Craft and StructureVery hardRelationship between two accounts of one fact
Craft and Structure practice question
Text 1
Medieval cathedrals took generations to build; the masons who laid a foundation rarely lived to see the spire. Historians sometimes cite this as evidence of a patience that modern societies have lost.
Text 2
Construction stretched across generations largely because the money ran out. Work halted whenever funds did and resumed when a new patron appeared. The long timelines say more about medieval finance than about medieval temperament.
Which choice best describes the relationship between the two texts?
- A. Text 2 offers a practical explanation for a fact that Text 1 presents as a sign of a cultural virtue.Correct
- B. Text 2 denies that cathedrals took generations to build.
- C. Both texts attribute the long construction times to the patience of medieval builders.
- D. Text 1 focuses on the financing of cathedrals, whereas Text 2 focuses on their design.
Answer: A. Text 2 offers a practical explanation for a fact that Text 1 presents as a sign of a cultural virtue.
Both texts accept that cathedrals took generations. Text 1 reads that as patience — a virtue; Text 2 reads it as interrupted funding — a practical cause. Same fact, different explanation.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Text 2 denies that cathedrals took generations to build.
- Text 2 accepts the long timelines; it disputes only what they mean.
- C. Both texts attribute the long construction times to the patience of medieval builders.
- Only Text 1 mentions patience. Text 2 explicitly says the timelines reflect finance, not temperament.
- D. Text 1 focuses on the financing of cathedrals, whereas Text 2 focuses on their design.
- This reverses the texts: finance is Text 2's subject, and neither text discusses design.
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