According to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 13, Date : 07-FEB-2019
 This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019 .  Click here for Details

According to  usage and conventions  which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome, the  social presence  of a woman is different in kind from that of a man. A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies. If the promise is large and credible his presence is striking. If it is small or incredible, he is found to have little presence. The10 promised power may be moral, physical, temperamental, economic, social, sexual—but its object is always exterior to the man. A man’s presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you. His presence may be fabricated, in the sense that he pretends to be capable of what he is not. But the pretense is always toward a power which he exercises on others. By contrast, a woman’s presence ex- presses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her. Her presence is manifest in her gestures, voices, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings, taste—indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence. Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation, a kind of heat or smell or aura.

To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The  social presence  of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within 35 such a limited space. But this has been at the cost of a woman’s self being split into two. A woman must continually watch herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another.

Men survey women before treating them. Consequently how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated. To acquire some control over this process, women must contain it and internalize it. That part of a woman’s self which is the surveyor treats the part which is the surveyed so as to demonstrate to others how her whole self would like to be treated. And this exemplary treatment of herself by herself constitutes her presence. Every woman’s presence regulates what is and is not “permissible” within her presence. Every one of her actions—whatever its direct purpose or motivation—is also read as an indication of how she would like to be treated. If a woman throws a glass on the floor, this is an example of how she treats her own emotion of anger and so of how she would wish to be treated by others. If a man does the same, his action is only read as an expression of his anger. If a woman makes a good joke this is an example of how she treats the joker in herself and accordingly of how she as joker-woman would like to be treated by others. Only a man can make a good joke for its own sake.   1 
 1. According to “usage and conventions,” appearance is NECESSARILY a part of reality for

(A) men
(B) women
(C) both men and women
(D) neither men nor women
(E) men always and women occasionally

2 
 2. In analyzing a woman’s customary “social presence,” the author hopes to

(A) justify and reinforce it.
(B) understand and explain it.
(C) expose and discredit it.
(D) demonstrate and criticize it.
(E) sanction and promote it.

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that a woman with a Ph.D. in psychology who gives a lecture to a group of students is probably MOST concerned with

(A) whether her students learn the material.
(B) what the males in the audience think of her.
(C) how she comes off as a speaker in psychology.
(D) finding a husband.
(E) whether a man challenges her.

4 
 4. The passage portrays women as

(A) victims
(B) liars
(C) actresses
(D) politicians
(E) ignorant

5 
 5. Which one of the following is NOT implied by the passage?

(A) Women have split personalities.
(B) Men are not image-conscious.
(C) Good looks are more important to women than to men.
(D) A man is defined by what he does, whereas a woman is defined by how she appears.
(E) A man’s presence is extrinsic, whereas a woman’s is intrinsic.

6 
 6. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) compare and contrast woman’s presence and place in society with that of man’s.
(B) discuss a woman’s presence and place in society and to contrast it with a man’s presence and place.
(C) illustrate how a woman is oppressed by society.
(D) explain why men are better than women at telling jokes.
(E) illustrate how both men and women are hurt by sexism.

Source:   Nova GMAT  
Difficulty Level:   700

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Hello All, arunavamunshi1988 goforgmat soumya170293 prototypevenom Here is i have tried to answer all of you. 1. According to “usage and conventions,” appearance is NECESSARILY a part of reality for First thing we have to fix in mind that we are going to answer what we have read in the Passage. Question #1 purely talks about the whole of the passage, take this question as an inference question. If you try to find out the exact text to answer the question you will fail. Read whole passage understand it then pick up the correct choice. Take a deep look on question statement, the word NECCASSARILY sounds an extreme words so we have to select an answer according to this. 1st paragraph introduces the topic at hand and compares Women appearance with Men. 2nd paragraph discussed the appearance of Women 3rd paragraph discussed women treatment to the difference scenarios with examples, Now take a look on the answer choices (A) Men – Only discussed in first paragraph and compared with Women, we cannot certify that appearance is NECESSARILY a part of reality for Men (B) Women – Compared with the Men in the first paragraph, then discussed in the second paragraph then discussed with examples in the last paragraph it looks pretty fine, if not perfect. (C) Both men and women – Men have a little part discussed in the passage no text highlight any such circumstances in the favor of men, Half true Half false answer it is. (D) Neither men nor women – Completely out of context. (E) Men always and women occasionally – Opposite Answer Note: Sometime we did not convinced with the OA. Keep in mind we have to choose Best answer not Perfect one. Among all of these 5 Answer choices we at least certify that other four are not correct or better than the answer. So here B is better from all other if not best at least. 2. In analyzing a woman’s customary “social presence,” the author hopes to Let’s look into answer choices (A) Justify and reinforce it. – Author, at any place, didn’t try to justify or try to justify “social appearance” of women – This type of answers try to trap the non-natives mostly. (B) Understand and explain it. – Author understands women mentality and has tried to explain it. (C) Expose and discredit it. – We can say that author has exposed women’s attributes but he or she didn’t try discredit it at any point in the passages – Starts with something ok then deviate to make this choice false (D) Demonstrate and criticize it. – Same as B Starts with something ok then deviate to make this choice false (E) Sanction and promote it. – Out of context. Discussing is far different than what is promoting. 3. It can be inferred from the passage that a woman with a Ph.D. in psychology who gives a lecture to a group of students is probably MOST concerned with First of all it is an inference question so don’t try to find out the exact text in the passage to answer the question. This is a CR – Similar reasoning type question. After reading examples given regarding women psychology, understanding them we can answer. In given choices use analogy. Lets look into answer choices (A) whether her students learn the material. – That clearly not a women’s attribute neighter mentioned nor inferred. (B) What the males in the audience think of her. – This talks about the thoughts and not about women appearance. (C) How she comes off as a speaker in psychology. – It is related with the women issue of their appearance and their psyche. This is best analogous example. (D) Finding a husband. – May be a good joke but we are unable to select it for the sake of getting good percentile in GMAT Verbal. (E) Whether a man challenges her. – Just of the context. 4. The passage portrays women as Let’s look into the answer choices (A) Victims – No text suggest this (B) Liars – No text suggest this (Could be a trap answer if you took the appearance too much serious

) (C) actresses – Definitely this is the answer, Actress are much conscious about their appearance if you have seen any movie shot, actress mostly try to see their face in the mirror. (D) Politicians - No text suggest this (E) ignorant - No text suggest this 5. Which one of the following is NOT implied by the passage? In this question we have to look for text which we couldn’t validate on the basis of the passage, something which is out of the passage and could be validly inferred. Let’s look into the answer choices (A) Women have split personalities. – Yes they have, different examples are given the passage to validate this option. (B) Men are not image-conscious. – Although passage discussed a little about men and it is only in the first paragraph, we cannot verify that Men are not image-conscious. This is an option which cannot be implied by the passage (C) Good looks are more important to women than to men. – Available by the passage (D) A man is defined by what he does, whereas a woman is defined by how she appears. - Available by the passage (E) A man’s presence is extrinsic, whereas a woman’s is intrinsic. - Available by the passage 6. The primary purpose of the passage is to To answer this question mapping of the passage is necessary Map: 1st paragraph introduces the topic at hand and compares Women appearance with Men. 2nd paragraph discussed the appearance of Women 3rd paragraph discussed women treatment to the difference scenarios with examples, Now look into answer choices (A) compare and contrast woman’s presence and place in society with that of man’s. – Compared in the first paragraph and contrasted in the rest of the passage – This is correct (B) Discuss a woman’s presence and place in society and to contrast it with a man’s presence and place. – This is definitely a Trap answer, It start with good but ends with bad. Woman’s presence and place in the society is discussed and also it is contrasted with a Few attributes of men but not with the place of Men in the society. That’s why it is WRONG (C) Illustrate how a woman is oppressed by society. – Out of Context (D) Explain why men are better than women at telling jokes. - Out of Context, it is discussed in the last 3 lines of the passage couldnt be a primary purpose. (E) Illustrate how both men and women are hurt by sexism. - Out of Context Hope it Helps

generis · Answer

Skywalker18  , I do not think that questions 5 and 6 are representative of GRE or GMAT Reading Comp.
Slippery concepts are part of RC.
We are well past slippery in these questions.

These questions are hard to write, but 
based on a survey I just did of OG 2018, VR 2018, and VR 2019,
questions 5 and 6 are not representative.

Both #5 and #6 are too close to call.
I think that no answer is correct in #5.
I think that I could defend A or B in #6 in a heartbeat.

I decided that #5 was B because 
I thought about how the author had structured the piece.

I decided that #6 was B based on five words in the passage.
I could just as easily have picked A.

I did not recall having seen any official GMAT questions that resemble
this option 6 in which the answer comes down to a hairline distinction between
compare on one hand, and compare and contrast on the other.
So I went after data. It confirmed my memory.

Yeah . . . data. When in doubt, inspect the evidence.
I read 263 questions. In the three books I list below in the footnote,

I found two instances in which  compare  and  contrast  were an answer option in the same question.
One of the two in each case was obviously wrong for a reason not related to any distinction between compare or contrast.

In addition, I looked at "except" and "imply" questions.

Typically, in close calls, I can analyze for a bit and get an "aha."
Well, I analyzed #5 and #6. 
No aha moments.

If Question #5 or 6 were ever on the GMAT, I would be shocked.

I. #5: No option is correct, Option (B) over (C) only because 
and I sense that the author believes that he has NOT implied the contents of (B)

•   5. Which one of the following is NOT implied by the passage?

(B) Men are not image-conscious.  
This answer choice is not clear. What does "image" mean?

Nowhere in the passage do I see a clear way to separate "image-conscious" 
from how men's  presence  is defined.

"Image" is not self-evident and it is  never  mentioned in the passage. It's too close in meaning to other concepts and should be defined.

Nowhere do I see that a man is  not  conscious of his image; I assume that this state of mind depends on the promise of power  over others  and especially  over women .

Nowhere do I see the suggestion that men are not image-conscious about  women. 
In fact, the passage suggests quite the opposite.

I disagree that (B) is a fair answer option.

The passage does imply that men are image-conscious.

Here's the argument, supported by the passage:
Men are image-conscious both about themselves and about women.

Argument: Men are image-conscious about themselves.

-- How do men know whether their power, pretended or otherwise, lands them
in the "striking presence" or "little presence" camp?
Does only this writer know about these categories? No. Social collusion is happening.
Men with and without power are not stupid. 
-- Does the passage suggest that men do not understand the difference between these stereotypes? No. To the contrary . . .
. . . Men would not fabricate, would not pretend to have more power than they actually have,
if men were not conscious that their image ("social presence") depends on their at least seeming to have power.

Argument: Men ARE image-conscious about women.

If men are not image-conscious, why do men tend to think of   
as   an almost physical emanation , a kind of heat or smell or aura?
If "image" somehow belongs only to women, does the passage imply that men
 . . . do not notice  women's  images? No.
The sentence directly above (about aura) suggests the opposite.

Finally, why are women constantly battling the image/presence they get burdened with?
Are men  not  image-conscious  about women ? Not from what the passage says.
A woman must "survey everything she is and does" because how 
 she appears to others, and ultimately  how she appears to men  
determines her success. Read: survival.
Her success depends on what  he  decides.  About her image.

Men survey women before treating them.  
Why do men do so? Because men are  not  image-conscious?

Why are men assessing and "patrolling" a woman's presence and defining her as reducible to that presence /image/ appearance?

Are men "patrolling" women because men are NOT image-conscious?
--  "Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another." 
Who, exactly is this  another ? Who is the gate-keeper? Who has the power?
--  Consequently how a woman appears  to a man  can determine how she will be treated.  
Are these facts true because appearance (image?) does NOT matter to a man? No.

I just used the passage to make a good case that men are image-conscious.

The fact that "social presence" is vaguely different in kind from "image"; and the fact that men's social presence is based on perceived power
does not undermine this argument: a man absolutely is conscious of his own image and of the image of a woman.

To select option (B) as the correct answer requires a stretch that I am not willing to make. Yet.

(C) Good looks are more important to women than to men.  
The passage does NOT imply this statement?

Mmm . . . the author contradicts himself. "Important"  in what context ?

If the statement refers to what women look for in a man: 
true, I suppose, according to the passage: 
A man is  striking  (eye-catching) if he has or seems to have a lot of believable power.

We are into heteronormativity now, but if a straight woman is interested in a straight man,
allegedly he will "catch her eye" if he has power.
Allegedly she does not care whether he is good-looking.

But, it could be argued, a woman must care more about image than men do because according to the passage,
for a woman to succeed, she must care more about being good-looking than men do.
Answer: good looks are not more important to women in any inherent way.
Women are trying to survive and to succeed.

I could counter that argument.
I could go in circles with these arguments.

Why are women, who must please and get approval from men,
worried about appearance (including clothes and taste that must hazily refer to good looks)?
Why? Because good looks are important to  men.

Men approve of a good looking woman . . .   
So how can I say which kind of important is "more" important?
I can't. The passage is does not clearly imply (C).
Or the author contradicts himself.

Below is my final argument that B is the correct answer (that is, that the passage does NOT imply (B)):

I think that B is wrong.
But I sense that the author believes he has set up a binary:
-- men worry about power and
-- women worry about image.

I don't understand which interpretation of C I should choose.
I went with instinct about the author: He thinks that B is not implied.

I think NO answer is correct in #5.

• 6. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) compare and contrast woman’s presence and place in society with that of man’s.
(B) discuss a woman’s presence and place in society and to contrast it with a man’s presence and place.
(C) make me crazy

The distinction between A and B 
either is not defensible
or is too controversial to be tested.

--  No distinction exists, such that to choose between A and B is indefensible:    
 To contrast  is  to compare. 
When we contrast we compare differences.

Oxford Online dictionary,  HERE  ,  defines  contrast  this way:
1.1 (with object)  Compare  in such a way as  to emphasize differences.

Compare ? Oxford Online dictionary  defines compare  here :
Estimate, measure, or note the  similarity or dissimilarity between.

If contrast depends on and is part of compare, then there is no distinction between (A) and (B).
That is, to "compare and contrast" IS to contrast.
We have to  compare  differences in order contrast   a woman's presence and place
in society and a man's presence and place.

We're stuck. (A) and (B) say the same thing.

Distinction: compare and contrast are different.  
We compare similarities and we contrast differences.

It's hard to tell whether the current GRE maintains such a distinction. The distinction is controversial.

The official GRE test prep question below from 2009 (questions 8-11, pages 28-31 of the pdf),  here, 
has answer choices that seem to pit  contrast  against  compare .

8. The passage is primarily concerned with 
A) showing how historians who were engaged in a particular debate influenced historians engaged in another debate
B) explaining why two initially parallel scholarly debates diverged in the 1980s
C)  comparing  two scholarly debates and discussing their histories
D)  contrasting  the narrow focus of one scholarly debate with the somewhat broader focus of another
E) evaluating the relative merits of the approaches used by historians engaged in two overlapping scholarly debates

Options C and D are not truly pitted against one another.

It took me 5 seconds to eliminate one of those two answers — not because 
I distinguished between  compare  and  contrast , but 
because what follows one of those verbs is a direct object
whose content is inaccurate.

The  Answer Key is  here .

So in this question (6), do we choose
 
Option (A) that contains both  compare  and  contrast , or
Option (B) that contains only  contrast ? 
(I don't think that "discuss" in (B) helps one way or the other)
 
In the passage, in terms of women's and men's presence and place, I decided that these two phrases held the key:
•  the social presence of a woman is  different in kind  from that of a man 
•   By contrast , a woman’s presence

(A) uses both words, i.e.,  compare  and  contrast 
(B) uses only  contrast

B) has five words in the passage to support it.
The author includes more discussion of differences than of similarities.

Many people have learned that "compare and contrast" = talk about similarities and talk about differences.
I decided that this author equates "talking about differences" with "contrast." 
For him, to talk about differences is different from  comparing .
I chose (B) for that reason alone.

I don't buy the distinction.

As mentioned, I read all RC questions from OG 2018, VR 2018, and new questions in VR 2019.
By my count, I read 263 questions.
I found  compare  as one answer option of five in 9 questions (but no  contrast  in other answer choices). 
Eleven times I found  contrast  as one option out of five options (but no  compare  in other answer choices). 
I found two questions in which one answer choice was  compare  and one other choice was  contrast .
-- both were easily dispensed with. 5 seconds
-- whatever followed compare or contrast was easy to dismiss. I did not have to decide whether
I was comparing and contrasting on one hand, or just contrasting on the other hand.

Not one question of 263 contained distinctions as tiny as those that we find in this #5 and #6. 
 
Good catch. Don't worry about those two questions.

Hope that helps.

* Official Guide Verbal Review 2018  
Contrast only: 4(D); 26(E); 69(A); 75(B)
Compare only: 58(D); 26(E)
Compare and contrast: 62(A) and (B); 88 (B and D)

* Official Guide Verbal Review 2019 
Contrast only: 28(E) --> (64(B) from 2019 = 75(B) from 2018, and same for 83(A)=69(A))
Compare only: None 
Both: none, --> 2019's #82 (B and D) = VR 2018 #62 (A and B)

Official Guide 2018 
Contrast only: 450(A);492(B); 497(C); 515(B) and (C)  ; 523(E)  
Compare only: 423(A); 439 (A,E); 449 (B); 471(A); 508(E)
Both: none

arunavamunshi1988 · Answer

Did not understand the ans of question 3 and 5.... I thought 3. B and 5. C. Can anybody explain the ans to me?

goforgmat · Answer

She has to survey everything she is and
everything she does because how she appears
50 to others, and ultimately how she appears to
men, is of crucial importance for what is
normally thought of as the success of her life.

The above excerpt from the passage tells you that she is always conscious of how she is perceived.
3.c

5th is an except question .
It is nowhere mentioned that men are conscious of how they are perceived.
hence B.

hope its clear.

goforgmat · Answer

I don't understand whats the difference between options A and B in 6th Question.

chetan2u ,  sayantanc2k  Your thoughts please.

soumya170293 · Answer

Plz explain the question no 3 (why OA is not b ) and the question no 4 ? Thanks in advance.

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

With Q3

She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others,  and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance  for what is normally thought of as the success of her life.

I think the OA should be B. Please provide OE.

Regards

prototypevenom · Answer

Explainations to Q1, Q4 and Q6?

Can someone explain A vs B in question 6?

Skywalker18 · Answer

Took 11 mins in total, including 6 mins to read the passage.

Para 1- the social presence of a woman is different in kind from that of a man;
man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power while a woman’s presence expresses her own attitude to herself
Para 2- details about women's presence; a woman’s self being split into two - the surveyor and the surveyed within her
Para 3- how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated; Every woman’s presence regulates what is and is not “permissible” within her presence

1. According to “usage and conventions,” appearance is NECESSARILY a part of reality for
Her presence is manifest in her gestures, voices, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings, taste—indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence. Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation, a kind of heat or smell or aura.
(B) women- Correct

2. In analyzing a woman’s customary “social presence,” the author hopes to
(A) justify and reinforce it.-incorrect the author does not justify a woman’s customary social presence
(B) understand and explain it. - Correct - the author is neutral and explains the details
(C) expose and discredit it. - incorrect - the author does not expose and discredit
(D) demonstrate and criticize it. - incorrect - the author does not criticize
(E) sanction and promote it. - incorrect - the author does not promote

3. It can be inferred from the passage that a woman with a Ph.D. in psychology who gives a lecture to a group of students is probably MOST concerned with
From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman.
(C) how she comes off as a speaker in psychology. - Correct

4. The passage portrays women as
She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another.
(C) actresses - correct

5. Which one of the following is NOT implied by the passage?

(A) Women have split personalities.- incorrect; But this has been at the cost of a woman’s self being split into two.
(B) Men are not image-conscious. - A man’s presence depends on the promise of power
(C) Good looks are more important to women than to men. - we know that appearance matters to women, but can we make a comparative inference here?
Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation, a kind of heat or smell or aura.

(D) A man is defined by what he does, whereas a woman is defined by how she appears.- incorrect
(E) A man’s presence is extrinsic, whereas a woman’s is intrinsic. - incorrect; promised power may be moral, physical, temperamental, economic, social, sexual—but its object is always exterior to the man. A man’s presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you.
Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation, a kind of heat or smell or aura.

6. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) compare and contrast woman’s presence and place in society with that of man’s.
(B) discuss a woman’s presence and place in society and to contrast it with a man’s presence and place.
(C) illustrate how a woman is oppressed by society.- incorrect
(D) explain why men are better than women at telling jokes. - incorrect
(E) illustrate how both men and women are hurt by sexism. - incorrect

1. In question 6, I was in a fix between options A and B(both seem pretty similar) and chose option B because women's presence seemed more central as it was discussed in all the paragraphs.

2. In question 5, I know option B is NOT implied but can you please help with option C.
Women are image-conscious whereas men's presence depends upon power.

The answer to question 6 is B in the following link-
(https://admissiontable.com/11-gre-verba ... rehension/ )

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , other experts - please enlighten

AdityaHongunti · Answer

1. According to “usage and conventions,” appearance is NECESSARILY a part of reality for

(A) men
(B) women
(C) both men and women
(D) neither men nor women
(E) men always and women occasionally

I disagree with the OA and OE
my reasoning :
in the last para the author tells us that "Men survey women before treating them. Consequently how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated. " : the author says that (according to USage and Convention) men observe /survey women ... this implies that the appearance of her (not looks and stuff) is what helps them evaluate the woman !! Then isnt for MEN the appearance a part of reality?? becasue by appearance the men judge how the woman would like to be treated !!

Secondly, in the last para the author further tells us that women actually put up that appearance in order to tell other how she would like to be treated !!! So even here appearance does become a necessary part of reality for women !!! BUT as the author is not very fond of the usage and conc=vention theory the appearance a woman puts up may not be ACTUALLY THE CASE (this view is supported by the example of father death in second part)

2. In analyzing a woman’s customary “social presence,” the author hopes to

(A) justify and reinforce it.
(B) understand and explain it.
(C) expose and discredit it.
(D) demonstrate and criticize it.
(E) sanction and promote it.

DIsagree with the OA 
The author does explain to us what the usage and convention thory is . But he nowhere tries to understand himsef. He is rather NOT VERY FOND OF the theiry (supported by his/her statements : 
"According to  usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome,  the social presence of a woman is different in kind from that of a man."

"he has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for  what is normally thought of  as the success of her life. "

"If a woman makes a good joke this is an example of how she treats the joker in herself and accordingly of how she as joker-woman would like to be treated by others.  Only a man can make a good joke for its own sake. "

The author does not like tis thery ! The question says "What does the author HOPE to" and not "what author is DOING" . He hopes to explain to US the theory..He is not trying t understnda it !!

5. Which one of the following is NOT implied by the passage?

(A) Women have split personalities.
(B) Men are not image-conscious.
(C) Good looks are more important to women than to men.
(D) A man is defined by what he does, whereas a woman is defined by how she appears.
(E) A man’s presence is extrinsic, whereas a woman’s is intrinsic.

Options are poorly worded
This question has exploited the term "IMPLIED " as hell !! I mean if i say i am in califrnia !! the answer choice according to the above answer choice may actually say : I am an example of DARWIN"s evolution theory !!! Just becasue i can talk and i am human (which again are assumptions considering there ere no robos or AI)

A : Women have split personalities : Split personality definition : (dissociative identity disorder) characteriesed vy presence of two or more personality states or distinct identities that repeatedly take ontrol of aperson's behavior .
The passage states : " But this has been at the cost of a woman’s self being split into two. A woman must continually watch herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman."
The theory implies that women actually survey themselfves as in how they behave and appear . She surveys herself. The thery does state that these are two DISTINCT elements of her identity AS A WOMAN !! for example if a girl wants to go to a club and wear a short dress . Before doing that she may actually analyse how the surpunding would be how she will appear to other and how she will be judged (this may or may not be true) . This is what the theory in saying . THIS IN NO WAY MEANS SHE HAS A SPLIT PEPRSONALITY !!! FIrstly thats a wrong term to be used !! completely unwarranted !! Secondly that is taken as a disorder !! If the option were that "Women have two distinct elemts of identity" then it could be permissible !! But split peronality??? EVERY HUMAN on earth has more than 2 thots !! BUT we do not say WE all have split peronalities !!!

B: Men are not image-conscious.
Again a poor;y worded option . What do we infer by "image" ??? the looks or the behavior?? the oveall posture or the facial expresson?? If we talk about overall appeaarance or behavior MEN ARE ACTUALLY image consuious ! If we talk about facal expression/ looks of the woman then men may not be image consious !!

C:(C) Good looks are more important to women than to men.
again we never talked about looks in the passage !!! we talked about appeaarancec !! AND that appearnace was not specifivally definded as to refer to "looks" . IF we go by "open minded NON SHALLOW" thinking then appearnce may be defined as he "behavior of a woman what her views are and what she is as a person" and not looks !!! and in the passage the "non look" aspect is talked baout !!

6. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) compare and contrast woman’s presence and place in society with that of man’s.
(B) discuss a woman’s presence and place in society and to contrast it with a man’s presence and place.
(C) illustrate how a woman is oppressed by society.
(D) explain why men are better than women at telling jokes.
(E) illustrate how both men and women are hurt by sexism.

I mean WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A and B ..like seriously???

generis  please evaluate my views on the above question !!!

generis · Answer

AdityaHongunti - your analysis is very good. +1 Your use of text is shrewd. I really like the passion, made more poignant with humor. I laughed at the Darwin analogy and other parts such as "like, seriously?"

(Just in case others do not know: don't use that expression in your essays. Dial back the outrage. In answering this question, though? Just fine.) You are correct to note the confusing split among what the author believes; what the author does not like; what the author thinks he or she says; what the author actually says; and how all of those things get scrambled. The passage and the questions are so slippery that analyzing them is hard to put into words, but you did so. If ever B-school does not seem great, consider law school. No kidding. Well done!

zoezhuyan · Answer

Hi SajjadAhmad 
can you explain further about the difference between A and B? i did not get this explanation above

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello zeozhuyan please read this post carefully and ping me if you still have doubt. https://gmatclub.com/forum/according-to ... l#p2231988 Thnx

vaibhav1221 · Answer

The basic difference between Option A and B in question 6 is that one talks about comparison as the bigger picture and the other talks about introduction to an idea and then compare. Because the passage is comparing the presence of the counterparts since the very beginning and the same is kept consistent till the very end, the correct answer should be option A.

Hope this helps!

Hope this helps!

richirish · Answer

Extremely poor questions, the passage is not representative of the GMAT at all

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