Lesson: Reading Comprehension Basic - 23t01

The RC Question: Global

Choose an answer for the following Global question. Designate each of the four you don't choose as one or a combination of the five common wrong answer types: Au Contraire , Outside the Scope, Distortion, Extreme, and Faulty Use of Detail.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

	contrast the democratic potential of formerly socialist Eastern European countries with that of authoritarian non-communist Asian countries
	describe the experiences of the people in democratic societies
	refute the notion that democracies are built on institutional arrangements
	discuss the societal elements required to support a political system
	challenge a widely-held belief regarding the nature of democratic societies

The "verb scan" mentioned in the hint often works wonders in questions like this. "Refute" and "challenge" are far too strong to match the author's demeanor here. "Contrast" is a tad less strong, but still more than what the author's up to in this passage. Only "describe" and "discuss" fit the measured, even tone presented by this author, so only choices (2) and (4) need be considered in depth. Of them, (4) is the best paraphrase of the author's intentions. The "required societal elements" are the institutions referred to in the beginning and discussed at length in the last two paragraphs; the political system they support is, of course, democracy.

How did you do characterizing the wrong choices?

(1): Faulty Use Of Detail. This choice blows the comparison between European and Asian countries in the second paragraph up into the purpose of the entire passage.

(2): Outside The Scope. The author is concerned with democracy on the institutional level. The experience of actual people is one step beyond this scope.

(3): Au Contraire. The author argues the exact opposite - institutions are necessary for the establishment of democracy.

(5): Distortion/Outside The Scope. The passage is concerned with how to build democratic societies, not specifically with their nature. That's a different issue, and accounts for the scope problem. There's also no "widely-held belief" mentioned by the author. The distortion relates to the word "challenge": The author discusses a challenge, but doesn't issue one.

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