I felt confident about answer choice C on the basis of the the author's numerous references to contemporary societies and the use of them as an anchor point in the introductory paragraph. Could you please explain why answer choice B, which fails to mention contemporary societies at all, is the correct answer, as opposed to C? Thank you!
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The answer choices presented for reading passages can sometimes try to trip you up by including a key word in the wrong answer choice. Understanding the passage's key arguments and being able to summarize them in your own words can help you to avoid this.
The goal of this particular passage is to explain why observing contemporary societies does not help us understand the political culture of Ancient Greece. The author explains that this is because we confuse basic knowledge of how to read with widespread access to important books and documents. The author then presents a case study of how this confusion, which stems from applying a contemporary lens to an ancient society, impacts our understanding of ancient politics in Athens.
In this way, the author is not trying to explain the relationship between ancient and contemporary societies. Rather, they are trying to explain why viewing ancient societies through a contemporary lens negatively impacts our understanding of the former. This is why B - "point out the weaknesses in a particular approach to understanding ancient societies" - is the correct answer. In this passage, the observation of contemporary societies is the approach that is used to understand ancient societies and the author is attempting to demonstrate why that is a weak approach using the case study of ancient politics in Athens.
Hope this is helpful! Let us know if you have any further questions.
JeremyGMarch 26, 2019
Hi Victoria, thanks a lot! That helps to resolve my question.
VictoriaApril 27, 2019
Hi @JeremyG
Glad to hear it! Let us know if you have any more questions we are happy to help.
