{"id":6755,"date":"2014-06-30T14:05:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T18:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/?p=6755"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:43:05","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:43:05","slug":"gre-reading-comprehension-is-like-speed-dating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/gre-reading-comprehension-is-like-speed-dating\/","title":{"rendered":"GRE Reading Comprehension is Like Speed Dating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gre-reading-comprehension\"<\/a>Imagine two friends, Gina and Tina, who are going to a speed-dating event. Gina really,\u00a0really\u00a0<\/i>wants a boyfriend. Tina is just going because Gina dragged her there, and she\u2019s only willing to date someone who is perfect for her.<\/p>\n

At the event, Gina finds herself liking every guy that she meets: Guy #1 is smart and successful, so it makes sense that he\u2019s proud of his accomplishments. Guy #2 is really funny and clever. The waiter just didn\u2019t understand his jokes. Tina, on the other hand, has a very different impression of these guys: Guy 1 has been bragging about himself the whole time, and seems arrogant. Guy 2 thinks he\u2019s funny, but he\u2019s actually being cruel and making fun of people.<\/p>\n

At the end of the event, Gina can\u2019t decide which of the guys she likes best, because she has found reasons to like all of them and she has overlooked any reasons\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0to like them. Tina, however, was looking for reasons not to date these guys, so she notices these dealbreaker flaws. She has managed to whittle the list down to one person whose personality matched hers.<\/p>\n

Of course in real life, dating is subjective, and what might be a dealbreaker for one person might be fine for someone else! On GRE Reading Comprehension, though, there are definitive right and wrong answers, and we have to learn how to spot the wrong ones.<\/p>\n

Look for Dealbreakers<\/b><\/p>\n

When it comes to Reading Comprehension on the GRE<\/a>, you want to act like Tina, not Gina! You will often be presented with questions whose answer choices all seem to have appealing qualities. If you\u2019re looking for what makes an answer\u00a0right<\/i>, you may overlook certain critical flaws, and talk yourself into choosing a wrong answer. If you\u2019re looking for what makes an answer\u00a0wrong<\/i>, though, you\u2019re a lot more likely to notice those deal-breaking flaws!<\/p>\n

Take a moment to read the following passage*:<\/p>\n

The professionalization of the study of history in the second half on the nineteenth century, including history\u2019s transformations from a literary genre to a scientific discipline, had important consequences not only for historians\u2019 perceptions of women but also for women as historians. The disappearance of women as objects of historical studies during this period has elements of irony<\/span>\u00a0to it. On the one hand, in writing about women, earlier historians had relied not on firsthand sources but rather on secondary sources; the shift to more rigorous research methods required that secondary sources be disregarded. On the other hand, the development of archival research and the critical editing of collections of documents began to reveal significant new historical evidence concerning women, yet this evidence was perceived as substantially irrelevant: historians saw political history as the general framework for historical writing. Because women were seen as belonging to the private rather than to the public sphere, the discovery of documents about them, or by them, did not, by itself, produce history acknowledging the contributions of women. In addition, genres such as biography and memoir, those forms of particular history that women had traditionally authored, fell into disrepute. The dividing line between particular history and general history was redefined in stronger terms, widening the gulf between amateur and professional practices of historical research.<\/p>\n

Now take a look at the following question, and ask yourself what you\u00a0like<\/i>\u00a0about each answer choice:<\/p>\n

Which of the following best describes one of the elements of irony<\/i>\u009d<\/i> referred to in the highlighted text?<\/i><\/p>\n

A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although the more scientific-minded historians of the second half of the nineteenth century considered women appropriate subjects for historical writing, earlier historians did not.<\/i><\/p>\n

B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although archival research uncovered documentary evidence of women\u2019s role in history, historians continued to rely on secondary sources for information about women.<\/i><\/p>\n

C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although historians were primarily concerned with writing about the public sphere, they generally relegated women to the private sphere.<\/i><\/p>\n

D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The scientific approach to history revealed more information about women, but that information was ignored.<\/i><\/p>\n

E.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The professionalization of history, while marginalizing much of women\u2019s writing about history, enhanced the importance of women as historical subjects.<\/i><\/p>\n

There were definitely things to like about each answer choice, right?<\/p>\n