Some historians contend that conditions in the United States during th

Question

Some historians  contend that conditions in the United States during the Second World War gave rise to a dynamic wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community, an alliance that advanced the cause of civil rights. They conclude that the postwar demise of this vital alliance constituted a lost opportunity for the civil rights movement that followed the war. Other   scholars  , however, have portrayed organized labor as defending all along the relatively privileged position of White workers relative to African American workers.  Clearly, these two perspectives are not easily reconcilable, but the historical reality is not reducible to one or the other.

Unions faced a choice between either maintaining the prewar status quo or promoting a more inclusive approach that sought for all members the right to participate in the internal affairs of unions, access to skilled and high-paying positions within the occupational hierarchy, and protection against management's arbitrary authority in the workplace.  While union representatives often voiced this inclusive ideal, in practice unions far more often favored entrenched interests. The accelerating development of the civil rights movement following the Second World War exacerbated the  unions' dilemma , forcing trade unionists to confront contradictions in their own practices.   1 
1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. providing a context within which to evaluate opposing viewpoints about a historical phenomenon
B. identifying a flawed assumption underlying one interpretation of a historical phenomenon
C. assessing the merits and weaknesses of a controversial theory about a historical phenomenon
D. discussing the historical importance of the development of a wartime alliance
E. evaluating evidence used to support a particular interpretation of a historical phenomenon

2 
2. According to the passage, the historians (at the beginning) and the scholars ( highlight ) disagree about the

A. contribution made by organized labor to the war effort during the Second World War
B. issues that union members considered most important during the Second World War
C. relationship between unions and African Americans during the Second World War
D. effect of the Second World War on the influence of unions in the workplace
E. extent to which African Americans benefited from social and political changes following the Second World War

3 
3.Which of the following best describes the purpose of the first sentence ( highlight ) in the second paragraph in the passage?

A. To summarize a situation confronted by unions during the Second World War
B. To summarize the role of unions in the workplace during the Second World War
C. To explain the philosophy supported by most unions during the Second World War
D. To assess the effect of the growth of the civil rights movement on unions during the Second World War
E. To present a criticism of the unions' approach to representing workers during the Second World War

4 
4. Which of the following best summarizes the opinion of the author of the passage regarding the two points of view presented in the first paragraph ( highlight ) ?

A. Neither point of view reflects the views of certain African American historians on trade unions during the Second World War.
B. Neither point of view reflects the full complexity of the historical reality.
C. One point of view is based on more reliable research than is the other.
D. Both points of view have misinterpreted recent research on trade unions during the Second World War.
E. The two points of view can be readily harmonized into a coherent interpretation.

5 
5. The "unions' dilemma" ( highlight ) mentioned in the highlighted text can best be described as the question of whether or not to

A. pressure management to create more skilled and high-paying positions
B. fight for greater union participation in management decisions
C. include minority workers in their membership
D. extend full rights and benefits to all their members
E. emphasize the recruitment of new members over serving the needs of current members

6 
6. Which of the following best summarizes a point of view attributed to the historians mentioned in the highlighted text? ('Some historians, line 1')

A. Trade unions were weakened during the Second World War by their failure to establish a productive relationship with the African American community.
B. Trade unions and the African American community forged a lasting relationship after the Second World War based on their wartime alliance.
C. The cause of civil rights was not significantly affected by the wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community.
D. The civil rights movement that followed the Second World War forced trade unions to confront contradictions in their practices.
E. The civil rights movement would have benefited from a postwar continuation of the wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community

Source  :  GMATPREP Default Exam Pack 
 
Source of Passage : JOURNAL ARTICLE
Organized Labor and the Struggle for Black Equality in Mobile during World War II
Bruce Nelson
 The Journal of American History 
Vol. 80, No. 3 (Dec., 1993), pp. 952-988
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Organization of American Historians
DOI: 10.2307/2080410
 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2080410 
Page Count: 37

Some   historians   contend that conditions in the United States during the Second World War gave rise to a Line dynamic wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community, an alliance that advanced the cause of civil rights. They conclude that the postwar demise of this vital alliance constituted a lost opportunity for the civil rights movement that followed the war. Other   scholars  , however, have portrayed organized labor as defending all along the relatively privileged position of White workers relative to African American workers. Clearly, these two perspectives are not easily reconcilable, but the historical reality is not reducible to one or the other.

Unions faced a choice between either maintaining the prewar status quo or promoting a more inclusive approach that sought for all members the right to participate in the internal affairs of unions, access to skilled and high-paying positions within the occupational hierarchy, and protection against management's arbitrary authority in the workplace. While 
union representatives often voiced this inclusive ideal, in practice unions far more often favored entrenched interests. The accelerating development of the civil rights movement 
following the Second World War exacerbated the union's dilemma, forcing trade unionists to confront contradictions in their own practices.  According to the passage, the historians mentioned in the first highlighted portion of text and the scholars mentioned in the second highlighted portion disagree about the
(A) contribution made by organized labor to the war effort during the Second World War
(B) issues that union members considered most important during the second World war.
(C) relationship between unions and African Americans during the Second World War.
(D) effect of the Second World War on the influence of unions in the workplace
(E) extent to which African Americans benefited from social and political changes following the Second World War.

OA=C
 1

Skywalker18 · Accepted Answer

Took almost 11 mins to answer 6 questions , including 3 mins to read the passage . All correct though .

1. The passage is primarily concerned with
A. providing a context within which to evaluate opposing viewpoints about a historical phenomenon -- the 2 views are of some historians and other scholars as stated in first paragraph.

2. According to the passage, the historians (at the beginning) and the scholars (highlight) disagree about the
C. relationship between unions and African Americans during the Second World War 
-- View 1 (of historians) - dynamic wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community, an alliance that advanced the cause of civil rights. They conclude that the postwar demise of this vital alliance constituted a lost opportunity for the civil rights movement that followed the war.
-- View 2(scholars) -- organized labor as defending all along the relatively privileged position of White workers relative to African American workers

3.Which of the following best describes the purpose of the first sentence (highlight) in the second paragraph in the passage? 
A. To summarize a situation confronted by unions during the Second World War --Unions faced a choice between either maintaining the prewar status quo or promoting a more inclusive approach that sought for all members.....

4. Which of the following best summarizes the opinion of the author of the passage regarding the two points of view presented in the first paragraph (highlight) ?

B. Neither point of view reflects the full complexity of the historical reality. --Clearly, these two perspectives are not easily reconcilable, but the historical reality is not reducible to one or the other.

5. The "unions' dilemma" (highlight) mentioned in the highlighted text can best be described as the question of whether or not to
D. extend full rights and benefits to all their members --refer first few lines of para 2

6. Which of the following best summarizes a point of view attributed to the historians mentioned in the highlighted text? ('Some historians, line 1')
E. The civil rights movement would have benefited from a postwar continuation of the wartime alliance between trade unions and the African American community --They conclude that the postwar demise of this vital alliance constituted a lost opportunity for the civil rights movement that followed the war.

minhaz3333 · Answer

Hello ,

For your help, First lets understand how can we derive a main point - 
from the para 1, Author gives   two contradicting views on a historical phenomenon(the alliance of trade union and African Americans).  
but in the last line Author mentions - the historical reality is not reducible to one(view point of some historians) or the other(view point of other scholars). 
from para 2 , Author here gives his opinion about actually what happened.
  Trade Union's dilemma    (why the contradiction between two viewpoints mentioned in the para 1 happened.!)
Now you can form a main point about the passage by combining the two main points of para 1 and para 2.

presenting the two viewpoints about alliance and then evaluating the phenomenon.   (the option A)

option D is wrong because it contains the partial scope (only represent a detail in paragraph one.)
another thing is 
 discussing the  historical importance of the development of  a wartime alliance.
the bold part is really not the point author wants to convey us.
I do not see that the "importance of the development of the alliance between TU and AA" is the main purpose why author wrote the Passage.

I hope it helps.

eschn3am · Answer

The first passage can be interpreted as "there was a union during the war, but it fell apart immediately after" while the second passage is saying there never was a union, before or after the war. They're both agreeing that there was no union and no advancement after WWII.

I see what you're saying and it does look like a viable option, but I'm sticking with C on this one.

eschn3am · Answer

aaah. I was wondering whether something was missing. I'm still sticking with C however.

A. passage doesn't talk about any contribution to the war effort at all.
B. it's not talking about issues the members consider important, just the relationship between African Americans and the unions.
C. the historians say there was a relationship during the war, the scholars say there never was. this is the disagreement
D. doesn't say anything about the influence of unions in the workplace
E. while the disagree about any relationship during the war, both historians and scholars seem to agree that African Americans were no better off following the war

AlinderPatel · Answer

The "unions' dilemma" (underlined 2nd para) mentioned in the text can best be described as the question of whether or not to

A). pressure management to create more skilled and high-paying positions
B). fight for greater union participation in management decisions 
C). include minority workers in their membership 
D). extend full rights and benefits to all their members
E). emphasize the recruitment of new members over the serving needs of the current members

Can someone explain which is the correct answer and why the rest are wrong? Thanks!

goalsnr · Answer

Some historians: Alliance between Trade Unions and African Americans /Civil rights during WW2
Others:Organised labor was used to promote the White Labourers rights during WW2.
Conclusion of para 1: Unions had to make a choice

A. contribution made by organized labor to the war effort during the Second World
War
>>>address only the statement made by "others"
B. issues that union members considered most important during the Second World
War
>>>OOS
C. relationship between unions and African Americans during the Second World
War
>>>>>>address only the statement made by "Some historians"
  D. effect of the Second World War on the influence of unions in the workplace
>>>discusses the Unions in general  
E. extent to which African Americans benefited from social and political changes
following the Second World War
>>>>>>>>>address only the statement made by "Some historians"

gmaggi · Answer

1. b
a. contradicts the fact
b. answer 
c. no reference in para
d.similar to the copy point...but doesn't talk abt difficulty
e.point is about setting a new standard of service, not on par

2.e
a. not an exceptional case.
b. doesn't mention abt urgency of investment in other areas 
c. no analysis info is mentioned
d. it does the reverse.
e. answer

3.b
a.it's not odd.
b.answer
c.no reference to the attribute types.
d.no..the merit is singled out from the demerits.
e.no time discussion mentioned

gmativy · Answer

To attack a passage, one can use help from using Headline Highlights.

P1: Hist: US condition in WW2 led to alliance (UNION + Af-Am comm.)
 Alliance disappeared - bad to civil right movement
 Sch: UNION is pro white all along

P2: UNION has 2 choices: stay same or inclusion ideal
 UNION rep say inclusion ideal but practices the other
 Movement after WWII forced union to straight out dilemma

Disagreement lies on whether UNION helps AF-AM community or the White

Answer choices:
A) contribution to WWII not mentioned
B) most important issues? Not mentioned nor argued upon
D) effect of WWII, the passage is about UNION 
E) changes after WWII and its effect on Af-am community... Not disputed...

Is the union helping Af am or not? C is the closest...

DonQuixote · Answer

The reasoning behind the answer being C is as follows:

1) Based on lines 1-11, the historians mentioned in line 1 believe that during WW2, the trade unions had a great relationship with the African-American community.
2) Based on lines 11-16, the scholars mentioned in line 11 instead believe that the trade unions never had a good relationship with African-Americans, and instead chose to stymie their movement toward equal rights even during WW2.
1+2 = 3) Therefore, the historians in line 1 and the scholars in line 11 are at odds regarding the relationship between trade unions and African-Americans during the course of WW2.

Within the passage, there is no mention of the opinion of either of these groups about the effect of WW2 on the civil rights movement. Instead, we only have the author's opinion. That is why D isn't the answer.

- MrFong

mbaiseasy · Answer

According to the passage, the historians mentioned in the first highlighted portion of text and the scholars mentioned in the second highlighted portion disagree about the

The historians and scholars disagree about the contribution made by unions to civil rights movement.

(A) contributions to war effort... Is not the issue...

(B) most important to both... We don't know...

(C) unions formed alliance with afr. Americans while scholars believed this as not the case...

(D) effect of war on workplace ... Not mentioned...

(E) post war is not what they disagree about but during war conditions...

Answer: C

mbaiseasy · Answer

The author stated two opposing views by historians and scholars. He mentioned that it is not the first nor is the second view correct. Then he presented a his view. The author is more on identifying the flaw rather than evaluating the two views. This makes A wrong.

C is wrong because he gave no merit to the two views in the first paragraph.

D is wrong because this is not about the importance of war alliance.

E. there are no evidence for the two opposing views. The author presented his argument instead.

Answer to me is B. what's the OA? I think it's b because the assumption is that the historians or the scholar is right, at least one of them or their views are reconcilable which according the the author is not the case.

AndreiGMAT · Answer

2. According to the passage, the historians (at the beginning) and the scholars (highlight) disagree about the
A. contribution made by organized labor to the war effort during the Second World War
 passage did not mention anything about contribution 
B. issues that union members considered most important during the Second World War
 nothing said about issues either 
C. relationship between unions and African Americans during the Second World War
 Yes. Histories contend: African Americans should make alliance with trade unions. Scholars concider organized labor as defending all along the relatively privileged position of White workers relative to African American workers. Obviously, Scholars don't want an alliance between AA and trade unions. 
D. effect of the Second World War on the influence of unions in the workplace
 the historians did not disagree on that 
E. extent to which African Americans benefited from social and political changes following the Second World War
 Nowhere in the passage it states that AA benefited from social and political changes following the Second World War

AndreiGMAT · Answer

To answer a first question, let's fist find the Conclusion of the passage:  Clearly, these two perspectives are not easily reconcilable, but the historical reality is not reducible to one or the other.

Two perspectives = opposing viewpoints. The fist paragraph gives information about two opposing theories. The second paragraph provides evidences about the challenges that trade unions faced after WWII.

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. providing a context within which to evaluate opposing viewpoints about a historical phenomenon
  I would not say it is the best answer, rather it is the closest one. The passage talks about two opposing theorie and provides evidences to evaluate them.  
B. identifying a flawed assumption underlying one interpretation of a historical phenomenon
  There are two distinct theories, not a historical phenomenon.   
C. assessing the merits and weaknesses of a controversial theory about a historical phenomenon
  The passage merely says that the theories were contradictory, without assessing of their merits and weaknesses  
D. discussing the historical importance of the development of a wartime alliance
  The war alliance between U.S., Britain, France, USSR was important, but it is not mentioned in the passage  
E. evaluating evidence used to support a particular interpretation of a historical phenomenon
  There were two distinct theories, not a historical phenomenon.

oasis90 · Answer

1. The passage is primarily concerned with
A. providing a context within which to evaluate opposing viewpoints about a historical phenomenon
B. identifying a flawed assumption underlying one interpretation of a historical phenomenon
C. assessing the merits and weaknesses of a controversial theory about a historical phenomenon
D. discussing the historical importance of the development of a wartime alliance
E. evaluating evidence used to support a particular interpretation of a historical phenomenon

Can someone please explain why D is NOT the answer. I can see why A is the answer but I can not see why D is not the answer. The passage does talk about a wartime alliance between Trade unions and African american community and discusses in the first paragraph 2 views that relate to its importance to the civil rights movement. I can see how A is a better answer but am trying to find strong reasons to reject D.

NandishSS · Answer

HI  GMATNinja ,  mikemcgarry ,  RonPurewal ,  DmitryFarber ,  MagooshExpert  (Carolyn),  ccooley ,  GMATGuruNY

In the above question  protection against management's arbitrary authority in the workplace  doesn't mean B?

pandeyashwin · Answer

No , that is one of the benefits which the members of the union receive.

Dilemma is "Unions faced a choice between either maintaining the prewar status quo or promoting a more inclusive approach that sought for all members"

Benefits which members of the union receive are "the right to participate in the internal affairs of unions, access to skilled and high-paying positions within the occupational hierarchy, and protection against management's arbitrary authority in the workplace."

Kritisood · Answer

Ques 5. The "unions' dilemma" (underlined 2nd para) mentioned in the text can best be described as the question of whether or not to A). pressure management to create more skilled and high-paying positions B). fight for greater union participation in management decisions C). include minority workers in their membership D). extend full rights and benefits to all their members (2nd para third line) E). emphasize the recruitment of new members over the serving needs of the current members Let me know if you need any further explanation

Xolmuhammad · Answer

Gmat Ninja and other experts, can you please explain Q2?

bM22 · Answer

HI  Xolmuhammad ,

Please refer this answer here:
 https://gmatclub.com/forum/some-historians-contend-that-conditions-in-the-united-states-during-th-56739.html#p1720933

Let me know if you still have doubts.

Thanks.

Some historians contend that conditions in the United States during th

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Some historians contend that conditions in the United States during th

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