GMAT RC CHALLENGE – 36 Hardest Official GMAT RC Passages of all time (P23/36)

Tiếp tục series 36 hardest GMAT RC passages, hôm nay chúng ta hãy thử sức với bài đọc số 23 nhé. 

Để đạt được hiệu quả tối đa khi đọc bài chia sẻ này, các bạn vui lòng:

Bước 1: Vào link gmatclub để làm bài đọc

Bước 2: Check lại đáp án của mình với quick explanations tại bài viết này

Passage 23/36: In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political affiliation erupted in New York City, the stronghold of the Socialist Party in the United States. Protesting against the high cost of living, thousands of women refused to buy chickens, fish, and vegetables …

LINK BÀI ĐỌC TẠI ĐÂY

RECAP các bước làm bài

Bước 1: Đọc bài đọc và dừng lại vài giây tóm tắt ý chính ngay sau mỗi đoạn nhỏ

Bước 2: Phát biểu Main Point / Primary Purpose hay nội dung chính của bài

Bước 3: Đọc câu hỏi, xác định vị trí liên quan trong Passage và Pre-think đáp án (Tuyệt đối không đọc đáp án trước, trừ khi câu hỏi không gợi ý được ta cần xem lại phần nào trong Passage HOẶC bạn đã nhớ rõ Passage như in)

Bước 4: Đọc nhanh answer choices và chọn đáp án gần với Pre-think nhất

Bây giờ, chúng ta cùng giải Passage 23/36 nhé!

Đáp án Passage 23/36

Summary

Para 1: Introduces a “women’s movement independent of political affiliation” to boycott food items and protest against a high cost of living.

Cụ thể:

• In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political affiliation erupted in New York City, the stronghold of the Socialist Party in the United States. Protesting against the high cost of living, thousands of women refused to buy chickens, fish, and vegetables.
• The boycott shut down much of the City’s foodstuffs marketing for two weeks, riveting public attention on the issue of food prices, which had increased partly as a result of increased exports of food to Europe that had been occurring since the outbreak of the First World War.

Para 2: Examines why the Socialist Party “seized the opportunity” to join in on these protests. In effect, the Socialist Party wanted to use these protests as stepping stones toward the larger goal of moving the US society closer to socialism.

Cụ thể:

• By early 1917 the Socialist party had established itself as a major political presence in New York City. New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests designed to direct the women’s movement toward Socialist goals.
• Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.
• For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.

Para 3: Contrasts the motivations of Socialists to those of the women involved in the protests. While the women “saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself,” the Socialists “saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand.”

Cụ thể:

• Although New York’s Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand, the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue.

• A shared experience of swiftly declining living standards caused by rising food prices drove these women to protest. Consumer organizing spoke directly to their daily lives and concerns; they saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself. Food price protests were these women’s way of organizing at their own workplace, as workers whose occupation was shopping and preparing food for their families.

Main point: Contrast viewpoints of 2 groups regarding the cost-of-living issue

Câu 1: The author suggests which of the following about New York Socialists’ commitment to the cost-of-living movement?

Prethink: Ở para 2, ta có:

• Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself.

Như vậy, New York Socialists’ commitment to the cost-of-living movement chỉ mang tính brief / ngắn / trong một thời gian ngắn

Vậy đáp án đúng là A. It lasted for a relatively short period of time

Extra notes:

B . It was stronger than their commitment to the suffrage struggle.

• Có vẻ ngược với thông tin bài đọc vì ở para 2, ta có: New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, … For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.

–> Loại

C . It predated the cost-of-living protest that erupted in 1917.

• Cũng ở đầu para 2, ta biết: New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests

Như vậy, protest that erupted in 1917 xảy ra rồi thì NY Socialists mới chớp cơ hội

–> Loại

D . It coincided with their attempts to bring more women into union organizing.

• Thông tin không được nhắc trong bài –> Loại

E . It explained the popularity of the Socialist party in NYC.

• Thông tin không được nhắc hoặc infer được trong bài –> Loại

Câu 2: It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of the boycotting women was the

Prethink: Ở para 3, ta có:

•  the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue.
• Consumer organizing spoke directly to their daily lives and concerns; they saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself.

Mặc dù ta không có dòng nói cụ thể goal là gì nhưng ta biết rằng những người phụ nữ tham gia boycott / cuộc tẩy chay hàng hóa này đang cố gắng khiến giá cả hàng hóa giảm đi.

Ta sử dụng POE như sau:

1. achievement of an immediate economic outcome

• Có vẻ hợp lí vì các keywords như “urgent”, “valuable end” –> Giữ lại

1. development of a more socialistic society

• Không nhắc tới trong phần quan điểm của boycotting women –> Loại

C . concentration of a widespread consumer protest on the more narrow issue of food prices.

• Thông tin không được nhắc tới trong bài, ta không thể biết liệu những người phụ nữ này có muốn hướng tới “a widespread consumer protest” hay không?

–> Loại

D . development of one among a number of different approaches that the women wished to employ in combating the high cost of price.

• Ta không được nhắc nhiều approaches của những người phụ nữ này –> Loại

E . attraction of more public interest to issues that the women and the socialist considered important.

Ở para 2 và đầu para 3, ta có:

• Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself.
• New York’s Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand

–> Như vậy, socialist cũng không mấy quan tâm đến vấn đề cost-of-living như boycotting women –> Loại

Vậy đáp án đúng là A. achievement of an immediate economic outcome

Câu 3: Which of the following best states the function of the passage as a whole?

Prethink: Xem lại phần summary, ta có Main point = Contrast viewpoints of 2 groups regarding the cost-of-living issue

Ta cần dùng POE như sau:

A . To contrast the views held by the Socialist party and the boycotting women in the cost-of-living issue.

• Giữ lại vì giống prethink

B . To analyze the assumption underlying opposing viewpoints with the NY socialist party of 1917

• Dù không phân tích kĩ câu này thì ta vẫn thấy thiếu phần nói về quan điểm của boycotting women –> Hẹp –> Loại

C . To provide a historical perspective on different approaches to the resolution of cost-of-living issue.

• Một quan điểm lịch sử về các cách tiếp cần khác nhau để giải quyết vấn đề cost-of-living –> Không có quan điểm như vậy được nhắc trong bài –> Loại

D . To chronicle the sequence of events that lead to the NY socialist party’s emergency as a political power.

• Ghi chép các chuỗi sự kiện –> Không có thông tin trong bài

–> Loại

E . To analyze the motivations behind the socialist party’s involvement in the women’s suffrage movement.

• Không phân tích động lực như vậy, cho dù có thì cũng không nói được ý chính para 3 –> Loại

Vậy đáp án đúng là A. To contrast the views held by the Socialist party and the boycotting women in the cost-of-living issue.

Câu 4: According to the passage, most New York Socialists believed which of the following about the cost-of-living movement?

Prethink: Ở para 2, ta có:

• most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.
• For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.

Như vậy, đối với most New York Socialists thì cost-of-living movement chỉ có giá trị như một công cụ để đạt được mục tiêu khác lớn lao hơn như suffrage.

Vậy đáp án đúng là B. It was an expedient that was useful only insofar as it furthered other goals.

Extra notes:

E . It served as an effective complement to union organizing.

• Lưu ý, ta có dòng: “most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living” ý là các socialists muốn chuyển hẳn sang dạng protest khác và “cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage” nên câu E không bằng câu B.

Hẹn gặp lại các bạn trong bài chia sẻ kì tới! Mọi thắc mắc liên quan đến các đáp án sai trong từng câu hỏi, các bạn có thể để lại comments bên dưới nhé.

P/s: Bài giải gợi ý trong series này chủ yếu tập trung cải thiện phần Pre-think, tức ta luôn cố gắng hết sức để tự nghĩ trước câu trả lời đúng rồi tìm đáp án gần nhất trong 5 answer choices.

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