Readers, like writers, need to search for answers. Part of the joy of

Question

Passage A

Readers, like writers, need to search for answers.
Part of the joy of reading is in being surprised, but
academic historians leave little to the imagination. The
perniciousness of the historiographic approach became
  (5)   fully evident to me when I started teaching. Historians
require undergraduates to read scholarly monographs
that sap the vitality of history; they visit on students
what was visited on them in graduate school. They
assign books with formulaic arguments that transform
  (10)   history into an abstract debate that would have been
unfathomable to those who lived in the past. Aimed so
squarely at the head, such books cannot stimulate
students who yearn to connect to history emotionally as
well as intellectually.

(15)   In an effort to address this problem, some historians
have begun to rediscover stories. It has even become
something of a fad within the profession. This year, the
American Historical Association chose as the theme
for its annual conference some putative connection to
  (20)   storytelling: “Practices of Historical Narrative.”
Predictably, historians responded by adding the word
“narrative” to their titles and presenting papers at
sessions on “Oral History and the Narrative of Class
Identity,” and “Meaning and Time: The Problem of
  (25)   Historical Narrative.” But it was still historiography.
intended only for other academics. At meetings of
historians, we still encounter very few historians telling
stories or moving audiences to smiles, chills, or tears.

Passage B

Writing is at the heart of the lawyer’s craft, and so,
  (30)   like it or not, we who teach the law inevitably teach
aspiring lawyers how lawyers write. We do this in a few
stand-alone courses and, to a greater extent, through the
constraints that we impose on their writing throughout
the curriculum. Legal writing, because of the purposes
  (35)   it serves, is necessarily ruled by linear logic, creating a
path without diversions, surprises, or reversals.
Conformity is a virtue, creativity suspect, humor
forbidden, and voice mute.

Lawyers write as they see other lawyers write, and,
  (40)   influenced by education, profession, economic
constraints, and perceived self-interest, they too often
write badly. Perhaps the currently fashionable call for
attention to narrative in legal education could have an
effect on this. It is not yet exactly clear what role
  (45)   narrative should play in the law, but it is nonetheless
true that every case has at its heart a story—of real
events and people, of concerns, misfortunes, conflicts,
feelings. But because legal analysis strips the human
narrative content from the abstract, canonical legal
  (50)   form of the case, law students learn to act as if there
is no such story.

It may well turn out that some of the terminology
and public rhetoric of this potentially subversive
movement toward attention to narrative will find its
  (55)   way into the law curriculum, but without producing
corresponding changes in how legal writing is actually
taught or in how our future colleagues will write. Still,
even mere awareness of the value of narrative could
perhaps serve as an important corrective.    1 
 1. Which one of the following does each of the passages display?

(A) a concern with the question of what teaching methods are most effective in developing writing skills
(B) a concern with how a particular discipline tends to represent points of view it does not typically deal with
(C) a conviction that writing in specialized professional disciplines cannot be creatively crafted
(D) a belief that the writing in a particular profession could benefit from more attention to storytelling
(E) a desire to see writing in a particular field purged of elements from other disciplines

2 
 2. The passages most strongly support which one of the following inferences regarding the authors’ relationships to the professions they discuss?

(A) Neither author is an active member of the profession that he or she discusses.
(B) Each author is an active member of the profession he or she discusses.
(C) The author of passage A is a member of the profession discussed in that passage, but the author of passage B is not a member of either of the professions discussed in the passages.
(D) Both authors are active members of the profession discussed in passage B.
(E) The author of passage B, but not the author of passage A, is an active member of both of the professions discussed in the passages.

3 
 3. Which one of the following does each passage indicate is typical of writing in the respective professions discussed in the passages?

(A) abstraction
(B) hyperbole
(C) subversion
(D) narrative
(E) imagination

4 
 4. In which one of the following ways are the passages NOT parallel?

(A) Passage A presents and rejects arguments for an opposing position, whereas passage B does not.
(B) Passage A makes evaluative claims, whereas passage B does not.
(C) Passage A describes specific examples of a phenomenon it criticizes, whereas passage B does not.
(D) Passage B offers criticism, whereas passage A does not.
(E) Passage B outlines a theory, whereas passage A does not.

5 
 5. The phrase “scholarly monographs that sap the vitality of history” in passage A (lines 6–7) plays a role in that passage’s overall argument that is most analogous to the role played in passage B by which one of the following phrases?

(A) “Writing is at the heart of the lawyer’s craft” (line 29)
(B) “Conformity is a virtue, creativity suspect, humor forbidden, and voice mute” (lines 37–38)
(C) “Lawyers write as they see other lawyers write” (line 39)
(D) “every case has at its heart a story” (line 46)
(E) “Still, even mere awareness of the value of narrative could perhaps serve as an important corrective” (lines 57–59)

6 
 6. Suppose that a lawyer is writing a legal document describing the facts that are at issue in a case. The author of passage B would be most likely to expect which one of the following to be true of the document?

(A) It will be poorly written because the lawyer who is writing it was not given explicit advice by law professors on how lawyers should write.
(B) It will be crafted to function like a piece of fiction in its description of the characters and motivations of the people involved in the case.
(C) It will be a concise, well-crafted piece of writing that summarizes most, if not all, of the facts that are important in the case.
(D) It will not genuinely convey the human dimension of the case, regardless of how accurate the document may be in its details.
(E) It will neglect to make appropriate connections between the details of the case and relevant legal doctrines.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. Which one of the following does each passage indicate is typical of writing in the respective professions discussed in the passages?

Explanation

We know that both authors find their professions’ writings to be unimaginative. This immediately eliminates  (E) . We also know that both authors feel that their professions’ writings are unemotional due to the lack of narrative, which eliminates (D). Now to check the remaining answers.

(A)  The impersonal implication of  “abstraction”  seems to perfectly fit both authors’ criticism of lacking narrative skills. Plus, Passage A uses the word  “abstract”  in  line 10  and Passage B uses it in  line 49.  This is the correct answer.

(B)  When the authors describe the writings as  “formulaic”  (Passage A) or being  “without diversions”  (Passage B), hyperbole (or exaggeration) is out of the question.

(C)  The author of Passage B uses the word  “subversive”  to describe the movement toward using narrative. This is not used to describe the typical writing in law, and is not used by the author of Passage A at all.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following does each of the passages display?

Explanation

Reexamining the relationship between the passages, we know both passages talk about the value of using narrative in their professions’ writings. That’s exactly what  (D)  says.

(A)  While the author of Passage A is a teacher, only the author of Passage B actually talks teaching writing skills.

(B)  Both passages are concerned with points of view well within the normal realm of their respective disciplines.

(C)  Extreme. In the last sentence, the author of passage B sees some potential for the future of legal writing.

(E)  Neither passage discusses elements outside of its respective field.

Answer: D

Prathana · Answer

Iin ques 5
“scholarly monographs that sap the vitality of history” this line basically tells how monographs weakens the vitality of history,this line can be ans to the ques why author says to use narrative in writing skills so in passage B we had to look for an option which explains the same option B does the same by telling that conformity is creative suspect and humor forbidden.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. In which one of the following ways are the passages NOT parallel?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

(A)  Passage A doesn’t present or reject any arguments. So this answer is out.

(B)  Passage A certainly makes evaluative claims, but so does B (saying lawyers too often write badly). That eliminates this answer.

(C)  Passage A does mention the American Historical Association conference, and Passage B has no such specificity. So this is our winner.

(D)  Passage B does offer criticism, but so does Passage A (saying some monographs sap the vitality of history).

(E)  Neither passage discusses any theories. This is gone.

Answer: C

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi I got it correct, but wasn't sure how to reject E. In passage, can this qualify as a theory - " ..  even mere awareness of the value of narrative could   perhaps serve as an important corrective. "

What exactly will qualify as a theory if you can give an example? How to identify it if that can be considered as a theory?

guddo · Answer

4. In which one of the following ways are the passages NOT parallel?

Passage A criticizes academic historians for writing lifeless, formula driven work and says the recent “narrative” trend in history is mostly cosmetic. Passage B criticizes legal writing and legal education for forcing rigid, storyless writing, and says the new interest in narrative might help but could end up being only rhetoric.

(A) Passage A presents and rejects arguments for an opposing position, whereas passage B does not.

I do not think this is the best difference. Both passages mention a proposed corrective involving “narrative” and then express skepticism about whether it will really change practice.

(B) Passage A makes evaluative claims, whereas passage B does not.

This is wrong. Passage B clearly makes evaluative claims too, for example that legal writing is ruled by linear logic and that lawyers too often write badly.

(C) Passage A describes specific examples of a phenomenon it criticizes, whereas passage B does not.

This fits.  Passage A gives specific, concrete examples (the association theme and sample session titles). Passage B stays general and does not give that kind of named example.

(D) Passage B offers criticism, whereas passage A does not.

This is wrong. Passage A is obviously critical, just like passage B.

(E) Passage B outlines a theory, whereas passage A does not.

This does not work. Passage B is mainly critique plus a cautious prediction, not a theory, and passage A is the same kind of thing.

Answer: (C)

guddo · Answer

That line is not a theory. It is just a cautious “this might help” suggestion, without saying why it would work or how it would consistently produce better writing.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Yes! you are right, A theory is a systematic framework explaining why something works or should work, with some predictive or explanatory power.  Passage B  only suggests a possibility (“could perhaps serve”), not a developed causal model.  Passage A  does not propose any alternative framework, just criticizes, so if  B  does not firmly outline a theory,  E  is debatable.

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