A familiar narrative claims that mass literacy followed naturally from the printing press. Print certainly enlarged the supply of cheap reading material, and over the long run it accompanied rising literacy rates. But in many regions, literacy spread only after major investments in public schooling — investments that had little to do with print technology and that often arrived centuries after the press itself.
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the text?
- A
It restates the second sentence in different words.
- B
It rejects the printing press's role in literacy entirely.
- C
It introduces a different technology.
- Dcheck_circle
It qualifies the print-causes-literacy story by introducing schooling as a separate driver.
Explanation
The third sentence concedes print's role but adds schooling as a major driver. B captures this qualifying function.