16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardTwo authors on the meaning of a document

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The 1847 petition against the railway, signed by 300 villagers, shows that the village opposed it, argues historian Lou Baird. Text 2 The petition was drafted by the landowner whose park the line would cross, and his tenants signed it as tenants sign what their landlord puts before them. The same villagers, three years later, subscribed to a fund for a station. The petition shows what the landowner wanted; the fund shows what the village did.

Which choice best describes how the author of Text 2 responds to Baird's reading?

  1. A. By arguing that the signatures reflect the landowner's influence rather than the villagers' own view, which later evidence contradicts.Correct
  2. B. By denying that 300 villagers signed.
  3. C. By claiming the petition is a forgery.
  4. D. By agreeing that the village opposed the railway.

Answer: A. By arguing that the signatures reflect the landowner's influence rather than the villagers' own view, which later evidence contradicts.

Tenants signing for a landlord; a fund for a station three years on.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that 300 villagers signed.
Text 2 accepts the signatures.
C. By claiming the petition is a forgery.
Not suggested.
D. By agreeing that the village opposed the railway.
The reverse.

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