In the 1950s, reading was taught to young children primarily through t

Question

In the 1950s, reading was taught to young children primarily through the use of simple primers depicting the middle-class non-adventures of “Dick and Jane.” Rudolph Fletch’s bestselling 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read attacked these primers, calling them “horrible, stupid, insipid, ... tasteless little readers” and asserting that such boring stories gave no incentive for children to read on their own and learn to “sound out” each word phonetically. Fletch also bemoaned the fact that there was not a single book in bookstores that first and second graders could read by themselves.

In response, a publisher commissioned Theodore Geisel, who wrote children’s books under the pen name “Dr. Seuss,” to write a book that “a first grader can’t put down.” Geisel was given a list of a few hundred words considered important and asked to make a book out of them. Nine months later, Geisel, using only 220 different words, delivered The Cat in the Hat, a whimsical story about two bored children left at home with their talking fish who are suddenly visited by a havoc-creating six-foot-tall talking cat. In addition, Geisel wrote the entire book in a rhyming verse, making it fun to read aloud. The Cat in the Hat was a tremendous success and vaulted Geisel into instant celebrity. Another publisher bet Geisel that he could not write an entire book using only 50 different words. Geisel won the bet by publishing the classic Green Eggs and Ham.

The Dr. Seuss books revolutionized the children’s book industry by proving that it was possible to create engaging books with a limited vocabulary. Geisel has been credited with killing off “Dick and Jane,” replacing them with clever rhymes, plot twists and rebellious heroes who do the unexpected. Now one in four American children receives a Dr. Seuss title as his or her first book.   1 
 1.The main function of the first paragraph is

A. to introduce Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books
B. to describe the “Dick and Jane” primers used in most school
C. to advocate the increase of children’s books in bookstores
D. to establish the premise that the status quo in the early 1950s was not satisfactory for teaching children how to read
E. to praise Fletch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read

2 
 2.The author provides a brief synopsis of the plot of The Cat in the Hat primarily in order to

A. introduce the reader to the various characters in the book
B. contrast the story of The Cat in the Hat with those of the “boring” primers of the era
C. demonstrate how bizarre the plot of the book is
D. assert that talking cats and fish exist
E. warn parents that leaving children home alone can be dangerous

3 
 3. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A. describe how Geisel changed the children’s book industry
B. support the conclusions of Fletch
C. compare and contrast the philosophies of Fletch and Geisel
D. demonstrate the popularity of Geisel’s books
E. summarize the state of the children’s book industry

tapasgupta · Accepted Answer

1.The main function of the first paragraph is

A. to introduce Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books  - out of scope
 B. to describe the “Dick and Jane” primers used in most school  - out of scope
 C. to advocate the increase of children’s books in bookstores  - out of scope
 D. to establish the premise that the status quo in the early 1950s was not satisfactory for teaching children how to read - this the main idea of the First para
 E. to praise Fletch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read  - out of scope

2.The author provides a brief synopsis of the plot of The Cat in the Hat primarily in order to

A. introduce the reader to the various characters in the book  - out of scope
 B. contrast the story of The Cat in the Hat with those of the “boring” primers of the era  - the 2nd para explains the same.
C. demonstrate how  bizarre  the plot of the book is - Inconsistent
 D. assert that talking cats and fish exist  - out of scope
 E. warn parents that leaving children home alone can be dangerous  - out of scope

3. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A. describe how Geisel changed the children’s book industry  - how the writing of Geisel changed the book industry is the primary purpose of the passage
 B. support the conclusions of Fletch  - out of scope
 C. compare and contrast the philosophies of Fletch and Geisel  - out of scope
 D. demonstrate the popularity of Geisel’s books  - not the main idea
 E. summarize the state of the children’s book industry  - out of scope

TaN1213 · Answer

Hey,
Can anyone please explain how the primary purpose of the passage(Q3) is A and not B, when Giesel was only introduced in second para of the passage and a passage main point must summarize all the paragraphs of the passage? Flench had concluded that the old primers are worthless and stupid. So, isn't the passage describing instances to support the conclusions of Flench by introducing Giesel and his books?? Where am I going wrong?
Thank you.

GmatDM2016 · Answer

TaN1213

valid question but if you notice the shift in focus of the passage in second paragraph where author doesn't stop at talking about the response "In response, a publisher commissioned Theodore Geisel, who wrote children’s books under the pen name “Dr. Seuss,” to write a book that “a first grader can’t put down. " 
and later goes on emphasizing on Geisel's work perfectly summarizing in the last paragraph "The Dr. Seuss books revolutionized the children’s book industry by proving that it was possible to create engaging books with a limited vocabulary" gives us the primary intent of the author which is to applaud how Giesel changed the industry.

Hope this helps.

TaN1213 · Answer

Hello, Thanks for highlighting the shift in the tone of the author where the author praises Geisel dramatically for rest of the paragraphs. I believe in such scenarios our answer should also 'dramatically' talk about the author's favorite.

A new learning approach indeed. Thanks

AvidDreamer09 · Answer

1.The main function of the first paragraph is

A.to introduce Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books 
Fletch attack the primers, we do not know if his best seling book introduces an approaach
 B. to describe the “Dick and Jane” primers used in most school 
Not much is discussed about “Dick and Jane”
 C. to advocate the increase of children’s books in bookstores 
First para has nothing about book sales
 D. to establish the premise that the status quo in the early 1950s was not satisfactory for teaching children how to read 
The first paragraph speaks about how the existing books for children are “horrible, stupid, insipid, … tasteless little readers”
The last sentence is sums up the para "Fletch also bemoaned the fact that there was not a single book in bookstores that first and second graders could read by themselves."
Which is what D is basically telling you.
 E. to praise Fletch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read 
The author does not praise fletchs book anywhere, the author does not give his opinion anywhere in the first, but rather only quotes from his books

2.The author provides a brief synopsis of the plot of The Cat in the Hat primarily in order to

A. introduce the reader to the various characters in the book 
Although he does introduce various characters, that is not why the author provides a brief synopsis. Seems like a lot of extra trouble
 B. contrast the story of The Cat in the Hat with those of the “boring” primers of the era 
the author says Geisel's stories are whimsical, making it fun to read aloud, it is a contrast.

C and D is trying to sell the bizzare plot of the story and even though it make seem bizarre to few readers,the first fews lines of the second para says in response Dr Seuss to write a book that “a first grader can’t put down. Author was going to emphazise on Fun rather than bizzare

C. demonstrate how bizarre the plot of the book is 
 D. assert that talking cats and fish exist

E. warn parents that leaving children home alone can be dangerous 
Its a childrens book, author would not write a childrens book to warn parents. Seems a bit comical.

3. The primary purpose of this passage is to
 A. describe how Geisel changed the children’s book industry 
There was a background Problem..in response Geisel solved it therby changing the industry... FIts 
 B. support the conclusions of Fletch 
Fletch's conclusion isnt mentioned in any of the three paragraphs,
 C. compare and contrast the philosophies of Fletch and Geisel 
There is no comparison made between Fletch and Geisel in any of the three paragraphs
 D. demonstrate the popularity of Geisel’s books 
captures only the third paragraphs, 
 E. summarize the state of the children’s book industry 
Although author talks about how Dr. Seuss books revolutionized the children’s book industry and talks about the industry before Dr Seuss, we do not know the anything else about the state of the book industry.

SairamRamo · Answer

1.The main function of the first paragraph is

A. to introduce Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books
>Passage uses Fletch’s book as an example to convey the state of children books in 1950’s

B. to describe the “Dick and Jane” primers used in most school
>to0 narrow scope

C. to advocate the increase of children’s books in bookstores
>Its not about increasing children books, its about increasing the books readable by children

D. to establish the premise that the status quo in the early 1950s was not satisfactory for teaching children how to read
 >Conveys the intent of the first para

E. to praise Fletch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read
>Rather than praise, the author is criticising Feltch

2.The author provides a brief synopsis of the plot of The Cat in the Hat primarily in order to

We should pick a option which shows a contrast how “The cat in the hat” is different from earlier child books mentioned in first para.

A. introduce the reader to the various characters in the book
> Out of scope, as it talks only about the book “The cat in the hat”

B. contrast the story of The Cat in the Hat with those of the “boring” primers of the era
 >Brings the required contrast

C. demonstrate how bizarre the plot of the book is
> Out of scope, as it talks only about the book “The cat in the hat”

D. assert that talking cats and fish exist
> Out of scope, as it talks only about the book “The cat in the hat”

E. warn parents that leaving children home alone can be dangerous
> Out of scope, as it talks only about the book “The cat in the hat”

3. The primary purpose of this passage is to

A. describe how Geisel changed the children’s book industry
 >As mentioned in the first line of 3rd para

B. support the conclusions of Fletch
>Rather, author criticises Fletch

C. compare and contrast the philosophies of Fletch and Geisel
>Author does this, however this is not the main intent

D. demonstrate the popularity of Geisel’s books
>Author does this, however this is not the main intent

E. summarize the state of the children’s book industry
>Author does this, however this is not the main intent

divya369 · Answer

In option E (last question), what anything else are you talking about? I marked option E as the correct answer thinking it has a wider view than option A. Option A talks only about para 2 and 3. However, option E covers the whole passage.

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

Paragraph 1
 
What the author does: The author describes how children were taught to read in the 1950s and criticizes the boring “Dick and Jane” books.
 
Small summary: Children used simple and boring primers, which did not encourage them to read independently.
 
Paragraph 2
 
What the author does: The author explains how Dr. Seuss created The Cat in the Hat to make reading more enjoyable for young children.
 
Small summary: Dr. Seuss used a limited vocabulary, rhymes, and an entertaining story to create successful books for children.
 
Paragraph 3
 
What the author does: The author explains the impact of Dr. Seuss’s books on children’s literature.
 
Small summary: Dr. Seuss changed children’s books by showing that simple vocabulary could be used to create fun and engaging stories.

1.   The main function of the first paragraph is 
 
(A) to introduce Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books —  Wrong:  The paragraph does not explain Fletch’s approach to writing children’s books. It explains his criticism of the existing primers.
 
(B) to describe the “Dick and Jane” primers used in most school —  Wrong:   The  paragraph mentions the primers, but its main purpose is not simply to describe them.
 
(C) to advocate the increase of children’s books in bookstores —  Wrong:  Although Fletch complains that there were few books children could read by themselves, the paragraph does not mainly argue for more books in bookstores.
 
(D) to establish the premise that the status quo in the early 1950s was not satisfactory for teaching children how to read —  Correct : The paragraph explains that the traditional “Dick and Jane” books were boring and did not encourage children to read independently. This establishes that the existing method of teaching reading was inadequate.
 
(E) to praise Fletch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read —  Wrong : The author mentions Fletch’s book because it criticized the existing reading system, but the paragraph does not praise the book itself.
 
 2. The author provides a brief synopsis of the plot of The Cat in the Hat primarily in order to 
   
(A) introduce the reader to the various characters in the book —  Wrong:  The author mentions the characters only as part of the plot summary, not to introduce them individually.
 
(B) contrast the story of The Cat in the Hat with those of the “boring” primers of the era —  Correct:  The author describes the funny and unusual story to show how different and more engaging it was compared with the boring “Dick and Jane” primers.
 
(C) demonstrate how bizarre the plot of the book is —  Wrong:  Although the story is unusual, showing that it is bizarre is not the main purpose of including the plot.
 
(D) assert that talking cats and fish exist —  Wrong:  The author is clearly describing fictional characters from a children's book.
 
(E) warn parents that leaving children home alone can be dangerous —  Wrong:  The author does not intend to give parents a warning; the children's situation is simply part of the story.
 
 3. The primary purpose of this passage is to 
 
(A) describe how Geisel changed the children’s book industry  — Correct:  The passage explains how Geisel created engaging books with limited vocabulary and how his books helped replace the boring “Dick and Jane” primers.
 
(B) support the conclusions of Fletch —  Wrong:  Fletch criticized the old reading books, but the passage mainly focuses on how Geisel responded to this problem and changed children's literature.
 
(C) compare and contrast the philosophies of Fletch and Geisel —  Wrong:  The passage does not focus on comparing their philosophies. It mainly explains Geisel’s contribution to children's books.
 
(D) demonstrate the popularity of Geisel’s books —  Wrong:  The author mentions Geisel’s success, but popularity is only one part of the passage, not its primary purpose.
 
(E) summarize the state of the children’s book industry —  Wrong:  The passage discusses the industry mainly to show how Geisel changed it, rather than simply describing its state.

In the 1950s, reading was taught to young children primarily through t

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In the 1950s, reading was taught to young children primarily through t

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