JAIN09 wrote:
hello GMATNinja
can please tell me what does q1 choice D mean?
i was confused between choiceD and E
I'm happy to help,
JAIN09. Let's zero in on the two choices you'd like to clear up:
Quote:
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(D) explore how changes in a particular occupation serve to counter the prevailing view of a historical period
(E) examine a particular area of historical research in order to exemplify a general scholarly trend
Recall from my
previous post that overall, the author examines a particular area of historical research (the history of women’s work in English farmhouse cheese making between 1800 and 1930) to illustrate how the old analysis of women's status (which portrayed a consistent, unequivocal decline) is giving way to a new analysis (one that acknowledges the presence of positive change, negative change, and continuity).
Quote:
(D) explore how changes in a particular occupation serve to counter the prevailing view of a historical period
(D) is a tempting choice because
it sounds good. The author certainly talks about cheese making a lot, and does seem to counter a prevailing view of cheese making. However, our job as GMAT experts isn't to pick what sounds good. We need to answer the precise question being asked. This question is asking us for the
primary purpose of the passage, so that's what we need to find in our answer choices.
If we choose (D), we say that the
overall purpose of this passage is to explore how
changes in a particular occupation (various types of operations in cheese making) serve to
counter the prevailing view of a historical period (the history of women's work in English farmhouse cheese between 1800 and 1930).
But is the author trying to show us how CHANGES in cheese making served to counter the prevailing view? The prevailing view is that women's status declined consistently and unequivocally (without any doubt) with the advent of capitalism and industrialization. Pinchbeck's book fits with the prevailing view because it focuses on the decline (i.e. negative changes) in women's status. But Pinchbeck's book (the prevailing view) MISSES a "substantial element of
continuity in women’s participation: throughout the period women did the central work of actually making cheese."
The prevailing view is focused on the
changes in cheese making (i.e. the decline in women's status). But the new analysis focuses on improvement, decline, AND continuity. So it's the
continuity in English farmhouse cheesemaking--not the
changes--that serves to counter the prevailing view.
Quote:
(E) examine a particular area of historical research in order to exemplify a general scholarly trend
If we choose (E), we say that the
overall purpose of this passage is to examine a particular area of historical research (the history of women's work in English farmhouse cheese between 1800 and 1930) in order to
exemplify a general scholarly trend (the transition to the current style of historical analysis).
(E) is a much better fit for our understanding of the author's overall purpose. If there's any doubt left, double check the passage to confirm when and why the author brings up women's cheese making in the first place:
Quote:
In current historiography, the picture of a consistent, unequivocal decline in women’s status with the advent of capitalism and industrialization is giving way to an analysis that not only emphasizes both change (whether improvement or decline) and continuity but also accounts for geographical and occupational variation. The history of women’s work in English farmhouse cheese making between 1800 and 1930 is a case in point.
This passage sets out to tell us about a
change in the historical analysis of women's status during industrialization. The history of women's work in English cheese is one example of this greater trend in historiography. Therefore, (E) is the correct answer to question #1.
I hope this explanation wasn’t too cheesy! (OK, fine. That was pretty awful. Cut me some slack: I'm a new dad, and working on my
dad jokes....)
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