16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardTwo views on a poem's date

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The poem must have been written after 1850, since it describes a railway viaduct that was not built until that year. Text 2 The viaduct in the poem is a bridge of 'three grey arches'. The railway viaduct has eleven arches of red brick; the old packhorse bridge below the town, which has stood since 1600, has three arches of grey stone. The poem describes the older bridge, and nothing in it forces a date after 1850.

How would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the reasoning in Text 1?

  1. A. By arguing that the bridge described in the poem is not the railway viaduct, so the poem's date cannot be fixed by the viaduct's construction.Correct
  2. B. By agreeing that the poem was written after 1850.
  3. C. By denying that the railway viaduct exists.
  4. D. By claiming that the poem describes no bridge at all.

Answer: A. By arguing that the bridge described in the poem is not the railway viaduct, so the poem's date cannot be fixed by the viaduct's construction.

Three grey arches: the packhorse bridge, not the viaduct.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By agreeing that the poem was written after 1850.
Text 2 removes the reason for that date.
C. By denying that the railway viaduct exists.
Text 2 describes the viaduct's eleven arches.
D. By claiming that the poem describes no bridge at all.
Text 2 identifies the bridge.

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