Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro

Hi Fellow GMAT takers and Experts,
Could you guys please explain Q6 and why A is the correct option, I did actually marked option C

Thanks and Regards,
Rajat Shrivastav

Hi RajatGMAT777,

Please refer this answer by expert here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/historians-have-long-thought-that-america-was-from-the-beginning-pro-139829.html#p2392463


Let me know if you still have doubts.
Thanks.

For Q5 even though I myself chose C over B, I can justify why B might be a better choice.

5. The passage suggests that, if classical republicanism had been the ideology of eighteenth-century America, which of the following would have resulted?

(B) Citizens and politicians would not have been encouraged to agitate for increased individual rights.
(C) People would have been convinced that by pursuing their own interests they were contributing to the good of the group.

Okay so basically the essence of republicanism is that people think of greater good of community over their own good. Sacrifice of self per se.
But I see that paragraph 1 never refuses that people do not think about individual rights. It in facts states that people do really think about individual rights. But the goal of fighting for their individual rights is that if they are free, they can help the community.

"To be completely virtuous, people had to be independent and free of the petty interests of the marketplace."

Very subtle point.

Thus option B is wrong. Because even if they fight for their freedom, this fact doesn't imply that they are fighting for personal reasons. As stated, to be able to help others, one must be "free", "independent" .. for if you ain't free yourself, how are you gonna help the community?

C on the other hand, to have that republicanism ideology, people must be clear in their mind that their fight for individual rights is "for the greater good of the community"-------> precisely what option C says.

Oof, that was a tough one. I definitely had a big brain exercise trying to justify option B. Also, I know the OA so I am able to justify it. Totally different game to be 100% sure with such questions in your first go. It is very subtle but clearly the essence behind the writing.

Hope it helps. Kudos appreciated.

GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo

I am having problem with question 2.
I was down to option C and E but eventually selected E.
Not much of the good reason i guess, since CR - elitist, thought government forcing Docs for free checkup - greater good.

Please help thanks.

Hi GMATNinja


Could you please explain why C is correct for question 5?

The passage says that :

Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community.

the passage says that people should sacrifice their individual interests, whereas (C) says people pursue their interests.

Since C seemed to contradict the passage, I eliminated it.

Thank you very much beforehand!

Hi rounakkedia172,

Let me know if this helps.

The ideology that, according to Pocock, formed the basis of America’s eighteenth-century was: "Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community. To be completely virtuous, people had to be independent and free of the petty interests of the marketplace. The greatest enemy of virtue was commerce."

Now we need to look for an option that would satisfy the above checks.


Incorrect, as the doctor is freely treating the patients only because of government pressure, implying he is not truly virtuous, as per the above conditions of liberty.



Correct, as here is an engineer who is suffering losses, but still devoting time and energy for helping the community.
Thus is better when compared to C.

Thanks.

Take a look at this post, and let us know if that doesn't help?
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14.5 mins to get thru everything, including reading the passage.

got 7/8 correct - got confused on question #5...

Hi AndrewN GMATNinja

I am not sure what are your comments on Q5.
I gave up this question

Another Point:


Shall I interpret it as:
Historians argued that communitarian and precapitalistic mentality was pervasive. . In other words they argued because they didn't agree that communitarian and precapitalist mentality was pervasive among the eighteenth-century farmers. Otherwise why would they argue if they can agree that communitarian and precapitalist mentality was pervasive among the eighteenth-century farmers.

Second point :
Influenced by Pocock, some historians have even argued . It means historians are in agreement with Pocock. And, Pocock words implies that capitalist mentality was not in minds of people. But sacrifice individual rights over prosperity of community was the main thing.

Thirdly , ( YET)
Next passage starts with : Yet Pocock’s thesis and the reinterpretation of the history of eighteenth-century America engendered by it are of dubious validity
It means change in language. Now the para talks about against Pocock theory .So previous lines must be in favour of Pocock .

Is my understanding correct or Am i doing some blunder? Please give your opinion .

Thanks!

Question 5

The word “argue” does not necessarily mean to “disagree.” In this instance, “to argue” means “to give reasons or cite evidence in support of a theory.” For that reason, we can interpret the sentence you referenced as follows:

Influenced by Pocock, some historians have even asserted (or stated) that a communitarian and precapitalist mentality was pervasive among the eighteenth-century farmers of America.

In other words, these historians, like Pocock, believed the capitalist mindset was not pervasive and even went as far as to assert that farmers had a precapitalist/communitarian mentality.


The first paragraph introduces Pocock’s view that America was influenced by Machiavelli. In the second paragraph, the author describes his/her doubts about Pocock’s view.

I hope that helps!
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what are your thoughts on q5 for this RC passage? B seems pretty popular and I still think that it is the right answer - can't seem to find any supporting reason for C being the correct answer.

MartyTargetTestPrep VeritasKarishma

Yes, (B) does work better. Request the OP to post the solution and explanation from the original source.

The posts defending choice C in this thread for Q5 don't really make any sense.

For what its worth, I googled Q5 and found the answer to be B on other forums.
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Not getting the exact explanation for Q2, Q5,Q6. I stuck between 2 options.
plz provide appropriate explanation

Any Explanations why C is correct for Q5 and not B?

GMATNinja egmat
veritasKarishma
Could you please help explain why option B in question 5 is wrong?
I don't think choice C is supported by any info in the passage.

Also, Could you please help explain question 2 in details?
I don't have any clue to solve this question.

Hi, Please explain how the answer for Question 5 is C. I can't relate to the explanations given above.­

I have the same issue that, passage describes that sacrificing own interests would lead greater good of the society. The how will persuing own interests will help in greater good of society.

Yeah, Q5 definitely can't be C. C is describing more of a capitalist way of thinking--people contribute by pursuing their own self-interest. That's the opposite of what we want here.

B isn't really a good answer--we don't know for sure that people wouldn't also have been encouraged to gain more rights for themselves--but it's at least consistent with the mindset the author associates with classical republicanism.
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