Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 5

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

When the passage refers 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
    whose sounds and meanings Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Head back to the statement and see what it means in context

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    Heading back to Line 22, we see that the Author presented an example of a transliterated term—""dang-tang"" for ""downtown."" This is contrasted with ""gang-ngihn ngiht"" for ""Labor Day,"" which is noted as translating as ""labor"" and ""day.""

    So the Author brings up two methods of incorporating English into Chinese. The latter is easier to understand—it's just a direct translation. And the other—transliteration—is what's being asked about here. Even if you don't see it yourself or don't know what the term means, the example given shows that the new word recreates the sound of the original word, so let's find an answer reflecting that.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 21-22) This answer reflects the example given in the passage. There, the English word's definition and sound are ""transliterated"" into Chinese. Unlike with a direct translation, the English words aren't individually translated into the new language, but the sounds are recreated. This is contrasted with direct translation where, applied to the ""downtown"" example, the Chinese for ""down"" and ""town"" would be individually translated and then combined, which didn't happen in this example.

    Key Takeaway:
    When a question asks you about one example from among multiple, be sure to understand both of them. This will let you better understand each, but it will also let you eliminate answers that deal with the other example(s) quickly.
  2. B
    that name objects, places, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 23-25) While this isn't an outlandish answer, it has a key problem. Transliteration is used for words that are tied to the local experience, but so is direct translation, as exemplified by Labor Day. This answer is too broad, as it encompasses both methods, but this question is asking about only one.
  3. C
    that are written in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 22) While the words have some similarities, the two words aren't the same in both languages, so this answer is incorrect.
  4. D
    that are direct translations Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 23-25) ""Labor Day"" and its direct translation are noted as a separate example, so this answer misses the mark.
  5. E
    that sound different in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 17-18) This part of the passage is specifically about Chinatown Chinese, not other dialects, so this answer about different dialects is wrong.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 53%
  2. B 15%
  3. C 6%
  4. D 24%
  5. E 2%

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Discussion

  • Why A 1 reply

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