Reading-In a new book about the antiparty feeling

[redable]

In a new book about the antiparty feeling of the early political leaders of the United States, Ralph Ketcham argues that the first six Presidents differed decisively from later Presidents because the first six held values inherited from the classical humanist tradition of eighteenth-century England. In this view, government was designed not to satisfy the private desires of the people but to make them better citizens; this tradition stressed the disinterested devotion of political leaders to the public good. Justice, wisdom, and courage were more important qualities in a leader than the ability to organize voters and win elections. Indeed, leaders were supposed to be called to office rather than to run for office. And if they took up the burdens of public office with a sense of duty, leaders also believed that such offices were naturally their due because of their social preeminence or their contributions to the country. Given this classical conception of leadership, it is not surprising that the first six Presidents condemned political parties. Parties were partial by definition, self-interested, and therefore serving something other than the transcendent public good.

Even during the first presidency (Washington's), however, the classical conception of virtuous leadership was being undermined by commercial forces that had been gathering since at least the beginning of the eighteenth century. Commerce--its profit-making, its self-interestedness, its individualism--became the enemy of these classical ideals. Although Ketcham does not picture the struggle in quite this way, he does rightly see Jackson's tenure (the seventh presidency) as the culmination of the acceptance of party, commerce, and individualism. For the Jacksonians, nonpartisanship lost its relevance, and under the direction of Van Buren, party gained a new legitimacy. The classical ideals of the first six Presidents became identified with a privileged aristocracy, an aristocracy that had to be overcome in order to allow competition between opposing political interests. Ketcham is so strongly committed to justifying the classical ideals, however, that he underestimates the advantages of their decline. For example, the classical conception of leadership was incompatible with our modern notion of the freedoms of speech and press, freedoms intimately associated with the legitimacy of opposing political parties.

Question
The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B) describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C) discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D) refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E) resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States

OA: B
what's wrong with D?


Question
Which of the following, if true, provides the LEAST support for the author's argument about commerce and political parties during Jackson's presidency?

(A) Many supporters of Jackson resisted the commercialization that could result from participation in a national economy.
(B) Protest against the corrupt and partisan nature of political parties in the United States subsided during Jackson's presidency.
(C) During Jackson's presidency the use of money became more common than bartering of goods and services.
(D) More northerners than southerners supported Jackson because southerners were opposed to the development of a commercial economy.
(E) Andrew Jackson did not feel as strongly committed to the classical ideals of leadership as George Washington had felt.

OA: A
I dont understand the question itself.
it seems to me that more than one options, if true, would not support the author.

Thanks in advance~ :)

[RonPurewal]

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B) describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C) discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D) refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E) resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States

OA: B
what's wrong with D?

(d) is wrong because it isn't true. (:

more specifically, "refuting" means "proving wrong"; the passage doesn't say that ketcham's theory is wrong.
in fact, most of the passage is dedicated to explaining and justifying ketcham's theory: most of the passage describes exactly the way in which the first six presidents were different from their successors (i.e., the crux of ketcham's theory).

the only thing in the entire passage that can be construed as a criticism of ketcham is the relatively minor point that "Ketcham is so strongly committed to justifying the classical ideals, however, that he underestimates the advantages of their decline."
in other words, the passage doesn't say that ketcham is actually wrong about *anything*; it only says that he may be a little bit off base in his interpretation of some of the (true) points of his theory.

Which of the following, if true, provides the LEAST support for the author's argument about commerce and political parties during Jackson's presidency?

(A) Many supporters of Jackson resisted the commercialization that could result from participation in a national economy.
(B) Protest against the corrupt and partisan nature of political parties in the United States subsided during Jackson's presidency.
(C) During Jackson's presidency the use of money became more common than bartering of goods and services.
(D) More northerners than southerners supported Jackson because southerners were opposed to the development of a commercial economy.
(E) Andrew Jackson did not feel as strongly committed to the classical ideals of leadership as George Washington had felt.

first, you have to figure out what the green thing means. (in general, if a question prompt contains vague words, you must clarify the vague language before answering the question.)

the green thing, from the passage, means:
"he does rightly see Jackson's tenure (the seventh presidency) as the culmination of the acceptance of party, commerce, and individualism. "

(A) RESISTED commerce -- there's your correct answer.
(B) they started to accept parties, i.e., part of the green thing.
(C) they started to accept modern commerce, i.e., part of the green thing.
(D) jackson's opponents opposed him because he supported commerce, i.e., part of the green thing.
(E) the classical ideals were anti-parties, so jackson's drifting away from those ideals supports the green thing.

here (a) is the clear favorite, since it's the only answer choice that directly contradicts the green thing.

[redable]

Ron,
Thanks your excellent explanation~

[ChrisB]

You're welcome!

[saintjingjing]

In a new book about the antiparty feeling of the early political leaders of the United States, Ralph Ketcham argues that the first six Presidents differed decisively from later Presidents because the first six held values inherited from the classical humanist tradition of eighteenth-century England. In this view, government was designed not to satisfy the private desires of the people but to make them better citizens; this tradition stressed the disinterested devotion of political leaders to the public good. Justice, wisdom, and courage were more important qualities in a leader than the ability to organize voters and win elections. Indeed, leaders were supposed to be called to office rather than to run for office. And if they took up the burdens of public office with a sense of duty, leaders also believed that such offices were naturally their due because of their social preeminence or their contributions to the country. Given this classical conception of leadership, it is not surprising that the first six Presidents condemned political parties. Parties were partial by definition, self-interested, and therefore serving something other than the transcendent public good.

Even during the first presidency (Washington's), however, the classical conception of virtuous leadership was being undermined by commercial forces that had been gathering since at least the beginning of the eighteenth century. Commerce--its profit-making, its self-interestedness, its individualism--became the enemy of these classical ideals. Although Ketcham does not picture the struggle in quite this way, he does rightly see Jackson's tenure (the seventh presidency) as the culmination of the acceptance of party, commerce, and individualism. For the Jacksonians, nonpartisanship lost its relevance, and under the direction of Van Buren, party gained a new legitimacy. The classical ideals of the first six Presidents became identified with a privileged aristocracy, an aristocracy that had to be overcome in order to allow competition between opposing political interests. Ketcham is so strongly committed to justifying the classical ideals, however, that he underestimates the advantages of their decline. For example, the classical conception of leadership was incompatible with our modern notion of the freedoms of speech and press, freedoms intimately associated with the legitimacy of opposing political parties.

Question
The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B) describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C) discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D) refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E) resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States

OA: B
what's wrong with D?


Question
Which of the following, if true, provides the LEAST support for the author's argument about commerce and political parties during Jackson's presidency?

(A) Many supporters of Jackson resisted the commercialization that could result from participation in a national economy.
(B) Protest against the corrupt and partisan nature of political parties in the United States subsided during Jackson's presidency.
(C) During Jackson's presidency the use of money became more common than bartering of goods and services.
(D) More northerners than southerners supported Jackson because southerners were opposed to the development of a commercial economy.
(E) Andrew Jackson did not feel as strongly committed to the classical ideals of leadership as George Washington had felt.

OA: A
I dont understand the question itself.
it seems to me that more than one options, if true, would not support the author.

Thanks in advance~ :)

hi, I want to ask another one still from this passage

it is


which of the following best describe the attitude of the first six presidents toward as it is discussed in the pasage

A
B
C
D
E political parties represented opposing political interests rather than general public good

E is correct.
since I can find mistakes from A-D,so I do not write, but actually, after finishing this one, I still do not know where I can locate the key in the passage about E.
I think" rather than general public good" is correct, but why "political parties represented opposing political interests "

thanks in advance

[saintjingjing]

en...nobody ? maybe I ask a easy question.... but I still need help

[RonPurewal]

which of the following best describe the attitude of the first six presidents toward as it is discussed in the pasage

some chunk is definitely missing between the two colored words. also, there are multiple typographical errors here.

A
B
C
D
E political parties represented opposing political interests rather than general public good

please read the forum rules; when you post a problem, you are required to post the entire problem, including all answer choices.

please re-post this problem according to the rules; thank you.

also, note that your transcription here contains a large number of errors. if you have difficulty transcribing these problems properly, please use google to find them somewhere else on the internet (gmat prep problems appear in a million zillion places on the internet), and then copy and paste in order to produce an error-free transcription.

[RonPurewal]

en...nobody ? maybe I ask a easy question.... but I still need help

don't do this -- i.e., don't post a message that says "please answer my question".
this is called "bumping" the thread; it brings the thread up to the most recent position in the folder.

the problem, of course -- besides the fact that "reminder posts" are obnoxious, rude, and unprofessional -- is that we answer the posts strictly in order from oldest to newest. therefore, if you post a message, with no content, that says "please answer this post", then you are moving the thread to the LAST place in the queue.

please be patient -- we will get to all of the threads. if you make posts like this one, you're just making yourself wait longer.

thanks.

[terryfshs]

Hello,

I have a question in regards to the following question. I was debating choices between A and B. I chose A because I thought the two theories were Classical vs. Partisan. I couldn't see the argument of the passage.

Any comment will be appreciated!

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B) describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C) discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D) refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E) resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States

OA: B

[tim]

the whole passage is about analyzing Ketcham's argument, as foreshadowed in the first paragraph. the author is not trying to compare and contrast the two political theories, because apparently Ketcham already did that..

[NhungN522]

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding the primary purpose of the passage.
For the 1st question: Why is B?
I first eliminate A & B for they mention early history of the US. But I see the whole passage is about its political leaders & political leadership?
Can anyone helps to explain?

[RonPurewal]

the answers to "primary purpose" questions are virtually ALWAYS written in very general terms.

moreover, the wrong answers quite often include more specific nouns that are plausibly related to the content.
since they're wrong answers, they still contain words that are actually wrong. the point is to punish people who just think "oh, i saw that thing in the passage", and to reward people who understand the actual meanings of the answer choices.

that's what is happening here.

[RonPurewal]

analogy:
let's say you read a passage about the advantages of transporting cargo by rail over transporting it by truck (= why it's better to move goods with trains than to move them with trucks).

if you're asked for the primary purpose, the correct answer will probably look like these:
to consider the relative merits of two procedures
to compare two methods of accomplishing a goal

if you see words like "transportation" or "goods" or "cargo", those words will probably appear in WRONG answers.

[RonPurewal]

here, choice D is wrong because the author does not refute an argument.

it's true that the author finds fault in ketcham's argument, to some degree ("he underestimates xxxx"). but he also endorses a lot of what ketcham says, too ("he does rightly see xxxx").

it's a pretty even-handed treatment, so it's false that the author's primary interest is to "refute" something.

[750plus]

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B) describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C) discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D) refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E) resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States

OA: B
what's wrong with D?

(d) is wrong because it isn't true. (:

more specifically, "refuting" means "proving wrong"; the passage doesn't say that ketcham's theory is wrong.
in fact, most of the passage is dedicated to explaining and justifying ketcham's theory: most of the passage describes exactly the way in which the first six presidents were different from their successors (i.e., the crux of ketcham's theory).

the only thing in the entire passage that can be construed as a criticism of ketcham is the relatively minor point that "Ketcham is so strongly committed to justifying the classical ideals, however, that he underestimates the advantages of their decline."
in other words, the passage doesn't say that ketcham is actually wrong about *anything*; it only says that he may be a little bit off base in his interpretation of some of the (true) points of his theory.

Which of the following, if true, provides the LEAST support for the author's argument about commerce and political parties during Jackson's presidency?

(A) Many supporters of Jackson resisted the commercialization that could result from participation in a national economy.
(B) Protest against the corrupt and partisan nature of political parties in the United States subsided during Jackson's presidency.
(C) During Jackson's presidency the use of money became more common than bartering of goods and services.
(D) More northerners than southerners supported Jackson because southerners were opposed to the development of a commercial economy.
(E) Andrew Jackson did not feel as strongly committed to the classical ideals of leadership as George Washington had felt.

first, you have to figure out what the green thing means. (in general, if a question prompt contains vague words, you must clarify the vague language before answering the question.)

the green thing, from the passage, means:
"he does rightly see Jackson's tenure (the seventh presidency) as the culmination of the acceptance of party, commerce, and individualism. "

(A) RESISTED commerce -- there's your correct answer.
(B) they started to accept parties, i.e., part of the green thing.
(C) they started to accept modern commerce, i.e., part of the green thing.
(D) jackson's opponents opposed him because he supported commerce, i.e., part of the green thing.
(E) the classical ideals were anti-parties, so jackson's drifting away from those ideals supports the green thing.

here (a) is the clear favorite, since it's the only answer choice that directly contradicts the green thing.

Awesome explanation Ron. Especially for the second question.

Thank You so much.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani