When A. Philip Randolph assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood of S

1.C 2.E 3.A 4.C 5.A 6.B

1. According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was
C mitigated by the efforts of Randolph
>> Randolph's efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group.

2. In using the word "understandable" (line 14), the author most clearly conveys
E regret at the historical attitude of unions toward Black workers.
>>The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership.

3. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company's own union?
A Few porters ever joined this union.
>>The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership.

4. The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have been the case?
C It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership.
>>sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well.

5. The passage suggests that in the 1920's a company in the United States was able to
A use its own funds to set up a union
>> in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money

6. The passage supplies information concerning which of the following matters related to Randolph?

A The steps he took to initiate the founding of the Brotherhood
Nowhere talked about the steps to initiate rather obstacles he faced
B His motivation for bringing the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor
>>Randolph brought the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor, where it became the equal of the Federation's 105 other unions. He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions

Hmmm... That's a blow ...

I don't agree with all the OAs and here is my reasoning, eagerly waiting for experts' comments:

1. According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was:
OA: D weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers.

In 1935 the Brotherhood became the first Black union recognized by a major corporation. Randolph's efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group;

He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restrictions were eventually found unconstitutional in 1944.

Last sentences clearly state that until 1944 unions practiced race restrictions. HOW can we say that skepticism of Black workers toward unions was weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers. Which unions opened the doors for black workers before 1935. This way only Randolph that made this change happen.

2: OK! Even I was thinking no to opt for such a strong opinion as Regret.
But still A to be the OA .....
understandability is about the skepticism of black workers towards unions and not about the brotherhood.

3. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company's own union?
OA: E The porters' response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions.

Who are porters': (1) black workers (2) workers with black workers as majority (3) workers with non-black workers as majority
Porters were scattered throughout the country, sleeping in dormitories in Black communities;
I can not justify (1) and (3) from the passage but at least (2) from the passage.
OA could be right if majority of the workers were non-black workers then we would say that non-black workers' response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions. But if porters' are dominated by black workers then how this can be OA.

>>The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership.

This clearly states that porter's were barred from union membership therefore Few porters ever joined this union. Few because some porter's could be non-black who joined unions.

4. The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have been the case?
OA: B It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to control its channels of communication.

Yes, this was a tempting answer and on first go, I opted for B but then I had a deep look and found it irrelevant to the question. Passage states that physical scattering through various cities helped porters' to control their communication and not because they had the same grievances from city to city. It is absurd to say that because porters' had the same grievances from city to city therefore they were able to protect their communication channel.

>>sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well.

We can see because porters' had the same grievances from city to city that strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well. So we can conclude that if porters' did not have the same grievances from city to city
It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership.

5. The passage suggests that in the 1920's a company in the United States was able to
OA: C develop a single labor policy for all its employees with little employee dissent.

First of all there is no mention if single labor policy was implemented by any company in 1920. Only thing mentioned is about 1928 that Pullman Company had a single labor policy. With this information we can not conclude if companies were doing so in 1920 too. Second problem with this answer is "with little employee dissent", there is no mention at all about this.

>> in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money
Therefore we can conclude that before 1930 companies were able to maintain its own unions with their own money and Pullman Company was doing the same.

6. The passage supplies information concerning which of the following matters related to Randolph?
OA: E The success he and the Brotherhood had in influencing the policies of the other unions in the American Federation of Labor

May be I mis-interpreted motivation for intentions.

Randolph brought the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor, where it became the equal of the Federation's 105 other unions. He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restrictions were eventually found unconstitutional in 1944.

But to be honest, I'm still not happy with the OA. If Randolph was the successful to influence other unions' policy is far fetched conclusion. My feel is still with B.

2. In using the word "understandable" (line 14), the author most clearly conveys

A sympathy with attempts by the Brotherhood between 1925 and 1935 to establish an independent union.
B concern that the obstacles faced by Randolph between 1925 and 1935 were indeed formidable
C ambivalence about the significance of unions to most Black workers in the 1920's.
D appreciation of the attitude of many Black workers in the 1920's toward unions.
E regret at the historical attitude of unions toward Black workers.

Can someone please explain the OA for this question. In my opinion the answer should've been C or E. But the OA is D.
How can understandable convey appreciation of the attitude of many black workers...

Passage 2 talks about 2 things : One about generic information about unions (where barred black members were barred from membership) and Second about the Pullman's own union ( which weakened the support among black workers for an independent entity) before 1935. This may be (one of the reasons) because of the support of some porters to this union (as mentioned in option B).

The idea is about the weakening in the support rather than the numbers joining the union.

Hope this helps.

Paragraph 1 - Randolph's leadership in Pullman Co , largest co of US employing Black labors , named Brotherhood..... , helped transformation of the attitude of the blacks towards them.

Paragraph 2 - Obstacles faced in the process - (a) Blacks skepticism towards Unionism (b) support for independent identity

Paragraph 3 - Breakthrough strike against Pullman Co attracted porters for the common cause which also affected them.

Paragraph 4 - Randolph brought it to other 105 unions to exert pressure against unions practicing Race restrictions. Finally such restrictions were declared unconstitutional.


1. In using the word “understandable” (line 14), the author most clearly conveys


Go through the passage - " In the Pullman contest Randolph faced formidable obstacles. The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership. "

The following line talks about an obstacle and the reason for the skepticism , since it barred membership of Black workers.

(A) sympathy with attempts by the Brotherhood between 1925 and 1935 to establish an independent union

Not relevant

(B) concern that the obstacles faced by Randolph between 1925 and 1935 were indeed formidable

Possible
(C) ambivalence about the significance of unions to most Black workers in the 1920’s

Not true since the black workers are doubtful ( according to the passage ) about the formation of an Union for the black , since they were barred from membership in such Unions.

(D) appreciation of the attitude of many Black workers in the 1920’s toward unions

The passage doesn't mention it , rather they were skeptical.

(E) regret at the historical attitude of unions toward Black workers

There isn't any evidence of regretting in the passage .

Hence (B) is the best option.

2. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company’s own union?


Check the passage -

" In 1928 he took the bold step of threatening a strike against Pullman."

" In addition, the porters' very isolation aided the Brotherhood. Porters were scattered throughout the country, sleeping in dormitories in Black communities; their segregated life protected the union's internal communications from interception. That the porters were a homogeneous group working for a single employer with a single labor policy, thus sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well. "



(A) Few porters ever joined this union.

The passage talks about the support of the porters against the practices of the employers and it is well expected that many joined the Union.

Further the author states -

"........eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters' representative. "

Which clearly contradicts , hence this option can be negated.

(B) Some porters supported this union before 1935.

Nothing is explicitly stated in this regard , however the author mentions that Randolph took a bold step to strike against Pullman in 1928 which gained support of the porters as well later on.

So , this option might be possible - Let's keep it for now and check the other options as well to determine the best one.

(C) Porters, more than other Pullman employees, enthusiastically supported this union.

Porters supported the Union but the author didn't mention who supported more. This can be rejected straightaway.

The author simply mentions -

"But it was only in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters' representative. "

This statement can not be used to prove that the porters supported more since it was caused by Federal Legislation.

(D) The porters’ response was most positive after 1935.

Porters response were positive after the first strike by Randolph against Pullman against Pullman Co in 1928.

(E) The porters’ response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions.

Not at all true the author mentions obstacles which Randolph faced in the following lines -

"In the Pullman contest Randolph faced formidable obstacles. The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership."[/i]

Hence B seems to be better than the other available options...

The author isn't expressing ambivalence toward unions. Rather, he or she is describing the skepticism of black workers. It's a common trap for the GMAT to give an answer that describes the opinion of someone other than the person we're talking about.

I would like to hear detail explanation on #5.
Everyone is using "in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money" is the evidence. However, doesnt "that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with companey money" mean it was already prohibited in 1930, meaning they were not able to establish union with theirown?

pininfarina, watch out for the time frame. The question asks about the 1920's, but the legislation wasn't passed until the early 1930's. This allows us to know for sure that the practice of creating unions with company money was still legal throughout the 1920's.

Thanks DmitryFarber,
Actually, I first thought so...but doesn't the present participle "prohibiting" mean it was already prohibiting in the early 1930?
So I thought this sentence wouldn't be a ground for what was happening in 1920's.
(I can see that the legislation allowed for the first time the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters' representative , but I still don't understand, from the grammer perspective, that the prohibition began in 1930.)

The passage states that it was only in the early 1930's that this legislation allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized. We don't know exactly when the legislation passed, but it seems most likely that it was passed in the the early 1930's (sometime between 1930 and 1934). I suppose it is theoretically possible that the legislation was passed earlier, but there's no indication of that, nor any reason to suspect that the legislation was passed long before it went into effect.

Also, don't read too much into the present participle. It simply serves as a modifier. If the sentence said "legislation that prohibited," the meaning would be the same.

Hi Dmitry,

Thank you for the explanation.
I'm still a bit confused, but I guess that since the question stem says "The passage suggests", the argument doesn't have to deliver a clear fact.
Therefore, as you wrote, "theoretical possibility" is enough, right?

Yes, this is an inference question, so we are looking for an answer that is not directly stated in the passage. However, our answer should be more than a theoretical possibility. I was using that phrase to refer to the unlikely idea that the legislation was passed and took effect in 1920's, but only made the difference the author described until the 1930's. This is theoretically possible, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is true, and in fact it would be rather deceptive of the author to describe the situation the way they did if that was what happened. An inference should still be clearly supported by the passage, and this one is. If it wasn't until the 1930's that this change happened, then before the 1930's, things still ran the old way.

Hi mikemcgarry,

Request you to help with Q2 and 3 here.

Thanks

can some one please explain the Q3 why the OA B. why the option E is incorrect ?

Regards

I will give it a try:)

3. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company’s own union?

--> Paragraph 3 is the important to answer this question. Especially the last part: "But it was only in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters' representative."


(A) Few porters ever joined this union. Can not be inferred.
(B) Some porters supported this union before 1935.Seems good. Quote above states that after 1930 the brotherhood became recognized as the porters' represantatives. I inferred that at least some porters as a consequence joined the union...
(C) Porters, more than other Pullman employees, enthusiastically supported this union.Comparison with other employees is not mentioned
(D) The porters’ response was most positive after 1935.We don't know about after 1935 oponions of porters...
(E) The porters’ response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions.I understand why this option might seem tempting, but nowhere in the passage the author makes or suggest any conncection between the general skepticism mentioned in paragraph 2 and the porters' response...

Does it help? Maybe you can explain why you picked E...

Cheers

P1 - Mr P took a post, his challenges, what he did.
P2 - 1st problem, blacks dnt want union.
P3 - How black were against him. events.
P4 - what after some law passed and how it was helpful.

1. According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was

In 1935 the Brotherhood became the first Black union recognized by a major corporation. Randolph's efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group;

(C) mitigated by the efforts of Randolph

-------------------------------------------

2. In using the word “understandable” (line 14), the author most clearly conveys

(D) appreciation of the attitude of many Black workers in the 1920’s toward unions

--------------------------------------------

3. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company’s own union?

An additional obstacle was the union that Pullman itself had formed, which weakened support among Black workers for an independent entity.

In addition, the porters' very isolation aided the Brotherhood

(B) Some porters supported this union before 1935 --- overall above lines are pointing towards this.

-------------------------------------------------

4. The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have been the case?

thus sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well.

(C) It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership.

-----------------------------------------------

5. The passage suggests that in the 1920's a company in the United States was able to

But it was only in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters' representative.

(A) use its own funds to set up a union

-----------------------------------------------------

6. The passage supplies information concerning which of the following matters related to Randolph?

(B) His motivation for bringing the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor

Hi VeritasKarishma,

I was wondering could you please explain Q4 and Q6?

For Q4, could you please explain why option B is incorrect and option C is correct? For Q6, could you please explain why option E is incorrect and option B is correct?

Thank You!