Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 4

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

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Question Type

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    remain at their core Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Use our notations and the passage to find the answer

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    This question is asking us to find something stated in the passage, so we should use our notations to help us find the relevant section or sections. Here, the question stem asks us about the traditional Chinese dialects spoken by Chinese immigrants in the US—so not Chinatown Chinese, but the dialects that were brought over from China.

    The first paragraph opened with a note about these dialects, but it then pivoted to Chinatown Chinese, so if the first sentence doesn't lead to the answer, this paragraph won't help.

    The second paragraph noted that the new terminology in Chinatown Chinese is mostly for proper nouns and places, and that the ""core of the languages"" have remained the same, so the Author does believe that these dialects are largely intact, with new words added.

    The third paragraph notes that many Chinese Americans have learned one specific dialect—Cantonese—on top of their base dialect, but that the base dialects have differences that ""persist.""

    Any of these points could lead to a correct answer. That said, one thing that shows up more than once is that a lot of the base dialects haven't changed/persisted (Lines 25-27; Lines 52-54), and so there's a good bet that the correct answer will reflect this.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 25-27; Lines 52-54) In the second paragraph, the Author notes that the new vocab has supplemented the existing language, but that the core of it remains the same. And in the third paragraph, the Author notes that the differences in the dialects ""persist."" Each of these individually suggests that the traditional dialects have remained ""at their core"" essentially the same, with changes being limited to US-based words supplementing the vocab. This answer is therefore correct.

    Key Takeaway:
    It's rare that RC Must Be True questions bring up a topic that shows up spread out throughout the passage, but it does happen! Be sure to head back to each relevant section of the passage when analyzing the answers.
  2. B
    eventually merge with other Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 43-45) While the Author does note that many Chinese-American speakers of specific traditional dialects have ""become familiar with Cantonese,"" she doesn't suggest that these dialects have merged—just that people know two dialects.
  3. C
    undergo subtle changes in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 50-52) The Author notes that different dialects have different sounds and grammatical structures.
  4. D
    are often abandoned by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 43-45) While the Author does note that many Chinese-American speakers of specific traditional dialects have ""become familiar with Cantonese,"" she doesn't suggest that these dialects are abandoned—just that the speakers also know Cantonese.
  5. E
    lose much of their Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 27-29) The Author notes that the English terms ""supplemented"" the traditional vocabulary without ""supplant[ing]"" it.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 74%
  2. B 4%
  3. C 13%
  4. D 4%
  5. E 6%

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Discussion

  • Why A? 1 reply

    Started by FS101

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