Whether the languages of the ancient American peoples were used for

Question

Whether the languages of the ancient American peoples were used for expressing abstract universal concepts can be clearly answered in the case of Nahuatl. Nahuatl, like Greek and German, is a language that allows the formation of extensive compounds. By the combination of radicals or semantic elements, single compound words can express complex conceptual relations, often of an abstract universal character.

The  tlamatinime  (“those who know”) were able to use this rich stock of abstract terms to express the nuances of their thought. They also availed themselves of other forms of expression with metaphorical meaning, some probably original, some derived from Toltec coinages. Of these forms the most characteristic in Nahuatl is the juxtaposition of two words that, because they are synonyms, associated terms, or even contraries, complement each other to evoke one single idea. Used as metaphor, the juxtaposed terms connote specific or essential traits of the being they refer to, introducing a mode of poetry as an almost habitual form of expression.    1 
 1. A main purpose of the passage is to

(A) delineate the function of the  tlamatinime  in Nahuatl society
(B) explain the abstract philosophy of the Nahuatl thinkers
(C) argue against a theory of poetic expression by citing evidence about the Nahuatl
(D) explore the rich metaphorical heritage the Nahuatl received from the Toltecs
(E) describe some conceptual and aesthetic resources of the Nahuatl language

2 
 2. According to the passage, some abstract universal ideas can be expressed in Nahuatl by

(A) taking away from a word any reference to particular instances
(B) removing a word from its associations with other words
(C) giving a word a new and opposite meaning
(D) putting various meaningful elements together in one word
(E) turning each word of a phrase into a poetic metaphor

3 
 3. It can be inferred solely from the information in the passage that

(A) there are many languages that, like Greek or German, allow extensive compounding
(B) all abstract universal ideas are ideas of complex relations
(C) some record or evidence of the thought of the  tlamatinime  exists
(D) metaphors are always used in Nahuatl to express abstract conceptual relationships
(E) the abstract terms of the Nahuatl language are habitually used in poetry

Alex7rocks · Answer

Dear GMAT Ninja or anyone else proficient enough, please confirm and/or explain each of the questions

I think it should be E - D - B 1-E because the passage discusses a variety of forms explored language is rich of. Other options seem too strict. Is this correct? 2-D because there are definitely some lines about compound words, while other options seem too strict to generalise. Though I thought of option A as well - please clarify which option is valid and why? 3-B since the passage talks mainly about complex relations (did not see anything on simple ones), while other options seem too strict to apply here. Please check/help!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello Alex7rocks Welcome to GMAT Club! Please wait until the OAs are automatically revealed by the system, I have one guess for you, you have 2 out of 3 questions right.

Good Luck

AnirudhaS · Answer

Hi buddy, the third question uses the word ALL. This is extreme. Hence B is not the answer.

Posted from my mobile device

Ks1859 · Answer

Hi!

The answer for Q.3 is C. I used POE.

3. It can be inferred solely from the information in the passage that

(A) there are many languages that, like Greek or German, allow extensive compounding-->  Wrong--As we are only told about Greek and German and no further clues are provided about other languages. This option is wrong. 
(B) all abstract universal ideas are ideas of complex relations--->  Wrong--Just because the author says "words can express complex conceptual relations, often of an abstract universal character." does not mean ALL abstract ideas are ideas of complex relations. This option is a bit too extreme to be inferred 
(C) some record or evidence of the thought of the tlamatinime exists-->  Correct--This option is true, Refer these lines from the 2nd para "The tlamatinime (“those who know”) were able to use this rich stock of abstract terms to express the nuances of their thought. They also availed themselves of other forms of expression with metaphorical meaning, some probably original, some derived from Toltec coinages." The author writes this just because there were some evidence or record that exists 
(D) metaphors are always used in Nahuatl to express abstract conceptual relationships--> Always is bit to extreme--Wrong 
(E) the abstract terms of the Nahuatl language are habitually used in poetry--> Wrong---The author says almost habitually, this does not mean habitually there s a difference .

RahulHGGmat · Answer

Dear Expert,

Request you to explain ques no 3

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Question 3  is an inference question so the related text could or could not be explicitly written in the passage and in most cases it is not. Lets read the answer choices.

(A) there are many languages that,  like Greek or German, allow extensive compounding

This is too extreme to consider, by reading the passage there is no such indication to deduct this above.

(B)  all abstract universal ideas  are ideas of complex relations

This is again an extreme answer choice we cannot consider this option too. The world "all in the start of the choice make it out of the context.

(C)  some record or evidence  of the thought of the tlamatinime exists

"some record or evidence"  this cautious language suggest this option is worthful and it spread within the boundaries of the passage let's keep it. The lines in the passage:

The tlamatinime (“those who know”) were able to use this rich stock of abstract terms to express the nuances of their thought.

Leads us to infer C.

(D)  metaphors are always used  in Nahuatl to express abstract conceptual relationships

Once more time the word "always" make this choice extreme same like choices A and B.

(E) the abstract terms of the Nahuatl language are habitually used in poetry

This is very tricky choice. Just focus on the first word if the passage "Whether" the passage didn't claim this to be true rather it used a interrogative form. The issue is still something to be confirmed. Also the last three lines of the passage state that:

Used as metaphor, the  juxtaposed terms  connote specific or essential traits of the being they refer to, introducing a mode of poetry as an almost habitual form of expression.

E is also wrong and C is the answer

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. According to the passage, some abstract universal ideas can be expressed in Nahuatl by

Explanation

The passage discusses how the Nahuatl language, similar to Greek and German, allows for the formation of extensive compounds. These compounds are created by combining radicals or semantic elements to form single compound words. These compound words are capable of expressing complex conceptual relations, often of an abstract universal character.

The passage further explains that the tlamatinime ("those who know") were skilled in using this rich stock of abstract terms to express the nuances of their thought. Additionally, they utilized other forms of expression with metaphorical meaning, some of which were probably original, while others were derived from Toltec coinages.

One of the most characteristic forms of expression in Nahuatl is the juxtaposition of two words that may be synonyms, associated terms, or even contraries. These words complement each other to evoke a single idea. When used metaphorically, these juxtaposed terms connote specific or essential traits of the being they refer to. This introduces a mode of poetry as an almost habitual form of expression.

Therefore, the correct answer is  (D) . This aligns with the passage's description of how Nahuatl allows for the formation of extensive compound words by combining meaningful elements to express abstract universal ideas.  Options (A), (B), (C) , and  (E)  do not accurately reflect the method described in the passage for expressing abstract universal ideas in Nahuatl.

Answer: D

Whether the languages of the ancient American peoples were used for

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Whether the languages of the ancient American peoples were used for

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