Question 128·Medium·Inferences
Several medieval illustrations depict a cloaked traveler carrying a staff topped with a small bell. Because town criers in many European cities used bells to attract attention, some viewers have identified the traveler as a crier. Cultural historian Mei Liao, however, notes that pilgrims often attached bells to their staffs to warn animals and signal their approach. The bell on the staff, therefore, _____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT paragraph-completion inference questions, first locate key transition words like “therefore,” “however,” or “for example” to see how the blank must relate to the surrounding sentences (as a conclusion, contrast, or illustration). Then briefly restate in your own words what the passage has just established and decide what kind of statement should logically come next (e.g., weakening an earlier claim, adding an example, or drawing a conclusion). Eliminate any answer choices that introduce new, unsupported ideas, contradict the passage, or ignore key details; the correct choice will be fully supported by the given information and will preserve the logical flow of the argument.
Hints
Use the transition word
Focus on the word “therefore” before the blank. Is the conclusion supposed to follow from the first group of viewers’ belief, or from Mei Liao’s note about pilgrims?
Compare the two uses of bells
Think about the fact that both town criers and pilgrims are described as using bells. What does that do to the strength of the argument that the traveler must be a town crier?
Watch for new or unsupported ideas
Check each answer choice and ask: Does the passage actually talk about this idea (for example, merchants or laws about bells), or is the choice adding something new that isn’t in the text?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the blank must do
Notice the key word right before the blank: “therefore.” This means the blank must state a logical conclusion drawn from cultural historian Mei Liao’s point about pilgrims using bells, not from the earlier viewers’ opinion.
Summarize the two explanations for the bell
The passage gives two interpretations of the bell on the staff:
- Some viewers: The bell means the traveler is a town crier, because town criers used bells to attract attention.
- Mei Liao: Pilgrims also attached bells to their staffs to warn animals and signal their approach.
So the same object (a bell on a staff) can belong to at least two different types of people: town criers and pilgrims.
Infer the logical impact of Mei Liao’s point
Mei Liao’s information weakens the earlier assumption. If pilgrims also used bells on staffs, then the bell is not unique evidence of being a town crier. The conclusion should say that the bell cannot, on its own, firmly prove that the traveler is a town crier.
Test each answer choice against the passage
Now compare each choice to what the passage actually supports:
- Choice B introduces “merchant,” which is never mentioned, and also ignores that the passage specifically raises pilgrims as an alternative.
- Choice C claims the bell makes it unlikely the figure is a pilgrim, but Mei Liao’s point actually makes a pilgrim more plausible, not less.
- Choice D says bells were forbidden in medieval cities, but the passage only says bells were used, not banned.
The only choice that matches the idea that the bell is not decisive evidence for identifying the figure as a town crier is Choice A: “does not by itself establish that the figure is a town crier.”