CR Question

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1

<p>During that terrible open-
70 boat voyage, he quarreled steadily with the Bounty’s loyal
carpenter, and when they reached home Bligh had the
carpenter brought before a court-martial for disobedience
and disrespect.
There was another court-martial some years later
75 when Bligh, as captain of the Warrior, was accused of
tyrannous, oppressive, and unofficer-like behavior to
Lieutenant Frazier and that ship’s other officers. The
evidence showed that Bligh was a foul-mouthed bully,
and the court found the charges “in part proved.” Bligh
80 was reprimanded.</p>

<p>13 In Passage 2, the story about the carpenter (lines 69-73) primarily serves to
(A) illustrate one of Bligh“s personality traits
(B) suggest an alternative view of Bligh“s skills as a seaman
(C) introduce a revealing episode in maritime history
(D) provide an example of Bligh“s respect for military justice
(E) explain an apparent contradiction in Bligh“s nature </p>

<p>E seemed reasonable. Bligh brought a carpenter before a court-martial, when he himself is disrespectful, tyrannous, and deserves to be court-martialed (as he was). To me this showed a contradiction in Bligh’s nature. He’s a hypocrite.</p>

<p>A is also fairly reasonable. The court-martialing of the carpenter definitely shows how Bligh abuses his authority, revealing his tyrannous nature.</p>

<p>In these cases, How do I know which one to choose?</p>

2

<p>I think the key here is that the anecdotal story was just that - an anecdotal story. It isn’t an explanation, its a story that was used to illustrate how Bligh is a ******. Hence I think A is the answer.</p>

3

<p>I guess, then, every word in the answer choices counts.</p>

<p>Yeh, the answer was A.</p>

4

<p>ccuser001–you have failed to quote the most important sentence, which is the one that comes before the cited lines:</p>

<p>“The trouble seems to be that Bligh lacked natural authority and tried to make up for it by railing and cursing.” (lines 67-69)</p>

<p>The lines you quote are specific examples that serve to illustrate the general claim made in the preceding sentence–that Bligh lacked natural authority and tried to make up for it by railing and cursing. Thus the right answer is indeed A: illustrate (i.e., give examples of) one of his personality traits (lack of natural authority/tendency to make up for that lack by yelling and swearing).</p>

<p>This kind of pattern is very common with function/purpose questions. You are asked about the function/purpose of some specific details or examples, and the right answer turns out to be something like “illustrate” + [paraphrase of general sentence that came before the cited lines].</p>