Colonial historian David Allen's intensive study of five

[750plus]

According to the passage, which of the following was true of most villages in seventeenth-century England?

(A) The resident squire had significant authority.
(B) Church members were selected on the basis of their social status within the community.
(C) Low population density restricted agricultural and economic growth.
(D) There was little diversity in local institutions from one region to another.
(E) National events had little impact on local customs and administrative organization

Team,

Please explain the correct option A. The passage mentions - ' a high proportion of English villagers lived under paternalistic resident squires; no such class existed in New England '

If the villagers lived under paternalistic resident squires, doesn't it justify option A that they had authority. Am I thinking on the right lines ?

Please guide.

Also, can you please explain why E is incorrect. I was not able to eliminate this choice as I could not locate this anywhere in the passage. So, I was stuck between A and E.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani

[RonPurewal]

If the villagers lived under paternalistic resident squires, doesn't it justify option A that they had authority. Am I thinking on the right lines ?

you're thinking along the right lines.

[RonPurewal]

Also, can you please explain why E is incorrect. I was not able to eliminate this choice as I could not locate this anywhere in the passage.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani

i'm confused by the red sentence.
if something is NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN THE PASSAGE... then it's a wrong answer!
(unless the question is something like 'Each of the following is supported by the passage EXCEPT...'—in which case the roles of 'correct answer' and 'incorrect answer' are reversed)

that seems too obvious to mention, though, so i think i might be misinterpreting your question. am i misinterpreting your question?

[750plus]

Also, can you please explain why E is incorrect. I was not able to eliminate this choice as I could not locate this anywhere in the passage.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani

i'm confused by the red sentence.
if something is NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN THE PASSAGE... then it's a wrong answer!
(unless the question is something like 'Each of the following is supported by the passage EXCEPT...'—in which case the roles of 'correct answer' and 'incorrect answer' are reversed)

that seems too obvious to mention, though, so i think i might be misinterpreting your question. am i misinterpreting your question?

No, you did not misinterpret.

While I was eliminating choices, I treated this question as an EXCEPT question. So, I was adamant that how can I get rid off E if that's not mentioned in the passage. I was trying to look for an excerpt in the passage where it should have said something about option E in the opposite direction.

Take away for me:
I should read the question carefully.

Thanks Ron for the clarification.

[tim]

Thanks for the update. Let us know if you have any other questions!

[RonPurewal]

While I was eliminating choices, I treated this question as an EXCEPT question.

i'm ... fascinated by this.

this kind of thing is commonplace in the other direction: people often fail to notice the word 'except' (usually because they're TRYING TO READ TOO FAST).

on the other hand, i'm genuinely curious as to how the error occurred in this direction.
what prompted you to imagine the word 'except' in this problem, which contains no trace of such a word? (did you just finish doing some other problem with 'except'?)

though i'm asking primarily to satisfy my own curiosity, the answer should help you, too. (if you can determine WHY and/or HOW this error occurred, that awareness will help you prevent similar mistakes in the future.)

[750plus]

While I was eliminating choices, I treated this question as an EXCEPT question.

i'm ... fascinated by this.

this kind of thing is commonplace in the other direction: people often fail to notice the word 'except' (usually because they're TRYING TO READ TOO FAST).

on the other hand, i'm genuinely curious as to how the error occurred in this direction.
what prompted you to imagine the word 'except' in this problem, which contains no trace of such a word? (did you just finish doing some other problem with 'except'?)

though i'm asking primarily to satisfy my own curiosity, the answer should help you, too. (if you can determine WHY and/or HOW this error occurred, that awareness will help you prevent similar mistakes in the future.)

Hehe

Well, I got this question on my GMAT Prep 2 towards the end of the test (#37 to be precise, with 6.31 minutes remaining) and this was the first question of the RC prompt. Just before this RC, I got a CR question that had " EXCEPT " in it.

So, I got carried away with that and in haste treated it as an EXCEPT question

[tim]

Ah. I guess the lesson here is to pay careful attention to the exact wording of all questions.

[RonPurewal]

Well, I got this question on my GMAT Prep 2 towards the end of the test (#37 to be precise, with 6.31 minutes remaining) and this was the first question of the RC prompt. Just before this RC, I got a CR question that had " EXCEPT " in it.

So, I got carried away with that and in haste treated it as an EXCEPT question

if you SLOW DOWN throughout the section, you probably won't find yourself in this sort of quandary in the first place.
ironically, if you RUSH through the text, you'll ultimately spend MORE time going through it! after all, rushing will erode your ability to comprehend the material—and so you'll have to read it again and again and again. and that's where the time goes.
(trust me, i'm a much slower reader than you are, and i don't have any issues finishing this exam within the allotted time.)

[750plus]

Well, I got this question on my GMAT Prep 2 towards the end of the test (#37 to be precise, with 6.31 minutes remaining) and this was the first question of the RC prompt. Just before this RC, I got a CR question that had " EXCEPT " in it.

So, I got carried away with that and in haste treated it as an EXCEPT question

if you SLOW DOWN throughout the section, you probably won't find yourself in this sort of quandary in the first place.
ironically, if you RUSH through the text, you'll ultimately spend MORE time going through it! after all, rushing will erode your ability to comprehend the material—and so you'll have to read it again and again and again. and that's where the time goes.
(trust me, i'm a much slower reader than you are, and i don't have any issues finishing this exam within the allotted time.)

Really ? I have a timing problem with Verbal Section. It's always that I have to skip 2-3 questions at regular interval to complete the section on time. I have done a lot of practise and still, the problem persists. As a result, I tried pushing my self to read quickly while paying attention to the understanding. Without comprehending the question well, I know even if I'll complete the test, my accuracy will suffer.

So, I have to find a middle path. Skip some questions, and solve other questions with slow reading and great understanding.

Do you find something wrong with this approach, Mr. Purewal ?

Warm Regards

[RonPurewal]

• if you are ever reading words without a DEFINITE GOAL, do you IMMEDIATELY stop?

• if you can't decide between/among two or more options,
...do you IMMEDIATELY acknowledge 'i don't know how to decide between/among these'? (vs. staring at them and waiting for an epiphany)
...and then, do you IMMEDIATELY guess, and IMMEDIATELY move on to the next item?

if the answers are not yes, yes, yes, and yes, then these are the only habits you need to change.

--

[RonPurewal]

i mean, really, that last sentence i wrote—

trust me, i'm a much slower reader than you are, and i don't have any issues finishing this exam within the allotted time

—not a joke.

• i have pretty severe dyslexia. i can't read any faster than i can talk (...and i don't even talk fast.)
• so, i would bet good money that you can read faster than i can. probably significantly faster.
• i can finish the verbal section.
• therefore...

[AnuH387]

that was inspiring Ron..I 'm very much worried with my timing issue in verbal..I 'am completely ok with quants .. But I get very low scores for verbal as I take a lot of time to comprehend( not read).. I only have two more weeks for the exam..
I know I'm rushing most of the times , and I thought that this is because I'm slow in comprehension. I can read a para within seconds and then I wonder what i just read .

[RonPurewal]

I can read a para within seconds and then I wonder what i just read .

...then slow down.

that is all.

[garimag860]

Hi,
Could you please look into my reasons of elimination and correct me where I am wrong....

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the author of the passage considers Allen's "discovery" (see highlighted text) to be
A. already known to earlier historians
B. based on a logical fallacy
C. improbable but nevertheless convincing
D. an unexplained, isolated fact
E. a new, insightful observation

My workout :
2. It can be inferred from the passage that the author of the passage considers Allen's "discovery" (see highlighted text) to be
A. already known to earlier historians -- (discovery known to earlier historians.. . not mentioned anywhere. only mention is continuity exited between English and colonial practices .. suggested by other historians)
B. based on a logical fallacy --- (actually I picked this as ans but then understood why this is wrong from explainations given in posts above)
C. improbable but nevertheless convincing -- (author never said allen's discovery was improbable)
D. an unexplained, isolated fact
E. a new, insightful observation -- (nothing new.. no insight)


3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage considers Allen's research on seventeenth-century Massachusetts colonies to be
A. inconsequential but interesting
B. largely derivative
C. detailed but problematic
D. highly commendable
E. overly theoretical

My workout :
3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage considers Allen's research on seventeenth-century Massachusetts colonies to be
A. inconsequential but interesting --(infact author is criticizing. nothing has been mentioned about 'interesting' as such)
B. largely derivative -- (nothing has been derived)
C. detailed but problematic -- ( this is somewhere near)
D. highly commendable (infact author is criticizing)
E. overly theoretical ( no theory has been explained as such)