Barring accidents, a good hobo, with youth and agility, can hold a tra

Question

Adapted from Jack London’s The Road (1907)

Barring accidents, a good hobo, with youth and agility, can hold a train down despite all the efforts of the train-crew to "ditch" him—given, of course, night-time as an essential condition. When such a hobo, under such conditions, makes up his mind that he is going to hold her down, either he does hold her down, or chance trips him up. There is no legitimate way, short of murder, whereby the train-crew can ditch him. That train-crews have not stopped short of murder is a current belief in the tramp world. Not having had that particular experience in my tramp days I cannot vouch for it personally.

But this I have heard of the "bad" roads. When a tramp has "gone underneath," on the rods, and the train is in motion, there is apparently no way of dislodging him until the train stops. The tramp, snugly ensconced inside the truck, with the four wheels and all the framework around him, has the "cinch" on the crew—or so he thinks, until some day he rides the rods on a bad road. A bad road is usually one on which a short time previously one or several trainmen have been killed by tramps. Heaven pity the tramp who is caught "underneath" on such a road—for caught he is, though the train be going sixty miles an hour.

The "shack" (brakeman) takes a coupling-pin and a length of bell-cord to the platform in front of the truck in which the tramp is riding. The shack fastens the coupling-pin to the bell- cord, drops the former down between the platforms, and pays out the latter. The coupling-pin strikes the ties between the rails, rebounds against the bottom of the car, and again strikes the ties. The shack plays it back and forth, now to this side, now to the other, lets it out a bit and hauls it in a bit, giving his weapon opportunity for every variety of impact and rebound. Every blow of that flying coupling-pin is freighted with death, and at sixty miles an hour it beats a veritable tattoo of death. The next day the remains of that tramp are gathered up along the right of way, and a line in the local paper mentions the unknown man, undoubtedly a tramp, assumably drunk, who had probably fallen asleep on the track.    1 
 1. The author ends the passage by noting the newspaper says the man feel asleep in order to __________.

A. show how little people care about tramps
B. show sympathy with the train crew that finds a man under the train
C. mock the hobo who gets "caught" under a train
D. convince the reader that trains are an incredibly dangerous form of transportation
E. indicate the dangers of sleeping on train tracks

2 
 2. Given the author's description of the train crew's behavior, which of the following is an analogous behavior?

A. A senator who ignores his constituents' needs for his own profit.
B. An airline pilot who forces a rowdy passenger off of the plane before take-off.
C. A school principal who makes many students drop out of school due to excessively harsh rules.
D. A ship captain who allows a stowaway to fall of the deck through the normal actions of the working of the ship.
E. A football coach who advises his own players to seriously injure the opposing players.

3 
 3. If the author included the perspective of the train crew, what effect would that have on the overall perspective of the passage?

A. It would create confusion over the actual circumstances of a hobo's death.
B. It would make the local newspapers look more untrustworthy.
C. It would portray the train crew as malicious and vindictive.
D. It would portray the hobos in a less favorable light.
E. It would make train crews much less sympathetic to the reader.

4 
 4. What can be inferred about the position of the average newspaper reporter regarding hobos?

A. They see hoboes as a quintessential part of American society.
B. They view the hobo lifestyle as a romantic endeavor.
C. They believe train crews should be prosecuted when they harm hoboes.
D. They believe hoboes should be protected by new governmental regulations.
E. They generally look down on the hobo lifestyle.

RC Butler 2023  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 175 Date: 02-Jun-2023
 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 .  Click here for Details

arj003 · Answer

Is the second question actually related to the passage?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello arj003

Welcome to GMAT Club!

Thank you! Fixed the issue.

Ruchi007 · Answer

Sajjad1994  Can you please share the explanation of question 3?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. If the author included the perspective of the train crew, what effect would that have on the overall perspective of the passage?

Explanation

A. It would create confusion over the actual circumstances of a hobo's death. 
Including the train crew's perspective would not necessarily create confusion over the circumstances of a hobo's death. The passage already describes the methods used by the train crew to dislodge hobos from the train, resulting in potential fatalities. Adding the train crew's perspective would provide additional information about their actions but would not necessarily confuse the circumstances of the hobo's death.

B. It would make the local newspapers look more untrustworthy. 
Including the train crew's perspective would not directly impact the trustworthiness of local newspapers. The passage briefly mentions the local newspaper reporting on the death of an unknown tramp, but the inclusion of the train crew's perspective would not affect how trustworthy or untrustworthy the newspapers appear.

C. It would portray the train crew as malicious and vindictive. 
The passage already implies that train crews may resort to extreme measures, such as murder, to get rid of hobos. While including the train crew's perspective could potentially provide further insight into their motivations and actions, it would not necessarily portray them as more malicious or vindictive than the current description suggests.

E. It would make train crews much less sympathetic to the reader. 
Including the train crew's perspective might provide a more balanced view of the situation, but it wouldn't automatically make train crews less sympathetic to the reader. The current passage focuses on the experiences and resourcefulness of the hobos, which might engender sympathy towards them. Adding the train crew's perspective could provide context and understanding for their actions, potentially challenging or altering the reader's sympathy but not necessarily eliminating it altogether.

Answer: D

Akshajagarwal119 · Answer

can you please share the explanation of question 4?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. What can be inferred about the position of the average newspaper reporter regarding hobos?

Explanation

A. They see hoboes as a quintessential part of American society.

This option is not supported by the passage. The passage does not provide information about the perspective of the average newspaper reporter regarding hobos as a quintessential part of American society.

B. They view the hobo lifestyle as a romantic endeavor.

This option is not supported by the passage. The passage does not indicate that the average newspaper reporter views the hobo lifestyle as a romantic endeavor. It primarily focuses on the dangers faced by hobos and the actions taken by train crews.

C. They believe train crews should be prosecuted when they harm hoboes.

This option is not supported by the passage. The passage does not mention the viewpoint of the average newspaper reporter regarding prosecuting train crews when they harm hobos. It primarily describes the methods used by train crews to dislodge tramps from trains.

D. They believe hoboes should be protected by new governmental regulations.

This option is not supported by the passage. The passage does not discuss the viewpoint of the average newspaper reporter regarding the protection of hobos by new governmental regulations.

E. They generally look down on the hobo lifestyle.

This option is the correct answer. The passage suggests that the average newspaper reporter generally looks down on the hobo lifestyle. The tone of the passage is negative towards hobos, describing the dangers they face and the potentially fatal actions taken by train crews to dislodge them. The passage does not present a sympathetic or positive view of the hobo lifestyle.

Answer: E

Aashi108 · Answer

Can someone help me understand #2 please?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. Given the author's description of the train crew's behavior, which of the following is an analogous behavior?

Explanation

In the passage, it is stated that when a tramp is riding underneath a train, there is apparently no way of dislodging him until the train stops. However, on a bad road, where trainmen have been killed by tramps previously, the crew takes a coupling-pin and a length of bell-cord to the platform in front of the truck in which the tramp is riding. They play the coupling-pin back and forth, striking the ties between the rails, which results in the tramp being killed.

Similarly, in the analogous behavior described in option D, a ship captain allows a stowaway to fall off the deck through the normal actions of the working of the ship. This suggests that the ship captain takes advantage of the ship's movements or actions, which ultimately results in the stowaway falling off the deck and possibly being harmed or killed.

The other options (A, B, C, and E) do not accurately capture the analogous behavior described in the passage. These options involve different scenarios or actions that are not directly related to the train crew's behavior of using the train's movements to harm or kill the tramp.

Answer: D

Prob2303 · Answer

Hello Sajjad,

Can you please give a brief summary of this passage? I didn't understand it.

Thanks,
Probir

Barring accidents, a good hobo, with youth and agility, can hold a tra

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Barring accidents, a good hobo, with youth and agility, can hold a tra

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