Although Chinese foreign trade under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th cent

Question

Although Chinese foreign trade under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century reflected a policy of openness that exceeded any previous dynasty, the relationship between the Chinese and the visiting Portuguese was a fractious one for nearly fifty years after Rafael Perestrello completed the first successful European trading voyage to China. It is a testament to how highly the Portuguese valued the commercial potential of China that they persisted for so long: The members of one early expedition were never permitted to reach the court of the emperor and died in a Chinese jail; the antics of the Portuguese ambassador’s brother fed rumors that the Portuguese were kidnapping and eating Chinese children. Given the contemporary Chinese experience of Japanese piracy in coastal areas, it is no surprise that authorities were skeptical of foreigners, even those who made elaborate formal efforts to open trade through official channels.

The Portuguese established a foothold by providing silver after trade with Japan was halted, but relatively soon afterwards, most imported silver came from Spain’s colonies in the Americas. Ultimately, this reliance on foreign silver contributed to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, as one source after another was a¤ected by skirmishes between Protestant European nations such as England and the Catholic empires of Spain and Portugal. Protestant raids even shut down tra¢ c in the Japanese silver that was brokered to China through European powers as Japan drastically cut its own foreign trade. The resulting inflation in silver values, combined with the environmental e¤ects of what is now known as the “Little Ice Age,” led to economic disaster for rural Chinese, and opened the door for the Manchus to topple the Ming Dynasty in the early 17th century.    1 
 1. With which of the following generalization regarding the Ming Dynasty would the author most probably agree?

(A) It was the dynasty most open to foreign trade in Chinese history.
(B) The trade with European powers that it ultimately accepted had an unexpected e¤ect on its fate.
(C) It could not survive without some form of interaction with Japan.
(D) Protestant nations did more good for the long-term security of the Ming than did Catholic powers.
(E) Its treatment of foreign visitors was frequently harsh and often excessive in severity.

2 
 2. The passage suggests that Ming-Japanese interaction different from Ming-Portuguese interaction in that

(A) The initial welcome the Ming granted the Japanese was warmer than the welcome extended to the Portuguese.
(B) The Portuguese traded goods harvested and manufactured in its colonies while the Japanese brokered goods from other sources.
(C) Japanese traders were often jailed, while Portuguese visitors were accepted as visitors of the court.
(D) The Portuguese traded in child slaves, while the Japanese mainly limited themselves to luxury goods.
(E) Japanese traders were considered illegal and unwelcome, while the Portuguese were eventually accepted as part of China’s economy.

3 
 3. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) arguing that the Ming created the state of a¤airs that led to its own demise by opening up trade with the Portuguese
(B) explaining that religious conflicts in Europe had a major impact in China
(C) suggesting that only European traders are important to the economic history of the Ming Dynasty
(D) explaining that the Ming was reluctant to open trade with Europeans, and that the decision to do so contributed to their downfall
(E) emphasizing that the traditional Chinese isolationism has not always been the case, and that China was better off in the eras defined by more openness.

4 
 4. According to the passage, the Chinese were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese because

(A) their attempts to make official contact with the Ming court were thought to be insincere
(B) the climate e¤ects of the Little Ice Age limited the goods they could o¤er in trade
(C) the visitors were rumored to be abducting Chinese children
(D) bad experiences from coastal raids conducted by the Japanese a¤ected their views of all non-Chinese
(E) the Chinese traditionally avoided contact with outsiders, and the strong economy in the early Ming years provided no incentive to do otherwise

5 
 5. Which of the following, if true, would seriously undermine the conclusion that in‡ation in silver values contributed to economic disaster for rural Chinese?

(A) The rural economy rebounded relatively soon after the Manchus conquered China.
(B) The environmental e¤ects of the Little Ice Age meant that the supply of necessities, such as food, was extremely scarce at any price.
(C) Most rural Chiense in the Ming era did not use hard currency, instead operating a highly advanced barter economy.
(D) The famine brought about by the Little Ice Age caused many rural Chinese to relocate to urban areas.
(E) Economic problems in Europe at this time were completely unrelated to the price or availability of silver.

Aham56 · Answer

1. With which of the following generalization regarding the Ming Dynasty would the author most probably agree?

(A) It was the dynasty most open to foreign trade in Chinese history.
Ming Dynasty was open to trade compared to previous dynasties. Chinese history is both before and after the Ming dynasty. While the author would agree with this statement for the period of Chinese history during and before the Ming dynasty, he would not necessarily say so for the Manchus dynasty and beyond.

(B) The trade with European powers that it ultimately accepted had an unexpected e¤ect on its fate.
 What started off as trade with Portuguese and then with the Spanish colonies in silver ‘ultimately … contributed to the demise of the Ming dynasty’. So, the author would agree with this one. 
(C) It could not survive without some form of interaction with Japan.
The Chinese were vary of Japan after the coastal attacks and did not trade with Japan. They survived without Japan and begun trade with the Portuguese. So, the author would not agree with this,
(D) Protestant nations did more good for the long-term security of the Ming than did Catholic powers.
The skirmishes between the Protestants and Catholics affected the sources of silver. If anything, the Protestants were worse as their raids halted the supply of Japanese brokered silver.
(E) Its treatment of foreign visitors was frequently harsh and often excessive in severity.
While the first paragraph does say that the first Portuguese expedition did die in a Chinese jail and that the Chinese were wary of foreigners, that one incident in the passage cannot justify the choice of ‘frequently’ in this answer choice. How do we know that the Portuguese were not lying or

2. The passage suggests that Ming-Japanese interaction different from Ming-Portuguese interaction in that

(A) The initial welcome the Ming granted the Japanese was warmer than the welcome extended to the Portuguese.
There is no mention of Ming greeting the Japanese in the passage. So, this cannot be compared with the welcome extended to the Portuguese.
(B) The Portuguese traded goods harvested and manufactured in its colonies while the Japanese brokered goods from other sources.
We are not told the source of where the Portuguese manufactured their goods. We are told that the Europeans brokered Japanese silver to China. That is not the same as the Japanese brokering goods from other sources.
(C) Japanese traders were often jailed, while Portuguese visitors were accepted as visitors of the court.
No evidence in the passage to support that the Japanese traders were jailed often.
(D) The Portuguese traded in child slaves, while the Japanese mainly limited themselves to luxury goods.
Pure fantasy. Nothing in the passage states this.
(E) Japanese traders were considered illegal and unwelcome, while the Portuguese were eventually accepted as part of China’s economy.
 This can probably be inferred from the fact that trade with Japan was halted which probably meant it was illegal to trade with the country. Since the Chinese were sceptical of foreigners such as the Portuguese based on their experience with the Japanese, we can conclude reasonably that the Japanese would be unwelcome. This choice is not obvious but seems to be the best of the bunch. The second part of this choice is true as we know that Portuguese persisted and eventually started trading with China.

Aham56 · Answer

3. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) arguing that the Ming created the state of a¤airs that led to its own demise by opening up trade with the Portuguese
 The passage starts with Ming and ends with Ming being overthrown by the Manchus. The impact of trade in silver with the Europeans is discussed, starting with the Portuguese and then with Protest and Catholic is stated as the reason for the demise.
 (B) explaining that religious conflicts in Europe had a major impact in China
This is true and is mentioned in the second paragraph but I think the main point of the passage is explaining the reason for the fall of the Ming dynasty.
(C) suggesting that only European traders are important to the economic history of the Ming Dynasty
Not supported
(D) explaining that the Ming was reluctant to open trade with Europeans, and that the decision to do so contributed to their downfall
The opposite is stated in the passage. The trade with the Europeans being impacted by religious wars contributed to silver inflation which, along with the ‘Little Ice Age’ led to their demise.
(E) emphasizing that the traditional Chinese isolationism has not always been the case, and that China was better off in the eras defined by more openness.
The author does not take a position on whether openness was better or worse for China.

Aham56 · Answer

4. According to the passage, the Chinese were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese because

(A) their attempts to make official contact with the Ming court were thought to be insincere
(B) the climate e¤ects of the Little Ice Age limited the goods they could o¤er in trade
(C) the visitors were rumored to be abducting Chinese children
(D) bad experiences from coastal raids conducted by the Japanese a¤ected their views of all non-Chinese
 This is supported in the passage which states that ‘Given the contemporary Chinese experience of Japanese piracy in coastal areas, it is no surprise that authorities were skeptical of foreigners’ which would include the Portugueses.

(E) the Chinese traditionally avoided contact with outsiders, and the strong economy in the early Ming years provided no incentive to do otherwise

Aham56 · Answer

5. Which of the following, if true, would seriously undermine the conclusion that in‡ation in silver values contributed to economic disaster for rural Chinese?

The passage states that the ‘Little Ice Age’ and silver inflation affected the economy of rural Chinese. We need to find a conclusion which supports that silver inflation did not affect the economics of rural Chinese. This is a critical reasoning question.

(A) The rural economy rebounded relatively soon after the Manchus conquered China.
Could have been for any number of reasons. We cannot tie this to silver values.
(B) The environmental effects of the Little Ice Age meant that the supply of necessities, such as food, was extremely scarce at any price.
This is given and does not attack the silver premise
(C) Most rural Chinese in the Ming era did not use hard currency, instead operating a highly advanced barter economy.
 If this were true and they used advanced barter instead of hard currency silver, this undermines the conclusion that silver price changes affected the rural Chinese
 (D) The famine brought about by the Little Ice Age caused many rural Chinese to relocate to urban areas.
Same as choice B, does not affect the silver premise.

(E) Economic problems in Europe at this time were completely unrelated to the price or availability of silver.
It is the religious wars in Europe rather than the economic problems in Europe that caused trade in silver to be affected.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. The passage is primarily concerned with

Explanation

In scope questions, start by looking at the initial verbs. The author is not arguing a side in this passage, so  “arguing”  is wrong. Even  “suggesting”  and  “emphasizing”  indicate more of a position from the author’s perspective; I wouldn’t completely rule those out, but I would focus instead on the two choices that open with  “explaining.”

Choice (B)  is far too broad, and is only addressed by one sentence in the second paragraph.  (D)  is much better, and includes descriptions of content in both paragraphs. Note that  (D)  has much of the same description as  (A) , but the initial verb makes the di¤erence. To confirm that the others are incorrect:  (C)  is wrong because of the word  “only,”  and  (E)  is much too broad, while the passage focuses on only one dynasty.  Choice (D)  is correct.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. With which of the following generalization regarding the Ming Dynasty would the author most probably agree?

Explanation

This is an inference question that could refer to nearly any part of the passage. Since there is no way to narrow down what the passage said about the Ming Dynasty, look at each answer choice.

Choice (A)  is incorrect. The first sentence of the paragraph tells us that the Ming was more open than previous dynasties, but we don’t know how it compared to those that followed.

(B)  is not only correct, it sums up much of the main point of the passage. The trade brought in silver, and when the silver dried up, it caused economic problems.

Choice (C)  is wrong, as all we know is that the Ming suffered from Japanese piracy, and Japanese silver was brokered through a third party.

(D)  is impossible to tell; if anything, the Protestant raids hurt the Ming.

(E)  could be true, but the passage only gives us one instance of treatment of foreigners, so we can’t draw a generalization.

Choice (B) is correct.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. The passage suggests that Ming-Japanese interaction different from Ming-Portuguese interaction in that

Explanation

The passage doesn’t tell us much about Ming-Japanese relations, other than that the Ming su¤ered  “Japanese piracy in coastal areas,”  and that other countries brokered silver between Japan and the Ming. Recognizing that limitation, we can eliminate each of the …rst four choices. We don’t know anything about the welcome granted the Japanese, whether they brokered goods from other sources, whether they were jailed, or whether they limited themselves to luxury goods. We do, however, know that they were considered illegal (that’s what piracy is), and the characterization of Portuguese trade in  (E)  is accurate as well.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

4. According to the passage, the Chinese were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese because

Explanation

The phrase  “according to the passage”  signals that this is a detail question. The correct answer should closely reflect some part of the passage. The Chinese reluctance is detailed in the first paragraph, including this:  “Given the contemporary Chinese experience of Japanese piracy in coastal areas, it is no surprise that authorities were skeptical of foreigners. . . ”  That’s  (D) , which is correct.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

5. Which of the following, if true, would seriously undermine the conclusion that in‡ation in silver values contributed to economic disaster for rural Chinese?

Explanation

This is a rare occurrence in a Reading Comprehension passage: a weaken question. It isolates which conclusion we’re to focus on, so we know we want a choice that explains why the inflation in silver values would not contribute to disaster for rural Chinese.

Choice (A)  is incorrect, as it explains what happens after the disaster.

(B)  doesn’t explain why silver wasn’t important; if anything, it sounds as if currency would’ve been very helpful.

(C)  weakens the conclusion as, if rural Chinese didn’t use hard currency (such as silver), the change in silver values would not have affected them.

Choice (D)  is irrelevant, as it doesn’t even tangentially address silver.

(E)  is also irrelevant: the question is about rural Chinese, not people anywhere else in the world.  Choice (C)  is correct.

Answer: C

gaba619 · Answer

Sajjad1994  
in 4th question , abducting the children was also given as a reason to not allow foreigners on Chinese soil so why it aint the answer?

guddo · Answer

4. According to the passage, the Chinese were reluctant to trade with the Portuguese because

The passage says the Chinese-Portuguese relationship was difficult for decades.  The main reason given  is that Chinese authorities were already suspicious of foreigners because of Japanese piracy along the coast. So the Portuguese were viewed through that  existing suspicion of outsiders .

(A) their attempts to make official contact with the Ming court were thought to be insincere

This is not stated. The passage says the Portuguese made elaborate formal efforts to open trade, not that the Chinese thought those efforts were fake.

(B) the climate effects of the Little Ice Age limited the goods they could offer in trade

This is incorrect. The Little Ice Age is mentioned later as a factor in economic disaster, not as a reason China was reluctant to trade with the Portuguese.

(C) the visitors were rumored to be abducting Chinese children

This is tempting, but too narrow. The passage mentions this rumor, but the broader explanation for Chinese reluctance is their existing suspicion of foreigners because of Japanese coastal piracy.

(D) bad experiences from coastal raids conducted by the Japanese affected their views of all non-Chinese

This is correct.  The passage says that, given the Chinese experience of Japanese piracy in coastal areas, it is not surprising that Chinese authorities were skeptical of foreigners.

(E) the Chinese traditionally avoided contact with outsiders, and the strong economy in the early Ming years provided no incentive to do otherwise

This is incorrect. The passage says Ming foreign trade reflected unusual openness, not traditional avoidance of outsiders.

Answer: (D)

egmat · Answer

Hi gaba619,

You're right that the child-kidnapping rumor  is  in the passage, so it feels like a fair pick. The trick is  what role  that sentence plays. Let's read the exact lines.

Paragraph  1  gives you a list of things that made the relationship "fractious":

"...died in a Chinese jail; the antics of the Portuguese ambassador's brother  fed rumors  that the Portuguese were kidnapping and eating Chinese children."

Notice the framing: these are  incidents  that describe  how bad  the relationship was - anecdotes, not the cause the author points to. Then comes the sentence that actually explains  why  the Chinese were wary:

" Given the contemporary Chinese experience of Japanese piracy  in coastal areas, it is no surprise that authorities were skeptical of foreigners..."

That "Given... it is no surprise" is the author telling you the  reason  for the reluctance - bad experiences with the Japanese coloring their view of  all  foreigners. That's exactly choice  D .

So the split is:

(C)  - a rumor the passage  mentions  as one symptom of the tense relationship.

(D)  - the underlying cause the passage explicitly  gives  for the reluctance.

Since the stem says "reluctant to trade...  because ," you want the stated cause, not an example of the friction.

A quick way to feel the difference:

"The dinner was a disaster: the soup was cold and a guest spilled wine.  Because  the host had never cooked before, no one expected much."

If asked  why  the dinner went badly, the answer is "the host had never cooked" - not "a guest spilled wine." The spill is an incident; the inexperience is the reason. Same structure here: the child rumor is the "spilled wine," the Japanese piracy is "never cooked before."

That's why  D  is correct.

Answer: D

Although Chinese foreign trade under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th cent

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Although Chinese foreign trade under the Ming Dynasty in the 16th cent

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