Reading Comprehension

PT158 · S1 · P3 · Q20 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.

20.

Which one of the following most accurately characterizes the relationship between the two passages?

  1. Passage B recommends an approach

    Opposite: Conforms to Recommendation

    Passage B is defending the possibility of doing "history of plagiarism" well, without slipping into the excesses and problems of the sort of "history of plagiarism" that Ricks hates. But it's too much to say that Passage B is recommending an approach. The easiest way to dismiss though is that we're primarily looking for there to be some friction between A and B, since B ends by disagreeing with A. Meanwhile, this answer is saying that A conforms to B.

    5% picked this

  2. Passage B advances an argument

    Reversal

    Passage B makes an argument that undermines the one in Passage A. Passage B demonstrates an awareness of Passage A's argument (calling its author out by name and citing some of the key points from Passage A) before ending with a couple sentences that attempt to undermine the fatalistic pessimism of Passage A. Passage A demonstrates no awareness of B and just presents a scathing review of Rosenthal's book and extends this criticism to any form of writing on the history of plagiarism.

    7% picked this

  3. Passage B supports the overall

    Switched Parts

    Passage B indicates that Passage A is correct in some of its details, but does not support the overall argument. Passage B concedes ways in which Ricks is correct (at the beginning of B's final paragraph), before then objecting to the substantive conclusion of Ricks that "all history of plagiarism is bad/dumb".

    27% picked this

  4. Correct

    Passage B concurs with certain

    Why this is right

    The first part of this ("concurs with certain views") aligns with the first two sentences of B's final paragraph. And the second part of this aligns with the last three sentences of Passage B. Ricks has essentially concluded that writing about the history of plagiarism will necessarily devolve into summarizing different cultures' interpretations of it through the years, ultimately ending in no clear moral condemnation of the practice. Passage B is saying, "Sure, THAT would be bad history. But you're going too far in thinking that there's no way to balance both goals. You can clearly articulate our current moral disapproval of plagiarism while observing how different cultures throughout time had different attitudes towards the subject. Reconstructing those attitudes doesn't mean you're vindicating them / legitimizing them."

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

    52% picked this

  5. Passage B implies that all

    Too Strong: All

    We know the first two sentences of B's last paragraph agree with some of A's ideas, so it's contradictory to say that B implies that all of A's assertions are misguided.

    10% picked this

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