Reading comp PrepTest 157 · Section 1 · Question 3

Passage

 The late 1950s and early 1960s were a time of profound growth for the civil rights movement in the United Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic: Social Sciences

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on sit-in demonstrations (segregation only illegal in public schools, African-American community anticipated further change) and author's conclusion (sit-ins inspired major changes)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's conclusion:
      • Sit-ins inspired civil rights organizations, created new ones, and caused more people to support the civil rights movement (last sentence)
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Segregation was illegal in public schools but not in other areas (second sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "profound growth" (first sentence); "simple" (last sentence); "galvanized" (last sentence); "brought about" (last sentence); "generated support" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on sit-ins (students at a lunch counter) and their influence (showed students they could affect change and led to SNCC and FR)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of two events sit-ins inspired, according to the author:
      • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "spread rapidly" (second sentence); "important model" (third sentence); "influence" (last sentence); "particularly visible" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Two events sit-ins inspired: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (student-led, made protests sustained and national) and Freedom Rides (led to government protection, showed segregation's harsh realities, demonstrated methods to activists)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
      • The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee caused small-scale student protests to become sustained and national efforts against discrimination (second sentence)
      • The Freedom Rides caused the U.S. government to intervene, causing the U.S. government and society to see the harsh realities of segregation and civil rights activists to see methods they can use to fight discrimination (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "solidified" (first sentence); "strong" (second sentence); "transform" (second sentence); "into a sustained effort" (second sentence); "clearest turning point" (third sentence); "the first government action" (fifth sentence); "new level" (last sentence); "harsh realities of the segregation system" (last sentence); "providing, for students and their elders alike, examples of the methods they might use" (last sentence)

Main Point:

Sit-in protests inspired and created civil rights organizations and movements, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides, which provided models of nonviolent protest and generated new support for the civil rights movement.


Meta-Structure?

Importance of Subject: We think this passage best fits the Importance of [Subject]. Meta-Structure. In such passages, the author describes why a particular person, artistic work, law or legal accomplishment, scientific breakthrough, or social movement was historically significant or meaningful. As we know, "[Subject]" is just a placeholder for whatever the passage focuses on. In this case, that's a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins. So, we can dub this passage an Importance of Movement passage.

In an Importance of [Subject] passage, the main point is generally the author's opinions on why the subject was important. To identify this, we can look for whether the author provides a conclusion that summarizes their opinion. The author provides this summary at the end of the first paragraph, so we can use that to answer any question for which the main point is handy. Alternatively, we can make our own summary of the author's opinions on why the subject was important. We wanted to include the author's references to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides, so we formed our own summary.

List: The author uses several minor Meta Structures, but the list is the most prominent. The author lists two movements that illustrate the influence of sit-in demonstrations: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides. The author provides details on both of these movements, so we can expect them to figure into a question or two.


Last Thoughts?

This passage has only five questions, which means the rest of the passages will have 7 or 8 questions each. We cannot afford to spend too much time on the questions, so it'll be crucial that we use the main point and our notes to quickly answer the questions, minimizing the number of times we check the passage—especially to eliminate wrong answers.

Question prompt

Based on the passage, 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.

Strategy Overview

Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underline to locate where the passage discusses the Freedom Rides, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

Answer Anticipation

For questions that ask us to infer, from a few details in the passage, an answer choice that must be true, quickly finding and reviewing those details is critical. That is why we make brief notes describing the role of each paragraph and highlight or underline definitions and the minor Meta-Structures — doing so helps us find the salient information efficiently and reliably. Once we review that part of the passage, we can look through the answer choices to see which one is best supported by what we reviewed. Since the question stem asks us to make an inference, the correct answer probably won't restate something from the passage. Instead, the question will likely require us to draw a connection between a few different pieces of information. Here, the question asks about the Freedom Rides. Where did those show up in the passage? Our note for the third paragraph is, “Two events sit-ins inspired: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (student-led, made protests sustained and national) and Freedom Rides (led to government protection, showed segregation's harsh realities, demonstrated methods to activists)." If we're short on time, that note probably gives us enough information to evaluate the answer choices. If an answer choice is consistent with that note, we can check the passage to verify that it's correct. If an answer choice is not reflected in that note, we can table it and move on to the next one without checking the passage. If we have the luxury of time, we can check the third third paragarph to recall a bit more about the Freedom Rides. In addition to the facts covered in our notes, the third paragraph says the Freedom Rides were "organized in 1961 by the already well-established Congress of Racial Equality" and their goal "was to challenge segregation through the occupation of 'whites only' seats on interstate buses and in facilities at the various terminals at which the buses stopped" (P3, S4). We also learn that the rides "inspired violent reprisals in some regions" (P3, S5). Let's look for an answer choice that is consistent with our review.

Answer choices

  1. A
    They were primarily a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    Is this consistent with the facts we reviewed in our note on the Freedom Rides or in the third paragraph?

    Nope. This isn't reflected in our notes on the Freedom Rides, so we can justifiably eliminate — or at least table — (A) and move on to the next answer choice. Besides, if we reviewed the third paragraph, we'd already know that these were not "spontaneous" affairs. They were "organized in 1961 by the already well-established Congress of Racial Equality" with deliberate objectives (P3, S4). So, (A) is a false statement.

  2. B
    They were directed against Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    Is this consistent with the facts we reviewed in our note on the Freedom Rides or in the third paragraph?

    No. This isn't reflected in our notes on the Freedom Rides, so we can justifiably eliminate — or at least table — (B) and move on to the next answer choice.

    Besides, if we reviewed the third paragraph, we'd already know that the Freedom Rides were not necessarily directed against the U.S. government. Ostensibly, they were directed at "interstate buses" and the "facilities at the various terminals" (P3, S4). We don't know if the U.S. government operated these in the early 1960s. Moreover, the author only mentions the U.S. government in the third paragraph to say that the U.S. government began using force to protect the safety of the Freedom Riders and later became more aware of the harsh realities of segregation (P3, S5-S6). So, while the Freedom Rides may have changed the U.S. government, they weren't necessarily directed against the government.

  3. C
    They were less important Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    Is this consistent with the facts we reviewed in our note on the Freedom Rides or in the third paragraph?

    Negative. This isn't reflected in our notes on the Freedom Rides, so we can justifiably eliminate — or at least table — (C) and move on to the next answer choice.

    Besides, if we reviewed the third paragraph, we'd already know that the author calls the Freedom Rides "the clearest turning point for the civil rights movement" (P3, S3). The author thinks the Freedom Rides were very important, perhaps even more important than the original sit-in demonstrations.

  4. D
    They were based on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    Is this consistent with the facts we reviewed in our note on the Freedom Rides or in the third paragraph?

    Again, no. This isn't reflected in our notes on the Freedom Rides. Moreover, our anticipated main point suggests that the sit-in demonstrations inspired the Freedom Rides. So, we can justifiably eliminate (D) and move on to the next answer choice.

    Besides, if we reviewed the third paragraph, we'd already know that the Freedom Rides seem very similar to the original sit-in demonstrations. After all, like the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides involved occupying "'whites only' seats" in segregated spaces to protest this discrimination (P3, S4). The similarity of these two approaches further suggests that (D) is false.

  5. E
    They were modeled on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    Is this consistent with the facts we reviewed in our note on the Freedom Rides or in the third paragraph?

    Yep. While this isn't reflected in our notes on the Freedom Rides, our anticipated main point suggests that the sit-in demonstrations inspired the Freedom Rides. This strongly suggests that the Freedom Rides were modeled on the original sit-in demonstrations.

    Moreover, if we reviewed the third paragraph, we'd already know that the Freedom Rides seem very similar to the original sit-in demonstrations. Like the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides involved occupying "'whites only' seats" in segregated spaces to protest this discrimination (P3, S4). Since these two tactics are so similar, we can combine that with the main point to validly infer that the Freedom Rides were modeled on the original sit-in demonstrations. Additionally, the second paragraph refers to the Freedom Rides as a "second form of sit-ins" (P2, S4). All of these facts suggest that (E) is supported.

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 8%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 6%
  5. E Credited 84%

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