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

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.

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

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.

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!

Don't wider range of materials mean more material and more challenging materials mean there could be same amount of more challenging materials, not necessary more materials themself?

A "wider range of materials" doesn't necessarily mean "more" materials. The "range" of the materials can simply refer to the scope of those materials. If all of the materials are relatively simple, then those materials will have a relatively narrow scope or range. If the professors decide to include more challenging materials, then it's likely that the materials will cover a broader range of content/topics/etc.

In other words, including more challenging materials will likely increase the RANGE of the materials, regardless of what happens to the total number of materials.

More importantly, the question asks, "... the existence of good one-volume reference works about Asian Americans could result in..." So even if it's theoretically POSSIBLE to include more challenging materials WITHOUT including a wider range of materials, choice (E) still works. We are not looking for something that MUST be true.

I hope that helps!

Q.3 The author mentions that if one-volume reference works on Asian Americans, such as biographical dictionaries or desktop encyclopedias are available then it would be easy for professors 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. Thus if such helpful materials, if not available, would force professors to use contents for their courses that are not too challenging for students unfamiliar with Asian American history and culture. Hence D is the correct answer.

Q.4 A is the correct answer. As per the passage, "In recent years, teachers of introductory courses in Asian American studies have been facing a dilemma nonexistent a few decades ago, when hardly any texts in that field were available", it is clear that a few decades ago only limited sources of information were available about Asian American studies.

Q.5 E is the correct answer - This question can be answered on the basis of the last sentence of the passage.

Hello experts!

Quick question on number 3: is this answer choice out of scope? the point about ???primary source material??? is about students. We want to know about the professors, who feel ???more free to include more challenging AA material in their intro. reading lists?????? professors aren't necessarily (directly) associated with the "primary source material"

Hi kadamhari825,

In the second para, what's mentioned is: "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.". This implies that there is no lack of alternative sources, but that there are too much of sources present, and that becomes a challenge for professors to include more materials in their reading list, which is exactly the dilemma that option D is talking about. Thus A is incorrect.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Hello experts,
While solving this passage, in the second question, I marked E but I couldn't understand why D and not E and similarly in Third question, I couldn't understand why A was not the answer. Can anyone please help me with these two questions?

Hi dontmesswithme,

For Question 2: Option E is incorrect, as there is no mention in the passage that the materials are identical in content. So we can't infer it, thus E is incorrect.

For Question 3, please refer: https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-recent-ye ... l#p2101941


Let me know if you still have doubts.

Thanks.

Hi GMATNinja, could you help explain in Q.1 why A is wrong as para 2 seems to recommend a method?

In Q3, I eliminate D and choose A due to word "necessary" as we are looking for something that complicate professor's attempt as "necessary" seems to contradict it. Could you help clarify?
Thanks for your time in advaned.

Question 1

In the first paragraph, the author introduces a problem facing certain teachers. In the second paragraph, the author discusses a "complicating factor" of that problem: a certain type of book doesn't yet exist.

The author then talks about what would happen if that book did exist -- the problem would be somewhat resolved. So, in a way, you could say that the author indirectly proposes a partial solution to the problem.

The issue with (A) is that proposing a certain kind of book is not a "methodology." A methodology is actually broader and more comprehensive than a single method -- it's more like a system of methods used to solve an issue. Just saying "hey, this kind of book would be useful to resolve one piece of a problem" isn't a methodology.

Because the author doesn't recommend a comprehensive methodology, (A) is out for question 1.

Question 3

Here's (D) as a whole:


According to (D), it is "more necessary" for professors to choose easy reading materials. That's right in line with what the passage says -- the author tells us that if there WERE nice reference books, then students could do their own background research and professors could assign challenging stuff. Since there AREN'T nice reference books, it's more necessary for professors to assign easier material.

In all, you can't just look at the word "necessary" and eliminate (D). (D) actually tells us that a very specific thing is "more necessary," and that thing is right in line with what the suggests.

(D) is the correct answer to question 3.

I hope that helps!

Can someone explain Q4 E option? Since it is written hardly any material was available, can we say that these course were the only option to study or is it too much a stretch?