The origin of the place name “Mendocino,” which today belongs to a cou

Question

The origin of the place name “Mendocino,” which today belongs to a county and a city in northern California, is rather murky. We can find a geographic feature named “Cape Mendocino” as early as 1587 on the maps of Ortelius. After his return from an expedition in 1602, Father Antonio de la Ascensión wrote, “There may be some curious person who may wish to know why this cape or point of land came to be named ‘Mendocino.” The reason is that when Don Antonio de Mendoza was viceroy of New Spain in 1542, he sent two ships to the Philippines. When they returned, the first land they saw was this Cape Mendocino, to which they gave the name in honor and remembrance of the viceroy.”

This story endured and was repeated in a somewhat garbled fashion more than two centuries later by Duflot de Mofras. While no substantive evidence for the story has ever been found, this account has also never been conclusively disproved. Since the name apparently does not appear on maps until 1587, it is possible (and more plausible) that the cape was named for Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain from 1580 to 1583. If one of the two viceroys was thus honored, the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian. In Argentina, a Mendocino is a person from the city of Mendoza. It is also not impossible that some European cartographer arbitrarily placed the name on the map. “Mendocino” is the oldest name of a cape that has survived the various phases of real and imaginary California geography, with the same spelling and in the same general location.   1 
 E 
(1) The passage implies that

(A) Don Antonio de Mendoza and Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza were both born in Argentina.
(B) Like “Mendocino,” “Smithsonian” and “Wagnerian” are also place names.
(C) In the sixteenth century, place names were always created by returning explorers who wanted to honor their leaders.
(D) Father Antonio de la Ascensión was the first to write an account of how Cape Mendocino got its name
(E) It was less likely in the sixteenth century that a place would be named after a ruler several decades in the past instead of a ruler from the more immediate past.

2 
 C 
(2) Which of the following is most likely to come next were the passage to continue?

(A) Duflot de Mofras was a nineteenth-century French diplomat and explorer who spent four years exploring the western coast of North America.
(B) The study of place names is called toponymy, a word derived from the Greek for “place” and “name.”
(C) However, the name was not definitively identified with a cape at latitude 40° 27’ north until Malaspina placed it on his map in 1791.
(D) Simply selecting a name at random to apply to a certain geographic feature was a common practice among European cartographers during the sixteenth century.
(E) Today, the city and county of Mendocino are popular tourist destinations, known for their dramatic sea views and idiosyncratic local culture.

3 
 A 
(3) Which of the following best describes the function of the second paragraph?

(A) It provides evidence that demonstrates that an explanation given in the first paragraph may not be the only possible explanation.
(B) It shows how the premises given in the first paragraph lead to a conclusion.
(C) It brings together historical data that suggest a single answer to a question posed in the first paragraph
(D) It debunks the myth established in the first paragraph, replacing it with an accurate representation.
(E) It repeats different versions of the same story told in the first paragraph.

4 
 D 
(4) According to the passage, the word “Mendocino”

(A) may have been invented by Ortelius in 1587
 (B) came about as a result of a misunderstanding on the part of Duflot de Mofras
 (C) was first heard by European explorers in the Philippines
 (D) has a grammatical relationship to the names of two viceroys
 (E) was first used by cartographers in 1542

daboo343 · Accepted Answer

OE Q2
Correct answer: (C)

Answer (C) offers the most continuity with the close of the second passage, setting up a contrast between the last sentence, which indicates that the name “Mendocino” historically floated among real and imaginary entities, and the next sentence, which nails the name “Mendocino” down to one particular geographical formation. Answers (A), (B), and (D) refer to topics that appear in the passage, but none of them provides a tight transition to the next idea. Answer (E) is out of scope, since the topic of the passage is the history of the name “Mendocino,” not the contemporary tourist industry.

daboo343 · Answer

OE Q1
Correct answer: (E)

Keep in mind that this is an Inference problem. Only answer (E) is supported by the passage, which states that it is more plausible that a place name that first appears in 1587 was created in honor of a ruler from 1583 rather than one from 1542. (A) is incorrect because, though “Mendocino” is related to the Argentinean name “Mendoza,” the passage never suggests that the viceroys were born in Argentina. There is no evidence to support answers (B), (C), or (D).

daboo343 · Answer

OE Q3
Correct answer: (A)

This is a Method of Reasoning question. Only answer (A) contains an accurate description of the second paragraph, which contains neither a conclusion, a single answer, nor a debunking. It does offer alternate explanations for the phenomenon of the place name “Mendocino,” but it does not repeat a story found in the first paragraph.

daboo343 · Answer

OE Q4
Correct answer: (D)

Answer (D) is correct because, in the middle of the second paragraph, we learn that “the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name.” None of the other answer choices is supported by the passage.

kkrrsshh · Answer

Thanks for the question.

Can you please elaborate how there is no evidence to support (B). According this: "If one of the two viceroys was thus honored, the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian." , the place name was created by a method, a derivation comparable to ... so from this cant we infer that Smithsonian and wagnerian are place names? of course its not place names, but the sentence does suggest that. Could you please suggest where am i going wrong?

nightblade354 · Answer

Hi  kkrrsshh ,

The sentence you are referring to states that Wagnerian and Smithsonian are adjectives. The sentence is not saying that they are names of places, but just adjective forms of the names of Smith and Wagner. The sentence is giving an example of the rare modification of the name. If it had said "like Fort Smithsonian", you would know it was referring to a place. But given the circumstances, we cannot infer that the passage was referring to an actual location, so it cannot be correct.

Does this help?

gmatexam439 · Answer

Hi  daboo343 , My doubt is related to question 2: Why the answer can't be D?
 My understanding:  The passage doesn't negate any thought throughout its contents. However, C negates one such possibility. Option D on the other hand, is in continuity of the Europeans' thoughts mentioned in the second last line.
Also, we can't just include latitudes and longitudes without any further context.

Since the answer is C, I am thinking wrongly. Please help me resolve my doubt.

The origin of the place name “Mendocino,” which today belongs to a county and a city in northern California, is rather murky. We can find a geographic feature named “Cape Mendocino” as early as 1587 on the maps of Ortelius. After his return from an expedition in 1602, Father Antonio de la Ascensión wrote, “There may be some curious person who may wish to know why this cape or point of land came to be named ‘Mendocino.” The reason is that when Don Antonio de Mendoza was viceroy of New Spain in 1542, he sent two ships to the Philippines. When they returned, the first land they saw was this Cape Mendocino, to which they gave the name in honor and remembrance of the viceroy.”

This story endured and was repeated in a somewhat garbled fashion more than two centuries later by Duflot de Mofras. While no substantive evidence for the story has ever been found, this account has also never been conclusively disproved. Since the name apparently does not appear on maps until 1587, it is possible (and more plausible) that the cape was named for Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain from 1580 to 1583. If one of the two viceroys was thus honored, the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian. In Argentina, a Mendocino is a person from the city of Mendoza. It is also not impossible that some European cartographer arbitrarily placed the name on the map. “Mendocino” is the oldest name of a cape that has survived the various phases of real and imaginary California geography, with the same spelling and in the same general location.   C 
(2) Which of the following is most likely to come next were the passage to continue?

(A) Duflot de Mofras was a nineteenth-century French diplomat and explorer who spent four years exploring the western coast of North America.
(B) The study of place names is called toponymy, a word derived from the Greek for “place” and “name.”
(C) However, the name was not definitively identified with a cape at latitude 40° 27’ north until Malaspina placed it on his map in 1791.
(D) Simply selecting a name at random to apply to a certain geographic feature was a common practice among European cartographers during the sixteenth century.
(E) Today, the city and county of Mendocino are popular tourist destinations, known for their dramatic sea views and idiosyncratic local culture.

aviejay · Answer

I have a doubt with question 2.

How can option c be the right answer when it is already mentioned in th 1st paragraph that "We can find a geographic feature named ???Cape Mendocino??? as early as 1587 on the maps of Ortelius." Again the second para, it is said that "it is possible (and more plausible) that the cape was named for Lorenzo Su??rez de Mendoza". Hence, the name had already been indentified with a cape long before 1791.

Please explain where am I going wrong

QueerReminiscence · Answer

Q4 Why can't the answer be A? It is mentioned in the passage that "We can find a geographic feature named ???Cape Mendocino??? as early as 1587 on the maps of Ortelius".
Although I understand that the statement doesn't testify the fact that "Cape Mendocino" was "Invented" by Ortelius, is there any other reason for option to be wrong? Also, option A uses the word "may" which makes it look correct.

VBudhew · Answer

For Answer to Question 4 it is stated that "It is possible(Not confirmed)" and this is applicable to every explanation for the naming of place "Mendacino"
The passage does not directly says or confirms that "place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name"....It has "it is possible before" before it.

can someone please explain??

bM22 · Answer

Hi  VBudhew ,

D for Question 4 can inferred from :

"The reason is that when Don Antonio de Mendoza was viceroy of New Spain in 1542, he sent two ships to the Philippines. When they returned, the first land they saw was this Cape Mendocino, to which they gave the name in honor  and remembrance of the viceroy. ”"

If one of the two viceroys was thus honored , the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian.

We can infer that whatever be the case, the name "Mendocino" did not appear o the maps till 1587. Once in 1542, it was named so in the honor of the viceroy at that time and the history was repeated a couple of centuries later. Thus D is the best option here.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

gloomybison · Answer

VeritasKarishma

Hi Karishma

I have a question regarding the Q4
Can't answer be A? in the last sentence it says "t is also not impossible that some European cartographer arbitrarily placed the name on the map" which caters to " may  have been invented by Ortelius in 1587"

In D it says "has a grammatical relationship to the names of two viceroys" though it may be true we are not %100 sure 
" If  one of the two viceroys was thus honored, the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian."

all in all, having "may" pushed me to choose A over D because both are possible and option A states it "may" be rather than D which says "has", implying that Mendocino is %100 derived from names of viceroys

Thank you for your valuable replies:)

KarishmaB · Answer

I get where you are coming from but there is a subtle point that leads us to the correct answer.

(4) According to the passage, the word “Mendocino”

(A) may have been invented by Ortelius in 1587
(B) came about as a result of a misunderstanding on the part of Duflot de Mofras
(C) was first heard by European explorers in the Philippines
(D) has a grammatical relationship to the names of two viceroys
(E) was first used by cartographers in 1542

We are talking about the WORD "Mendocino", not why the place was named so.

The passage tells us: 
"...the place name was created by the relatively rare method of using the adjective form of the personal name, a derivation comparable to that of Smithsonian or Wagnerian. In Argentina, a Mendocino is a person from the city of Mendoza."

Since Mendoza was the name of the viceroys, the word Mendocino has a relation to it. Was the place named after the viceroys is irrelevant for this question. 
 
"It is also not impossible that some European cartographer arbitrarily placed the name on the map."

This tells us that it is possible that the place was named so arbitrarily. Just the name Mendocino was put for the place but the passage doesn't say that the cartographer could have invented the word Mendocino. The cartographer could have used the name for the place.

Answer (D)

sayan640 · Answer

KarishmaB  , I rejected option D because only one viceroy was talked about and not two viceroys. I chose option B.

it is possible (and more plausible) that the cape was named for Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain from 1580 to 1583. If one of the two viceroys was thus honored,

Can you please help ?

sayan640 · Answer

I also have similar doubt on question no 2 .  KarishmaB   MartyMurray  Can you please help ?

The origin of the place name “Mendocino,” which today belongs to a cou

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The origin of the place name “Mendocino,” which today belongs to a cou

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