Passage Summary: Because we found old books written by monks who loved being poor, we are concluding that everyone in the Middle Ages cared less about money than we do today.

Conclusion: Medieval societies were significantly less interested in financial profit than modern Western societies are.

Reasoning: The surviving writings of medieval monastic authors show a passionate embrace of ascetic, non-materialistic lifestyles.

Analysis: The argument suffers from a classic sampling flaw. It takes the views of a very specific, self-selected group—monastic authors who literally took vows of poverty—and projects those values onto the entirety of medieval society. To spot the flaw, look for an answer that points out how these surviving writings might not represent the average person's attitude toward wealth. It’s a bit like judging modern society's fitness habits based solely on the journals of Olympic marathoners.