Great comic art is never otherwordly, it does not seek to mystify us,'

Question

Great comic art is never otherwordly, it does not seek to mystify us, and it does not deny ambiguity by branding as evil whatever differs from good. Great comic artists assume that truth may bear all lights, and thus they seek to accentuate contradictions in social action, not gloss over or transcend them by appeals to extrasocial symbols of divine ends, cosmic purpose, or laws of nature. The moment of transcendence in great comic art is a social moment, born out of the conviction that we are human, even though we try to be gods. The comic community to which artists address themselves is a community of reasoning, loving, joyful, compassionate beings, who are willing to assume the human risks of acting rationally. Without invoking gods or demons, great comic art arouses courage in reason, courage which grows out of trust in what human beings can do as humans.   1 
 B 
 1) The passage suggests that great comic art can be characterized as optimistic about the ability of humans to

a) rid themselves of pride
b) act rationally
c) transcend the human condition
d) differentiate clearly between good and evil
e) avoid social conflicts

2 
 D 
 2) It can be inferred from the passage that the author admires great comic artists primarily for their

a) ability to understand the frequently subtle differences between good and evil
b) ability to reconcile the contradictions in human behaviour
c) ability to distinguish between rational and irrational behaviour
d) insistence on confronting the truth about the human condition
e) insistence on condemning human faults and weaknesses

3 
 C 
 3) Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of the passage?

a) A sequence of observations leading to a prediction
b) A list of inferences drawn from facts stated at the beginning of the passage
c) A series of assertions related to one general subject
d) A statement of the major idea, followed by specific examples
e) A succession of ideas moving from specific to general

Skywalker18 · Accepted Answer

OEs-

1.Because of the use of the verb ‘suggests’, this is an ‘inference’ question, the key phrase being ‘optimistic about the ability of human to… The penultimate sentence says that comic artists ‘are willing to assume the human risks of acting rationally’. Obviously, they are optimistic that it is possible for human beings to act rationally.

So, (B) is the answer.

You may be tempted to make the mistake of choosing D, because the words ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are found in the first sentence. But what the first sentence means is that, for the comic artist, whatever differs from good is not evil or, in other words, he does not distinguish clearly between good and evil, because even something which is evil may contain some good.

2.This is also an ‘inference’ question, the key phrase being ‘the author admires great comic artists primarily for’. Every sentence in the passage is in praise of comic artist. But, in the sixth line, the author says, “…. The moment of transcendence in great comic art is born out of the conviction that we are human, though we try to be gods". The admiration of the author for great comic artists is therefore based primarily on their insistence on (or conviction about) the truth of the human condition.

So, (D) is the answer.

You can easily see that none of the other choices is mentioned as attributes of great comic artists.

3.This is a ‘Technique’ question, and should be answered by examining each answer choice and eliminating the inappropriate ones. Since there is no ‘prediction’ regarding comic art in the passage, (A) is wrong.

Each sentence in the passage stands by itself, and describes a fact about comic art and comic artists. The passage does not therefore form a ‘list of inferences’ based on a set of facts. So, (B) is also wrong.

(D) is wrong because no specific examples of comic artists are enumerated in the passage.

(E) is wrong because all the ideas in the passage are general in nature, and there is no transition of ideas from the specific to the general.

(C) is the best choice, because the passage contains a series of assertions about one general subject, namely, great comic art.

The difficult words in the passage are-
otherworldly (strange), mystify (puzzle), ambiguity (doubt), accentuate (emphasize), gloss over (disregard), transcend (go beyond), compassionate (sympathetic) and rationally(logically).

honneeey · Answer

4 Minutes, 1 wrong! 
would love to hear a take on question 1 from  workout  or any other member/expert!

1) The passage suggests that great comic art can be characterized as optimistic about the ability of humans to- ABILITY OF HUMANS TO
a) rid themselves of pride-Opposite
b) act rationally- Correct,  refer "The comic community to which artists address themselves is a community of reasoning, loving, joyful, compassionate beings, who are willing to assume the human risks of acting rationally..."
c) transcend the human condition-its not an optimism, its a harsh reality!
d) differentiate clearly between good and evil-nopes
e) avoid social conflicts-nopes

B

2) It can be inferred from the passage that the author admires great comic artists primarily for their
a) ability to understand the frequently subtle differences between good and evil-incorrect
b) ability to reconcile the contradictions in human behaviour-not reconciling
c) ability to distinguish between rational and irrational behaviour-not distinguishable
d) insistence on confronting the truth about the human condition- correct,  , refer "Without invoking gods or demons, great comic art arouses courage in reason, courage which grows out of trust in what human beings can do as humans..."
e) insistence on condemning human faults and weaknesses-not condemning

D

3) Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of the passage?
a) A sequence of observations leading to a prediction-no prediction.
b) A list of inferences drawn from facts stated at the beginning of the passage-no inference drawn
c) A series of assertions related to one general subject- correct,  assertions are indeed provided
d) A statement of the major idea, followed by specific examples-no specific examples
e) A succession of ideas moving from specific to general-no specific ideas moved to general

C

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

Hi 
in your explanation to OE 1, you have mentioned suggests = inference. Are there any more such key words or question statements by which we can come to know if it a inference question or a detail question ?

Also, in this particularly short passage i took 7 minutes and all questions were answered coorectly. Yet, I feel it should have taken me considerably lesser. What is your strategy for short passages like these . Do you even read ? Or you just skim read it once , try to grassp as much possible and hit the question , then scan the words ?

What I did was, Read the passage totally and comprehended 80% (took about 3 minutes, and then one and a half minute per question). What do you suggest ?

* Edited

Regards

Skywalker18 · Answer

All correct in 5 min 15 seconds, including 1 min 30 seconds to read. (Took a lot of time in question 2 and still wasn't very sure.)

1 The passage suggests that great comic art can be characterized as optimistic about the ability of humans to 
(E) act rationally 
The comic community to which artists address themselves is a community of reasoning, loving, joyful, compassionate beings, who are willing to assume the human risks of acting rationally.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the author admires great comic artists primarily for their 
(D) insistence on confronting the truth about the human condition 
The moment of transcendence in great comic art is a social moment, born out of the conviction that we are human, even though we try to be gods.

3. Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of the passage?

(A) A sequence of observations leading to a prediction - incorrect, there is no prediction
(B) A list of inferences drawn from facts stated at the beginning of the passage - incorrect, 
(C) A series of assertions related to one general subject - correct, we are making assertions about great comic art
(D) A statement of the major idea, followed by specific examples - incorrect, no specific example is listed
(E) A succession of ideas moving from specific to general - incorrect, there is no succession of ideas from specific to general

Answer C

VRG1998 · Answer

Why not B for Q2. - "they seek to accentuate contradictions in social action"

fdundo · Answer

I have the same doubt as VRG1998. In Q2 - why is it not B where it is mentioned in the passage that, "Great comic artists ..... thus they seek to accentuate contradictions in social action" i.e stress the contradictions in social actions. Is social actions equivalent to human behavior here?

fdundo · Answer

In Q2 - why is it not B where it is mentioned in the passage that, "Great comic artists ..... thus they seek to accentuate contradictions in social action" i.e stress the contradictions in social actions and not disregard them. Is social actions equivalent to human behavior(mentioned in the question) here? Reconcile means "restore friendly relations" and the passage claims that the great comic artists want to stress the contradictions and accept them as humans.

Please help here.

Please help here.

jkbk1732 · Answer

fdundo   VRG1998

The question asks why the author PRIMARILY admires the great comic artists?

Line from the passage:  Great comic artists assume that truth may bear all lights, and thus they seek to accentuate contradictions in social action, not gloss over or transcend them by appeals to extrasocial symbols of divine ends, cosmic purpose, or laws of nature.

Great comic artists assume that truth bearing all lights  accentuates the contradictions in social action  and doesn't pass them over as something supernatural.
They say it only accentuates the contradictions but the option (B) talks about   Reconciling the contradictions . Accentuating a contradiction is highlighting it.
Reconciling a contradiction in this context means settling the contradiction or explaining the contradiction, thus nulifying the contradiction.

____________________________________
Leave a kudos if this was helpful

jkbk1732 · Answer

Explanations:

1. The passage suggests that great comic art can be characterized as optimistic about the ability of humans to

This more like a primary purpose of the passage.
Last part of the passage:  assume the human risks of acting rationally.

(A) rid themselves of pride -  The passage talks about embracing human behaviour. Gods can rid themselves of pride. But humans can't. This is the oppositie of the passage 
(B) transcend the human condition -  The last part tells about not being gods and being as humans. So, transcending human condition is the opposite. 
(C) differentiate clearly between good and evil -  Out of scope. 
(D) avoid social conflicts -  social actions are talked about in passage. Not social conflicts 
(E) act rationally -  This matches perfectly with the sentence quoted above.

(E) is correct.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the author admires great comic artists primarily for their

Last line: Without invoking gods or demons, great comic art arouses courage in reason, courage which grows out of trust in what  human beings can do as humans.

(A) ability to understand the frequently subtle differences between good and evil -  Not talked about in the passage 
(B) ability to reconcile the contradictions in human behavior -  accentuating the contradictions in social action is talked not reconciling the contradictions. 
(C) ability to distinguish between rational and irrational behavior -  Out of scope. 
(D) insistence on confronting the truth about the human condition -  From the verse quoted above, we can infer that we have to be comfortable with the truth of our conditions. 
(E) insistence on condemning human faults and weaknesses -  Passage only says about embracing human faults, weaknesses and not condemning it.

(D) is correct.

3. Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of the passage?

(A) A sequence of observations leading to a prediction -  Nothing was predicted 
(B) A list of inferences drawn from facts stated at the beginning of the passage -  No inferences were drawn 
(C) A series of assertions related to one general subject . -  General Subj is "Great Comic Artists is a community who are okay with the faults of humans". And few assertions have been made about it in the passage. They dont mystify us, they are okay with ambiguity and dont try to pass it on as supernatural etc. 
(D) A statement of the major idea, followed by specific examples -  No examples were given. 
(E) A succession of ideas moving from specific to general -  No specific or general ideas were made.

(C) is correct.
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Kudos are appreciated.

bbudhathoki · Answer

"truth may bear all light" >> this was the motivation behind the "contradictions in social actions" - thus of course the Author admires the cause not the effect. That's why its D

nityakaul02 · Answer

I got Q2. wrong. Is it 700 level? I suppose.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Following are the difficulty levels

Question #1: 650
Question #2: 700
Question #3: 600

Regards

SH160703 · Answer

all correct 2;24 seconds total time to read and solve passage thanks to my mentors and all the GMAT community memebers from whom i learned to comprehend RC's .. thanks love u all

Great comic art is never otherwordly, it does not seek to mystify us,'

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Great comic art is never otherwordly, it does not seek to mystify us,'

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