Hi everyone,
Got 5/7 correct in 12:20 minutes, including 4:10 minutes to read and 8:10 minutes to answer the questions.
P1In the first paragraph the author introduces two viewpoints about assimilation of puerto ricans in America. Then the author proceeds by presenting the first viewpoint and the shortcomings associted with it.
Purpose: Present one of the two viewpoints and the shortcomings associated with it
P2In the second paragraph the author presents the second point of view.
Purpose: To present the second point of view
P3In the last Paragraph the author disregards both point of views, explaining why such views are incorrect
Purpose: To refute both viewpoints, explaining why they are incorrect
Main pointTo refute two viewpoints
1. The author's main purpose is to
Pre-thinking
Main point question
(A) criticize the emphasis on social standing in discussions of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans in the United States
(B) support the thesis that assimilation has not been a benign process for Puerto Ricans
(C) defend a view of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans that emphasizes the preservation of national culture
(D) indicate deficiencies in two schools of thought on the assimilation of Puerto Ricans in the United States
(E) reject the attempt to formulate a general frame. work for discussion of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans in the United States
2. According to the passage, cultural accommodation is promoted by
Pre-thinking
Detail question
There is, of course, a strong tradition of cultural accommodation among other Puerto Rican thinkers. The writings of Eugenio Fernandez Mendez clearly exemplify this tradition, and many supporters of Puerto Rico's commonwealth status share the same universalizing orientation.
(A) Eduardo Seda-Bonilla
(B) Manuel Maldonado-Denis
(C) the author of Divided Society
(D) the majority of social scientists writing on immigration
(E) many supporters of Puerto Rico's common-wealth status
3. It can be inferred from the passage that a writer such as Eugenio Fernandez Mendez would most likely agree with which of the following statements concerning members of minority ethnic groups?
Pre-thinking
Inference question
This is the relevant portion of the passage:
There is, of course, a strong tradition of cultural accommodation among other Puerto Rican thinkers. The writings of Eugenio Fernandez Mendez clearly exemplify this tradition, and many supporters of Puerto Rico's commonwealth status share the same universalizing orientation.
(A) It is necessary for the members of such groups to adapt to the culture of the majority.
EM supports cultural accomodation, hence this might be our option.(B) The members of such groups generally encounter a culture that is static and undifferentiated.
cannot be inferred(C) Social mobility is the most important feature of the experience of members of such groups.
cannot be inferred(D) Social scientists should emphasize the cultural and political aspects of the experience of members of such groups.
EM take on social scientist is uknown(E) The assimilation of members of such groups requires the forced abandonment of them authentic national roots.
cannot be inferred4. The author implies that the Puerto Rican writers who have written most about assimilation do NOT do which of the following?
Pre-thinking
Assumption question
But the Puerto Rican intellectuals who have written most about the assimilation process in the United States all advance cultural nationalist views, advocating the preservation of minority cultural distinctions and rejecting what they see as the subjugation of rani colonial nationalities.
(A) Regard assimilation as benign.
Opposite, they think of it as "subjugation". Hence correct(B) Resist cultural integration.
Yes they do that(C) Describe in detail the process of assimilation.
as a matter of fact such Writers are the ones who wrote the most(D) Take into account the colonial nature of the Puerto Rican case.
I would say that it is plausible. The social scientists did not and had the opposite view of such Writers.(E) Criticize supporters of Puerto Rico's commonwealth status.
Again plausible as such Writers had their opposite view
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the "colonialist" approach is so called because its practitioners
Pre-thinking
Inference question
I would say that it is because they take into account the colonial nature of Puerto Rico.
The first three options are quite easy to eliminate. Contendents here are D and E but from our pre-thinking we know that E is the correct option as it rephrase the idea that those people take into account the colonial aspect, hence they consider the political relation (colony, Usa) as important.
D is tempting because from P3 we know that the colonialists do that. Option E nonnetheless is wrong because it answers a different question because we are asked the meaning of the name colonialist. Option D is just out of context.
(A) support Puerto Rico's commonwealth status
(B) have a strong tradition of cultural accommodation
(C) emphasize the class relations at work in both Puerto Rican and North American history
(D) pose the clash of national cultures as an absolute polarity in which each culture is understood as static and undifferentiated
(E) regard the political relation of Puerto Rico to the United States as a significant factor in the experience of Puerto Ricans
6. The author regards the emphasis by island-based writers on the cultural and political dimensions of assimilation as
Pre-thinking
Detail question
From P3:
This cultural and political emphasis is appropriate, but the colonialist thinkers misdirect it, overlooking the class relations at work in both Puerto Rican and North American history.
(A) ironic
(B) dangerous
(C) fitting but misdirected
(D) illuminating but easily misunderstood
(E) peculiar but benign
7. The example discussed in lines 51-54 is intended by the author to illustrate a
Pre-thinking
Function question
To answer function questions usually it is sufficient to look at the sentence before the example to answer the question.
Yet both the Puerto Rican and North American traditions have been subject to constant challenge from cultural forces within their own societies, forces that may move toward each other in ways that cannot be written off as mere "assimilation."
(A) strength of the sociodemographic approach
(B) strength of the "colonialist" approach
(C) weakness of the sociodemographic approach
(D) weakness of the "colonialist" approach
Correct as here the author is disputing the colonialist point of view(E) weakness of the cultural-accommodationist approach
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