Question 10·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Thousands of inked pottery fragments excavated at an ancient military post might seem to show that writing permeated ordinary life. Most of the fragments can be linked to a small circle of officers, though several personal notes are securely attributable to laborers. The number of such notes is too small to establish how common nonofficial writing was. Even so, their existence should ______ the inference that writing was confined to officials.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a words-in-context question, distinguish between claims about frequency and categorical claims about whether something ever occurred. Then compare plausible choices by degree: evidence that is merely limited for one conclusion may completely rule out a more absolute conclusion.
Hints
Separate two conclusions
Consider the difference between showing that a practice was common and showing that the practice occurred at all.
Notice the inference’s scope
Focus on the categorical force of the phrase “confined to officials” and consider how securely attributed exceptions affect such a statement.
Step-by-step Explanation
Distinguish frequency from existence
The small number of laborers’ notes does not show that nonofficial writing was common. However, the secure attribution of those notes does establish that nonofficial writing existed.
Examine the scope of the inference
The inference that writing was “confined to officials” is categorical: it allows no instances of writing by laborers. The securely attributed laborers’ notes contradict that absolute inference.
Choose the most precise word
“Preclude” means to prevent something from being possible or valid. Although the notes merely weaken a claim about how uncommon nonofficial writing was, they preclude the absolute inference that officials were the only people who wrote.