Researchers reconstructing an author's revisions often begin with cancellations in working notebooks. A crossed-out sentence may have been rejected, but it may instead have been copied into a clean draft; likewise, an uncanceled sentence may have been abandoned when the writer moved to a new page. These practices can make notebook evidence look systematically more negative than the author's actual judgment, but only if transfer cancellations outnumber unmarked abandonments—a balance that related drafts, but not the notebook alone, can establish. Without those comparisons, the apparent signal is therefore _____.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a hard words-in-context question, track qualifiers such as “can” and “only if” before selecting a word that appears to echo the passage. Distinguish a possible effect from an effect the text actually establishes, and compare each option’s scope and strength with the full reasoning of the passage.
Hints
Track both possible errors
Consider how a transferred sentence and an unmarked abandoned sentence would affect a researcher's interpretation in opposite ways.
Examine the condition
Ask whether the passage establishes that one source of error occurs more often than the other or says that additional comparisons are needed.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the opposing effects
A transferred sentence that has been crossed out can be mistaken for a rejected sentence, making the evidence appear too negative. Conversely, abandoned wording that remains uncanceled can make the evidence appear too favorable.
Apply the conditional statement
The evidence would be biased in a consistently negative direction only if transfer cancellations outnumbered unmarked abandonments. The notebook alone cannot establish that balance.
Choose the precise description
Because related drafts are needed to determine how the marks should be interpreted, the apparent signal is context-dependent. The passage does not establish a fixed direction of bias.