assumptions

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assumptions

by armaan700+ » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:04 pm
Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands in whose cultures they proclaimed themselves experts, and were as likely as not to call the inhabitants "savages." By contrast, contemporary anthropologists, who are not taken seriously unless they have lived for a time among the people they study, are likely to use the more enlightened term "indigenous people."

The author's assertion about the superiority of contemporary anthropologists rests on which of the following assumptions about the word enlightened?

A. Victorian Era anthropologists often considered themselves enlightened even though they had never lived among the cultures they studied.
B. To be enlightened requires spending time among the people being studied.
C. The goal of contemporary anthropology is to become enlightened.
D. A person who has been enlightened can not, by definition, be called a savage.
E. Anthropologists must be enlightened before they are properly prepared to spend time among the people they study.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by komal » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:40 pm
armaan700+ wrote:Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands in whose cultures they proclaimed themselves experts, and were as likely as not to call the inhabitants "savages." By contrast, contemporary anthropologists, who are not taken seriously unless they have lived for a time among the people they study, are likely to use the more enlightened term "indigenous people."

The author's assertion about the superiority of contemporary anthropologists rests on which of the following assumptions about the word enlightened?

A. Victorian Era anthropologists often considered themselves enlightened even though they had never lived among the cultures they studied.
Incorrect : We can assume this but we cannot infer this statement from the information stated above.

B. To be enlightened requires spending time among the people being studied.
Correct : This infers that contemporary anthropologists of see it necessary to spend time with the study subjects and thus are able to make more enlightened descriptions of the ppl they study.

C. The goal of contemporary anthropology is to become enlightened.
Incorrect : 'Goal' of contemporary anthropology is irrelevant.

D. A person who has been enlightened can not, by definition, be called a savage.
Incorrect : In the stimulus SAVAGE refers to description of people who anthropologists studied and ENLIGHTENED refers to anthropologists themselves.

E. Anthropologists must be enlightened before they are properly prepared to spend time among the people they study.
Incorrect : Stimulus states that anthropologists after they spend time with people they study.



My take is (B)
Last edited by komal on Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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by thephoenix » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:48 pm
A The passage does not discuss whether Victorian Era anthropologists considered themselves enlightened.
B Correct. Contemporary anthropologists are considered more enlightened because, unlike Victorian Era anthropologists, they are likely to have lived among the people they study.
C The passage does not make this claim.
D The passage does not address the application of the word enlightened to people being studied.
E The passage actually argues that anthropologists are enlightened because, or after, they spend time among the people they study.

IMO B

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by joseph32 » Sun May 15, 2016 11:22 pm
I am leaning more towards B, but I'm not sure about it.