Concord staked its claim to be the birthplace of Independence during t

Question

Concord staked its claim to be the birthplace of Independence during the celebration of "America’s jubilee" on April 19, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of Concord Fight. Concord in 1825 was an expansive town of nineteen hundred inhabitants, thriving with crafts and trade in the village and surrounded by farms prospering on demand from rising urban centers in the long boom that accompanied the opening phase of the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast. It also occupied a prominent place on the political landscape; as a shire town, where the county courts convened, it had risen into a leading center of Middlesex County, and its politicians were major players on that stage. Economic and political ambitions, as well as pride in the past, drove the insistence that Concord was the "first site of forcible resistance to British aggression."

A decade later, by the mid-1830s, with over two thousand inhabitants, Concord was probably at its political and economic pinnacle. The central village hosted some nine stores, forty shops, four hotels and taverns, four doctors and four lawyers, a variety of county associations, a printing office and a post office. Manufacturing was humming, too, with a growing mill village in the west part of town, along the quick-running Assabet River, and rising production of carriages and chaises, boots and shoes, bricks, guns, bellows, and pencils.

But a good many people were left out of the prosperity. In what was still a farming town, 64 percent of adult males were landless, while the top tenth of taxpayers, some fifty men, controlled nearly half the wealth. Those who failed to obtain a stake in society, native and newcomer alike, quickly moved on. The ties that once joined neighbors together were fraying. On the farms, the old work customs—the huskings, roof-raisings, and apple bees—by which people cooperated to complete essential chores gave way to modern capitalist arrangements. When men needed help, they hired it, and paid the going rate, which no longer included the traditional ration of grog. With a new zeal for temperance, employers abandoned the custom of drinking with workers in what had been a ritual display of camaraderie. There was no point in pretending to common bonds.

With the loosening of familiar obligations came unprecedented opportunities for personal autonomy and voluntary choice. Massachusetts inaugurated a new era of religious pluralism in 1834, ending two centuries of mandatory support for local churches. Even in Concord, a slim majority approved the change, and as soon as it became law, townspeople deserted the two existing churches—the Unitarian flock of the Reverend Ripley and an orthodox Calvinist congregation founded in 1826—in droves. The Sabbath no longer brought all ranks and orders together in obligatory devotion to the Word of God. Instead, townspeople gathered in an expanding array of voluntary associations—libraries, lyceums, charitable and missionary groups, Masonic lodges, antislavery and temperance societies, among others—to promote diverse projects for the common good. The privileged classes, particularly the village elite, were remarkably active in these campaigns. But even as they pulled back from customary roles and withdrew into private associations, they continued to exercise public power.   1 
 D 
1. The passage suggests which of the following about members of the village elite in post-1834 Concord?

A. Private associations had forced them to relinquish political power.

B. Politically, they were more in favor of religious pluralism than were non-elite citizens.

C. They ceased all Sabbath worship once religious pluralism became law in Massachusetts.

D. Many had abandoned the Unitarian and Calvinist churches in favor of non-church activities.

E. They utilized their wealth to found a growing number of diverse projects for the common good.

2 
 E 
2. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A. argue that religious and political freedom in Concord was beneficial to the city’s economic development

B. depict the lifestyle of Concord’s elite citizens during the 19th century

C. argue that social alienation was necessary for Concord’s economic and political development in the 19th century

D. define Concord’s place in American history post- Independence

E. describe 19th century Concord’s key economic and political changes, along with their impact on societal norms

3 
 C 
3. According to the passage, which of the following is true of 18th-century Massachusetts residents?

A. Most were landless and ultimately forced to move on.

B. They numbered over two thousand.

C. They were forced to support local churches.

D. Some celebrated “America’s Jubilee”.

E. They occupied prominent positions in Middlesex County courts.

4 
 B 
4. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was true of Concord’s economy in the 1840s?

(A) Manufacturing was a growing industry, overtaking farming in importance.

(B) The economy likely was stagnant or in decline relative to the previous decade.

(C) Land ownership among adult males was on the rise.

(D) The sale and consumption of alcohol declined sharply.

(E) The construction of new farmhouses and other farm buildings slowed.

5 
 A 
5. The author mentions “modern capitalist arrangements” in the third paragraph primarily in order to

(A) Illustrate one aspect of a change in the town’s social structure

(B) Contrast with the old work customs used by most farmers of the time

(C) Establish the earliest development of commerce in the area

(D) Advocate a return to more old-fashioned customs

(E) Explain the fact that less than half of adult males owned land.

Manhattan CAT 1

CrackverbalGMAT · Accepted Answer

We can map this passage -

Para 1 and Para 2 - concord was an important town economically
Para 3 - many people did not make it and moved on/ common relationships changed to be more business like.
para 4 - new era of religious pluralism led to change.

Q1. "village elites" are mentioned in the last paragraph.
A - the last sentence of the paragraph - "even as they pulled back from customary roles and withdrew into private associations, they continued to exercise public power." does not agree with this option.
B - the last paragraph does not mention anything about their political views on religious pluralism. We only know that they were more involved in campaigns for common good.
C - We do not know if the village elite ceased Sabbath worship all together. All we know is that Sabbath did not bring all ranks and orders together. Does not mean they ceased Sabbath completely.
D - correct answer. Look at these sentences - "townspeople deserted the two existing churches/Instead, townspeople gathered in an expanding array of voluntary associations/ The privileged classes, particularly the village elite, were remarkably active in these campaigns.". The 3 sentences suggest that many of the village elite abandoned church activities for such campaigns.
E - "The privileged classes, particularly the village elite, were remarkably active in these campaigns." - this sentence does not mean that they founded such campaigns or that they contributed their wealth to found such campaigns.

Q2. 
A - the passage does not talk about political freedom.The 4th paragraph talks about religious freedom. It says it brought about projects for common good. Nowhere does it talk about its effect on economic development.
B - the passage is about concord, not about its elite. It also does not talk about their lifestyle (except maybe in the last sentence of the passage).
C - the passage does not talk about social alienation at all. Also, this option goes against the tone of the passage.
D - the passage only talks about some events in the 19th century, not the entire post - independence history. Also, its place in history is mentioned only in the first line of the passage.
E - correct answer. look at the map above.

Q3.
A - 64% of adult males were landless does not mean the majority of population was landless. Again this information is about the 1830s (19th century).
B - in 1825 the population was 1900. Presumably the population in 18th century was even less.
C - Correct answer. Before 1834 (that means the 18th century also) they were forced to support local churches - "Massachusetts inaugurated a new era of religious pluralism in 1834, ending two centuries of mandatory support for local churches."
D - America's jubilee did not happen in the 18th century.
E - We know data about 1825 (19th century) not about 18th century.

BillyZ · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION 
The question mentions a specific timeframe:  the 1840s . The passage doesn’t specifically mention the 1840s, but does mention the 1830s, followed by things that happened later in time. Look through this information to find the answer.

(A) The second paragraph mentions that manufacturing was humming in the mid-1930s, but does not provide information to indicate that this continued into the 1940s, nor does the passage ever indicate that manufacturing was overtaking farming.

(B) CORRECT . The first sentence of the second paragraph says that by the mid-1830s, Concord was probably at its political and economic pinnacle. The pinnacle is, by definition, the peak. If the economic pinnacle was probably in the mid-1830s, then the economy was probably not even higher in the 1840s; it would be either the same (stagnant) or lower (in decline) relative to the 1830s.

(C) The third paragraph indicates that 64 percent of adult males were landless but does not indicate whether more or fewer were purchasing land in any timeframe.

(D) The third paragraph does mention a new zeal for temperance, but temperance means moderation; that is, alcohol is consumed but in moderation. Further, the passage doesn’t indicate how widespread this new zeal was; this choice goes to far in inferring that the sale and consumption declined sharply.

(E) The third paragraph indicates that people no longer cooperated freely to construct houses or other buildings; rather, help was hired to accomplish these tasks. The rate of such building is not mentioned in the passage.

Aneko · Answer

A piece of cake! but still made a mistake in Q1. Chose E.
Q2.
The primary purpose of this passage is to
A. argue that religious and political freedom in Concord was beneficial to the city’s economic development
B. depict the lifestyle of Concord’s elite citizens during the 19th century
C. argue that social alienation was necessary for Concord’s economic and political development in the 19th century
D. define Concord’s place in American history post- Independence
 E. describe 19th century Concord’s key economic and political changes, along with their impact on societal norms 
That is what the passage does! Describes changes and impact of these changes on society.

Q3.
According to the passage, which of the following is true of 18th-century Massachusetts residents?
A. Most were landless and ultimately forced to move on.
B. They numbered over two thousand.
 C. They were forced to support local churches. 
 "Massachusetts inaugurated a new era of religious pluralism in 1834, ending two centuries of mandatory support for local churches. " 
the passage says that before 1834, residents of Massachusetts were obliged to support the local churches during 2 centuries.
D. Some celebrated “America’s Jubilee”.
E. They occupied prominent positions in Middlesex County courts.

BillyZ · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION 
The year 1834 is mentioned in the last paragraph, so the correct answer will probably relate to information contained there.
 
(A) This choice directly contradicts the last line of the passage: “But even as they pulled back from customary roles and withdrew into private associations, they continued to exercise public power.”
 
(B) This choice is incorrect because the author does not mention which group in particular was the stronger supporter of the religious pluralism; she only mentions that “a slim majority approved the change.”
 
(C) This choice incorrectly asserts that Concord’s village elite ceased all Sabbath worship. While they no longer worshiped at the same church on Sabbath, they did not necessarily cease all Sabbath worship.
 
 (D) CORRECT . The last paragraph states that after 1834, “townspeople deserted the two existing churches – the Unitarian flock of the Reverend Ripley and an orthodox Calvinist congregation founded in 1826 – in droves.” Instead, many became active in “diverse projects for the common good.” The village elite in particular "were remarkably active in these campaigns.” The passage thus suggests that the village elite abandoned the two existing churches in favor of non-church activities such as those mentioned: “libraries, lyceums, charitable and missionary groups, Masonic lodges, antislavery and temperance societies.”
 
(E) This choice claims that the elite used their wealth to found the diverse projects. While "diverse projects for the common good" is found verbatim in the passage, as well as the idea that the village elite “were remarkably active in these campaigns” there is no mention of whose private funds, if any, were used to found them.

illthinker · Answer

Hang on, how is Q1 obviously D? 
I see 3 sentences somewhat related to that option: 
(1) townspeople deserted the two existing churches....in droves 
(2) Instead, townspeople gathered in an expanding array of voluntary associations...to promote diverse projects for the common good 
(3) The privileged classes, particularly the village elite, were remarkably active in these campaigns

Perhaps one of the MGMAT tutors could kindly correct me where I'm wrong here, but to claim that "many" village elite abandoned the churches on above information alone necessarily assumes that volunteer project involvement and continued churchgoing are mutually exclusive events? (why can't a tiny proportion of elite leave the church but the bulk of them still contribute to non-church activities?)

Or perhaps the answer choice makes the leap that because so many townspeople left the churches and so few elites exist as a proportion of said townspeople, it must necessarily be the case that "many" elites also left? That's a lot of leaps to make for an RC passage that had 4 long paragraphs. I'd appreciate a clarification from one of the MGMAT tutors on here, and if not, the Q should be modified, as I see no correct options among the 5.

Thank you.

akadiyan · Answer

swathiallumalla

I am no expert, but i will share my thought process i followed to get this question correct.

Option D - define Concord’s place in American history post- Independence

Though the passage starts with how concord staked its claim to be birthplace of independence , there is no other information that would provide a link between american history and concord city is given in the passage.

After the first line in paragraph 1 , the entire passage talks about the state political and societal information of the concord city and also goes on to state how it evolved in 2 different decades and ends with the direction concord proceeded in later times.

So from the information provided, we could decode that the author is interested in explaining about economic , political status of concord in 1825's and how it changed in 1830's and changes it went through in later stages.

Option E is best aligned with out thought process.

E. describe 19th century Concord’s key economic and political changes, along with their impact on societal norms

Ans:   E

Sunaina7 · Answer

Can someone please help me understand the Q4 response

cjmoore16 · Answer

Sunaina7

4. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was true of Concord’s economy in the 1840s?

(A) Manufacturing was a growing industry, overtaking farming in importance.
(B) The economy likely was stagnant or in decline relative to the previous decade.
(C) Land ownership among adult males was on the rise.
(D) The sale and consumption of alcohol declined sharply.

This question tripped me up too. When narrowing down to A and B I went for A because "manufacturing was humming" and thus indicating it was growing. However, upon further inspection, recognizing that manufacturing is an industry that would contribute to economic prosperity (if manufacturing was growing) and since Concord had reached "its political and economic pinnacle", you can safely say that manufacturing was not growing. Nor does the passage mention it overtook farming; it could be a small component that did experienced accelerated growth, but then plateaued.

In case C, D , or E tripped you up, here is my view

C - Passage states that "64% of adult males were landless", however, there is no indication that this is growing into the 1840s
D - I associated the temperance with the drinking associated with work related activities and goes too far to say that it had a sharp decline on alcohol sales overall and thus had an effect on the economy
E - Think about the labor that is used to build a home. People used to freely help one another but now people paid others to construct buildings (as mentioned in the third paragraph). This does not mean the rate increased or decreased, it just means the expectation of "free" community labor changed

Hope this helps.

Thelionking1234 · Answer

Skywalker18  &  SajjadAhmad

Kindly add this question

5. The author mentions “modern capitalist arrangements” in the third paragraph primarily in order to

A. Illustrate one aspect of a change in the town’s social structure

B. Contrast with the old work customs used by most farmers of the time

C. Establish the earliest development of commerce in the area

D. Advocate a return to more old-fashioned customs

E. Explain the fact that less than half of adult males owned land

bM22 · Answer

Hi  Thelionking1234 ,

Done, Thanks.

nityakaul02 · Answer

what is the difficulty level of this passage ??

Thelionking1234 · Answer

Q 1 - 700
Q 2 - 550
Q 3 - 650
Q 4 - 700
Q 5 - 700

Overall: 700

Posted from my mobile device

SairamRamo · Answer

Kindly post Offical Explanation for question 5  Skywalker18   SajjadAhmad   bm2201

5. The author mentions “modern capitalist arrangements” in the third paragraph primarily in order to

Thelionking1234 · Answer

Official Explanation

This is a Specific Detail question about a specific quote, so review the text around that quote. The ties that once joined neighbors together were fraying. On the farms, the old work customs by which people cooperated to complete essential chores gave way to modern capitalist arrangements. When men needed help, they hired it.

Why does the author mention modern capitalist arrangements? Likely to illustrate the main point of this paragraph: many people were left out of the prosperity as the town developed and as a small number of inhabitants built much greater wealth than the rest.

(A) CORRECT. The modern capitalist arrangements represented a change in the way that farmers and others interacted with one another.
  
(B) The beginning of the sentence does mention old work customs used by farmers, but the purpose is not merely to contrast the two. Rather, the sentence indicates that the older customs gave way to the modern capitalist arrangements. The author is noting that a change occurred because of changes in the overall social structure of the town.

(C) The town was already engaging in commerce, even though this commerce might not have involved modern capitalist arrangements. The previous paragraph discusses stores, shops, hotels, taverns, and so on.

(D) It is possible that some people might not have been happy with the development of these modern capitalist arrangements, but the author does not express an opinion, nor does the passage advocate anything.

(E) The passage does indicate that 64 percent of adult males were landless, but the change from older, cooperative customs to modern capitalist arrangements doesn’t explain or illustrate that fact.

Hope this helps.

Naman_Agrawal · Answer

I am still not convinced with any of the explanations for Q4, can someone please help

bM22 · Answer

Hi  Spiddy ,

Let me know if this helps.

B for Question 4 can be inferred from: "A decade later, by the mid-1830s, with over two thousand inhabitants, Concord was probably at its political and  economic pinnacle . "

The key word to consider here is "pinnacle", since the passage mentions that Concord was at it's political and economic pinnacle and no explicit information is mentioned about the growth in 1840's, we can only infer that after reaching the maximum growth in mid-1830's, it would not have grown further, thus implying that ehe economy likely was stagnant or in decline relative to the previous decade.

Thanks.

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Not convinced with Q5. The question is about the purpose of a noun entity i.e. "modern capitalistic arrangements". The function of the noun entity is to present a contrast.

The function of the sentence  "On the farms, the old work customs—the huskings, roof-raisings, and apple bees—by which people cooperated to complete essential chores gave way to modern capitalist arrangements."  is to illustrate a change but the function of that sentence cannot be reduced to a mere phrase.

I am being precise with the question here. Thoughts anyone?

Harshjha001 · Answer

Can anyone suggest me how to handle questions such as Q5 .

When it is asked - What was the primary purpose for using "XYZ" ? Should we answer in the whole passage's context or just the immediate context of the phrase "XYZ" ?

Here in the passage , option A goes fine with whole passage's context but option B goes fine with the immediate context. Skywalker18  SajjadAhmad

bM22 · Answer

Hi  ravigupta2912 ,

Consider the lines: "The ties that once joined neighbors together were fraying. On the farms, the old work customs—the huskings, roof-raisings, and apple bees—by which people cooperated to complete essential chores gave way to modern capitalist arrangements. When men needed help, they hired it, and paid the going rate, which no longer included the traditional ration of grog. With a new zeal for temperance, employers abandoned the custom of drinking with workers in what had been a ritual display of camaraderie.".

We are not asked a mere function of the phrase, but implicitly what changes did “modern capitalist arrangements” bring. Now though the phrase is mentioned as a result of some changes in practices, but what did it bring with itself were the distinctions between the people. How earlier there was trust, friendship among people and how it changed to arrangements on basis on requirements, in turn implying that the town’s social structure had changed.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Concord staked its claim to be the birthplace of Independence during t

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

Concord staked its claim to be the birthplace of Independence during t

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