Difficult CR Questions

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1

<p>Some critics believe that the frequent use of repetition in Native American ceremonial texts was a result of their oral nature and helped make the works easy to remember. Native American scholar Paula Gunn Allen argues that this factor must be peripheral, however, because people in societies without writing traditionally have had more finely developed memories than do people who use writing. Native American children learned early to remember complicated instructions and long stories by heart. For a person who couldn’t run to a bookshelf to look up information, reliance on memory became very important in everyday life. Such a highly developed everyday memory is not likely to fail on ceremonial occasions.</p>

<p>The primary purpose of the passage is to</p>

<p>(A) refute a claim</p>

<p>(B) describe a process</p>

<p>(C) analyze a discovery</p>

<p>(D) advocate a practice</p>

<p>(E) reveal a problem</p>

<p>In context, what does the final sentence suggest about Native American ceremonial texts?</p>

<p>(A) Understanding them requires a highly developed memory.</p>

<p>(B) Their inclusion of complicated and detailed material is traditional.</p>

<p>(C) They are not always oral in nature, nor are they always repetitive.</p>

<p>(D) They are important in the everyday lives of many Native Americans.</p>

<p>(E) Their use of repetition cannot be explained as an aid to memorization.</p>

<p>The following is an excerpt of the last paragraph from another passage. Leading up to this paragraph, the passage is about a boy who has decided to change his name from Gogol to Nikhil upon entering college:</p>

<p>Even more startling is when those who normally call him Gogol refer to him as Nikhil. For example, when his parents call on Saturday mornings, if Brandon or Jonathon happens to pick up the phone, they ask if Nikhil is there. Though he has asked his parents to do precisely this, the fact of it troubles him, making him feel in that instant that he is not related to them, not their child. “Please come to our home with Nikhil one weekend,” Ashima says to his roommates when she and Ashoke visit campus during parents weekend in October, the suite hastily cleared of bottles, ashtrays. The substitution sounds wrong to Gogol, correct but off-key, the way it sounds when his parents speak English to him instead of Bengali. Stranger still is when one of his parents addresses him, in front of his new friends, as Nikhil directly: “Nikhil, show us the buildings where you have your classes,” his father suggests. Later that evening, out to dinner with Jonathan at a restaurant on Chapel Street, Ashima slips, asking, “Gogol, have you decided yet what your major will be?” Though Jonathan, listening to something his father is saying, doesn't hear, Gogol feels helpless, annoyed yet unable to blame his mother, caught in the mess he's made.</p>

<p>In the last paragraph, Nikhil's parents are presented as
a) amused by Nikhil's independence
b) compliant with Nikhil's decisions</p>

<p>I chose A because it seemed like the parents were amused by his independence when they said “Nikhil, show us the buildings where you have your classes.”</p>

2

<p>These are my guesses:

  1. D
  2. A, B, or D I can’t figure that one out. I would probably guess A.
  3. B</p>

<p>If they are right I will explain my thought process to you.
What are the answers?</p>

3

<ol>
<li>A</li>
<li>A
My guesses for the first one.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>I will reveal the answers as soon as some more guesses come in :)</p>

5

<p>First Passage

  1. A - Refuting the statement at the the beginning. Critics claim that the repetition was simply because of their oral nature. However, the narrator refutes this by telling how children from an early age begin memorizing complex stories and develope proficient memorizing abilities and is the real reason. So instead of the repetition as a tool to help them memorize, the repetition was a demonstration of their memory span.
  2. B - I chose B because they learn complex stories traditionally and thus includes complicated and detailed material. A I think is wrong because no where does it say you need a high developed memory to UNDERSTAND the texts. </p>

<p>Second Passage

  1. B - Where you saw a sardonic comment, I didn’t see that. I think the fact that the mom ‘slips’ later, lets us realize they were sincerely trying to keep up with the change. And thus they are compliant, not amused.</p>
6

<ol>
<li>A</li>
<li>E</li>
<li>B</li>
</ol>

<p>Those are the answers. Thank you for clearing up the first and third answers. Does anyone understand why the second question is E?</p>

7

<ol>
<li>A</li>
<li><p>E</p></li>
<li><p>B</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Not guesses, lol.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>godofwraith’s explanation is fine.</p></li>
<li><p>

This is just a clever/different way saying E. Because Native Americans have such a highly developed memory, they aren’t likely to “fail on ceremonial occasions”, in other words they aren’t forced to use repetition to memorize the ceremonial texts.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Second passage
godofwraith’s comment on “slip” along with

supports B. I don’t see anything that suggests they were “amused.”</p>

<p>Edit: damn, too late. I didn’t see the post above before I answered though.</p>

8

<p>D: my eyes glazed over E on number 2, darn. yeah, makes sense since it’s the most direct. kinda correlates with my explanation on number 1 too >o></p>

9

<p>I still do not understand number 2. The only reason that I can think of that makes sense to me is the other 4 answers are not supported by the text.</p>

10

<p>For #2:</p>

<p>Some critics believe that the frequent use of repetition in Native American ceremonial texts was a result of their oral nature and helped make the works easy to remember. Native American scholar Paula Gunn Allen argues that this factor must be peripheral, however, because people in societies without writing traditionally have had more finely developed memories than do people who use writing. Native American children learned early to remember complicated instructions and long stories by heart. For a person who couldn’t run to a bookshelf to look up information, reliance on memory became very important in everyday life. Such a highly developed everyday memory is not likely to fail on ceremonial occasions.</p>

<p>The bolded portions are the key points of the passage. Basically, it’s saying that although one belief thinks the repetition is what helps memorization, the woman cited and the following sentences state that the Native Americans had very good memories about this kind of thing anyway. The final sentence that #2 is specifically asking about then ties the information about good memories to the initial assertion (that people believe the repetition helps memorization) by saying that this good memory is probably a larger factor in remembering the ceremonial texts than the “peripheral” benefit given by having repetition.</p>

<p>A is incorrect because the passage makes no reference to understanding these ceremonial texts, just remembering them.</p>

<p>B is not supported in the passage (there’s never anything about why they’re long and complicated, so this is basically a random BS conclusion based on no textual evidence) and especially not in the last sentence.</p>

<p>C is wrong for the same reason as B. This issue (not just oral and not just repetitive) is never referenced.</p>

<p>D has no basis, again, in the passage or in the final line.</p>

11

<p>E is correct because in the first sentence, scientists think that repetition was used to help with memorization. But the second to last sentence says that Native American’s had good everyday memorization. The last sentence suggests E because since the Native American’s had good memorization, it wouldn’t fail on an important even like a ceremony. Therefore, the repetition used in the texts was not intended to help with memorization.</p>

12

<p>Oh, the answer finally clicked for me, thanks Greekfire.</p>