16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardTwo authors on the interpretation of a bequest

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The merchant's 1620 bequest of a schoolhouse to the town shows his concern for the poor, argues historian Tam Wren, citing the will's words 'for the children of the poorer sort'. Text 2 The words are there, and the school was built. But the will also requires that the schoolmaster be chosen by the merchant's heirs, that his own arms be carved over the door, and that the town pray for him by name each year in the school. The gift was for the poor; its terms were for the merchant, and he made sure the town would not forget which.

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

  1. A. By accepting the stated beneficiaries while arguing that the bequest's conditions served the merchant's own memory and family.Correct
  2. B. By denying that the school was built.
  3. C. By claiming the will was forged.
  4. D. By agreeing that the gift shows only concern for the poor.

Answer: A. By accepting the stated beneficiaries while arguing that the bequest's conditions served the merchant's own memory and family.

For the poor in words; for the merchant in terms.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that the school was built.
'The school was built.'
C. By claiming the will was forged.
Not suggested.
D. By agreeing that the gift shows only concern for the poor.
The reverse.

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