Reading comp PrepTest 143 · Section 2 · Question 7

Passage

Questions 1-7  .        Having spent several decades trying to eliminate  . the unself-conscious "colonial gaze" characteristic of  . so Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Social Science

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A phenomenon is introduced that has divided anthropologists
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Old problem - Eliminate colonial gaze in ethnographic film
    • New phenomenon - Indigenous cultures are getting cameras and recording their own cultures
    • Anthropologists are "sharply divided" on how to view this
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • One view is described
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Weiner et. al. - Cameras are an assault on indigenous cultures
    • Devalues differences, pushing Western approach (realism, immediacy, self-expression)
    • Paradox - Costs indigenous peoples the culture they want to preserve
    • Weiner - Others who think this is good are naïve
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Other view is described
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Ginsburg et. al. - Weiner appeals to "noble savage" (super negative)
    • Concession - Western objects aren't neutral
    • Non-Western peoples can adopt this tech without Western values
    • Opportunity to preserve language and traditions
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • A real-world example backs up Ginsburg's view
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Ex. Turner/Kayapo (oral tradition) - Back up Ginsburg
    • Kayapo record ceremonies and interactions with government (legally binding)
    • Kayapo videos/editing reflect their culture/ceremonies (complex patterns; repetition; sequential organization)
Main Point:
While there is a sharp debate between anthropologists on whether it's good for indigenous cultures to adopt Western technology/cameras, a real-world example suggests that this technology does more harm than good, at least as far as preserving their culture is concerned.

Key Lines:
Lines 8-10 - The phenomenon is introduced
Lines 11-12 - The debate is previewed
Lines 13-15 - The first side of the debate is introduced and outlined
Lines 32-34 - The second side of the debate makes a concession to the first
Lines 34-36 - The second side of the debate rebuts the first
Lines 40-43 - The second side of the debate is outlined
Lines 44-47 - A specific example is introduced that supports the second view
Lines 54-59 - The best line describing the example's relevance

Meta-Structure:
Phenomenon/Implication - This is a variation on the Phenomenon/Explanation pattern. However, there's no explanation for the phenomenon here—the adoption of cameras by indigenous peoples. The debate is over whether it's a good or a bad thing.

Debate - Two sides of a debate are outlined. Here, the Author ends up leaning towards one side.

General Point/Specific Example - The Author brings up a single example to back up the viewpoint that she most closely aligns with. Remember, when a single example serves as the backing for a view, that view isn't on the strongest ground!

Last Thoughts:
That discussion of "ontology" is probably going to show up as at least an answer, since it's not a word you hear every day!

Question prompt

In using the phrase Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Question Type

Social Science

Answer choices

  1. A
    technology is exchanged in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 36) The "exchange" of technologies isn't what Ginsburg is discussing here—it's the effect of the technology once a new culture is using it.
  2. B
    the technologies used by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 36-37) The line in context is talking about indiginous peoples using these technologies, not the anthropologists.
  3. C
    cultures generally evolve in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. Dependence on technology is out of scope. The debate is over the influence technology has when adopted by cultures that didn't invent it.
  4. D
    a culture's ethical values Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 36) The statement is about the use of technologies, not the reaction to new technologies. While using a new technology implies something about a reaction to it, it doesn't directly speak to it.
  5. E
    cultures are shaped in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Meaning in Context

    Strategy Overview:
    Review the role of the paragraph including the phrase in question, then read the section in context to infer its meaning

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Line 35 is in Paragraph 3, and that paragraph's role was to describe Faye Ginsburg's view—the one that was sharply divided from James Weiner, and that the Author would ultimately argue has some evidence in support.

    With that in mind, we can hop into Line 35. It's in a long sentence, and it's one that starts with a concession (Line 32) but then pivots away from it ("but she"). So it's not a concession—rather, it's likely her rebuttal to that concession.

    So Ginsburg agrees that there are no neutral Western technologies—the concession—but that to argue this means that using cameras makes you Western is "boilerplate technological determinism." Breaking down the phrase, "boilerplate" means that it's just a repeated idea without original thought or application to the current situation. "Technological" refers to . . . the technology. And "determinism" refers to the idea that something is determined by outside factors.

    Putting these individual words together in the context, and we can see that Ginsburg means by "technological determinism" that Weiner's arguing the technology determines the outcome for a culture, regardless of the details or the culture in question. In other words, cultures can't help but be co-opted by the technologies they use—an idea with which she disagrees.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 36-37) Ginsburg calls technological determinism "to argue that using a video camera makes one unwittingly Western." In other words, a culture that uses a certain technology would inevitably end up Western rather than retain their culture. That's another way of saying that cultures are shaped in fundamental ways (becoming unwittingly Western) by the technologies they use (video cameras), so this is the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    Context matters! The context of the immediate sentence, any surrounding sentences that the one in question refers to, the paragraph in which the statement is included, and the passage as a whole. That's a lot, sure, but it's a lot less than being unsure which answer to select and going back and forth a few times!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 10%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 8%
  4. D 7%
  5. E Credited 71%

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