Most studies of recent Southeast Asian immigrants to the United States

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 478, Date: 27-Nov-2019
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Most studies of recent Southeast Asian immigrants
to the United States have focused on their adjustment to
life in their adopted country and on the effects of
leaving their homelands. James Tollefson’s Alien
 (5)  Winds examines the resettlement process from a
different perspective by investigating the educational
programs offered in immigrant processing centers.
Based on interviews, transcripts from classes, essays by
immigrants, personal visits to a teacher-training unit,
 (10)  and official government documents, Tollefson relies on
an impressive amount and variety of documentation in
making his arguments about processing centers’
educational programs.

Tollefson’s main contention is that the emphasis
 (15)  placed on immediate employment and on teaching the
values, attitudes, and behaviors that the training
personnel think will help the immigrants adjust more
easily to life in the United States is often
counterproductive and demoralizing. Because of
 (20)  concerns that the immigrants be self-supporting as soon
as possible, they are trained almost exclusively for low
level jobs that do not require English proficiency. In
this respect, Tollefson claims, the processing centers
suit the needs of employers more than they suit the
 (25)  long-term needs of the immigrant community.
Tollefson also detects a fundamental flaw in the
attempts by program educators to instill in the
immigrants the traditionally Western principles of self
sufficiency and individual success. These efforts often
 (30)  have the effect of undermining the immigrants’ sense
of community and, in doing so, sometimes isolate them
from the moral support and even from business
opportunities afforded by the immigrant community.
The programs also encourage the immigrants to shed
 (35)  their cultural traditions and ethnic identity and adopt
the lifestyles, beliefs, and characteristics of their
adopted country if they wish to enter fully into the
national life.

Tollefson notes that the ideological nature of these
 (40)  educational programs has roots in the turn-of-the
century educational programs designed to assimilate
European immigrants into United States society.
Tollefson provides a concise history of the
assimilationist movement in immigrant education, in
 (45)  which European immigrants were encouraged to leave
behind the ways of the Old World and to adopt instead
the principles and practices of the New World.

Tollefson ably shows that the issues demanding
real attention in the educational programs for Southeast
 (50)  Asian immigrants are not merely employment rates and
government funding, but also the assumptions
underpinning the educational values in the programs.
He recommends many improvements for the programs,
including giving the immigrants a stronger voice in
 (55)  determining their needs and how to meet them,
redesigning the curricula, and emphasizing long-term
language education and job training over immediate
employment and the avoiding of public assistance.
Unfortunately, though, Tollefson does not offer enough
 (60)  concrete solutions as to how these reforms could be
carried out, despite his own descriptions of the
complicated bureaucratic nature of the programs.    1 
 C 
 1. Which one of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) Tollefson’s focus on the economic and cultural factors involved in adjusting to a new country offers a significant departure from most studies of Southeast Asian immigration.
(B) In his analysis of educational programs for Southeast Asian immigrants, Tollefson fails to acknowledge many of the positive effects the programs have had on immigrants’ lives.
(C) Tollefson convincingly blames the philosophy underlying immigrant educational programs for some of the adjustment problems afflicting Southeast Asian immigrants.
(D) Tollefson’s most significant contribution is his analysis of how Southeast Asian immigrants overcome the obstacles they encounter in immigrant educational programs.
(E) Tollefson traces a gradual yet significant change in the attitudes held by processing center educators toward Southeast Asian immigrants.

2 
 B 
 2. With which one of the following statements concerning the educational programs of the immigration centers would Tollefson most probably agree?

(A) Although the programs offer adequate job training, they offer inadequate English training.
(B) Some of the programs’ attempts to improve the earning power of the immigrants cut them off from potential sources of income.
(C) Inclusion of the history of immigration in the United States in the programs’ curricula facilitates adjustment for the immigrants.
(D) Immigrants would benefit if instructors in the programs were better prepared to teach the curricula developed in the teacher-training courses.
(E) The programs’ curricula should be redesigned to include greater emphasis on the shared values, beliefs, and practices in the United States.

3 
 B 
 3. Which one of the following best describes the opinion of the author of the passage with respect to Tollefson’s work?

(A) thorough but misguided
(B) innovative but incomplete
(C) novel but contradictory
(D) illuminating but unappreciated
(E) well documented but unoriginal

4 
 A 
 4. The passage suggests that which one of the following is an assumption underlying the educational approach in immigrant processing centers?

(A) There is a set of values and behaviors that, if adopted by immigrants, facilitate adjustment to United States society.
(B) When recent immigrants are self-supporting rather than supported by public assistance, they tend to gain English proficiency more quickly.
(C) Immediate employment tends to undermine the immigrants’ sense of community with each other.
(D) Long-term success for immigrants is best achieved by encouraging the immigrants to maintain a strong sense of community.
(E) The principles of self-sufficiency and individual success are central to Southeast Asian culture and ethnicity.

5 
 A 
 5. Which one of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) It provides the scholarly context for Tollefson’s study and a description of his methodology.
(B) It compares Tollefson’s study to other works and presents the main argument of his study.
(C) It compares the types of documents Tollefson uses to those used in other studies.
(D) It presents the accepted theory on Tollefson’s topic and the method by which Tollefson challenges it.
(E) It argues for the analytical and technical superiority of Tollefson’s study over other works on the topic.

6 
 B 
 6. The author of the passage refers to Tollefson’s descriptions of the bureaucratic nature of the immigrant educational programs in the fourth paragraph most probably in order to

(A) criticize Tollefson’s decision to combine a description of the bureaucracies with suggestions for improvement
(B) emphasize the author’s disappointment in Tollefson’s overly general recommendations for improvements to the programs
(C) point out the irony of Tollefson concluding his study with suggestions for drastic changes in the programs
(D) support a contention that Tollefson’s recommendations for improvements do not focus on the real sources of the programs’ problems
(E) suggest a parallel between the complexity of the bureaucracies and the complexity of Tollefson’s arguments

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 21   ( December 1996 ) 
 Difficulty Level:   650

sharathnair14 · Answer

The Author provides enough info in the Passage to understand that the S.E.A Communities ended up being trained for and fit for low-level jobs.

Clearly mentioned in Lines 19-21

The Answer is  B .

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

Writing answers for the Tricky questions only.

Q1.Which one of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

Tollefsen does not seem too happy with many of the immigration practices of the government or other entities, as we can see from language like "counterproductive and demoralizing". So C is an appropriate answer. 
A lot of people went for A, but A is not very strong, just saying that Tollefsen's study is different. This only goes a little bit of the way, and misses Tollefsen's strong dislike of traditional immigrant-processing practices.

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

2. With which one of the following statements concerning the educational programs of the immigration centers would Tollefson most probably agree?

(A) Although the programs offer adequate job training, they offer inadequate English training.

Because of concerns that the immigrants be self-supporting as soon as possible, they are trained almost exclusively for low level jobs that do not require English proficiency

The passage doesn’t say, the programs offered any English training.
It only states that the program training focused on jobs that required No English.
 
A can be eliminated
 
(B) Some of the programs’ attempts to improve the earning power of the immigrants cut them off from potential sources of income.

Tollefson also detects a fundamental flaw in the attempts by program educators to instill in the immigrants the traditionally Western principles of self sufficiency and individual success. These efforts often (30) have the effect of undermining the immigrants’ sense of community and, in doing so, sometimes isolate them from the moral support and even from business opportunities afforded by the immigrant community.

Correct the values taught to them thinking it help their earning power, but it may isolate them from opportunities offered by the their immigrant community.

(C) Inclusion of the history of immigration in the United States in the programs’ curricula facilitates adjustment for the immigrants.

Cannot be inferred from the passage.

(D) Immigrants would benefit if instructors in the programs were better prepared to teach the curricula developed in the teacher-training courses.

No mention of lack of preparation on part of educators.

(E) The programs’ curricula should be redesigned to include greater emphasis on the shared values, beliefs, and practices in the United States.

Nothing like it has been mentioned by Tollefson.

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

5. Which one of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph of the passage?

Answer is A captures the fairly neutral and academic tone of the first paragraph, which is more descriptive than argumentative. While later we get that Tollefson didn't like what he found, and our author appears to share that sentiment, the first paragraph lacks that negative connotation and is just giving us the background without judgment. That makes answer A the better answer here.

I see a lot of people going for B, but it is wrong.

(B) is a classic half right/half wrong answer choice. Correct answer choices will always fit almost exactly, and lack any extra information that would make them incorrect based on what the question is asking for.

The major issue with (B) is that it while it correctly describes a comparison of Tollefson's book with other studies (made in the first sentence), nowhere in the paragraph is Tollefson's "main argument" described. From only reading the first paragraph, we don't yet have any idea what his arguments are, so we certainly can't say that the first paragraph "presents the main argument."

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

6. The author of the passage refers to Tollefson’s descriptions of the bureaucratic nature of the immigrant educational programs in the fourth paragraph most probably in order to

I think so much of this comes down to tone. The "Unfortunately" at the start of the sentence makes clear the tone is one of disappointment; not just pointing out a fact, but rather framing it as a let down. I understand what you're saying about wanting the word "specific" to appear, but really, that is what the author is conveying, just without using that word; there are not enough concrete solutions for how to actually implement these changes, which means that he gives a general recommendation but doesn't give the detail about how to achieve it. If I told you, "We really should take our cat to the best vet in the city," that's a general recommendation, but it leaves out the concrete details of how to carry it out (which might be, first, we should look at the Yelp reviews for all the vets in the city, then we should choose the top 10 and call the veterinary licensing board in the state and ask if any of them have ever had complaints filed against them, then we should ask friends if they know anything about any of the vets remaining on the list...you get the idea). The idea in the passage parallels that

RusskiyLev · Answer

Hi, everyone. I have two questions: 
1) Is it possible to update the difficulty level as there have already been more than 30 responses. 
2) Please could you provide an explanation for the question #3? I picked up the answer A, which appeared to be wrong. I was hesitant between A and B, but chose B in the end because Tollefson did not come up with any recommendations. Thus, I thought that the word "incomplete" sounded not as descriptive as the word "misguided". Also taking into account the sentence from the first paragraph, "Based on interviews, transcripts from classes, essays by immigrants, personal visits to a teacher-training unit, and official government documents, Tollefson relies on an impressive amount and variety of documentation in making his arguments about processing centers’ educational programs.", I made an assumption that the study is thorough. But it seems faulty.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello RusskiyLev

(1).  Updated the difficulty level, it is medium to hard level passage (650-Level).

(2).  Question #3 is a medium 600-Level question. As you have eliminated other choices i would only discuss option A and B. Since the author doesn’t think Tollefson provides solutions to the problems he points out, she wouldn’t argue that his work is  “thorough.”  Moreover, she wouldn’t consider it  “misguided”  either. Indeed, she acknowledges the study’s importance, even while she’s critical of it. So A is wrong here.

PS: I love the way you asked the question, it shows the seriousness of the person asking the question.

SaphiereR · Answer

Hi, I am currently studying for GMAT and I want to improve my RC skills so I am solving RC in LSAT; how much time should I target to read the passage and answer the questions correctly.

CEdward · Answer

Pretty upset I got the first one wrong. This wasn't too bad of a passage. 5/6. 12.5 minutes.

1. Which one of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) Tollefson’s focus on the economic and cultural factors involved in adjusting to a new country offers a significant departure from most studies of Southeast Asian immigration. CORRECT (Correct answer is C) If I had to correct myself, I think this choice is a bit too broad.
(B) In his analysis of educational programs for Southeast Asian immigrants, Tollefson fails to acknowledge many of the positive effects the programs have had on immigrants’ lives. X
(C) Tollefson convincingly blames the philosophy underlying immigrant educational programs for some of the adjustment problems afflicting Southeast Asian immigrants. X
(D) Tollefson’s most significant contribution is his analysis of how Southeast Asian immigrants overcome the obstacles they encounter in immigrant educational programs. X
(E) Tollefson traces a gradual yet significant change in the attitudes held by processing center educators toward Southeast Asian immigrants. X

2. With which one of the following statements concerning the educational programs of the immigration centers would Tollefson most probably agree?

(A) Although the programs offer adequate job training, they offer inadequate English training. X
(B) Some of the programs’ attempts to improve the earning power of the immigrants cut them off from potential sources of income. CORRECT
(C) Inclusion of the history of immigration in the United States in the programs’ curricula facilitates adjustment for the immigrants. X
(D) Immigrants would benefit if instructors in the programs were better prepared to teach the curricula developed in the teacher-training courses. X
(E) The programs’ curricula should be redesigned to include greater emphasis on the shared values, beliefs, and practices in the United States. X

3. Which one of the following best describes the opinion of the author of the passage with respect to Tollefson’s work?

(A) thorough but misguided X
(B) innovative but incomplete CORRECT
(C) novel but contradictory X
(D) illuminating but unappreciated X
(E) well documented but unoriginal X

4. The passage suggests that which one of the following is an assumption underlying the educational approach in immigrant processing centers?

(A) There is a set of values and behaviors that, if adopted by immigrants, facilitate adjustment to United States society. CORRECT
(B) When recent immigrants are self-supporting rather than supported by public assistance, they tend to gain English proficiency more quickly. X
(C) Immediate employment tends to undermine the immigrants’ sense of community with each other. X
(D) Long-term success for immigrants is best achieved by encouraging the immigrants to maintain a strong sense of community. X
(E) The principles of self-sufficiency and individual success are central to Southeast Asian culture and ethnicity. X

5. Which one of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) It provides the scholarly context for Tollefson’s study and a description of his methodology. CORRECT
(B) It compares Tollefson’s study to other works and presents the main argument of his study. X
(C) It compares the types of documents Tollefson uses to those used in other studies. X
(D) It presents the accepted theory on Tollefson’s topic and the method by which Tollefson challenges it. X
(E) It argues for the analytical and technical superiority of Tollefson’s study over other works on the topic. X

6. The author of the passage refers to Tollefson’s descriptions of the bureaucratic nature of the immigrant educational programs in the fourth paragraph most probably in order to

(A) criticize Tollefson’s decision to combine a description of the bureaucracies with suggestions for improvement X
(B) emphasize the author’s disappointment in Tollefson’s overly general recommendations for improvements to the programs CORRECT
(C) point out the irony of Tollefson concluding his study with suggestions for drastic changes in the programs X
(D) support a contention that Tollefson’s recommendations for improvements do not focus on the real sources of the programs’ problems X
(E) suggest a parallel between the complexity of the bureaucracies and the complexity of Tollefson’s arguments X

desertEagle · Answer

2. With which one of the following statements concerning the educational programs of the immigration centers would Tollefson most probably agree?

(A) Although the programs offer adequate job training, they offer inadequate English training.
(B) Some of the programs’ attempts to improve the earning power of the immigrants cut them off from potential sources of income.
(C) Inclusion of the history of immigration in the United States in the programs’ curricula facilitates adjustment for the immigrants.
(D) Immigrants would benefit if instructors in the programs were better prepared to teach the curricula developed in the teacher-training courses.
(E) The programs’ curricula should be redesigned to include greater emphasis on the shared values, beliefs, and practices in the United States.

These efforts often
(30) have the effect of undermining the immigrants’ sense
of community and, in doing so,  sometimes isolate them 
from the moral support and  even from business
opportunities afforded by the immigrant community .

desertEagle · Answer

2. With which one of the following statements concerning the educational programs of the immigration centers would Tollefson most probably agree?

(A) Although the programs offer adequate job training, they offer inadequate English training.
(B) Some of the programs’ attempts to improve the earning power of the immigrants cut them off from potential sources of income.
(C) Inclusion of the history of immigration in the United States in the programs’ curricula facilitates adjustment for the immigrants.
(D) Immigrants would benefit if instructors in the programs were better prepared to teach the curricula developed in the teacher-training courses.
(E) The programs’ curricula should be redesigned to include greater emphasis on the shared values, beliefs, and practices in the United States.

These efforts often
(30) have the effect of undermining the immigrants’ sense
of community and, in doing so,  sometimes isolate them 
from the moral support and  even from business
opportunities afforded by the immigrant community .

ans B

Most studies of recent Southeast Asian immigrants to the United States

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Most studies of recent Southeast Asian immigrants to the United States

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