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Historians remain divided over the role of banks in facilitating eco

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dipen22

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03 Mar 2021, 07:47

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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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03 Mar 2021, 10:29

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dipen22

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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07 Mar 2021, 09:50

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dipen22

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!

ueh55406

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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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29 Mar 2021, 11:35

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ueh55406

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:

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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01 Nov 2021, 22:43

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1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

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 The role of the southern banks is just one aspect of the whole passage. Not the entire purpose.

B. reevaluate a conventional interpretation of the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries The author has not presented his opinion in this passage. So there is no question of “reevaluating”. Also, we are not sure what “conventional interpretation” includes.

C. present different interpretations of the role played by banks in the American economy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Different interpretations have been discussed

D. analyze how the increasing number of banks in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries affected the American economy The author has not referred about the number of banks.

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 This passage is not addressing how scholarly opinion have changed over time. It’s just referring to two separate opinions.

2. 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

A. these projects, being well established and well capitalized, did not need substantial long-term financing from banks The last sentence of the first paragraph mentions that manufacturing and transportation projects required greater expenditure in the form of capital. This means they needed long-term financing.

B. these projects entailed a level of risk that was too great for banks' conservative lending practices The last sentence of the first paragraph, states that financial institutions (such as banks) followed conservative lending practices and shunned risky projects such as manufacturing and transportation projects. This implies that banks would prefer less risky projects.

C. banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects that offered the potential for higher returns There is no information from which we can infer that there were higher returns.

D. bank managers believed that these projects would be unlikely to contribute significantly to economic growth in the new country No reference to bank managers

E. bank managers believed funding these projects would result in credit being extended to too many borrowers No reference to bank managers

3. The passage suggests that Paul Gilje would be most likely to agree with which of the following claims about the lending practices of the "earliest banks“?

A. These lending practices were unlikely to generate substantial profits for banks. No reference to profits for banks

B. These lending practices only benefited a narrow sector of the economy. The passage states that Gilje was of the opinion that “banks began furnishing large amounts of capital to transportation and industrial enterprises.”

C. The restrictive nature of these lending practices generated significant opposition outside of the South. No reference to generating opposition outside the South

D. The restrictive nature of these lending practices forced state legislatures to begin granting more bank charters by the early nineteenth century. The passage mentions that “state legislatures began granting more bank charters”. This doesn’t mean the state legislatures were forced.

E. These lending practices were likely to be criticized by economic elites as being overly restrictive. All that has been mentioned about the economic elite is that the banks in the South were controlled by them.

4. The passage suggests that the opposition to banks in the South in the early nineteenth century stemmed in part from the perception that banks

A. did not benefit more than a small minority of the people Since these banks were controlled by the economically elite, these banks only benefitted the elite.

B. did not support the interests of elite planters The passage implies the opposite

C. were too closely tied to transportation and industrial interests No reference to the ties that the banks in the South had to transportation and industrial interests

D. were unwilling to issue the long-term loans required by agrarian interests No reference to the unwillingness to issue long-term loans

E. were too willing to lend credit widely The passage implies the opposite

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 the sentence highlighted in red. Line 5 says that banks played a minor role in the growth of the economy. The last line implies that the banks in the South only catered to economically elite, which could imply that these banks only played a minor role by catering to a small segment. So it is not being undermined.

B. It resolves a conflict over the role of banks summarized in the first paragraph. The first paragraph does not present any conflict in the role of banks. The conflict is only presented in the second paragraph.

C. It clarifies some of the reasons state legislatures began granting more bank charters. State legislatures have been mentioned only to point out that the supply of credit rose. No reference to the elite group mentioned in the last line.

D. It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about the impact of banks on the American economy in the early nineteenth century. “Qualify” implies to make something less extreme as an exception is presented. Earlier in the passage, it was stated that the banks were crucial in transforming the early national economy. The last sentence of the passage states the exception to this general trend

E. It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about how the expansion of credit affected the economy. The last line is not talking about expanding credit. In contrast, it refers to curtailing it.

- Nitha Jay

Mansha1412

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Q2, why not option C is the answer? Please help

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21 Jul 2022, 15:09

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Mansha1412

Q2, why not option C is the answer? Please help

Some scholars contendthat banks played a minor role in the nation’s
growing economy. Financial institutions, they
argue, appeared only after the economy had
begun to develop, and once organized, followed
conservative lending practices, providing aid to
established commercial enterprises but
shunning those, such as manufacturing and
transportation projects, that were more
uncertain and capital-intensive (i.e., requiring
greater expenditures in the form of capital than in
labor).

Notice that the passage says the "the scholars mentioned in line 4" contend that "financial institutions ... followed conservative lending practices ... shunning those, such as manufacturing and transportation projects, that were more uncertain."

Now, here's choice (C).

C. banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects that offered the potential for higher returns

Notice that "banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects" is the opposite of "financial institutions ... followed conservative lending practices."

So, (C) is incorrect because it says the opposite of what the passage says.

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Thank you for responding and trying to help.

I understand the point you are trying to make but I have a question here. Please refer the changed font color below (in red). That part interprets that these kind of projects are more speculative projects that offered the potential for higher returns (red font) and this is what option C talks about.

MartyTargetTestPrep

Mansha1412

Q2, why not option C is the answer? Please help

Here's what question 2 asks:

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

Here's what the passage says about "the scholars mentioned in line 4":

Some scholars contend
that banks played a minor role in the nation’s
growing economy. Financial institutions, they
argue, appeared only after the economy had
begun to develop, and once organized, followed
conservative lending practice, providing
aid to established commercial enterprises
but
shunning those, such as manufacturing and
transportation projects, that were more
uncertain and capital-intensive (i.e., requiring
greater expenditures in the form of capital than in
labor).

Notice that the passage says the "the scholars mentioned in line 4" contend that "financial institutions ... followed conservative lending practices ... shunning those, such as manufacturing and transportation projects, that were more uncertain."

Now, here's choice (C).

C. banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects that offered the potential for higher returns

Notice that "banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects" is the opposite of "financial institutions ... followed conservative lending practices."

So, (C) is incorrect because it says the opposite of what the passage says.

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Mansha1412

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Mansha1412

Q2, why not option C is the answer? Please help

Notice that the passage says the following:

Financial institutions, they
argue, appeared only after the economy had
begun to develop, and once organized, followed
conservative lending practice, providing
aid to established commercial enterprises
but shunning those, such as manufacturing and
transportation projects, that were more
uncertain and capital-intensive

"Shunning" means "ignoring" or "rejecting."

So, the passage says that the scholars argue that financial institutions ignored or rejected commercial enterprises "that were more
uncertain and capital-intensive."

That is the opposite of what (C) says, which is that banks preferred to invest in "more speculative" i.e., more uncertain, projects.

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26 Jul 2022, 14:49

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Question 2

Mansha1412

Q2, why not option C is the answer? Please help

The passage contrasts two groups of scholars.

Here's what the first group thinks about banks:

They played a "minor" role in the growing economy.
They showed up AFTER the economy began to develop.
They followed conservative lending practices.
They shunned (or avoided) uncertain projects, such as manufacturing and transportation projects.

The second group of scholars has a contrasting view. They think that banks DID play a big role in the developing economy, and that they DID fund uncertain projects.

Question 2 asks about the first group of scholars. Why would these scholars believe that banks tended not to fund manufacturing and transportation projects in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?

Quote:

C. banks preferred to invest in other, more speculative projects that offered the potential for higher returns

(C) aligns better with the views of the second group of scholars than the views of the first group. The first group thought banks were conservative and did NOT like speculative projects, which is essentially the opposite of this answer choice.

Eliminate (C).

Here's (B):

Quote:

B. these projects entailed a level of risk that was too great for banks’ conservative lending practices

Bingo! The first group of scholars thought that banks were conservative and avoided risky investments.

(B) is the correct answer to question 2.

I hope that helps!

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Could you elaborate why A is not the correct choice for Question 4 in this passage? thank you

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Could you elaborate why A is not the correct choice for Question 4 in this passage? thank you

4. The passage suggests that the opposition to banks in the South in the early nineteenth century stemmed in part from the perception that banks

The passage says historians who view banks as crucial add one exception: in the South, the agrarian economy generated opposition because banks were seen as monopolistic institutions controlled by an elite group of planters. So the question asks what perception that implies.

(A) did not benefit more than a small minority of the people

If banks are seen as monopolistic and controlled by an elite group, that implies people thought banks served only a narrow group, not the broader public. This matches.

(B) did not support the interests of elite planters

The passage says banks were perceived as controlled by elite planters, which implies the opposite: people thought banks did align with planter interests.

(C) were too closely tied to transportation and industrial interests

The South is described as agrarian and opposed to banks as monopolistic planter-controlled institutions, not as industrial/transport oriented.

(D) were unwilling to issue the long-term loans required by agrarian interests

Loan term length in the South is not mentioned. That comes from outside the text.

(E) were too willing to lend credit widely

The “credit widely” point is used to describe early nineteenth-century banks in general, but the South’s opposition is attributed to viewing banks as monopolistic and elite-controlled, not to over-lending.

Answer: (A)

This question is also discussed in the following posts:
1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/historians-r ... l#p2030225
2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/historians-r ... l#p2894682

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