Reading comp PrepTest 110 · Section 1 · Question 2

Passage

Questions 1-6  .        Most authoritarian rulers who undertake  . democratic reforms do so not out of any intrinsic  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Sciences


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author’s conclusion (Most authoritarians allow democratic reforms because social changes require such reforms)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author’s view: Most authoritarian regimes make democratic reforms because social changes make it impossible to hold on to absolute power, not because the rulers are committed to democracy (first sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “not out of any intrinsic commitment or conversion” (first sentence); “impossible” (first sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • First type of social change (Citizens’ shifting values/norms lead to rejection of authoritarian rule) and example (Latin American countries)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 1: Citizens’ changing values/norms lead to a lower tolerance of repression/absolute power and an increased willingness to mobilize and speak out, often starting with a rejection of human rights abuses (second and last sentences)
    • Example of changing values/norms, according to the author:
      • Latin American countries in the 1970s and 80s (third sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “can contribute” (first sentence); “came about partly” (third sentence); “frequently beginning” (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Second type of social change (privileged people realize that authoritarianism is bad for their economic interests) and example (Philippines)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 2: When privileged people who used to support the authoritarian rules (like landowners, industrialists, merchants, and bankers) determine that authoritarianism is adverse to their economic interests (second sentence)
    • Examples of changing economic interests, according to the author:
      • Philippines and other contemporary authoritarian nations (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “can shift” (first sentence); “an important turning point” (second sentence); “was crucial” (last sentence); “also begun occurring incrementally” (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Third type of social change (activists rise and develop organizations) and numerous examples (students, workers, lawyers, etc.)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 3: Various communities gain more resources, autonomy, and confidence, then organize, and then circumvent the authoritarian rule (first through last sentences)
    • Examples of community activism, according to the author:
      • Students marching, workers striking, lawyers refusing to cooperate with regime, alternative sources of info emerging, and networks circumventing state rule (second sentence)
    • Comparison between authoritarian regimes before and after this social change, according to the author:
      • Before, the regimes easily controlled their citizens; after, the regimes are on the defensive (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “profound development” (last sentence); “radically alter” (last sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Author’s support (authoritarian rule leads to all three changes)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author’s view: Authoritarian regimes — especially those that create economic growth and social stability — tend to lead to all three changes, so regimes are forced to match the ensuing democratic social changes with democratic political changes (first through last sentences)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Authoritarian regimes that cause economic growth and social stability cause their citizens to reflect on their living conditions, which causes the emergence of social changes that lead to democratic reforms (second and last sentences)
    • Author’s attitude: “tends in the long run” (first sentence); “Ironically” (second sentence); “can be accelerated” (second sentence); “only hope of retaining some power” (last sentence)

Main Point: Most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do so in response to changes in societal values, the shifting economic interests of previous regime supporters, and the formation of activist organizations, all of which tend to result from authoritarian regimes.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - The author’s conclusion

P2, S2 - First type of social change

P3, S2 - Second type of social change

P4, S2 - Third type of social change

Meta Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation: This passage best fits the Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure. As is typical in this Meta-Structure, the author identifies a phenomenon (authoritarian leaders allowing democratic reform) and then explains this phenomenon. Here, the author leads with a clear central thesis — authoritarian rulers allow democratic reforms out of self-interest, not out of genuine belief in democratic ideals — in the first paragraph. The author uses the next three paragraphs to explain the three major changes that force authoritarian rulers to reform.

In a Phenomenon/Explanation passage, the main point is generally the author’s opinion of the explanation. In this passage, the author endorses the explanation that authoritarian regimes allow democratic reforms in response to major social changes. As you can see in the Main Point section, we included the author’s explanation and the three major social changes in our anticipated main point.

Last Thoughts?

This passage uses a straightforward structure that allows us to read predictively. In the first paragraph, the author makes a declarative statement about why authoritarian regimes allow democratic reforms. We can anticipate the author will examine, explain or defend this proposition throughout the passage. In the second paragraph, the author references “three major types of changes” (P2, S1) before elaborating on the first change. We can anticipate that the following two paragraphs will discuss the following two types of changes. Developing your ability to read predictively is one way to read these passages more efficiently and confidently.

Question prompt

The author's attitude toward Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the main point, and use notes or highlighted/underlined text in the passage to recall the author’s attitude, and find the answer that best reflects your understanding of the main point/author’s attitude

Answer Anticipation

For Author’s Attitude questions, the answer choices tend to fall into one of two categories: two-word answer choices or opinion + detail answer choices. The former generally capture only the direction (positive/negative/neutral) and strength of the author’s opinion. The latter generally capture the direction and strength in one word, then fill in some details in the passage. This one falls into the opinion + detail camp.In this case, the question asks about the author’s attitude on authoritarian regimes. That’s a very broad topic in this passage. Now, we could go back to the passage to review all of the author’s stated opinions on this topic. However, this approach would require us to re-read and review much of the passage. That’s an inefficient use of our limited time, so it’s not our recommended approach.Instead, we’ll recall the author’s main point, as well as the corollary points the author makes. Then, let’s work our way through the answer choices, tabling any that don't align with the author's views and examining any answer choice that conforms to those views.This author’s main point is that most authoritarian regimes who undertake democratic reforms do so in response to social changes that tend to result from those authoritarian regimes. Based on this, we can infer that the author doesn’t think that all authoritarian regimes are sustainable in the long term. We should also note the strength of the author’s main point. We included words like “most” and “tend” to remind us that the author doesn’t necessarily believe that all authoritarian regimes are doomed. So, we should be skeptical of any answer choices that make especially bold declarations.

Answer choices

  1. A
    uncertainty whether the changes Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this align with the author’s main point or what you remember about the author’s attitude?

    Probably not. Our anticipated main point doesn’t specify whether the changes in authoritarian regimes are “genuine progress” or “merely superficial.” So, we should table this answer choice and keep looking for something that better aligns with the author’s main point.

    If we had to check the passage to verify whether (A) is correct, we’d find a few reasons to eliminate it. First, the author doesn’t use many words that would suggest that they are “uncertain” in the passage.

    Second, the author suggests at various points that they believe democratic reforms are good (and not merely superficial). The author says that authoritarian regimes can produce “human rights abuses” (P2, S4) and often “dominate and control its citizens” (P4, S3). The author also refers to the social change that spur democratic reforms as a “profound development” (P4, S3). These tonal words suggest that the author believes democratic reforms can be a good thing.

  2. B
    puzzlement about the motives Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this align with the author’s main point or what you remember about the author’s attitude?

    Probably not. In fact, experienced test-takers would eliminate this answer choice based only on the term “puzzlement.”

    If you think back to the author’s tone, did the author ever seem puzzled? No! The author had a clear thesis about why authoritarian rulers allow democratic reforms and the causes for that decision. Therefore, “puzzlement” is an inapt description of the author’s attitude.

  3. C
    confidence that most authoritarian Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) Does this align with the author’s main point or what you remember about the author’s attitude?

    Yes! This aligns with the author’s main point perfectly. The author’s main point is that most authoritarian regimes undertaking democratic reforms do so in response to the social changes that tend to result from authoritarian rule. Therefore, the author would certainly agree with the notion that “most authoritarian regimes will eventually be replaced by a more democratic form of government.” If we had to check the passage to confirm this, we’d see that the final paragraph states that “[a]uthoritarian rule tends in the long run to generate all three types of changes” that cause democratic reform (P5, S1)

    Additionally, the word “confidence” matches the author’s tone. Throughout the passage, the author uses many tonal words that convey that they’re confident in their main point (e.g., “not out of any intrinsic commitment or conversion” (P1, S1); “can contribute to a society’s no long condoning the continuation of authoritarian rule” (P2, S1); “tends in the long run to generate all three types of changes” (P5, S1)).

    Since this neatly aligns with the author’s main point and tone, experienced test-takers may select it and jump straight to the next question.

  4. D
    insistence that authoritarian rule Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this align with the author’s main point or what you remember about the author’s attitude?

    Not quite. (D) attempts to trick test-takers by taking a sentiment most can agree on (that authoritarian rule is bad) and ascribing it to the author.

    Although there are a few points where the author suggests that authoritarian rule is bad (e.g., noting that authoritarian regimes can produce “human rights abuses” (P2, S4) and often “dominate and control its citizens” (P4, S3)), the author isn’t “insistent” that they are unjust. The author makes a few offhanded comments that allow us to infer their feelings. That’s not the same as insisting that authoritarian rule is inherently unjust. And if we really wanted to split hairs, the author’s offhanded comments would only allow us to infer that certain applications of authoritarian rule are unjust — not that the system itself is inherently unjust.

  5. E
    concern that authoritarian rulers Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this align with the author’s main point or what you remember about the author’s attitude?

    Not at all. The descriptor in (E), “concern,” can’t be supported by the passage. In fact, (E) arguably contradicts the author’s arguments in the final paragraph, where the author asserts that authoritarian rule tends to generate its own demise (P5, S1). For this reason, experienced test-takers would immediately cross off (E).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 6%
  2. B 6%
  3. C Credited 79%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 3%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

View all discussions Start a discussion