22. For the writers who first gave feudalism its name, the existence of feudalism presupposed the existence of a noble class. Yet there cannot be a noble class, properly speaking, unless both the titles that indicate superior, noble status and the inheritance of such titles are sanctioned by law. Although feudalism existed in Europe as early as the eighth century, it was not until the twelfth century, when many feudal institutions were in decline, that the hereditary transfer of legally recognized titles of nobility first appeared. This is an inference kind of question. Most likely in this kind of question there is no argument but information. Then you have well understood the information to choose the right answer. You will have to inference the answer from that information. First we analysis the information at stimulus: We can find 2 conditional statements in the stimulus: 1. feudalism ----à Noble class 2. Noble class -----à title and inheritance The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following claims? (A) To say that feudalism by definition requires the existence of nobility is to employ a definition that distorts history. No where in the stimulus mention about distort history, this is out of scope. (B) Prior to the twelfth century, the institution of European feudalism functioned without the presence of a dominant class. Can not infer this from stimulus. (C) The fact that a societal group has a distinct legal status is not in itself sufficient to allow that group to be properly considered a social class. This is right. All the information from stimulus suggests that feudalism existed in Europe without the hereditary transfer of legally recognized titles of nobility. This answer explains it in a very abstract way which makes it hard to understand. (D) The decline of feudalism in Europe was the only cause of the rise of a European nobility. Out of scope (E) The prior existence of feudal institutions is a prerequisite for the emergence of a nobility, as defined in the strictest sense of the term. Out of scope |