Question

read the first paragraph of hans essay about the middle ages.
1 in the middle ages, europes economy depended on large farms. 2 these grew to include small towns and surrounding homes. 3 at the edges lived the people who worked the land. 4 these servants were allowed to do some things but not others, according to the wealthy landowners.
which is the best way for han to rewrite sentence 4 to make the meaning more clear and more precise?

1. these people had less money and less power than the people who owned the land.
2. these workers could control part of their land, but they could not control the rest of their lives.
3. those individuals, both women and men, had some rights, but overall, they were under the control of powerful landowners.
4. those serfs had certain rights, such as the right to a portion of the food they raised, but they were under tight supervision of the nobles.

Explanation:

The original sentence talks about servants (who are serfs in the context of the Middle Ages) having some permissions (do some things) but restrictions (not others) based on wealthy landowners. Option 4 specifically names "serfs" (the correct term for those workers in the Middle - Ages feudal system), gives an example of a right (a portion of food), and mentions the supervision (control) by nobles (wealthy landowners). Option 1 only mentions money and power without the specific rights - restrictions relationship. Option 2 is too vague about "controlling land" (they didn't own land in the feudal system, they worked it) and "rest of their lives" is too broad. Option 3 is also too general without the specific feudal - era terms and a concrete example.

Answer:

1. Those serfs had certain rights, such as the right to a portion of the food they raised, but they were under tight supervision of the nobles.