Our knowledge is a collection of :

Concept

In a literal-comprehension question, identify the passage’s exact claim and preserve its scope and qualifying words. The best answer must express the same idea without replacing the passage’s criterion with a broader or different one.

Application

The passage states that history, knowledge and understanding are collections of the few stories that survive. Applying that sentence directly, knowledge is therefore described as a collection of “a few stories that survive”.

Contrast

• “All stories that we have heard during our lifetime” is broader than the passage because it includes every heard story and uses hearing as the criterion.

• “Some stories that we remember” replaces survival over time with an individual’s memory.

• “A few stories that survive” retains both the limited scope and the survival criterion stated in the passage.

• “Some important stories” changes the criterion from survival to importance.

Cross-check

The exact phrase “the few stories that survive” appears in the sentence that explicitly includes knowledge, so the wording and scope agree.

Result

Thus, our knowledge is a collection of a few stories that survive.