Took a total of 18 minutes, 52 seconds to answer 6/7 correct. I feel I was very slow and maybe that's why I comprehended the passage better.
What should be the optimum time to answer this passage,
SajjadAhmad ?
(06:10)
1. The author considers the contentions made by the recent historians discussed in the passage to be
(A) potentially verifiable
(B) partially justified
(C) logically contradictory
(D) ingenious but flawed
(E) capricious and unsupported
The first paragraphs hints that the author will likely evaluate the claims made by progressive historians and she definitely does that in the remainder of the passage. The second passage talks about class conflict and the third talks about sectional conflict - both argued by the progressive historians. Upon reading the second passage, we understand that the author does not agree with the contention that class conflicts existed in 18th century America. Also, note that the third paragraph states that the sectional conflicts did exist during that time.
This essentially means that of the two claims made by the historians - one was correct (according to author) and the other incorrect (according to author). This led me to believe that the author considers the contentions of the recent historians (also called progressive historians in the passage) to be partially justifiable. (00:33)
2. The author most likely refers to “historians such as Beard and Becker” (lines 5-6) in order to
(A) isolate the two historians whose work is most representative of the viewpoints of Progressive historians
(B) emphasize the need to find connections between recent historical writing and the work of earlier historians
(C) make a case for the importance of the views of the Progressive historians concerning eighteenth-century American life
(D) suggest that Progressive historians were the first to discover the particular internal conflicts in eighteenth-century American life mentioned in the passage
(E) point out historians whose views of history anticipated some of the views of the recent historians mentioned in the passageThis is a relatively straightforward question. Becker and Beard are referred to in paragraph 1. It states that "some" of the views of Beard and Becker were inherited by the recent historians. Now, let's do PoE on the answer choices.
(A) This is incorrect because some is NOT EQUAL to most. This is the only thing wrong with this choice, everything else stated in justified.
(B) IF there is a need to find connections between the two, it hasn't been stated in the passage. We don't get to know about this need anywhere in the passage. This choice is out of scope.
(C) Progressive historians = recent historians. How can you compare recent historians with earlier historians to prove that the work of recent historians is important? Of course, you have to also prove that the word done by early historians was important. But is that stated aywhere in the passage? NO.
(D) This is opposite and incorrect. Progressive historiancs were not the first ones, but early historians (Beard and Baker) might be. OR someone even before them. We don't know for sure. This is out.
(E) This is the correct option. This, ofcourse, is worded differently and maybe difficult to comprehend for some. Instead of saying that the recent historians took cues from the early ones, it says that the early historiancs anticipated "some" of the veiws of the recent ones. I know it is difficult to draw a parallel between them but they mean the same thing.
(02:06)
3. According to the passage, Loyalism during the American Revolutionary War served the function of
(A) eliminating the disputes that existed among those colonists who supported the rebel cause
(B) drawing upper, as opposed to lower, socioeconomic classes away from the rebel cause
(C) tolerating the kinds of socioeconomic discontent that were not allowed to exist on the rebel side
(D) channeling conflict that existed within a socioeconomic class into the war effort against the rebel cause
(E) absorbing members of socioeconomic groups on the rebel side who felt themselves in contention with members of other socioeconomic groupsThis is a tricky one for sure. According to the passage, "Loyalism thus operated as a safety valve to remove socioeconomic discontent that existed among the rebels." This means that any rebel who was in conflict with someone from another socioeconomic class joined the Loyalists. This essentially means that the Loyalists absorbed such members of the rebel group. (E) assimilates this information coherently and is our correct choice.
(A) Who said that the Loyalists "eliminated" the disputes? Maybe they just supressed it.
(B) We're not sure whether only the upper class left rebels to join Loyalists. Unstated information.
(C) Maybe they did not tolerate. The rebels who joined them were forced to change.
(D) No statement in the passage states that the Loyalists "channeled" the conflicts into war effort. Incorrect.
(E) This is the correct answer.
(02:32)
4. The passage suggests that the author would be likely to agree with which of the following statements about the social structure of eighteenth-century American society?
I. It allowed greater economic opportunity than it did social mobility.
II. It permitted greater economic opportunity prior to 1750 than after 1750.
III. It did not contain rigidly defined socioeconomic divisions.
IV. It prevented economic disputes from arising among members of the society.(A) I and IV only
(B) II and III only
(C) III and IV only
(D) I, II, and III only
(E) I, II, III, and IV
Important information to be noted from the passage to answer this question correctly:
1) "though recent statistics suggest a narrowing of economic opportunity as the latter half of the century progressed" - This means that prior to 1750, there were more economic opportunities than after it.
2) ".. but the extraordinary social mobility of eighteenth-century American society" - There was great amount of social mobility in 18th century.
3) "Social structure was in fact so fluid..." - Social divisions were fluid, not rigid.
Thus, (II) is the correct as stated in statement number 1)
(III) is also correct as stated in statement number 3)
(IV) is unstated information.
(I) is something I just couldn't agree on or against. I feel this isn't stated in the passage explicitly or implicitly and that's why there is no option with (I), (II) and (III) as the correct statement.
Correct choice is (B) II and III only
(03:33)
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding socioeconomic class and support for the rebel and Loyalist causes during the American Revolutionary War?
(A) Identifying a person’s socioeconomic class is the least accurate method of ascertaining which side that person supported.
(B) Identifying a person as a member of the rebel or of the Loyalist side does not necessarily reveal that person’s particular socioeconomic class.
(C) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes, although there were fewer disputes among socioeconomic classes on the Loyalist side.
(D) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes, although the Loyalist side was made up primarily of members of the upper classes.
(E) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes, although many upper-class rebels eventually joined the Loyalists.
This is yet another tricky one.
The second paragraph clearly states that rebels and Loyalists came from all socioeconomic classes, i.e., just because you're a loyalist doesn't mean you're from the upper class. It is a mix of all classes. This is precisely what is stated in option (B). Now, consider the next best choices - (D) and (E). The first part of both choices is correct and is stated. (D) says that more members of the upper classes joined loyalists than rebels. Does that mean that the majority of loyalists are upper class? No.
Let's take an example.
Suppose there are only two classes in America - upper class and lower class.
No, of people in upper class = 50
No. of people in lower class = 2000
Now, consider this break up -
Loyalists have 40 upper class members and 1000 lower class members
Rebels have 10 upper class members and 1000 lower class members
Clearly, a majority of upper class members are loyalists than rebels. However, are the loyalists primarily made of upper class members???
(E) "many" is the term that makes all the difference here. What is many? It can be 3, 10, 50, or all of the upper class members (considering upper class people >= 50!). We don't know for sure. It may be true, may not be true. So, E is out.
(02:08)
6. The author suggests which of the following about the representativeness of colonial or state governments in America from 1763 to 1789?
(A) The governments inadequately represented the interests of people in western regions.
(B) The governments more often represented class interests than sectional interests.
(C) The governments were less representative than they had been before 1763.
(D) The governments were dominated by the interests of people of an upper socioeconomic class.
(E) The governments of the northern colonies were less representative than were the governments of the southern colonies.
The third paragraph stated this clearly. Eastern interests dominated the government over western. Thus, (A) is the correct choice. (B) is incorrect because the government represent sectional more than class. (C) is also not correct as no comparison pertatining to representation before and after 1763 is done. (D) is wrong since we don't know the composition of the people of the government, all we know is that they upheld eastern interests more than western. (E) While north ans south are mentioned in the passage, we don't know which one is less representative. Out of scope.(02:30)
7. According to the passage, which of the following is a true statement about sectional conflicts in America between 1763 and 1789?
(A) These conflicts were instigated by eastern interests against western settlers.
(B) These conflicts were the most serious kind of conflict in America.
(C) The conflicts eventually led to openly expressed class antagonism.
(D) These conflicts contained an element of class hostility.
(E) These conflicts were motivated by class conflicts.
Despite spending a great deal of time on this question, I got this wrong. I narrowed down to (A) and (E), ended up choosing (E). For some reason I felt that the case of western and eastern settlers was an example of the sectional conflict and couldn't be said about the sectional conflicts in America in general. Further, the third paragraph does hint at class conflicts existing in these sectional conflicts, although mildly. Of course, it is too far to assume class conflict to be MOTIVATION, but it seemed like a better choice.
Now I know that since the example of western settlers was representative, we can say this is general about the sectional conflicts.
If any part of my explanation to this passage helped you, please be generous and hit that KUDOS button! _________________
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