Explanation7) Choice E is the correct answer. The passage discusses the views and intellectual legacy of Frederick Douglass. The key claim in the first paragraph is that while some of Douglass’ views are no longer widely accepted, “there is a central aspect of Douglass’ thought that seems not the least bit dated or irrelevant to our current concerns” (lines 13-14). The second paragraph critiques a study of Douglass’ career by Waldo Martin and claims that Martin has failed to offer a “convincing rebuttal to those critics who dismiss Douglass’ ideology as a relic of the past” (lines 30-31). This indicates that Choice E is correct.
8) Choice E is the correct answer. “Present-day intellectuals” are mentioned on line 12; the claim there is that these intellectuals consider Douglass’ vision of America as “a melting pot in which all racial and ethnic differences would dissolve” (lines 10-11) as “utopian” and “wrongheaded” (lines 12-13). This points to Choice E as correct.
9) Choice A is the correct answer. One of the claims in the passage is that Frederick Douglass “offered his entire career and all his achievements as living proof that racists were wrong in their belief that one race could be inherently superior to another” (lines 17-18). Thus Choice A is correct.
10) Choice D is the correct answer. The passage claims that Douglass “exemplified … idealism, … liberal humanism” (lines 6-7); it implies that Douglass espoused “antiracist egalitarianism” (line 19) and states that “Douglass was attracted to … democratic-capitalist ideals of his time” (line 22). This rules out Choices A, B, C, and E and leaves Choice D as correct. Indeed, the mention of “Douglass’ vision of the future as a melting pot in which all racial and ethnic differences would dissolve” (lines 10-11) shows that Douglass was not a pluralist, i.e. was not someone who aimed at preserving and celebrating ethnic and cultural differences.
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