Question 4
abhola wrote:
GMATNinja wrote:
The fact that the recipients have changed tell us that those administering the programs are considering WHO should receive the funding. If choice (D) were not a basic consideration, then those administering the programs would NOT ask the fundamental question of who the recipients should be. We are told that the question of who the recipients should be (i.e. which groups should be given funding) is fundamental, impacting the basic goals and directions of such programs.
The passage mentions a couple shifts in policy that impacted who received funding. For example, "in 1970 the SBA explicitly stated that their main goal was to increase the number of minority-owned businesses." In the late 1970s, one agency adopted "the goal of creating and assisting more minority-owned substantive firms with future growth potential."
However, the passage makes no mention of analyzing/predicting which entrepreneurs are likely to succeed. Choosing the individual people and businesses within those groups might be a secondary question that involves considering which entrepreneurs are likely to succeed, but the passage does not talk about such considerations.
Thus, (D) is a better answer than (E).
Hi
GMATNinjaCan I interpret the above explanation as follows:
In the battle of D vs E:
E is wrong because E is not the most basic consideration.
Knowing what firms are likely to succeed comes AFTER once you have decided who the funding recipients should be (option D).
I choice E because, simply, D looked too simple to be true :')
Any suggestions on how should I control this urge?Thank you!
For RC questions that ask about specific details in the passage, it's best to find the most relevant piece of the passage first and then answer the question with the exact language of the passage in mind.
Question 4 asks which answer choice is mentioned as a "basic consideration" in administering minority-business funding programs. As we pointed out in our earlier explanation, the most relevant portion of the passage to answer this question is at the end of the first paragraph, where we learn that a "fundamental question" is "who the recipients should be."
With that context in mind, (D) is clearly mentioned as a basic consideration, while (E) is not.
Is (D) too simple to be true? Not at all! The way to resist this kind of thinking is to realize that the people who write the test are not trying to trick you. If they ask for a detail mentioned in the passage, go find that detail and answer the question accordingly.
That's not to say that RC questions can't be hard. Sometimes details are difficult to parse, or the language is very convoluted, or they ask for a nuanced inference. But the questions are asked in good faith, so all you can do is hone and refine your process to give yourself the best shot at answering questions accurately. There's no need to make your life harder by worrying that an answer choice is too simple to be true.
I hope that helps!
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