In recent years, teachers of introductory courses in Asian American st

Why not B for Q.5??

A complicating factor has been the continuing lack of specialized one-volume reference works on Asian Americans, such as biographical dictionaries or desktop encyclopedias. Such works would enable students taking Asian American studies courses (and professors in related fields) to look up basic information on Asian American individuals, institutions, history, and culture without having to wade through mountains of primary source material. In addition, give such works, Asian American studies professors might feel more free to include more challenging Asian American material in their introductory reading lists, since good reference works allow students to acquire on their own the background information necessary to interpret difficult or unfamiliar material.

Thanks for the Q!

Took me 7'03'' and still got 2 wrong (#1 & #3)

Q1: I chose methodology - but it looks like this is just a small part of the passage, discussing a problem & propose a solution would be more appropriate.

Q3: careless (raiprem123 explained it very well)

atshy21saraf : read further down, this factor "Such works would enable students taking Asian American studies courses (and professors in related fields) to look up basic information " - so it doesn't say anything about more student will join the class --> out of scope --> exclude B. E is more appropriate

Hi for Q 1.
since this passage is only of 1 paragraph and apart from the first few lines it is primarily based on recommending that a one volume reference needs to be there.
Can't the answer be A?
I was also confused between A and C but ended up choosing C.

Posted from my mobile device

P1 - teachers are facing problem cause of too much text, it difficult to decide which of these to assign to students.
P2 - new problem introduced, as many people look for these courses.

Main point - problems are discussed around a study.

1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with doing which of the following?
(A) Recommending a methodology
(B) Describing a course of study
(C) Discussing a problem----
(D) Evaluating a past course of action
(E) Responding to a criticism
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2. The “dilemma” mentioned in line 2 can best be characterized as being caused by the necessity to make a choice when faced with a
(A) lack of acceptable alternatives
(B) lack of strict standards for evaluating alternatives
(C) preponderance of bad alternatives as compared to good
(D) multitude of different alternatives -----correct
(E) large number of alternatives that are nearly identical in content --- large number of alternatives, but not identical in content
-----------------------------------------------

3. The passage suggests that the factor mentioned in lines 14-17 complicates professors’ attempts to construct introductory reading lists for courses in Asian American studies in which of the following ways?

Pre-thinking : What are these factors - biographical dictionaries or desktop encyclopedias. such works enables all to look for basic information around the field. if so then this will allow professors to include more in studies that is beyond this.
(D) By making it more necessary for professors to select readings for their courses that are not too challenging for students unfamiliar with Asian American history and culture --- other option are not even close to this one.
----------------------------------------------

4. The passage implies that which of the following was true of introductory courses in Asian American studies a few decades ago?
lines to look for - Asian American studies have been facing a dilemma nonexistent a few decades ago
(A) The range of different textbooks that could be assigned for such courses was extremely limited.---- Correct.

-----------------------------------------------

5. According to the passage, the existence of good one-volume reference works about Asian Americans could result in
(A) increased agreement among professors of Asian American studies regarding the quality of the sources available in their field
(B) an increase in the number of students signing up for introductory courses in Asian American studies
(C) increased accuracy in writings that concern Asian American history and culture
(D) the use of introductory texts about Asian American history and culture in courses outside the field of Asian American studies
(E) the inclusion of a wider range of Asian American material in introductory reading lists in Asian American studies ---- Correct.

can someone help me to understand what they have asked in question no 2:

The “dilemma” mentioned in line 2 can best be characterized as being caused by the necessity to make a choice when faced with a
(A) lack of acceptable alternatives
(B) lack of strict standards for evaluating alternatives
(C) preponderance of bad alternatives as compared to good
(D) multitude of different alternatives
(E) large number of alternatives that are nearly identical in content

I am not able to understand question stem.

"The “dilemma” mentioned in line 2" - The dilemma
"can best be characterized as being caused by" - is caused when
"the necessity to make a choice" - one must choose
"when faced with a" - which situation

So it boils down to "The dilemma is caused when one must choose in which of following situation "

Hope it helps.

Thank you so much, it seems my interpretation regarding first line of Paragraph is wrong. I thought they are facing Dilemma in past due to unavailability of books at that time, but the dilemma is due to they are having multiple books to refer now but few in past. This certainly helps me

workout Skywalker18 GMATninja2

Can you please explain why in q1 OA cannot be A ?
He is recommending a methodology in 2nd para

Hello teaserbae

Part of the answer lies in your question itself. The author is "recommending a methodology" only at the start of the second paragraph. Through out the first paragraph, the author introduced the problem, why it was non-existent few years ago, who is facing this problem etc. In the second paragraph, the author then introduced a methodology that could solve the problem mentioned in the first paragraph.

So, if we look at the passage as a whole, "discussing a problem" makes much more sense than "Recommending a methodology". Hence the best answer choice is "Discussing a problem.

The "primary purpose of the passage" is very common type of question in GMAT RC's. If you want to practice more of these type of questions, go through this https://gmatclub.com/forum/main-idea-pr ... 45729.html

Hope your preparation is going well.
The following approach should be adopted to solve reading comprehension questions
1. Do effective mapping of the passage. While reading, one should try to increase the usage with the scratch pad provided to you. This really helps you understand the passage well and increases your level of concentration.
2. Spend time in understanding the question rightly as the question acts as the bridge between the paragraph and the answer choices.
3. Revisit the text to answer explicit questions.
4. Do the effective process of elimination to reach the right answer.
Let us try to solve the questions now
As suggested in the passage, In the first paragraph there is a problem faced by the teachers which did not exist previously as now there are a lot of choices to decide from where to provide assignment from.
The second paragraph talks about the absence of a compiled resource which can essentially provide help to the teachers and students.
1. The question asks the primary concern of the author
A-There is no recommendation of methodology
B-There is no course of study described
C-Yes, This choice serves as the right answer
D-There is no evaluation of past course of action.
E-Out of scope
2. To solve this question, the student should revisit the first paragraph. This helps to gets clarity while reaching to the correct answer.
A-Reversal
B-Out of scope, standards not discussed in the text
C-There is no such comparison drawn
D-Serves as the right answer
E-The articles are not identical but there is a vast pool to choose from
Hope this helps. Keep practicing.
PythaGURUS Faculty Team

First paragraph talks about a dilemma of having reference books of introductory courses in Asian American studies in abundance, which was obscure in the past. Second para continues describing the problem of lack of specialized one-volume reference works on Asian Americans and how availability of specialized one reference book can help students and professors.


1.The author of the passage is primarily concerned with doing which of the following?
(A) Recommending a methodology
(B) Describing a course of study
(C) Discussing a problem
(D) Evaluating a past course of action
(E) Responding to a criticism

The author is primarily concerned with discussing a problem.

The “dilemma” mentioned in line 2 can best be characterized as being caused by the necessity to make a choice when faced with a
(A) lack of acceptable alternatives
(B) lack of strict standards for evaluating alternatives
(C) preponderance of bad alternatives as compared to good
(D) multitude of different alternatives
(E) large number of alternatives that are nearly identical in content

D and E a kind of close but D wins as the author has not mentioned that there are alternatives with identical content.

The passage suggests that the factor mentioned in lines 14-17 complicates professors’ attempts to construct introductory reading lists for courses in Asian American studies in which of the following ways?
(A) By making it difficult for professors to identify primary source material and to obtain standard information on Asian American history and culture
(B) By preventing professors from identifying excellent anthologies and introductory texts in the field that are both recent and understandable to students
(C) By preventing professors from adequately evaluating the quality of the numerous texts currently being published in the field
(D) By making it more necessary for professors to select readings for their courses that are not too challenging for students unfamiliar with Asian American history and culture
(E) By making it more likely that the readings professors assign to students in their courses will be drawn solely from primary sources

The answer can be found by reading the second paragraph which requires a close read. The author says that if the specialized one-volume reference works on Asian Americans are available for students, they can go through these material without having to go through a lot of material laboriously. In fact, if this is the case the professors will feel more comfortable in adding more challenging material in their introductory reading lists.

That’s why the answer is D.

The passage implies that which of the following was true of introductory courses in Asian American studies a few decades ago?
(A) The range of different textbooks that could be assigned for such courses was extremely limited.
(B) The texts assigned as readings in such courses were often not very challenging for students.
(C) Students often complained about the texts assigned to them in such courses.
(D) Such courses were offered only at schools whose libraries were rich in primary sources.
(E) Such courses were the only means then available by which people in the United States could acquire knowledge of the field.

A is the correct answer as the author talks about the abundance of material now which was unavailable in the past. Rest of the answer choices are incorrect as we have no information about the highlighted text.


According to the passage, the existence of good one-volume reference works about Asian Americans could result in
(A) increased agreement among professors of Asian American studies regarding the quality of the sources available in their field
(B) an increase in the number of students signing up for introductory courses in Asian American studies
(C) increased accuracy in writings that concern Asian American history and culture
(D) the use of introductory texts about Asian American history and culture in courses outside the field of Asian American studies
(E) the inclusion of a wider range of Asian American material in introductory reading lists in Asian American studies

E is the correct answer. We have no knowledge of the highlighted text.

I got all correct under 5 mins.
But I consider this a hard passage that took me three times to re-read.

This passage seems quite different in use of organisation and set of scope compared to other RC passages.

In the first second I read the passage, I thought this was some history about Asia Amercian; but it turns out to be
a passage about a history of Asia Amercian history study.....

hey workout u1983 Bunuel

The question 3 is very confusing since we do not have line numbers anymore! Even if you counted the lines, it would lead to the wrong lines.

I think it would be better if you highlighted the lines "A complicating factor has been the continuing lack of specialized one-volume reference works on Asian Americans, such as biographical dictionaries or desktop encyclopedias."
And please change Question 3 "lines 14-17" as "highlighted part/lines".

Reading the passage was pretty easy ; I took 3 mints to read the passage but I struggled with the questions along with this passage . Can the experts comment as to how tough were the questions along with the passage and what do you think would the level be?

Hello

Can somebody please comment in more detail as to why D in Q5 is incorrect? I suppose that many folks can agree that A, B, and C are easy to eliminate. Yet, answer D, at least to me, was not.

(D) the use of introductory texts about Asian American history and culture in courses outside the field of Asian American studies
(E) the inclusion of a wider range of Asian American material in introductory reading lists in Asian American studies

The problem with D is that it mentions "outside" and "use". But in the first paragraph we learn that "non-experts who teach in related areas and are looking for writings for and by Asian American to include in survey courses are in an even worse position". This only suggest that they may not be using such text although it's just a possibility, not an explicit idea. Well if that's reasonable to assume, then I guess this answer would be true.

As for E, "wider range" doesn't look well for me. To an American or British reader this may be perfectly fine. Yet, the reason why this answer choice doesn't look good to me is that "wider range" is too broad. Thus is doesn't help to decide with certainty. We learn in the second paragraph that professors' are discouraged to give more challenging reading, but "wider range" could mean a greater number of texts, wider range of topics, and perhaps range of difficulty.

Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks

GMATNinja GMATNinjatwo Skywalker18

Question #5 asks what could result from "the existence of good one-volume reference works about Asian Americans." Let's first look at how the evidence in the passage stacks up against (D):

In the first paragraph, we learn that "excellent anthologies and other introductory texts exist." However, professors of Asian American studies " find it difficult to decide which of these to assign to students," and nonexperts in related fields are "in an even worse position." So, the problem is not that professors cannot assign introductory materials -- the problem is that there are so many choices of material that the professors can't decide which ones to assign.

Going back to answer choice (D): we know that professors in fields outside of Asian American studies can assign introductory texts even without good one-volume reference works. So, it is not logical that the creation of such a reference work would result in the use of introductory texts in these outside fields, because such texts are already being used. For this reason, (D) is out.

(Note: the word "outside" in this answer choice is not hugely important. "Outside" either refers to "related fields," in which case the reasoning above stands, or it refers to completely unrelated fields, in which case the passage provides no information or support for (D). In both cases, (D) can be eliminated).

Now look at (E):

The support for this answer choice is clear: "given such [reference] works, Asian American studies professors might feel more free to include more challenging Asian American material in their introductory reading lists."

We don't need to know exactly what "wider" means in this context -- we just need to know that, in some way, professors could assign a broader range of materials if they had good reference works than they can assign without such reference works. Because the passage tells us that professors could assign "more challenging" material if they had good reference works, we can infer that the overall range of possible material to assign would be wider. (E) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!