16Hit1600
Information and IdeasHardDetail that explains an exception

Information and Ideas practice question

Most of the manuscripts in the collection were copied on parchment, which was durable but costly. A handful, all dating from the 1450s, are on paper. Paper was still uncommon in the region then, and its use in these few books points to a workshop with unusual trade connections rather than to a general shift in practice.

According to the text, what does the use of paper in a few of the manuscripts suggest?

  1. A. That the workshop that made them had unusual trade connections.Correct
  2. B. That parchment had become unavailable.
  3. C. That most copyists had switched to paper by the 1450s.
  4. D. That the paper manuscripts are forgeries.

Answer: A. That the workshop that made them had unusual trade connections.

Rare paper points to special connections, not to a general change.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. That parchment had become unavailable.
Parchment remained the norm.
C. That most copyists had switched to paper by the 1450s.
The text says it was not a general shift.
D. That the paper manuscripts are forgeries.
Not suggested.

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