Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands

Question

Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands in whose cultures they proclaimed themselves experts, and were as likely as not to call the inhabitants “savages.” By contrast, contemporary anthropologists, who are not taken seriously unless they have lived for a time among the people they study, are likely to use the more enlightened term “indigenous people.”

The author’s assertion about the superiority of contemporary anthropologists rests on which of the following assumptions about the word enlightened?

A. Victorian Era anthropologists often considered themselves enlightened even though they had never lived among the cultures they studied.

B. To be enlightened requires spending time among the people being studied.

C. The goal of contemporary anthropology is to become enlightened.

D. A person who has been enlightened can not, by definition, be called a savage.

E. Anthropologists must be enlightened before they are properly prepared to spend time among the people they study.

KnewtonAlex · Accepted Answer

The answer MUST be B. This is a good example of a GMAT CR question, because it follows the basic tenet of CR questions: if you keep your eye on exactly what's being claimed, the answer comes directly out of it.

In this case, the claim in the argument is as follows:
1) Victorian anthropologists did not go countries and called people "savages"
2) Contemporary anthropologists did go, and use the term "indigenous people". 
3) The term "indigenous people" is more "enlightened" than the term "savages."

So what's the missing connection? Well, the people who went to the countries use the more enlightened term. There is NO other difference mentioned between the two sets of anthropologists, so the right answer MUST hinge on this difference. B simply makes this connection, clearly and accurately, and must be right. To test it, use the negation test:

If this were true, then the argument would not be true, because neither group would be any more likely than the other to be "enlightened" (or, more accurately, to use a more "enlightened" term).

All the other choices distort the entities in the argument in various ways, usually by moving the term "enlightenment" to the wrong entities in the argument (Victorian anthropologists, "savages," etc.) It is only contemporary anthropologists who are "enlightened."

ichha148 · Answer

tough question , is this from GMAT or LSAT
anyways ,my pic is B

speeddeamon · Answer

IMO B is the ans.
The new anthropologists are enlightened by their association with the other culture. They must be knowing enough about the culture so as not to call them "savages", but rather "indigenous people".

Augustus · Answer

This is indeed a tough question, but I do find that B is the best answer. Start using poe to exclude c+d+e

C. Nowhere is it stated that the goal of anthropology is to become enlightened. That would be rubbish anyway.
D. The word "savage" was used by anthropologists to describe the people they studied while "enlightened" refers to the anthropologists themselves. 
E. This is a reversal of causality. The true causality is that they become enlightened by spending time with the people that they study.

Now it's down to A and B.

While A may be true it is not explicitly stated anywhere how the Victorian Era anthropologists considered themselves. While it is reasonable to assume that they thought they we're making "enlighted" descriptions this cannot be inferred from the text.

So answer is B. The text states the the anthropologists of today sees it necessary to spend time with the study subjects and thus are able to make more enlightened descriptions than their predecessors did.

Hope that clears it up.

IEsailor · Answer

A The passage does not discuss whether Victorian Era anthropologists considered themselves enlightened.
B  Correct . Contemporary anthropologists are considered more enlightened because, unlike Victorian Era anthropologists, they are likely to have lived among the people they study.
C The passage does not make this claim.
D The passage does not address the application of the word enlightened to people being studied.
E The passage actually argues that anthropologists are enlightened because, or after, they spend time among the people they study.

The correct answer is B.

Bowtie · Answer

I chose B

A. Victorian Era anthropologists often considered themselves enlightened even though they had never lived among the cultures they studied. -  Does not relate back to contemporary anthropologists. 
B. To be enlightened requires spending time among the people being studied. -  Makes sense, because that seems to be the main difference between the type of anthropologists in the passage. Keep it 
C. The goal of contemporary anthropology is to become enlightened. -  That's not what the author seems to be conveying 
D. A person who has been enlightened can not, by definition, be called a savage. -  This sounds as though the indigenous people are being called enlightened. We want to know about anthropologists. 
E. Anthropologists must be enlightened before they are properly prepared to spend time among the people they study. -  This almost says the opposite of what the passage says.

B is the only one that seems reasonable.

tuanquang269 · Answer

Surprising choosing the D is the correct one. However, I still want to express my reasoning below by negate technique:
A person who has been enlightened CAN, by definition, be called a savage. Actually, this negated statement is "maybe" true, not "sure".

In choice B, negate it: "To be enlightened does NOT require spending time among the people being studied" => collapse with the argument. Therefore, choice B must be the correct answer, I chose D, which is wrong.

mallya12 · Answer

can someone please boil down the argument? what does " were as likely as not to call the inhabitants “savages.” " mean?
finding it hard to understand the argument.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands

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Armchair anthropologists of the Victorian Era rarely visited the lands

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