In February 1848 the people of Paris rose in revolt against the consti

Hello all,

Can someone please explain Question 4 (why option E over option C) and Question 6?

Thanks in advance.

Got 5/7. Took approx 17 mins, including 5.5 mins to read.

P1: Feb 1848 revolution -- lack of description compared to other revolutions, largely ignored.
P2: 2 reasons provided for the lack of description.
P3: we should not trust memoirs.

1. ​​According to the passage, “a useful description of participants” (Highlighted) exists for which of the following insurrections of nineteenth-century France?

I.​The July Insurrection of 1830
II.​The February Revolution of 1848
III.​The June insurrection of 1848
IV.​The May insurrection of 1871

(A) I and III only
(B) II and IV only
(C) I, II, and III only
(D) I, III, and IV only
(E) II, III, and IV only

Focus on the word 'Only' and 'lack'. Therefore the answer should be D.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that support for the objectives of the February Revolution was2.

(A) negligible- Hold
(B) misguided- Wrong
(C) fanatical- cannot infer
(D) spontaneous- Hold
(E) widespread-Wrong.

I got this wrong, selected choice D after stuck b/w A and D. Nonetheless, the correct choice is E.

3. Which of the following, best describes the organization of the second paragraph?


(A) The thesis of the passage is stated and supporting evidence systematically presented.
(B) Two views regarding the thesis presented in the first paragraph are compared and contrasted.
(C) Evidence refuting the thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically presented.
(D) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically supported.
(E) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is further defined and a conclusion drawn.

P2 provides support why there exists lack of information.
Got Q4 wrong too, so cannot comment on that.

5. ​Which of the following can be inferred about the “detailed judicial dossiers” (Highlighted)?

(A) Information contained in the dossiers sheds light on the social origins of a revolution’s participants.
(B) The dossiers closely resemble the narratives written by the revolution’s leaders in their personal memoirs.
(C) The information that such dossiers contain is untrustworthy and unrepresentative of a revolution’s participants.
(D) Social historians prefer to avoid such dossiers whenever possible because they are excessively detailed.
(E) The February Revolution of 1848 produced more of these dossiers than did the June insurrection.

Author is comparing memoirs with Judicial dosseiers, and consider memoir unreliable compared to JD.
therefore, JD > memoir. Choice A.

6. ​Which of the following is the most logical objection to the claim made in (Text in Red)?

(A) The February Revolution of 1848 is much less significant than the July insurrection of 1830.
(B) The backgrounds and motivations of participants in the July insurrection of 1830 have been identified, however cursorily.
(C) Even less is known about the July insurrection of 1830 than about the February Revolution of 1848.
(D) Historical records made during the July insurrection of 1830 are less reliable than those made during the May insurrection of 1871.
(E) The importance of the July insurrection of 1830 has been magnified at the expense of the significance of the February Revolution of 1848.

Revisit P1. We get.
Choice B

7. ​With which of the following statements regarding revolution would the author most likely agree?

(A) Revolutionary mobilization requires a great deal of planning by people representing disaffected groups.
(B) The objectives of the February Revolution were more radical than those of the June insurrection.
(C) The process of revolutionary mobilization varies greatly from one revolution to the next.
(D) Revolutions vary greatly in the usefulness of the historical records that they produce.
(E) As knowledge of the February Revolution increases, chances are good that its importance will eventually eclipse that of the June insurrection.


Author's position can be found here, here author is essentially contemplating the useful of the accounts.

Author says that eyewitnesses and narratives are in fact misleading.
However, such documents are likely to be highly unreliable, unrepresentative, and unsystematically preserved,

E is justified by exists at least a sketch of participants’ backgrounds and an analysis, more or less rigorous, of the reasons for the occurrence of the uprisings. Only in the case of the February Revolution do we lack a useful description of participants that might characterize it in the light of what social history has taught us about the process of revolutionary mobilization.

For Q6, refer: they also present the social historian with a signal advantage: these failed insurrections created a mass of invaluable documentation as a by-product of authorities’ efforts to search out and punish the rebels.

Quite different is the outcome of successful insurrections like those of July 1830 and February 1848.

This seems ti imply that insurrections like those of July 1830 and February 1848 provide valuable information as they are different. Now option B says that using records that insurrections of July 1830 and February 1848 provide, the motives of the people have been identifed curosrily or superficialy. In a way, the option states that the records are invaluable, just as they are for other insurrections. Hence, weakens the author statement

someone please explain question 2

Read the post in the link below

https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-february- ... l#p2471212

Thank you

Can anyone help with Q6 , as other solution mentioned does not help me.

I have not read the earlier solution, Gaurav2896, but I did approach the question on my own, and I answered correctly, so, in an effort to assist you and the larger community, I will explain what guided my thought process. The first two words of the line in question draw a comparison—quite different—so we have to back up to the previous paragraph to qualify what, exactly, makes the information that is about to follow different from something else. The last line of the previous paragraph tells us (my emphases):

A defining feature, then, of failed insurrections is a mass of invaluable documentation. (Remember, this is a strange case in which the prefix in- does not mean not; rather, invaluable means of immense value or of priceless value.) Presumably, then, successful insurrections do not produce a lot of invaluable documentation. If successful insurrections did, in fact, leave behind a trail of such documentation, then the claim in question would be weakened. This is exactly what answer choice (B) presents. The question and answer choices:

Choice (A) fails because it relies on the significance of an event, rather than discussing any documentation. Furthermore, it compares the two insurrections in the claim. I will discuss this concern more below, in my analysis of (C). (I just happened to write that one first.)

Choice (B) is correct because, if the backgrounds and motivations of participants of successful insurrections are known, such information flies in the face of the claim that these insurrections leave behind little in the way of invaluable evidence. Sure, you should be hesitating when you see however cursorily. A cursory mention of something is typically done in haste, so here, there might not be too much in the way of the information mentioned. But the point is that the information still exists as reliable historical documentation of a successful insurrection. If you prefer to be conservative, as I do, then leave this one alone for now and look at the other options. You do not need to make a decision right away.

Choice (C) fails because it is comparing insurrections within the claim. The claim seems to group the two insurrections to make its point: they together are held up as successful insurrections that left behind little in the way of invaluable documentation. (Just read the lines following the one the question asks about if you doubt my own claim here.)

Choice (D) fails because it brings in another insurrection that does not stem from the claim. If records of the successful 1830 insurrection are less reliable, then the claim would be supported, the opposite of what we are aiming to do.

Choice (E) fails because, like (A) and (C), it focuses on the significance of the events and compares insurrections within the claim that should instead be grouped together. By now, this should be an easy elimination.

In the end, only (B) holds up to scrutiny and goes against the claim that the two successful insurrections that are named left behind little to no invaluable documentation. It is the only defensible answer of the five, so that is why we need to choose it.

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja @educationisle sajjad mikemcgarry and other respected moderators

I have a doubt in que 3 - Does a thesis not refer to a theory; so how can we call the basic observation that no enough importance has been given to February Revolt as a Thesis

I hence got confused and went ahead with option A considering the 2 causes to be a thesis

Could you pl help me with this and how I can prove to myself that option A is incorrect in Que 3

3. Which of the following, best describes the organization of the second paragraph?

(A) The thesis of the passage is stated and supporting evidence systematically presented.
(B) Two views regarding the thesis presented in the first paragraph are compared and contrasted.
(C) Evidence refuting the thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically presented.
(D) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically supported.
(E) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is further defined and a conclusion drawn.

A 'thesis' is 'the main idea' in this context (thesis of the passage)

The first paragraph gives the main idea: "the February Days have been largely ignored by social historians of the past two decades."

Second paragraph explain why:
Two reasons for this relative neglect seem obvious. First, ...

(A) is incorrect because the thesis is presented in the first paragraph, not second. In the second, it is only supported.

Thank you so much for your response

I just have 1 doubt when you say thesis here means main idea - isn't the main idea why February days was ignored

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