Question 48·Hard·Central Ideas and Details
In her recent study of early-twentieth-century polar expeditions, historian Maria Sanchez argues that diaries kept by support staff—rather than by the celebrated expedition leaders—shape modern understandings of polar exploration. While leaders routinely censored their published reports to highlight feats of endurance and heroism, the cooks’, dog-handlers’, and mechanics’ journals record logistical failures and daily interpersonal tensions with unvarnished candor. Sanchez notes, however, that these staff diaries have survived largely by chance: forgotten in family attics, dispersed at estate sales, or donated piecemeal to local archives, they often reach researchers only in fragmentary form. Consequently, she contends, the narrative of polar exploration that historians construct is as much a product of archival happenstance as of the explorers’ lived experiences.
What does the passage most strongly suggest about the preservation of support-staff diaries?
For Central Ideas and Details questions, identify the specific sentence(s) that address the question (here, the lines about diaries having “survived largely by chance”), paraphrase that idea in your own words, and then choose the option that matches the paraphrase exactly—avoiding answers that shift to a different topic (like reliability or contradiction) or add claims not stated (like intentional centralized preservation).
Hints
Find the key phrase
Look for the sentence that directly describes how the staff diaries have survived over time.
Use the examples
Think about what it implies if items are found in attics, sold at estate sales, or donated in pieces.
Aim for a preservation-focused inference
Choose the answer that addresses whether survival/access was systematic and intentional, or dependent on chance events.
Step-by-step Explanation
Locate the lines about survival and archiving
The question is about preservation, so focus on where the passage explains how the diaries survived and reached historians. This appears in the sentence stating the diaries have “survived largely by chance” and in the final sentence about “archival happenstance.”
Paraphrase what the passage says
The passage describes diaries being forgotten in attics, dispersed at estate sales, or donated piecemeal, and often reaching researchers only fragmentarily. This implies no consistent, organized preservation process—availability depends heavily on accidents and circumstances.
Choose the option that matches without adding new claims
Select the choice that reflects the idea that researchers’ access to these diaries depends on chance rather than systematic preservation.
Therefore, the best answer is: "The extent to which the diaries are available to researchers has depended more on random factors than on deliberate preservation."