Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 2

Passage

Questions 1-5  . The following passage is adapted from an article  . published in 1981.  .       Chinese is a language Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic:

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • And introduction to an argument about a new dialect
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Some linguists - "Chinatown Chinese" is a new dialect that sprung up in San Francisco, based on two claims:
      • Someone from China might have a hard time understanding someone speaking this dialect, but
      • Other Chinese Americans can understand the dialect
    Paragraph 2
    • Paragraph note
      • The Author rebuts the first claim
    • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
      • Chinese American in San Fran speaking with a recent arrival from China
      • The new terms are mostly for proper names, but the core language is the same - most of the language has been preserved
    Paragraph 3
    • Paragraph note
      • The Author rebuts the second claim
    • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
      • Chinese American speaking to another Chinese American
      • People who speak different base dialects can have a hard time understanding each other even if they have a common vocab of US-based words (e.g., cities)
    Main Point:
    While some linguists argue that "Chinatown Chinese" is a unique dialect that sprung up in San Francisco, analyzing the two claims they base this on shows their view to lack support.

    Key Lines:
    Lines 2-4 - The opposing viewpoint is introduced
    Lines 7-16 - The two claims that form the basis of this viewpoint are explained
    Lines 25-27 - The Author's rebuttal of the first claim
    Lines 39-43 - The Author's rebuttal of the second claim

    Meta-Structure:
    View/Rebuttal - The Author here brings up the view of some linguists, shows the claims that it's based on, and then rebuts them one at a time

    Last Thoughts:
    This argument is interesting in that there isn't a single statement of the main point of the argument. Rather, we infer it from the fact that the Author takes each claim that forms the basis for a viewpoint and rebuts it. So, at the end of the day, the Author believes that the linguists who think of "Chinatown Chinese" as a distinct dialect of Chinese don't have a strong argument for that to be the case.

    There were a lot of details in each paragraph here, but we should use the structure to help us find and answer questions rather than attempt to remember all of the individual details. We should have a general idea of what each paragraph is talking about! The second rebuts the claim that Chinatown Chinese has a lot of new terminology, and that someone recently arrived from China wouldn't know it. The third paragraph rebuts the claim that Chinese Americans would be able to communicate with each other by highlighting that their base dialects might be incompatible. Let's keep those overarching arguments in mind so that we can identify which paragraph is likely to lead to the answer to any specific detail question.

Question prompt

The passage suggests that 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

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    news from China
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 25-29) News from China wouldn't discuss the proper names of US-based people or locations, so this would be a shared point of reference for both speakers. The ""core of the language"" remains intact (Line 25).
  2. B
    mutual relatives in San Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 17-21) The stimulus notes that the new vocab is for things in SF that haven't been encountered by those who live in China. Shared relatives would be at least passingly familiar to most people—even recent visitors who never met them! We all have a cousin or other distant relative whose name we know but we've never met.
  3. C
    the Chinese American's daily Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Check the section talking about a Chinese-American and a visitor from China to see what they would have trouble talking about

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Checking our notations here, we can see that the second paragraph discussed conversation between a Chinese American and ""new arrivals from China,"" (Line 31) which would include visitors. That paragraph was rebutting the claim that Chinese American dialects would be hard for someone from China to understand. The Author focuses on how the new vocab is mostly proper names or local places, so let's find an answer bringing that up.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 17-21) A person's daily life in the US would include reference to a number of places and people that wouldn't be familiar to someone outside of the US. As such, the visitor from China might have difficulty understanding a Chinese American speaking about these people and locations, so this is the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    While we cited specific lines for each answer, it's the case that our overall understanding of this passage was enough to answer this question. It asked about communication between a visitor and a Chinese American, which was the topic of paragraph 2. And our high-level understanding of that paragraph was that it was about the new vocab focusing on proper names.
  4. D
    the Chinese visitor's feelings Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 25-27) The core of the language is still intact, and you can describe your feelings about a place without making reference to specific people or places, so the visitor likely wouldn't have much trouble communicating this with another speaker.
  5. E
    Chinese cultural traditions
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 17-21) These traditions wouldn't include reference to people or places in the US, so communication on this topic shouldn't pose a problem.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 1%
  2. B 3%
  3. C Credited 92%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 2%

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

No threads yet—be the first to ask a question or share an approach.

View all discussions Start a discussion