Like any industry, the gaming industry has seen several cycles of expa

This is a good question. Actually If you read the passage you will notice that author is telling us about the trend in gaming industry. He takes an example of "Wizards of the Coast" to explain what happened to this company.

Option A,B,D are clearly out of scope.

In Between C and E, C sounds good as author's tone is certainly not cautious.Neither he ,at any point in the passage, intents to show us that he is indeed trying to convey a word of caution.

So IMO C.

I´m a little bit confused about the answer options for question 2. Those are completely mixed up. Is the right answer "revisionary"??

Wouldn't revisionary be the right answer?

The tone doesn't look optimistic.

GMATNinja, GMATNinjaTwo @Veritasprepkarishma
I cannot understand how the tone of the passage can be cautionary. The author seems slightly saddened by the failure of The Wizards of the Coasts, but the passage does't serve as a warning to anything.

1) A. not uncommon among game companies = common
In first paragraph the auther says that more than one company was needed to become agressive upstart because it couldn't deal with changes and
become flexible
2nd paragraph 1st line - Such was the case with Wizards of the Coast

2) E. cautionary
Unfortunately - last paragraph says about more pissimistic author's view, other optitions I delited by ellumination

3) C. Collectible trading card games
Combining the popularity of trading cards (Wizards) with a combative pseudo-role-playing game system (Dragons)

Midhilesh489
Kanvi



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I'm seriously not happy with the solution of Q3 But these are the official solution
01. According to the passage, the struggles of Wizards of the Coast could best be seen as

A. not uncommon among game companies.
B. significantly more extreme than those faced by other game companies.
C. effectively identical to those faced by TSR.
D. a sign of the times during the "dot-com" crash.
E. the direct result of inexperienced management.
Correct Answer: A

The description in the first paragraph implies that cyclical up-and-down periods are common in the gaming industry, and the transition at the start of the second paragraph indicates that the situation faced by Wizards was typical. Answer choice (A), then, is the best answer choice. The remaining answer choices are not supported by the information contained within the passage


2. The tone of this passage could best be summarized as:

A. ambivalent
B. optimistic
C. revisionary
D. disparaging
E. cautionary
Correct Answer: E

The overall tone of this passage is concerned, and perhaps slightly saddened, by the failure of Wizards of the Coast. Answer choice (A), "ambivalent," means uncaring or lacking an opinion, which does not fit the tone of the passage. Neither does "optimistic" in answer choice (B). "Revisionary" implies a change or challenge to the generally accepted viewpoint, and since we have no information about how this passage may or may not agree with other opinions, (C) is incorrect. (D), "disparaging," means harshly critical, which does not match the tone of the passage. Answer choice (E), "cautionary," fits the tone of mild concern and is the correct answer.

3. According to the information in the passage, at the time of its acquisition by Wizards of the Coast, TSR had been involved with all of the following products EXCEPT:

A.Saturday morning cartoons
B. Role-playing games
C. Collectible trading card games
D. Works of fiction
E. Video games
Correct Answer: C

While the passage does discuss trading card games at great length, it never does so in connection with TSR. Answer choice (C) is, therefore, the exception, and the correct answer.




SajjadAhmad I've posted solution of all thequestions

All correct except Q3 within 8 mins, including 5 mins 20 seconds to read.

3. According to the information in the passage, at the time of its acquisition by Wizards of the Coast, TSR had been involved with all of the following products EXCEPT:

A.Saturday morning cartoons - incorrect
B. Role-playing games
C. Collectible trading card games
D. Works of fiction- incorrect
E. Video games - incorrect

TSR had become a victim of its own success, unwilling to return to core product lines after diversifying into novels, video games, and even Saturday morning cartoons.

I was down to options B and C. How do we eliminate option b?

Traditional role-playing gamers were disturbed by the push to release revised versions of Dungeons and Dragons and balked at several high-profile and high-budget launches. --- Can we infer it based on this statement?

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , jennpt , VeritasPrepErika , other experts - please enlighten

I think you're right. That seems to be the only thing that links "role-playing" with TSR. I couldn't see anything that links TSR to "collectible trading card games", so that helps.

The core business of TSR was related to whatever Dungeons and Dragons was - a role playing game or a trading card game.
Even if you don't know D&D at all, there are enough clues in the passage to tell you that it was a role playing game.

"The seemingly inexhaustible interest in increasingly elaborate trading card games waned,"
... Traditional role-playing gamers were disturbed by the push to release revised versions of Dungeons and Dragons
... its major income sources are now the various Dungeons and Dragons titles acquired years ago

Interest in trading card games waned and now D&D is a major source of income. So apparently, D&D was not a trading card game.

Answer (C)

Leaving the tricky questions apart..I am surprised by the length. 544 words. I read somewhere that GMAT passages are normally 350 words..make it 370-385..but 544 is lil too much in my eyes. and after all this reading - just 3 questions. what do you guys think ?

Ah yes, a long tricky passage is a nightmare, but be prepared for anything!

I don't understand how the tone of the passage could be CAUTIONARY?
It could be unhappy/concerning.

Hi LucaRusso,

Kindly refer the official explanation here : https://gmatclub.com/forum/like-any-ind ... l#p2326964


Let me know if you still have doubts.
Thanks.

para1
to introduce the main theme the whole passage intend to discuss-the gaming industry, to which the author brief in a sentence about how, with its promising trend, counterintuitively, will suffer from its overthriving of the operating cycle as a prelude to later paragraphs
para2
use Wizards of the Coast as an example to narrate how it becomes a successful story among the gaming industry
para3
following para2, though Wizard’s thriving enable it to acquire TSR, which later suffer from its own success, those suffering reversely influence the performance of parent company
para4
the Wizard’s story keep going in that, though not affect so much by those influence, continue its expansion for other sectors, it still end up being acquired by another corp Hasbro
para5
the story end in that the Wizard, as an example, cannot escape the fate to decline and close door but still, ironically, make income from its then-acquired struggling TSR



01. According to the passage, the struggles of Wizards of the Coast could best be seen as

A. not uncommon among game companies. ….correct
B. significantly more extreme than those faced by other game companies.
C. effectively identical to those faced by TSR.
D. a sign of the times during the "dot-com" crash.
E. the direct result of inexperienced management.

para1
……In many cases, trends and developments have enabled cagey and successful newcomers to absorb staid stalwarts who lost their edge. But over-expansion and an inability to maintain flexibility have turned the tables on more than one aggressive upstart.
para2
Such was the case with Wizards of the Coast, following a breakout emergence in 1993. Known traditionally as a struggling outfit of gamers with more passion than business experience……

from sentences above, we could see that the struggle Wizard of the coast face is just a typical case among gaming industries



2. The tone of this passage could best be summarized as:

A. ambivalent
B. optimistic
C. revisionary
D. disparaging
E. cautionary ….correct

In many cases, trends and developments have enabled cagey and successful newcomers to absorb staid stalwarts who lost their edge. But over-expansion and an inability to maintain flexibility have turned the tables on more than one aggressive upstart.

notice the word “but” in the para1, while the passage narrates in a sentence how the expansion the gaming industry works, he mind us it is always too much of a good thing that we should also be careful to its over-expansion as well as inflexibility problems, this can be a clear evidence that the author is “cautionary” in its tone



3. According to the information in the passage, at the time of its acquisition by Wizards of the Coast, TSR had been involved with all of the following products EXCEPT:

A. Saturday morning cartoons
B. Role-playing games
C. Collectible trading card games ….correct
only in para2, before the show up of TSR, does “collectible trading card game” mention in the passage, or consider the context
para2:
wizard -->magic --> collectible trading card game
para3:
wizard -->TSR --> D&D
this can be a clear evidence that TSR won’t ever relate to “trading card game” since they are of two different categories

D. Works of fiction
E. Video games

see the passage
para3
Flush with cash, Wizards of the Coast sought acquisitions and, in 1997, acquired TSR, the famed owner of Dungeons and Dragons.
…..
TSR had become a victim of its own success, unwilling to return to core product lines after diversifying into novels, video games, and even Saturday morning cartoons. TSR came at a discount and the management of Wizards immediately began making tough decisions and culling dead product areas.
……
para5
Traditional role-playing gamers were disturbed by the push to release revised versions of Dungeons and Dragons(this has to do with TSR, so TSR must be involved in role-playing games) and balked at several high-profile and high-budget launches.

veritas official answer suggests ambivalent as "uncaring or lacking an opinion"
Not to sure about that. Ambivalent is mixed feelings right?

VeritasKarishma GMATGuruNY

How to arrive at answer in Q2?? Nowhere, to me it seems, a word of caution is being served.

Note the start of the passage:

... trends and developments have enabled cagey and successful newcomers to absorb staid stalwarts who lost their edge.
But over-expansion and an inability to maintain flexibility have turned the tables on more than one aggressive upstart.

Then the passage explains how it happened for Wizards of the Coast.

So the passage cautions the reader against "over-expansion and an inability to maintain flexibility". It is telling you how these things led to the downfall after the meteoric rise.

Also note that other 4 options make no sense.

A. ambivalent
The author is not ambivalent. No mixed feelings.

B. optimistic
He discusses the downfall of the giant. Not optimistic that it will return one day etc.

C. revisionary
This means that it gives a different version of events etc. It doesn't.

D. disparaging
He doesn't belittle the company.

Answer (E)