A main idea question about conflicting records tests whether you can find the point of the whole text. Name the topic, then ask what the writer learns from comparing the records. Follow the text beyond the opening puzzle, and separate the point from supporting details. Predict one sentence that explains both the puzzle and how the writer handles it. Wrong choices may turn a detail into the whole point or claim more than the text shows.
Hints
- Hint 1
The opening pairs steady imported tonnage with bakers’ claims of scarcity. Follow Ellison’s explanation of that apparent contradiction.
- Hint 2
What exactly enters the ledger’s grain total, and what do the loaf weights record?
- Hint 3
Read the final two sentences. Ask why Ellison keeps the ledger categories while comparing records from the same week.
Step-by-step
Explain the records’ apparent conflict
Step 1Name the topic behind the conflict
The opening pairs imported tonnage had changed little with bakers’ reports of severe scarcity. What topic must the main idea cover? It’s how Ellison explains this apparent conflict, so let’s follow what she learns from the records.
- Step 2
Separate arrivals from grain available locally
What does the harbor total measure? The ledgers count grain when it was unloaded, including damaged cargo and shipments promised inland. That isn’t the same as what city bakers can get. Merchant letters add delays, and inspections show a decline in the weight of standard loaves, so steady arrivals don’t guarantee enough grain for city bakers.
- Step 3
Find the point in how the sources fit
Ellison preserved the ledger categories rather than making one supply total. Why keep the records separate but compare them by week? Each adds a piece of the explanation: different weeks link smaller loaves to damage, inland commitments, delays, or combinations of these problems. The ledgers stay consistent, and reading petitions alongside the same week’s inspection entry and merchant correspondence shows that their claims track the smaller loaves. So our prediction is that the records fit together when we account for what each records.
- Step 4
Choose the point, not only the steps
Which choice explains why Ellison did not convert all the records into a single supply series? The phrase partial evidence describes what each record can and can’t show. The phrase circumstances and stage of grain distribution covers both the changing supply problems and what each source measures, so the choice gives the point behind her work, not only her steps. Choice A.