Reading Comprehension

PT158 · S1 · P3 · Q19 Plagiarism

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Passage A is adapted from an essay by historian Christopher Ricks; passage B is from the introduction, by historian Paulina Kewes, to a book in which Ricks's essay appears.

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Topic

The debate over how to approach the concept of plagiarism—whether as a moral issue or as a historically relative idea shaped by power and context.

Framework

Present Debate

Main Point

Ricks (Passage A) criticizes historical (especially postmodern) approaches to plagiarism that see it merely as a power construct rather than a moral failing, arguing this undermines valuable moral judgments; Kewes (Passage B) counters that while some historical approaches are flawed, proper historical context is valuable and not inherently relativist. **Most Valuable Sentence(s):** - Passage A, last paragraph: - Passage B, last paragraph:

P1: Passage A — Critique of Postmodern Approach

Ricks argues that Rosenthal’s history of plagiarism erases differences between key concepts like plagiarism, imitation, and originality, reducing the idea of plagiarism to a matter of power dynamics, rather than genuine moral concern.

P2: Passage A — Political vs. Moral Dimensions

He complains that Rosenthal's "political" approach ignores honest/dishonest distinctions, instead focusing solely on the context and power structures surrounding a text or author.

19.

Passage A asserts that the inevitable answer to the question raised in Rosenthal's book is that

  1. political history must avoid engaging

    Not the Inevitable Answer

    Passage A does not claim Rosenthal concludes political history must avoid moral issues. The critique is that her approach collapses moral distinctions, not that she excludes morality.

    5% picked this

  2. Correct

    there is no difference between

    Why this is right

    This is supported in the second and third paragraphs of Passage A, where Ricks argues Rosenthal's approach dangerously erases the distinctions between plagiarism, imitation, and adaptation.

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    68% picked this

  3. moral conventions are worthy of

    Opposite of the Inevitable Answer

    Passage A argues Rosenthal's approach undermines moral conventions around plagiarism, not that it concludes those conventions are worthy of respect.

    17% picked this

  4. there has been much fluidity

    Not the Inevitable Answer

    Passage A attributes the "fluidity" observation to Rosenthal's historical approach but does not present it as the inevitable answer to her central question.

    9% picked this

  5. bad history is not an

    Not the Inevitable Answer

    This idea about "bad history" is not presented in Passage A as Rosenthal's answer to any question. It mischaracterizes the focus of Passage A's critique.

    1% picked this

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