Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that

why is B wrong for the question 3 ?

2nd para "even if the products of women's labor did not circulate beyond the household" - Assumption

3rd para "But the products of women's labor did in fact circulate beyond the household. Aztec women wove cloth, and cloth circulated through the market system, the tribute system, and the redistributive economy of the palaces...." - Evidence

what is the OA ?
if i am wrong pls explain why ?
i agree with the rest of the answers posted above.


plz press kudos if my post helped !

Time taken 8 mins.
1.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the documents mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?
E. They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers.
"Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society"


2. According to the passage, Aztec women's cloth production enabled Aztec society to do which of the following?
B Organize the flow of goods and services
"The cloth that was the product of women's work thus was crucial as a primary means of organizing the flow of goods and services that sustained the Aztec state."


3. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?
C. It provides examples that [support] the position taken in the [first sentence of the second paragraph.]
"
P1: Since weaving and cooking occurred mostly (but not entirely) in a domestic setting, modern historians are likely to apply to the Aztec culture the modern Western distinction between "private" and "public" production.

P2: A closer examination of Aztec culture indicates that treating Aztec women's production in Mexico in such a manner would be a mistake.[i.e they were not restricted to domestic/household filed only.]

P3: But the products of women's labor did in fact circulate beyond the household.[Here it is explained how.]
"

4. The passage is primarily concerned with
D. remedying a potential misconception about the significance of women's roles in Aztec society
Looking at P1, P2 and P3.[Details already shared in Q3 explanation]

Hi ,
I hope my explanation mentioned in the thread answers your query.
In a nutshell option B is exactly opposite of what is actually happening.
In Para2 author is remedying the misinterpretation of a finding introduced in Para1, by providing some facts. These facts show that women's contributions helped other fields indirectly.
Para 3 makes the claim in a straight manner by providing facts that prove women's contribution did influence other fields.
Regards.
Regards.

actually, i think the answer to the first question should be A, and i did cross check the same with a few other forums. The reason being, what these documents intend to portray is the central idea here. Nowhere, neither in the first paragraph nor in the subsequent paragraphs does it state about any misinterpretations that might follow after "MODERN DAY READERS" read these documents. Its all about historians then and historians now.

Secondly, its explicitly mentioned on the last line of the first paragraph, " Thus, the ethnohistoric record conspires with Western culture to foster the view that women's production was not central to the demographic, economic, and political structures in sixteenth-century Mexico."

i mean this is what we are supposed to do, right? find out what these documents intend to show up.
if women were not central to any of those activities mentioned above, it means they were not a part of any of these important activities.

Can someone please explain why option E is wrong in Q3?

"It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid."

Distinction noted in First para is: "weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions". This distinction is valid. The Author also suggested this in last line of third paragraph: "The cloth that was the product of women's work thus was crucial as a primary means of organizing the flow of goods and services that sustained the Aztec state.".

Please help

Hi,

In my view,

First para - > Modern historians have not interpreted the documents correctly.

Last paragraph - > Importance of women product in rise of Aztec social economic and political society.

Only Option E and C comes close for the correct answer.

Option E - (It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid) Is not directly connected, we can infer that this MAY BE TRUE kind of option
Option C is direct, 3 rd para talks about the importance of products and 1st line of 2nd para says "A closer examination of Aztec culture indicates that treating Aztec women's production in Mexico in such a manner would be a mistake"

So i think Option C is direct (as compared to option E).

I unfortunately have to disagree with the answers provided for Q1 and Q2.

1.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements
about the documents mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?
A. They contain misleading information about the kinds of productive activities Aztec women engaged in.
B. They overlook certain crucial activities performed by women in Aztec society.
C. They provide useful information about the way that Aztec society viewed women.
D. They are of limited value because they were heavily influenced by the bias of those who recorded them.
E. They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers.

What the passage 1 actually says is: "Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society."
modern historians certainly could not be just generalized as "modern-day readers"

3. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?
A. It attempts to reconcile conflicting views presented in the previous paragraphs.
B. It presents evidence intended to undermine the argument presented in the second paragraph.
C. It provides examples that support the position taken in the first sentence of the second paragraph.
D. It describes the contents of the documents mentioned in the first paragraph.
E. It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid.

the second sentence of passage 2 says: "Even if the products of women's labor did not circulate beyond the household, such products were essential to population growth. " this sentence summarizes the whole passage 2, but have little bearing on passage 3. all we could say that passage 3 supplement the point that this sentence conceded as "invalid" ( "even if the products of women's labor did not circulate beyond the household."
the correct answer should be E. passage 1 mentioned two points, passage 3 confirmed the second point.

I unfortunately have to disagree with the answers provided for Q1 and Q2.

1.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements
about the documents mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?
A. They contain misleading information about the kinds of productive activities Aztec women engaged in.
B. They overlook certain crucial activities performed by women in Aztec society.
C. They provide useful information about the way that Aztec society viewed women.
D. They are of limited value because they were heavily influenced by the bias of those who recorded them.
E. They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers.

What the passage 1 actually says is: "Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society."
modern historians certainly could not be just generalized as "modern-day readers"

3. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?
A. It attempts to reconcile conflicting views presented in the previous paragraphs.
B. It presents evidence intended to undermine the argument presented in the second paragraph.
C. It provides examples that support the position taken in the first sentence of the second paragraph.
D. It describes the contents of the documents mentioned in the first paragraph.
E. It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid.

the second sentence of passage 2 says: "Even if the products of women's labor did not circulate beyond the household, such products were essential to population growth. " this sentence summarizes the whole passage 2, but have little bearing on passage 3. all we could say that passage 3 supplement the point that this sentence conceded as "invalid" ( "even if the products of women's labor did not circulate beyond the household."

the correct answer should be E. passage 1 mentioned two points, passage 3 confirmed the second point.

Thanks for posting such a good questions and the answer explanations in the comment section is very much helpful. I however took 11 min and marked 2 incorrect choices i.e 1B and 4E.

Will really appreciate if someone can share some tips to improve RC . I have GMAT scheduled in July end. Thanks in advance for your kind help.

Regards
Megha

Time taken : 6 mins 25 secs. All Correct. Easy Passage.

VeritasPrepKarishma ; egmat - request your help in this.

My doubt
"The author of the passage would be most likely to
agree with which of the following statements
about the documents mentioned in the first
sentence of the passage?"

Let's look at first para. Some e. documents claim cooking & weaving(mostly domestic acts) were most common prod. activities done by women. These acts were not important economically/politically for 16th century Mexico.
A> They contain misleading information about the
kinds of productive activities Aztec women
engaged in.
But the documents just say that C & W were most common. They don't say whether these activities were purely domestic. Yes, the docs do say that these activities were not central to other structures in 16th century Mexico - claim falsified in subsequent paras. So yes, docs did contain misleading information.Keep this.
B> They overlook certain crucial activities performed
by women in Aztec society.
No other,new activities are mentioned. The passage actually says that C & W were not domestic but went beyond domestic sphere. Eliminated.
C>They provide useful information about the way that Aztec society viewed women. - way in which society viewed women is not mentioned. Passage is concerned about importance of activities done by women. Eliminated.
D>They are of limited value because they were heavily influenced by the bias of those who recorded them.- no mention of who recorded the docs or the bias of those who recorded the docs.
E> They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers. - where are modern day readers mentioned ? not there in the passage. Eliminated.

So it's A.

Other questions I did correctly
According to the passage, Aztec women's cloth
production enabled Aztec society to do which of
the following?
(A) Expand women's role in agriculture
(B) Organize the flow of goods and services
(C) Develop self-contained communities
(D) Hire agricultural laborers from outside the society
(E) Establish a higher standard of living than
neighboring cultures

Explanation.: The last line of the passage clearly says that cloth was crucial as a primary means of organizing the flow of goods & services that...
So it's clearly >B. Other options are not mentioned in the passage.

Which of the following best describes the function
of the third paragraph of the passage?
A) It attempts to reconcile conflicting views presented
in the previous paragraphs. - no reconciliation attempt is there by the 3rd para. In-fact it gives a better picture of women's' activities. Eliminated.
(B) It presents evidence intended to undermine the
argument presented in the second paragraph. - both 2nd & 3rd para agree that women's work did have an impact. No undermining. Eliminated.
(C) It provides examples that support the position
taken in the first sentence of the second
paragraph. - yes, true.
(D) It describes the contents of the documents
mentioned in the first paragraph.- clearly no.
(E) It suggests that a distinction noted in the first
paragraph is valid. - distinction is the bracket part of the first para. (but not
entirely). This is ok, but >C is a stronger choice.

The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) using modern understanding of cultural bias to
challenge ethnohistoric documents - using modern understanding? nowhere mentioned.
(B) evaluating competing descriptions of women's
roles in Aztec society - women's role is portrayed as domestic ( but not entirely) ; then somewhat more than domestic in 2nd para & beyond domestic, powering the civilization in the 3rd para. These are portrayals, not evaluations. Evaluations got to have more detail.
(C) comparing the influence of gender on women's
roles in Aztec society and in modern society - no gender influence. it talks just about women.
(D) remedying a potential misconception about the
significance of women's roles in Aztec society - documents harbor a misleading notions that is falsified in subsequent paras. yes, this one looks ok.
(E) applying new evidence in a reevaluation of
ethnohistoric documents - no new evidence is there, it's just that the para reveals more truth about the women. Also, where is the talk of re-evaluation?

So D.

Please feel free to counter my arguments.

Also, to all posters,

I have gone through the entire thread & it's disappointing to see some members just posting answers. No offence to anyone, but are we really concerned with just the correct answers ? It does good to no one.

Please provide detailed explanations for how you all arrived at your correct answers. I took 9 mins to do this & got 3/4 correct. I still am unable to understand the OA for 1 question which I marked wrong. Rest all answers I did correctly are explained.

Cheers,
AJ

the inference question, here the first one, test our ability to understand an information exactly. we need to infer relevant information from a sentence or two. choice A and E are close. but if we understand the information exactly, we can eliminate A.

in contrast, global questions which focusing on understanding passage structure are more easy. we find our relevant information from our understanding of global structure.

Hi sevenplusplus,

1. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the documents mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?

Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society. Since weaving and cooking occurred mostly (but not entirely) in a domestic setting, modern historians are likely to apply to the Aztec culture the modern Western distinction between "private" and "public" production.

A. They contain misleading information about the kinds of productive activities Aztec women engaged in. -- Incorrect -- the documents themselves did not have misleading information, but the way the information is interpreted by modern historians might be misleading.
E. They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers. - Correct

Hope that helps!!

All correct in 7 mins 20 seconds , including almost 4 mins to read.

Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting that weaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society. Since weaving and cooking occurred mostly (but not entirely) in a domestic setting, modern historians are likely to apply to the Aztec culture the modern Western distinction between "private" and "public" production. Thus, the ethnohistoric record conspires with Western culture to foster the view that women's production was not central to the demographic, economic, and political structures in sixteenth-century Mexico.

A closer examination of Aztec culture indicates that treating Aztec women's production in Mexico in such a manner would be a mistake. Even if the products of women's labor DID NOT circulate beyond the household, such products were essential to population growth. Researchers document a tenfold increase in the population of the valley of Mexico during the previous four centuries, an increase that was crucial to the developing Aztec political economy. Population growth — which could not have occurred in the absence of successful household economy, in which women's work was essential — made possible the large-scale development of labor-intensive chinampa (ridged-field) agriculture in the southern valley of Mexico which, in turn, supported urbanization and political centralization in the Aztec capital.

But the products of women's labor DID in fact circulate beyond the household. Aztec women wove cloth, and cloth circulated through the market system, the tribute system, and the redistributive economy of the palaces. Cotton mantles served as a unit of currency in the regional market system. Quantities of woven mantles, loincloths, blouses, and skirts were paid as tribute to local lords and to imperial tax stewards and were distributed to ritual and administrative personnel, craft specialists, warriors, and other faithful servants of the state. In addition, woven articles of clothing served as markers of social status and clothing fulfilled a symbolic function in political negotiation. The cloth that was the product of women's work thus was crucial as a primary means of organizing the flow of goods and services that sustained the Aztec state.

3. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?

(A) It attempts to reconcile conflicting views presented in the previous paragraphs.
(B) It presents evidence intended to undermine the argument presented in the second paragraph.
(C) It provides examples that support the position taken in the first sentence of the second paragraph.
(D) It describes the contents of the documents mentioned in the first paragraph.
(E) It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid.

GMATNinja, Could you help with Question 3?

1.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the documents mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?
A. They contain misleading information about the kinds of productive activities Aztec women engaged in.
B. They overlook certain crucial activities performed by women in Aztec society.
C. They provide useful information about the way that Aztec society viewed women.
D. They are of limited value because they were heavily influenced by the bias of those who recorded them.
E. They contain information that is likely to be misinterpreted by modern-day readers.

Ans - E

2. According to the passage, Aztec women's cloth production enabled Aztec society to do which of the following?
A Expand women's role in agriculture
B Organize the flow of goods and services
C Develop self-contained communities
D Hire agricultural laborers from outside the society
E Establish a higher standard of living than neighboring cultures

Ans - B

3. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?
A. It attempts to reconcile conflicting views presented in the previous paragraphs.
B. It presents evidence intended to undermine the argument presented in the second paragraph.
C. It provides examples that support the position taken in the first sentence of the second paragraph.
D. It describes the contents of the documents mentioned in the first paragraph.
E. It suggests that a distinction noted in the first paragraph is valid.

Ans - C

4. The passage is primarily concerned with
A. using modern understanding of cultural bias to challenge ethnohistoric documents
B. evaluating competing descriptions of women's roles in Aztec society
C. comparing the influence of gender on women's roles in Aztec society and in modern society
D. remedying a potential misconception about the significance of women's roles in Aztec society
E. applying new evidence in a reevaluation of ethnohistoric documents

Ans - D

All correct took 5 min

The purpose of the first paragraph is to suggest that ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico may lead modern historians to underestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society. Why? Because modern historians are likely to apply to the Aztec culture the modern Western distinction between "private" and "public" production.

The second paragraph suggests that applying this modern Western distinction to the Aztec culture would be a mistake (i.e. it would diminish the true impact of women's contributions to Aztec society).

The third paragraph then demonstrates why the modern Western distinction should not be applied to the Aztec culture. It should not be applied because the products of women's labor did in fact circulate beyond the household (so their products were not solely "private"). For example, the cloth woven by women circulated through the market system, the tribute system, and the redistributive economy of the palaces. The third paragraph provides specific examples to illustrate this point.

Thus, the third paragraph provides examples that support the position taken in the first sentence of the second paragraph (that treating Aztec women's production in Mexico with the modern Western distinction between "private" and "public" would be a mistake).

Choice (C) is the best answer.

Even i have also noticed many posts in which he wrote his supersonic speed to solve RC. I think he must be desperate to solve under say 2 minutes.
SERIOUSLY wonderful speed...