Reading comp PrepTest 117 · Section 1 · Question 9

Passage

Questions 8-14  .        In the field of historiography—the writing of  . history based on a critical examination of authentic Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background of field; Traditional approach
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Background of Historiography - Recently started focusing on explorers/settlers to get insight into changing landscapes
    • Traditional approach - Writings of 19th c European American explorers (kept logs as part of government jobs) to study history of Pacific Coast

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • New approach
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • New consideration - Include experience of Asian settlers in region
    • Problem - Didn’t leave a written record for the most part (unlike commissioned European agents)
    • Solution/New Approach - Focus on other kinds of evidence, such as the actions of Asian settlers

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Example - Agricultural expansion/Chinese settlers
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Chinese settlers forced to consider agricultural potential of substandard land
    • Example 1 - Willows/Swamp - Chinese settlers saw water, soil, and irrigation potential
    • Example 2 - Wild mustard - Valuable spice/raw material

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • New dimension added by study of Chinese settler action
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Specialized skills - Swamp reclamation and irrigation systems
    • 80% of cropland is irrigated; top producer of specialty crops
    • Understanding actions of Chinese settlers necessary to understand history of region

Main Point: Understanding the history of the Pacific Coast requires considering the impact that Asian settlers had on agriculture in the region, which has required historiographers to consider other kinds of evidence such as the actions of these settlers.

Key Lines?

Lines 10-12 - Traditional approach

Lines 19-22 - Omitted info and why

Lines 29-32 - New approach

Lines 33-35 - Example of new approach

Lines 54-60 - Summary of argument/thesis

Meta-Structure?

Old Approach/New Approach - When a passage describes a “traditional[]” approach (Line 10), there’s a good chance that the passage is going to fall into the Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure. Here, the Author pivots from Paragraph 1’s discussion of the traditional approach to studying the history of the Pacific Coast - using the writings of European American explorers commissioned by the US government - to Paragraph 2’s discussion of what this approach missed (the experience of Asian settlers) and how historiographers have used a new approach to incorporate that information (“recogniz[ing] the value of other kinds of evidence,” such as the actions of Asian settlers - Lines 30-32). From there, she explores information learned by using the new method, concluding that this information is necessary to understanding the history of the Pacific Coast (“cannot be fully understood...without” - Lines 57-58). When this Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure is present, the Author’s opinion on the new approach constitutes the main point, reflected in our summary above.

Examples - The passage has some layers of examples that back up the point. There’s the main example - looking at the experiences of Asian settlers to understand the history of the Pacific Coast. Within that example, the passage looks at the role of Chinese settlers in Pacific Coast agriculture (Line 33), and that example focuses on two specific examples - willows/swamps (Lines 39-42) and weeds/wild mustard (Lines 43-47). Since there are myriad examples, we should expect some questions about them.

Last Thoughts?

There’s not too much that stands out about this passage, so let’s head straight to the questions!

Question prompt

Which one of the 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 purpose of Paragraph 3, then use that and the immediate context around the discussion of Chinese settlers to define the purpose of that section

Answer Anticipation

This question asks about a specific discussion in Paragraph 3 but, looking at the paragraph, we can see that the entire paragraph is about Chinese settlers, so this question is really asking about the purpose of Paragraph 3 as a whole.And that means we have already noted the role, as we should be noting each paragraph’s purpose after reading it.Checking our notes, we said that Paragraph 3 provided an example - specifically, Chinese settlers and their role in expanding agriculture throughout the Pacific Coast. What is this an example of? The type of thing that influenced the history of the Pacific Coast but that isn’t captured in traditional pieces of evidence studied by historiographers. This example reinforces the new approach - looking at nontraditional evidence, such as actions.So let’s find an answer reflecting this discussion as being an example of how looking at nontraditional evidence can add understanding to history.

Answer choices

  1. A
    to suggest that Chinese Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) If anything, by arguing that studying Chinese settlers and their agricultural practices expands our understanding of history, the Author believes that these settlers didn’t follow typical patterns. In any case, settlement patterns in the region are out of scope of this discussion of agriculture.

  2. B
    to argue that little Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 21-22) First, the Author argues that the Asian settlers left little written record of their activities, not that little written evidence exists (it’s possible that others wrote of their practices). Second, the Author discusses this lack of written evidence left by Asian settlers in Paragraph 2 and treats it as an established fact - Paragraph 3 is about an example of studying action, not an example of a lack of written information.

  3. C
    to provide examples illustrating Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) (Lines 38-42; Lines 42-47) This answer has a magic word - “examples,” which lines up with our overall purpose of the paragraph (and the Meta-Structure we identified within the paragraph). And this paragraph does bring up two examples of Asian settlers taking a different approach to the land, treating swamp as fertile land and growing wild mustard as a crop instead of viewing it as a weed. This answer captures the role of Paragraph 3 and the examples therein, so it’s the correct answer.

  4. D
    to demonstrate that the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) There’s no discussion of any fighting within the historiography world, so this answer is out of scope. While the passage does fall into the Old Approach/New Approach Meta-Structure, it doesn’t describe a situation where adherents of the old approach are at odds with those of the new one!

  5. E
    to claim that the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) The Author argues that the historical record provided by analyzing the actions of Asian settlers adds to the existing record, not that it contradicts or corrects it.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B 1%
  3. C Credited 80%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 12%

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