MGMAT CAT RC - In the 1950s, reading was taught to young

[Arun]

In the 1950s, reading was taught to young children primarily through the use of simple primers depicting the middle-class non-adventures of “Dick and Jane.” Rudolph Flesch’s bestselling 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read attacked these primers, calling them “horrible, stupid, insipid, … tasteless little readers” and asserting that such boring stories gave no incentive for children to read on their own and learn to “sound out” each word phonetically. Flesch also bemoaned the fact that there was not a single book in bookstores that first and second graders could read by themselves.
In response, a publisher commissioned Theodore Geisel, who wrote children’s books under the pen name “Dr. Seuss,” to write a book that “a first grader can’t put down.” Geisel was given a list of a few hundred words considered important and asked to make a book out of them. Nine months later, Geisel, using only 220 different words, delivered The Cat in the Hat, a whimsical story about two bored children left at home with their talking fish who are suddenly visited by a havoc-creating six-foot-tall talking cat. In addition, Geisel wrote the entire book in a rhyming verse, making it fun to read aloud. The Cat in the Hat was a tremendous success and vaulted Geisel into instant celebrity. Another publisher bet Geisel that he could not write an entire book using only 50 different words. Geisel won the bet by publishing the classic Green Eggs and Ham.
The Dr. Seuss books revolutionized the children’s book industry by proving that it was possible to create engaging books with a limited vocabulary. Geisel has been credited with killing off “Dick and Jane,” replacing them with clever rhymes, plot twists and rebellious heroes who do the unexpected. Now one in four American children receives a Dr. Seuss title as his or her first book.


Q1. According to the passage, which of the following is true about Theodore Geisel?
. The Cat in the Hat was his first children’s book.
. He illustrated all of his own books.
. He wrote Green Eggs and Ham using only 50 words or less.
. He was not a successful author until the publication of The Cat in the Hat.
. He only wrote books with limited vocabularies.

I havent chose the option "C" because I thought "using only 50 different words" means story should use unique 50 words but no word limit on the story. It appears my reading is wrong, can anyone give a similar example of this sentence?

[Tipu]

I dont think you need to complicate it so much. You can choose the closest option. Except (C) none of the other options are confirmed by the paragraph, but from the paragraph it can be understood that 'Green Eggs and Ham' consisted of <= 50 words coz he won the bet. So (C) is the best available option.

[Amit]

I think Arun has a point.The whole purpose of doing these RC's is to read carefully.This is a case of getting penalized for reading carefully.In the end the justification that all other choices are wrong is not correct.Wrongly phrased answer choices do consume a lot of time.

[poojakrishnamurthy1]

Ofcourse, other than C, none of the choices is confirmed by the passage. However, I want to bring another question. When the author says that another publisher bet Geisel that he could not write an entire book using only 50 different words, does he mean that his book consisted of only 50 words that were different or that his book consisted of 50 words that were different but could be used more than once.

For example, when I say, "A cat and a dog are missing", I actually typed 7 words but used 6 different words. repeating a twice. I think the passage means that he used 50 different words for his poem but could have repeated them as and when he felt necessary.

Anyhow, the answer should be C.

[Helios]

In first glance, I pick C but word "different" deters mind!!

A: He wrote few children books and then got the contract.
B: No info about all books
C: Probable answer
D: No info about success
E: NO, but he proved his capability.

[StaceyKoprince]

Yep - Arun does have a good point. See this: http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/cat ... t4388.html