OG48-11(印弟安人的故事)(難度適中)

[agk99]

Passage 11(印弟安人的故事)

At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists(民族學者) to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were after linguistic(語言學的) or anthropological(人類學的) data that would supplement(補充) their own field observations, and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without.(奇特的句型，待解釋) In addition many ethnologists at the turn of the century believed that Native American manners and customs were rapidly disappearing, and that it was important to preserve for posterity(後世子孫) as much information as could be adequately recorded before the cultures disappeared forever.
第一段總結：在十九世紀結束之際，民族學家是因為印弟安人的文化是他們研究的重要補充資料，但到了世紀之交，則是因為印弟安人文化即將消失，民族學家積極研究並保存印弟安人文化
There were, however(轉折語氣), arguments against this method as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information. Franz Boas, for example, described autobiographies as being “of limited value, and useful chiefly for the study of the perversion(扭曲) of truth by memory,” while Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing, and inevitably derived results too tinged by the investigator’s own emotional tone to be reliable.
總結第二段，引出這樣的看法有兩種不同意見，Franz認為，自傳作用有限，甚至還曲解了原意，然而Paul則說，是因為花太少時間在觀察上，導致結果不如預期(暗示多花點時間結果肯定不同)。
Even more importantly, as these life stories moved from the traditional oral mode to recorded written form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English and that events that they thought significant were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers.(點出了問題關鍵) Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force Native American narrators to distort(歪曲) their cultures, as taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead relatives crucial to their family stories.
第三段：由於印弟安人的文化難以透過英文口語表達，加上印弟安人認為重要的事，訪問的人可能都認為不重要，導致記錄並保存文化的過程有偏差
Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research: such personal reminiscences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are likely to throw more light on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture.
第四段：回過頭肯定自傳的正面功能，哪怕只有一點點功能，都很有幫助
61. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) The historical backgrounds of two currently used research methods are chronicled.(將某事載入史冊)
(B) The validity of the data collected by using two different research methods is compared.
(C) The usefulness of a research method is questioned and then a new method is proposed.
(D) The use of a research method is described and the limitations of the results obtained are discussed.
(E) A research method is evaluated and the changes necessary for its adaptation to other subject areas are discussed. (沒談到)
其實做到這一題，要有感覺則是一篇methodology，這樣65題就會對了

62. Which of the following is most similar to the actions of nineteenth-century ethnologists in their editing of the life stories of Native Americans?(應用題，難題)
(A) A witness in a jury trial invokes the Fifth Amendment in order to avoid relating personally incriminating evidence.
(B) A stockbroker refuses to divulge the source of her information on the possible future increase in a stock’s value.
(C) A sports announcer describes the action in a team sport with which he is unfamiliar.
(D) A chef purposely excludes the special ingredient from the recipe of his prizewinning dessert.
(E) A politician fails to mention in a campaign speech the similarities in the positions held by her opponent for political office and by herself.

63. According to the passage, collecting life stories can be a useful methodology because
(A) life stories provide deeper insights into a culture than the hypothesizing of academics who are not members of that culture(見第四段)
(B) life stories can be collected easily and they are not subject to invalid interpretations
(C) ethnologists have a limited number of research methods from which to choose
(D) life stories make it easy to distinguish between the important and unimportant features of a culture
(E) the collection of life stories does not require a culturally knowledgeable investigator

64. Information in the passage suggests that which of the following may be a possible way to eliminate bias in the editing of life stories?
(A) Basing all inferences made about the culture on an ethnological theory
(B) Eliminating all of the emotion-laden(滿滿的情感) information reported by the informant
(C) Translating the informant’s words into the researcher’s language
(D) Reducing the number of questions and carefully specifying the content of the questions that the investigator can ask the informant
(E) Reporting all of the information that the informant provides regardless of the investigator’s personal opinion about its intrinsic value(見第三段，由於彼此認知不同，因此通通記下來最保險)

*65. The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
(A) question an explanation
(B) correct a misconception
(C) critique a methodology
(D) discredit an idea
(E) clarify an ambiguity
本文是講研究方式，所以沒法的，答案是C

*66. It can be inferred from the passage that a characteristic of the ethnological research on Native Americans conducted during the nineteenth century was the use of which of the following?
(A) Investigators familiar with the culture under study
(B) A language other than the informant’s for recording life stories
(C) Life stories as the ethnologist’s primary source of information
(D) Complete transcriptions of informants’ descriptions of tribal beliefs
(E) Stringent(嚴格的) guidelines for the preservation of cultural data
答案給B，OG的答案很神，說Life stories are just the supplement of the study...所以C錯，至於A是專家對culture不熟才對，D則是non complete transcriptions，E則是no information about stringent guidelines...

感想
一、 還是沒有進一步突破，六題還是不能全對，要再加油
二、 作者態度有明顯變化，作題(65題)也特別小心，但還是會錯，請教同學看法
三、 重點句可以讀出來了，下一個目標就是要讀出考點
四、 印弟安考題都不會太難，但似乎都很囉嗦

[anniepon2000]

補充上文66題
我這一題也錯了,
分析如下
(A)Investigators failliar with eht culture under study
錯~因為根據文中第二段說"Radin contended that the investigatior rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing
所以正確應該是 Investigators 不熟悉所研究的部落文化

(B) A language other than the informant's for recording life store
對的
我在沒有注意到兩各重點,所以做錯了
1.other than 除此之外,
2. informant 指印地安人
所以此答案的意思是 用了"非"印地安人的語言做記錄
可參考文中有第三段描述當record move to written form, "much was inevitably lost.....Native Americans rcognized that the essence of their live could not be communicate in English...

(C)Life stories as the ethnologist's primary source
錯,不是主要資料,是補充資料
答案見第一段,人類學家很想聽印第安人講故事,that would supplement their own field

(D)Complete transcription of informant's descriptions of tribal belifes
錯
口述沒有完整備抄寫下來,因為editor常依照自己的主觀決定哪些是重要的
答案請見第三段Editor often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe.

(E)Stringent guideline for the preservation of culture data
錯,文中跟本沒有提及,是你自己想太多

再做inference題目的時候,我發現想太多反而錯,若是文章一點ㄦ都沒有提起的事情
那就一定不要選啦
因為在GMAT OG中回答Inference答題技巧也寫到These questions do not ask about meanings or implications that are" remote" from the passage
所以我答inference會錯的情況大部分是---想太多

[pimi]

,and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without.
請問這句話中的(Line11)from without是什麼意思??

查了眼博士, 發現without當名詞時有外面的意思
from without是翻譯成＂從外面＂嗎？？？

[dibert8]

解釋上是這樣.

from Merriam-Webser,
without [noun]: an outer place or area <came from without> 我的解讀是"不在前面句子提到的範圍內(所謂外面也!)"

這一句的意思應該是"...採用個人故事之後對印地安文化的了解,多於之前不用個人故事對印地安文化所作的觀察".