Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 3

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 author mentions the 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

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    demonstrate the extent to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 25-27) The Author contends that the ""core of the language"" is the same, so these American English terms don't ""dominate"" Chinatown Chinese.
  2. B
    illustrate how Chinese Americans Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 29-31) This paragraph was about language issues that might crop up between Chinese Americans and new arrivals from China, not conversations between Chinese Americans.
  3. C
    explain why native Chinese Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 25-27) The Author pivots away from these examples to highlight that the core of the language has stayed the same. As such, these examples are meant to highlight situations where Chinatown Chinese would be sufficiently different from other Chinese dialects as to create confusion.
  4. D
    show why Chinatown Chinese Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Main point) The Author undermines the claim that Chinatown Chinese should be seen as a distinct dialect.
  5. E
    exemplify the ways in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Argument Structure

    Strategy Overview:
    Head back to the line in question, using context and what we know about the paragraph to help us define its role

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Lines 22 and 24 are in the second paragraph, and that's where the Author rebutted the first claim that the language is so different from base Chinese dialects that Chinatown Chinese constitutes a new dialect.

    Looking specifically at the liens in question, they serve as an example for the claim before it. That claim, starting in Line 17, states that the distinctive vocabulary of Chinatown Chinese is mostly for proper names or places. The first example shows a new term (""downtown"") that's made up to sound like the English word, and the second example is of a direct translation of an English phrase into Chinese, even if that phrase wouldn't make sense in the base language.

    So the examples here show that Chinatown Chinese includes English-inspired words, but that these are limited and the core of the language has remained the same.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 21-25) The Author brings up one of these terms as a transliteration, and the other as a direct translation, showing that each of these terms demonstrates the influence that American English has become part of or influenced Chinatown Chinese. This answer is therefore correct.

    Key Takeaway:
    When asked about examples, always be sure to know what they're examples of! That broader point will be key to answering questions.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 8%
  4. D 3%
  5. E Credited 81%

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