The 1920s marked a new independence in political party affiliation

Question

The 1920s marked a new independence in political party affiliation amongst Black Americans-they were ready to move in a new political direction. The direction was not, however, to the extreme left, despite the wooing of the socialists and the communists.

Because their program revolved around the working person, socialists viewed the problems of society as mainly economic rather than racial; they saw the Black person primarily as a worker and only incidentally as a "Negro". No matter how eloquent, their program was generally viewed by Black Americans as remote from their needs.

In contrast to the socialists, the communists sought to more directly address the needs of the Black community. In 1925, the Communist Party organized the American Negro Labor Congress which was designed to bring all Black trade unionists together in order to strengthen the party. They also organized the International Labor Defense, a legal arm that was designed to defend communists in the courts, but that concerned itself particularly with cases involving Black people regardless of their political affiliations. Another part of the communist program was designed to have Black Americans run for high office on the party ticket in state and national elections. However, even with such strenuous efforts, the communists made few Black converts.    1 
 1. The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

A. condemning attitudes
B. describing tactics
C. interpreting reactions
D. comparing goals
E. accounting for results

2 
 2. It can be inferred from the passage that, prior to 1920, Black Americans

A. were not inclined to be politically active
B. had little freedom in making political decisions
C. sanctioned the activities of leftist organizations
D. had traditionally followed one political course
E. were secretive about their political alliances

3 
 3. According to the passage, the Communist party attempted to recruit Black members by

A. seeking the help of the International Labor Defense
B. founding a separate Black republic within the United States
C. making an effort to unify members of Black trade unions
D. emphasizing their belief that the problems of society were primarily economic 
E. persuading Socialists to form the International Labor Defense

4 
 4. The passage provides the answer to which of the following questions?

A. Approximately how many Blacks joined the American Communist Party during the 1920s?
B. In what political direction did Blacks of the 1920s move?
C. Why did the communists wish to recruit Black Americans into their party?
D. In what way was the establishment of the International Labor Defense aimed specifically at attracting Blacks to communism?
E. What were the names of the Black communist candidates for national office?

5 
 5. According to the author, Black Americans were not drawn to socialism because

A. the communists were more attentive to the needs of the Black community
B. they were put off by the extreme left associations of socialism
C. socialism saw Blacks largely as an economic group, not a racial group
D. the Negro Labor Congress advertised against socialism
E. socialists did not make enough effort to make Blacks feel part of the party mainstream

6 
 6. It may be inferred from the passage that the International Labor Defense

A. was largely unsuccessful in its attempts to defend communists in court cases
B. had close ties to the Negro Labor Congress
C. defended some Blacks who were not communists
D. was formed in response to the new independence in party alliances among Blacks 
E. was staffed by communist attorneys

ElninoEffect · Answer

1. The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

A. condemning attitudes
We are not condemning anything.
B.  describing tactics 
Tactics of communists and socialists has been discussed and also what impact it had on the back Americans. Lets hold on.
C. interpreting reactions
Reactions of Black Americans has been stated for both the socialists and communists but we have not interpreted those reactions.
D. comparing goals
Goals of the two parties were the same but we have not compared them
E. accounting for results
We cannot say that either.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that, prior to 1920, Black Americans

I was stuck between B and D but B sounded to me like they had little say in political decision making, whereas what we are discussing here is that they didn't had the freedom to choose the parties.
So D is better than B.
C cannot be inferred and rest all options don't fall under the ball park. 
I may be wrong here.

A. were not inclined to be politically active
B. had little freedom in making political decisions
C. sanctioned the activities of leftist organizations
D.  had traditionally followed one political course 
E. were secretive about their political alliances

3. According to the passage, the Communist party attempted to recruit Black members by

-organizing the American Negro Labor Congress 
-organizing the International Labor Defense,
-program was designed to have Black Americans run for high office on the party ticket in state and national elections.

A. seeking the help of the International Labor Defense
They created international labour defence for black American traders.
B. founding a separate Black republic within the United States
Falls in the points discussed let's hold.
C. making an effort to unify members of Black trade unions 
This was the job of the separate black republican. It was between B and C
D. emphasizing their belief that the problems of society were primarily economic 
This was socialists thinking.
E. persuading Socialists to form the International Labor Defense
Communists formed that organization not the socialists.

4. The passage provides the answer to which of the following questions?

A. Approximately how many Blacks joined the American Communist Party during the 1920s?
We cannot infer that.
B. In what political direction did Blacks of the 1920s move?
We don't know that as well.
C. Why did the communists wish to recruit Black Americans into their party?
No reason has been provided.
D.  In what way was the establishment of the International Labor Defense aimed specifically at attracting Blacks to communism? 
a legal arm that was designed to defend communists in the courts, but that concerned itself particularly with cases involving Black people regardless of their political affiliations. - We have the answer.
E. What were the names of the Black communist candidates for national office?
We don't know that either.

5. According to the author, Black Americans were not drawn to socialism because

A. the communists were more attentive to the needs of the Black community
If that was the case then more black Americans should have converted but it says otherwise.
B. they were put off by the extreme left associations of socialism
We cannot infer that.
C.  socialism saw Blacks largely as an economic group, not a racial group 
This can be a reason as it has been clearly stated and was the only strategy of the communists.
D. the Negro Labor Congress advertised against socialism
We cannot infer that.
E. socialists did not make enough effort to make Blacks feel part of the party mainstream
It was not the lack of the effort but its effectiveness. - "No matter how eloquent, their program was generally viewed by Black Americans as remote from their needs."

6. It may be inferred from the passage that the International Labor Defense

A. was largely unsuccessful in its attempts to defend communists in court cases
We don't know that.
B. had close ties to the Negro Labor Congress
but that concerned itself particularly with cases involving Black people  regardless of their political affiliations  - So its not true.
C.  defended some Blacks who were not communists 
As has been stated in the passage independent of their affiliations to any political party, International Labor Defense was organized to defend blacks.
D. was formed in response to the new independence in party alliances among Blacks 
Was formed to defend blacks.
E. was staffed by communist attorneys
We cannot infer that.

vijayram2496 · Answer

1. The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

A. condemning attitudes
B. describing tactics
C. interpreting reactions
D. comparing goals
E. accounting for results

My Answer is  E

This passage is about Black Americans and why they haven't joined either socialists or communists ,despite their efforts .So the author basically mentions that Black Americans were not inclined to any party and he then points out how socialists , communists tried to team them up with their individual efforts.
A talks about condemning attitudes ,but then the tone of the passage is highly neutral and he didn't judge anyone based on their decisions .So there was neither a condemnation nor an applause for the decisions Black Americans chose.
B is about describing tactics ,.Definitely the author brought up this in 2nd and 3rd paras where he mentioned several efforts and their tactics but the theme of passage doesn't align along these tactics. He mentioned in first para that BA were not willing to join despite many efforts ,So we still have a better option than this option.
C is about interpreting reactions ,but there was neither explanation nor reasons why BA chose not to be left .(esp. in communists case) so I guess this doesn't justify the essence of passage.
D is about comparing goals, but clearly there was no mention of goals in the entire passage.
E is about accounting for results .In both 2nd and 3rd paras ,author tried to point out socialists and communists point of view why BA didn't join their parties despite all the efforts. I think this is whole purpose of passage and expectation of results would be the right choice.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that, prior to 1920, Black Americans

A. were not inclined to be politically active
B. had little freedom in making political decisions
C. sanctioned the activities of leftist organizations
D. had traditionally followed one political course
E. were secretive about their political alliances

My Answer is  B

So in the first line of passage,  The 1920s marked a new independence in political party affiliation amongst Black Americans-they were ready to move in a new political direction  ,author tried to give an idea that before that period ,BA were not having any independence in taking sides with political parties.
A is about BA inclination on being politically active, but this cannot be inferred as they just got new independence after 1920 but not that they started being politically active after 1920's 
B talks about the freedom aspect of making political decisions, this is correct because author said that they got new independence (meaning they were not free before ) in political party affiliation (political decisions).This suggests option B
C is about sanctions on activities of leftist organizations, but that is too far to infer ,may be they were following a different course of political party altogether or may be they were on leftist organizations front .This cannot be inferred.
D is about following one political course ,this cannot be inferred as no such information or hint was provided. May be they were following both socialist and communist political courses or they were following any one ideology .Cannot be inferred.
E is wrong as it adds new info that is way beyond to infer.

3. According to the passage, the Communist party attempted to recruit Black members by

A. seeking the help of the International Labor Defense
B. founding a separate Black republic within the United States
C. making an effort to unify members of Black trade unions
D. emphasizing their belief that the problems of society were primarily economic
E. persuading Socialists to form the International Labor Defense

My Answer is  C

A is about Communists seeking help of International Labor Defense but then Communists themselves organized ILD and not seeking help from that . For this very reason I strike off A.
B is about founding a separate Black republic but then they just organized American Negro Labor Congress and this was made to unify members of Black Trade unions but not for all Black I guess and there is no mention whether it is particularly black or it is black and white mixed together.
C is true because they expected to gain Blacks Support by unifying all Black trade unions 
D,E cannot be inferred as these options mention the statements which are not mentioned in passage.

4. The passage provides the answer to which of the following questions?

A. Approximately how many Blacks joined the American Communist Party during the 1920s?
B. In what political direction did Blacks of the 1920s move?
C. Why did the communists wish to recruit Black Americans into their party?
D. In what way was the establishment of the International Labor Defense aimed specifically at attracting Blacks to communism?
E. What were the names of the Black communist candidates for national office?

My Answer is  D

A talks about number of blacks joined in ACP ,this is not mentioned at all.
B is about political direction and that info is also not available ,it was just not left ,it could be either or to the right.
C talks about intentions of communists in recruiting BA ,but the motives were not mentioned ,only the efforts to club them in were mentioned.
E is about the names ,which is out of topic.

D is mentioned in 3rd para and it is true.

5. According to the author, Black Americans were not drawn to socialism because

A. the communists were more attentive to the needs of the Black community
B. they were put off by the extreme left associations of socialism
C. socialism saw Blacks largely as an economic group, not a racial group
D. the Negro Labor Congress advertised against socialism
E. socialists did not make enough effort to make Blacks feel part of the party mainstream

My Answer is  C

A is not mentioned in the passage ,the priority is not on focus.
B says ELAS influenced Blacks ,but that cannot be inferred and as there no such info too.
C is true and it is mentioned in 2nd para.
D is vague and not mentioned ,so wrong 
E is also out of passage and can be eliminated.

6. It may be inferred from the passage that the International Labor Defense

A. was largely unsuccessful in its attempts to defend communists in court cases
B. had close ties to the Negro Labor Congress
C. defended some Blacks who were not communists
D. was formed in response to the new independence in party alliances among Blacks
E. was staffed by communist attorneys

My Answer is  C

ILD success rate in defending communists is out of topic and it cannot be inferred. So A is wrong
B is about close ties with NLC ,but there was no idea on that in the passage .
C is true as it is mentioned in the below lines from 3rd para.
 but that concerned itself particularly with cases involving Black people regardless of their political affiliations. 
D,E cannot be inferred as there was no information on that.

nicbo · Answer

6. It may be inferred from the passage that the International Labor Defense

A. was largely unsuccessful in its attempts to defend communists in court cases
B. had close ties to the Negro Labor Congress
C.  defended some Blacks who were not communists  --> passage says "but that concerned itself particularly with cases involving Black people regardless of their political affiliations."
D. was formed in response to the new independence in party alliances among Blacks
E. was staffed by communist attorneys

The 1920s marked a new independence in political party affiliation

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

The 1920s marked a new independence in political party affiliation

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards