What is the main argument of the passage?
Controversy over statues of figures whose wealth came from the slave trade is often cast as a choice between removing them and preserving history. The choice is misleading. A statue is not a record of the past; it is an honour paid in the present. Nobody pulls down a history book. To decline to honour a person is not to forget him, and the person's deeds can be taught more truthfully in a museum, with context, than on a plinth, where only praise appears. At the same time, those who tear down monuments by force bypass the debate that should decide the matter. The better course is for communities to decide openly, by a process people accept, which statues remain, which move and which are accompanied by a plaque saying what is not otherwise remembered.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: E. Whether to keep a statue should be decided openly by the community, not by force
- Step 1: The author rejects forced removal and calls for communities to decide openly which statues remain, move or are explained.
- Step 2: The only choice consistent with this is "Whether to keep a statue should be decided openly by the community, not by force".
Answer
Whether to keep a statue should be decided openly by the community, not by force.
Why not the others: The author does not favour destruction, preservation without exception, teaching through statues or museum-only decisions.
Practise more Public memory.
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