warrior1991
Hi
GMATNinjaSir kindly explain Question#2
Sorry for the delay on this one!
Quote:
2. Which of the following studies would proceed in a way most similar to the way in which, according to the passage. Scharf's book interprets Eleanor Roosevelt's career?
(A) An exploration of the activities of a wealthy social reformer in terms of the ideals held by the reformer
(B) A history of the leaders of a political party which explained how the conflicting aims of its individual leaders thwarted and diverted the activities of each leader
(C) An account of the legislative career of a conservative senator which showed his goals to have been derived from a national conservative movement of which the senator was a part
(D) A biography of a famous athlete which explained her high level of motivation in terms of the kind of family in which she grew up
(E) A history of the individuals who led the movement to end slavery in the United States which attributed the movement's success to the efforts of those exceptional individuals
In Lash's biography, Eleanor "appeared to be an
idiosyncratic figure, somehow self-generated
not amenable to any generalized explanation. She emerged from the biography as a mother to the entire nation, or as a busybody, but
hardly as a social type, a figure comprehensible in terms of broader social developments."
The language here is pretty tough, but the point is that, according to Lash's biography, Eleanor's actions were NOT part of broader social developments/trends or of a general pattern. Instead, according to Lash, Eleanor's actions were relatively unique (idiosyncratic) at the time.
The author then CONTRASTS Lash's biography with more recent work, which "allows us to see Roosevelt in a different light". For example, Lois Scharf depicts "a
generation of privileged women" whose views and lives were CONSISTENT with Eleanor's. Thanks to the recent work, "Roosevelt’s activities... have become intelligible in terms of this
social context rather than as the
idiosyncratic career of a famous man’s wife."
To summarize, Lash's biography depicts Eleanor as anomaly--someone's whose career was idiosyncratic (singular/unique). Scharf, on the other, depicts Eleanor's life in terms of
broader social developments--in terms of more
general social trends.
Quote:
(C) An account of the legislative career of a conservative senator which showed his goals to have been derived from a national conservative movement of which the senator was a part
The senator's career is NOT depicted as singular or idiosyncratic. Instead, the senator's career is explained as part of a broader, more general movement. This is parallel to Scharf's depiction of Eleanor, so (C) is the correct answer.