of women’s legal history?

(A) most modern legal historians’ relative lack of interest in pursuing the subject
(B) the linguistic and practical difficulties inherent in pursuing research relevant to such knowledge
(C) a tendency on the part of most modern legal historians to rely too heavily on sources such as commentaries and treatises
(D) the mistaken view that the field of women’s legal history should be defined as the study of laws that apply only, or especially, to women
(E) the relative scarcity of studies providing a comprehensive overview of women’s legal history

Saasingh · Answer

Question 6:

See line 35 onwards.

But the difficulty of the sources, while it might appear to explain why the relevant scholarship has not been undertaken, seems actually to have deterred few: the fact is that few (40) historians have wanted to write anything approaching women’s legal history in the first place.

The author mentions that it might seem that nobody did a study on the legal history of women because of the difficulty of the sources. But author then goes on to mention that even though people might say so, in reality, this difficulty of sources never really deterred anyone. The fact was that only few historians wanted to write about these women's legal history. That is, they were least interested.  That's option A.

Hope it helps.

kadamhari825 · Answer

on what basis we should eliminate option E FOR Q6 ? it seems equally compelling like option A
can anyone help?

thanks .

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Read the lines 39-41 clearly state the author’s explanation—lack of interest on the part of historians. The sentence that follows clears up which historians the author means here: modern legal historians, most of which don’t give a hoot about how laws affect women. And the sentence in lines 46-48 clinches it:

“Very few legal historians have started with an interest in women’s history . . .”  Put it all together and we’ve got  choice (A).

Answer  Choice (E)  gets things backwards. It is the lack of books and articles on this particular topic that makes it difficult, according to the author, to produce such comprehensive studies.

Thank you

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the passage?

Explanation

We’re asked how the first paragraph is put together. Perhaps a scan of the beginning of each choice saved you a little time here—the complaint that underlies the entire passage is that of a lack, a dearth, a  “deficiency”  as it’s put in  line 7  and in correct  choice (D) . The deficiency is first described as the dearth of books and articles on the author’s chosen subject. The nature of the deficiency is then discussed—that’s all that specific stuff regarding the unanswered questions brought up in lines 16-25. Do we then get a remedy that represents the  “sole possible means”  of correcting the problem? Yup: Doing quantitative case studies is the  “only”  way to even begin to answer these questions. A perfect paraphrase, completing a perfect choice.

(A)  At best, the first sentence implies that the deficient sources are necessary to the study of this topic, but it goes too far to say that the necessary preparations are actively  “discussed.”  Even if we let this slide, there certainly are no excuses made for why such  “preparations”  weren’t begun earlier.

(B) “A problem is described. . .” —fair enough. Uh-oh, it’s downhill fast after that.  “. . . a taxonomy of . . . questions relevant to its solution is proposed” ? No—examples of questions that are unanswerable due to the problem are presented. There’s no discussion here about what kind of questions might help solve the problem. The author states flat-out that only one remedy is possible, and even that’s not guaranteed to clear up the whole picture.

(C)  is way too vague. What  “discipline”  are we talking about here? Legal scholarship in general? And where’s the prediction? The final sentence is an assertion, not a prediction.  (C)  just doesn’t match up.

(E)  begins a little better than  (A) ; at least here we can say that “resources” refers to court records whereas it’s hard to tell in  (A)  what  “preparations”  refers to. But the  “list of questions”  that follow is meant to demonstrate the kinds of things that can’t be determined without those resources, not highlight the inherent limitations of the resources themselves. The problem is not the court records, but the fact that no one’s consulting them on this matter.

Answer: D

5. As used in lines 37–38, the phrase “the relevant scholarship” can best be understood as referring to which one of the following kinds of scholarly work?

Explanation

When we pursue the line reference, we see that  “the relevant scholarship”  is followed by  “has not been undertaken . . .”  That can only mean one thing: The author’s talking here about the kind of scholarship that few have undertaken, the dearth of which forms the basis of his lament—quantitative studies of court records documenting the real effects of medieval English law on women,  choice (C).

(A)  and  (B)  deal with the kind of factors that the author proposes, and then dismisses, as reasons why  “the relevant scholarship”  has not been undertaken. The kinds of scholarly pursuits mentioned in these choices cannot therefore represent the relevant scholarship itself, which again is the scrupulous examination of actual court records to determine the real deal for medieval women.

(D)  harks back to the sources in  line 12 , but we’ve seen time and again how these statutes, treatises and commentaries do not provide the insights the author craves. In light of the author’s concerns, the work described in  (D)  would be IR relevant scholarship.

(E)  What  “existing scholarly literature?”  According to the first sentence, one would be hard pressed to find such scholarship, due to a  “dearth of published books or articles”  on the subject. The whole problem, according to the author, is that there aren’t enough sources to write such a comprehensive history on the topic. The  “relevant scholarship”  can’t refer to reviews of a bounty of material that (according to the author) doesn’t exist.

Answer: C

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. According to the passage, quantitative studies of the kind referred to in line 25 can aid in determining

Explanation

What would the quantitative studies of all those court cases be good for? Well, for exactly what the author wants—insight into the real legal experience of medieval English women. When the author says in  lines 25-28  that these studies are the only hope to answer  “these questions,”  the questions he’s referring to are the ones listed above that deal with, as  (D)  aptly puts it,  “how medieval women’s lives were really affected by medieval laws.”

(A), (B)  The sources listed in  line 12  are the ones that are able to shed light on the intentions of medieval laws. Nowhere are we told that the court records can do this too. And (B)’s  “unconscious or hidden motives”  is even one step removed from “stated intentions,” and once again we have no way of knowing that the court records will be of any use exposing those.

(C)  The author believes that studying the court records from medieval cases can provide insight into the real legal experience of medieval women. What these records could possibly reveal about modern legal institutions is anyone’s guess, and certainly isn’t something that’s stated in the passage.

(E)  Categorizing the legal documents relating to medieval women isn’t the issue here—no one seems concerned about that. The author wants to know what’s in these records, not how to categorize them.

Answer: D

4. According to the passage, the sources consulted by legal scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provided adequate information concerning which one of the following topics?

Explanation

Q. 4  represents the flip side of  Q. 1.  In that one, we were asked to recognize that the sources listed in  line 12 , much to the consternation of our author, provide little insight on the actual legal experience of medieval English women. However, as we’ve seen, these sources can shed light on what the author refers to as the  “latter questions” —namely  “how the law was intended to affect them or thought to affect them” (lines 9-10).  These topics appear in choice  (A): “intent and opinion of commentators”  is right on the money.

(B)  The sentence beginning  “And quite apart from provisions . . .” in lines 19-21  suggests that these sources may indicate aspects of the law that applied to women only, but nowhere is it stated or implied that these treatises, statutes, and commentaries speak to the  “overall effectiveness”  of English law.

(C)  It seems we would need to consult the court records to obtain this kind of specific information. Insights on intent and legal commentaries wouldn’t reveal women’s actual probability of success.

(D)  seems to be a takeoff on the question of how women’s privileges may have been thwarted by intimidation or harassment  (lines 16-18) , but there are two immediate problems with this: First, this is the type of question that the sources in  line 12  cannot answer. And second, we’re not told who may be thwarting their rights, so  “male relatives”  is too specific here. If you axed this choice right off the bat by simply considering male relatives outside the scope, good for you.

(E)  Again, this is something that’s too specific to glean from the sources in  line 12.  Nothing that goes beyond intentions and interpretations can fit the bill here.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which one of the following to be true of the sources consulted by nineteenth-century historians of medieval law?

Explanation

First up is an Inference question concerning the sources listed in  line 12 ; hopefully you didn’t have any trouble tracking the reference down. These are the things (treatises, commentaries and statutes) that the author laments give no solid information on the real legal experience of medieval English women. They do come in handy, however in answering  “the latter two questions,”  which refers to the issues in  lines 9-10 : how the law was intended to affect women or thought to affect them. Any of this will suffice.  (D)  focuses on the author’s lament as repeated throughout the passage.

(A)  The author would not agree with  (A) , believing as he does that these sources do not illuminate what should be considered a major part of medieval law, namely, the realworld influence it had on women’s lives.

(B)  If anything, the author would prefer the medieval sources, because at least contained therein one could find information on just how the law at that time affected women. On that count, the sources listed in  line 12  are of no help.

(C)  The relevance of these sources to modern legal institutions and ideas is outside the scope. The author bemoans one fundamental lack on the part of these treatises, commentaries, and statutes—and this isn’t it.

(E)  If there are writers interested specifically in women’s legal history—and the author seems skeptical of that—they won’t find answers in these sources to the questions that the author thinks they should find interesting. The first three words should have tipped you off: The whole point is that the author doesn’t find these sources valuable for serious inquiries into women’s legal history.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

6. It can be inferred from the passage that, in the author’s view, which one of the following factors is most responsible for the current deficiencies in our knowledge of women’s legal history?

Explanation

This is an Inference question, and again the topic doesn’t stray far at all from the main issue at hand, namely the deficiency that so irks our author.  Lines 39-41  clearly state the author’s explanation—lack of interest on the part of historians. The sentence that follows clears up which historians the author means here: modern legal historians, most of which don’t give a hoot about how laws affect women. And the sentence in  lines 46-48  clinches it:  “Very few legal historians have started with an interest in women’s history . . .”  Put it all together and we’ve got  choice (A).

(B)  refers to the difficulties the author introduces, but dismisses, as possible reasons for the deficiency in question.

(C)  says that the historians are looking in the wrong place, concentrating on the type of sources listed in  line 12 . This is tricky, because in  Para 1  the author does state that 19th and 20th century scholars did concentrate on treatises and commentaries when writing about medieval law. But it’s not as if modern scholars wanted to understand how the law affected medieval women and they simply got bogged down in the wrong sources. That makes the deficiency sound more accidental than it is, when the reason is more straightforward—they simply lacked the interest.

(D)  No such definition of women’s legal history is given. This, therefore, cannot be an obstacle to the type of scholarship the author favors.

(E)  gets things backwards. It is the lack of books and articles on this particular topic that makes it difficult, according to the author, to produce such comprehensive studies.

Answer: A

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