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Sub 505 Level|   Business|   Short Passage|                              
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 12 Oct 2020, 19:05
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Quote:
5. Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?

A. It provides evidence tending to undermine the viewpoint of the scholars mentioned in line 5.
B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph.
C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters.
D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century.
E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy.
Show more


I understood how D is an answer. But D is an exception and it is exception because what qualifies in exception is very small part of things happening in generic.
I like pizza. Exception: i don't like pizza from new york.

Here the key message : in general i like pizza. I should not focus on pizza from new york.

SImilarly , i understood why D is answer because of exception.

But why not B can be answer. It talks more in general about role ( except south) by "most" historians against "some" scholars mentioned in first passage.

Some people say X. Many people say Y with exception in one city.
Should not what many people say Y important than some people say X that may match to in just one area.

please suggest.

What can I do or change in thinking that i chose D in future in such questions?

GMATNinja AndrewN sir VeritasKarishma
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 13 Oct 2020, 07:49
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Quote:
5. Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?

A. It provides evidence tending to undermine the viewpoint of the scholars mentioned in line 5.
B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph.
C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters.
D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century.
E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy.


I understood how D is an answer. But D is an exception and it is exception because what qualifies in exception is very small part of things happening in generic.
I like pizza. Exception: i don't like pizza from new york.

Here the key message : in general i like pizza. I should not focus on pizza from new york.

SImilarly , i understood why D is answer because of exception.

But why not B can be answer. It talks more in general about role ( except south) by "most" historians against "some" scholars mentioned in first passage.

Some people say X. Many people say Y with exception in one city.
Should not what many people say Y important than some people say X that may match to in just one area.

please suggest.

What can I do or change in thinking that i chose D in future in such questions?

GMATNinja AndrewN sir VeritasKarishma
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Hello, imSKR. Choice (B) does not make sense because pointing out an exception does not in and of itself resolve a conflict. There must be some sort of consensus reached between opposing parties to resolve a conflict. Whenever I approach any Verbal question, I look for keywords to potentially argue against. The answer choice that presents few, if any, words for me to successfully challenge is the option I end up choosing. The following is my breakdown of keywords in each answer choice to measure against the question and the information presented in the passage:
Quote:
5. Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?

A. It provides evidence tending to undermine the viewpoint of the scholars mentioned in line 5.
B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph.
C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters.
D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century.
E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy.
Show more

In my first pass of the answer choices, I look to get rid of what I know is incorrect; in a follow-up pass, I debate the relative weaknesses of what remains. It is an effective strategy, one that can help reduce the time spent on each question as well as the mental energy exhausted to arrive at the most reasonable answer.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me. (Since you already understood (D), I did not feel the need to address it.)

- Andrew
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 29 Oct 2020, 13:01
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I want to understand the difference among the choices of Q1.
I request experts to help me with it please.
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 31 Oct 2020, 09:42
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VIBHOJAIN
I want to understand the difference among the choices of Q1.
I request experts to help me with it please.
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Hi VIBHOJAIN,

Please refer this link:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/historians-remain-divided-over-the-role-of-banks-in-facilitating-eco-222700.html#p1968553



Let me know if you still have doubts.
Thanks.
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 10 Nov 2020, 18:52
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Question 1


VIBHOJAIN
I want to understand the difference among the choices of Q1.
I request experts to help me with it please.
Show more
To answer general questions like this one, it’s good to first break down the structure of the passage as a whole:

Paragraph 1:

  • The author describes the lack of consensus (“Historians remain divided”) regarding a certain topic (“the role of banks in facilitating economic growth in the United States in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries”).
  • The author then presents the argument of scholars who believe that “banks played a minor role in the nation’s growing economy.”

Paragraph 2:

  • The author presents the argument of different scholars who contend that banks played a large role--that “banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy.”
  • The key phrase here is “in contrast”--we have two opposing arguments.
  • By presenting these two opposing arguments, the author supports the statement that "historians remain divided."

Now let’s now go through each choice, keeping in mind that we are looking for the primary purpose of the passage.

Quote:
A. compare the economic role played by southern banks with the economic role played by banks in the rest of the United States during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
Show more
The southern banks are mentioned as an exception to the general opinion (held by some scholars) that banks played a large role--so it's a detail about one of the two opposing views presented in the passage. But this detail is presented within a much broader context that revolves around the division among historians.

While the passage does mention the role played by southern banks, the primary purpose of the passage is about the division between historians, not about comparing southern banks to other banks in the US.

Let's eliminate (A).

Quote:
B. reevaluate a conventional interpretation of the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
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First, we know that the passage discusses two interpretations of the role played by banks, not just one. Second, the author does not evaluate (or reevaluate) either of those interpretations. Instead, the author simply provides a summary of each.

We can get rid of (B).

Quote:
C. present different interpretations of the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
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Here the key words are present, different, and interpretations. In he first sentence of the passage, the author claims that "historians remain divided." Elaborating on this statement, the author shows us (or presents) two fundamentally different scholarly positions (interpretations): 1) that banks played a minor role and 2) that banks played large role.

The overarching goal is to show the reader that there are different interpretations when it comes to the role played by banks.

(C) seems pretty accurate, so let's keep it for now.

Quote:
D. analyze how the increasing number of banks in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries affected the American economy
Show more
The passage does mention the increasing number of banks in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (lines 19-22). And the passage does state that this increase affected the American economy. But does the passage analyze how this increase affected the American economy? Not really.

The author simply presents two opposing views. The increasing number of banks in the late 18th and early 19th centuries is relevant to one of those views, but this detail does not represent the overall purpose of the passage.

(C) was a much better choice, so let's get rid of (D).

Quote:
E. examine how scholarly opinion regarding the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has changed over time
Show more
You might be tempted by this answer because the author discusses scholarly opinions and introduces the second opinion as being supported by a “growing number of historians.” Sure, this suggests some change over time, but the author doesn't examine or focus on that change.

Instead, the author focuses on the different opinions held by historians. We can eliminate (E).

By process of elimination, (C) is our answer.

I hope that helps!
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 16 Jan 2021, 13:18
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Please help in explaining the second and last questions this passage.. Your help is much appreciated
Quote:
(420) The passage suggests that the scholars mentioned in line 4 would argue that the reason banks tended not to fund manufacturing and transportation projects in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was that
As explained in the last sentence of the first paragraph, financial institutions (such as banks) followed conservative lending practices and shunned projects that were uncertain (i.e. risky) and capital-intensive, such as manufacturing and transportation projects. This implies that banks following conservative lending practices would prefer less risky projects.

So we know that banks tended not to fund manufacturing and transportation projects in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Why?... because those banks, which followed conservative lending practices, preferred less risky projects. This reason is summarized in choice (B):
Quote:
(B) [manufacturing and transportation] projects entailed a level of risk that was too great for banks’ conservative lending practices
As for the last question,
Quote:
(423) Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?
A. It provides evidence tending to undermine the viewpoint of the scholars mentioned in line 5.
B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph.
C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters.
D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century.
E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy.
The purpose of the second paragraph is to explain the historians' belief (or "claim") that banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy. Does this claim have any stated limitations? Yes--as explained in the last sentence of the passage, those same historians argued that, in the South, there was an exception to this general trend. So the last sentence modifies and limits ("qualifies") the historians' claim that banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy, and the answer is (D).

I hope this helps!
Show more

GMATNinja,

To be clear is the suggestion here that E is wrong solely because of its use of "support"? The rest of E is correct to me. In fact, it's taken verbatim:
"...expansion and democratization of credit in the early nineteenth century became the driving force of the American economy" (according to Paul Gilje)

Would you also be able to comment whether on the exam, the "Lines" (e.g. Line 5) are numbered? I see references to specific lines in the answer choices so are we supposed to figure that out on our own?
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 21 Jan 2021, 11:32
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Question 5


CEdward
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gamerguy0074
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Please help in explaining the second and last questions this passage.. Your help is much appreciated
Quote:
(423) Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?
A. It provides evidence tending to undermine the viewpoint of the scholars mentioned in line 5.
B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph.
C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters.
D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century.
E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy.
The purpose of the second paragraph is to explain the historians' belief (or "claim") that banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy. Does this claim have any stated limitations? Yes--as explained in the last sentence of the passage, those same historians argued that, in the South, there was an exception to this general trend. So the last sentence modifies and limits ("qualifies") the historians' claim that banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy, and the answer is (D).

I hope this helps!

GMATNinja,

To be clear is the suggestion here that E is wrong solely because of its use of "support"? The rest of E is correct to me. In fact, it's taken verbatim:
"...expansion and democratization of credit in the early nineteenth century became the driving force of the American economy" (according to Paul Gilje)

Would you also be able to comment whether on the exam, the "Lines" (e.g. Line 5) are numbered? I see references to specific lines in the answer choices so are we supposed to figure that out on our own?
Show more
As you suggested, the problem with (E) is that the final sentence does not SUPPORT the idea that the expansion of credit became the driving force of the American economy. Rather, it LIMITS, or qualifies, that claim by saying that the expansion of credit did not have as large of an impact in the South. For that reason, we can eliminate (E).

One thing to be careful about on question 5 is “word-matching.” Just because an answer choice contains terminology or language borrowed from the passage does not mean that the answer choice is correct. This is actually something to be mindful of on all CR/RC questions. As silly as it may sound, be sure to understand the meaning of an answer choice and not just match words with the passage.

The lines on the GMAT will not be numbered, but if you are asked a question about a particular sentence, word, or phrase found in the passage, the test will often indicate where that is found in the passage, typically by highlighting it. Pretty!

I hope that helps!
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 06 Feb 2021, 01:49
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Can some explain 422 and 423. I've selected option B for both the questions.
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 06 Feb 2021, 02:55
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PradeepVemuri
Can some explain 422 and 423. I've selected option B for both the questions.
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I think if you read page1 , you would find why you falter in Q422 ( qualifies means limits and that's key to the question) . read post1, post2

423: atpost3
( the key to understand this questions is : to banks were seen as monopolistic institutions controlled by an elite group of planters.

I was pretty clear after reading these posts. Its better you mention specific doubts, if any.
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 27 Feb 2021, 02:35
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It seems like a very trivial doubt that I have, but want to go ahead and post it anyways.

In the first question, It asks about the primary PURPOSE of the passage. I can't help but think that the OA would have been more fitting had the question asked for the MAIN IDEA instead of the PURPOSE. I was confused between B and C, but marked B thinking that B is talking more about the purpose rather than C. C was of course the MAIN IDEA of the passage. Anyone can clarify on this doubt please ? Thanks for the help :)
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 03 Mar 2021, 08:10
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It took me 14 minutes to solve the passage but I got it all correct! For the first time in my GMAT journey!
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 03 Mar 2021, 10:29
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dipen22
It seems like a very trivial doubt that I have, but want to go ahead and post it anyways.

In the first question, It asks about the primary PURPOSE of the passage. I can't help but think that the OA would have been more fitting had the question asked for the MAIN IDEA instead of the PURPOSE. I was confused between B and C, but marked B thinking that B is talking more about the purpose rather than C. C was of course the MAIN IDEA of the passage. Anyone can clarify on this doubt please ? Thanks for the help :)
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Hello, dipen22. It sounds as if you read too much into the phrasing of a patent question: main idea and primary purpose are used synonymously in these "big picture" questions. (I have also seen central idea, but probably on a different test.) As you continue to practice, you will get a feel for the different question types, to the point that you will be able to engage directly with the answer choices (i.e. without pondering what the question stem is driving at). Just learn from this one and apply that knowledge to similar questions you may encounter down the line.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 03 Mar 2021, 10:33
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C. present different interpretations of the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 03 Mar 2021, 10:33
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It took me 14 minutes to solve the passage but I got it all correct! For the first time in my GMAT journey!
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Congratulations, jarbit. I know the thrill of such an achievement. At first, I thought many RC questions had arbitrary answers, but once I took it upon myself to dissect the answer choices and get to the bottom of what, exactly, made each one incorrect or less debatable, I started to get more questions correct. With consistent results, you learn to trust your methods, so keep it up.

- Andrew
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 07 Mar 2021, 09:50
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dipen22
It seems like a very trivial doubt that I have, but want to go ahead and post it anyways.

In the first question, It asks about the primary PURPOSE of the passage. I can't help but think that the OA would have been more fitting had the question asked for the MAIN IDEA instead of the PURPOSE. I was confused between B and C, but marked B thinking that B is talking more about the purpose rather than C. C was of course the MAIN IDEA of the passage. Anyone can clarify on this doubt please ? Thanks for the help :)
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Primary purpose questions ask WHY the author wrote the passage. For example, did he/she contrast some opposing viewpoints? Or propose a solution to a problem? Or examine a scholarly opinion?

Main idea questions, in contrast, ask WHAT the author believes. In other words, what is the actual conclusion presented in the passage?

So to find the primary purpose of this passage, you have to ask yourself WHY the author wrote it in the first place. The easiest way to determine the primary purpose is to break the passage up into paragraphs and see why the author included each one.

Take a look at the passage breakdown and explanations of the answer choices in this post and see whether that clears up (B) and (C).

I hope that helps a bit!
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QQ:

I didn't use the per question timer for this one; used a stopwatch instead.11.25 sec. include reading the passage and at the same time making notes and then answering the questions. got 4/5. Now, for a passage of this length, how much time would you recommend to be spent overall? and how to reduce that without having to trade off the accuracy. Ideally, I try to do that whole thing in/under 8 but I find it really difficult to achieve and end up getting 50% or more questions incorrect.

thanks in advance for the help. appreciate it (:

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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 29 Mar 2021, 11:35
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QQ:

I didn't use the per question timer for this one; used a stopwatch instead.11.25 sec. include reading the passage and at the same time making notes and then answering the questions. got 4/5. Now, for a passage of this length, how much time would you recommend to be spent overall? and how to reduce that without having to trade off the accuracy. Ideally, I try to do that whole thing in/under 8 but I find it really difficult to achieve and end up getting 50% or more questions incorrect.

thanks in advance for the help. appreciate it (:

Posted from my mobile device
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This is a tough question with no "one size fits all" answer. You're exactly right that if you rush through the passage and questions in order to lower your time, your accuracy is going to suffer.

So how do you maintain high accuracy while lowering your time? The answer is different for every student, but the key is to look for inefficiencies in your approach and then cut those things out. Here are some common examples of inefficient approaches:

    1) Rushing through your first read-through of the passage, and then having to re-read the entire thing when you get to the questions.
    2) Getting really bogged down in the details of the passage during your first read-through. You'll probably forget those details anyway, so this is a waste of time!
    3) Spending way too much time on a particular question that you really don't understand.

There are many other things that could be bloating your time, but you can see even from these examples that the solution depends on the specifics of your problem. If you recognize yourself in 1), then you'll have to slow down on your initial passage read-through to gather key information. For 2), you should focus more on the high-level structure of the passage, and then come back to the details later. For 3), you should learn to guess and move on from questions that are completely stumping you. Many of our students have a combination of these and other factors, and the recipe for success looks different for each student.

For more on a recommended approach to RC, check out this article or our RC videos. Those might give you some insight into the inefficiencies in your own process.

I hope that helps!
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I didn't use the per question timer for this one; used a stopwatch instead.11.25 sec. include reading the passage and at the same time making notes and then answering the questions. got 4/5. Now, for a passage of this length, how much time would you recommend to be spent overall? and how to reduce that without having to trade off the accuracy. Ideally, I try to do that whole thing in/under 8 but I find it really difficult to achieve and end up getting 50% or more questions incorrect.

thanks in advance for the help. appreciate it (:

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This is a tough question with no "one size fits all" answer. You're exactly right that if you rush through the passage and questions in order to lower your time, your accuracy is going to suffer.

So how do you maintain high accuracy while lowering your time? The answer is different for every student, but the key is to look for inefficiencies in your approach and then cut those things out. Here are some common examples of inefficient approaches:

    1) Rushing through your first read-through of the passage, and then having to re-read the entire thing when you get to the questions.
    2) Getting really bogged down in the details of the passage during your first read-through. You'll probably forget those details anyway, so this is a waste of time!
    3) Spending way too much time on a particular question that you really don't understand.

There are many other things that could be bloating your time, but you can see even from these examples that the solution depends on the specifics of your problem. If you recognize yourself in 1), then you'll have to slow down on your initial passage read-through to gather key information. For 2), you should focus more on the high-level structure of the passage, and then come back to the details later. For 3), you should learn to guess and move on from questions that are completely stumping you. Many of our students have a combination of these and other factors, and the recipe for success looks different for each student.

For more on a recommended approach to RC, check out this article or our RC videos. Those might give you some insight into the inefficiencies in your own process.

I hope that helps!
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Thanks, GmatNinja !! you're right. I'd say, I do identify as someone who gets stuck with details. Especially when the passage talks about certain theory/findings and starts giving examples, running 7-8 lines of the passage, and consequently I end up spending a lot of time on a question which does asks about those examples. OfCourse, I don't remember them, so I am rushing back to the passage skimming through the passage, trying to find that one trigger word. It's a vicious cycle. I guess, all this could be sorted out if you take that one accurate read.
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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco 11 May 2021, 03:27
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EducationAisle please could you explain the Q5. (D) "qualifies a claim"
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