求问一道GRE阅读！

临风弄月MUID：3850111

In 1755 British writer Samuel Johnson published an acerbic letter to Lord Chesterfield rebuking his patron for neglect and declining further support. Johnson’s rejection of his patron’s belated assistance has often been identified as a key moment in the history of publishing, marking the end of the culture of patronage. However, patronage had been in decline for 50 years, yet would survive, in attenuated form, for another 50. Indeed, Johnson was in 1762 awarded a pension by the Crown—a subtle form of sponsorship, tantamount to state patronage. The importance of Johnson’s letter is not so much historical as emotional; it would become a touchstone for all who repudiated patrons and for all who embraced the laws of the marketplace.

2. Which of the following best describes the function of the highlighted phrase in the context of the passage as a whole? (patronage had been in decline for 50 years, yet would survive, in attenuated form, for another 50)
A. It points out the most obvious implications of Johnson’s letter to his patron.
B. It suggests a motivation for Johnson’s rejection of Chesterfield’ s patronage.
C. It provides information that qualifies the assertion that Johnson’s letter sharply defined of the end of a publishing era.
D. It provides a possible defense for Chesterfield’s alleged neglect of Johnson.
E. It refutes the notion the patrons are found primarily among the nobility.

求问第二题为什么是C，这个However后面难道不是反对之前的说法吗

huang4900UID：3879261

你好 C里面的qualifies the assertion就是一个“转折”，or让步。对前面的说法的certainty的“转折”

临风弄月MUID：3850111

huang4900 发表于 2019-6-4 21:31
你好 C里面的qualifies the assertion就是一个“转折”，or让步。对前面的说法的certainty的“转折”

嗷！感谢，理解了。之前把qualifies the assertion理解的正相反