Roma Minority Group

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: intense debate2% picked this

   giving rise to intense

   There doesn't seem to be any talk of "intense debate" anywhere in the passage, and the two mentions of minority-definitions being problematic for the Roma were definitely not saying that they cause the Roma to have intense debate.

   2%
2. B

   Weaker Match16% picked this

   confusing and

   This answer is tempting, but it doesn't swap into the place of "problematic" as successfully as the correct answer does. We can't match this with passage A very well. It would be saying "the lack of clear definitions for minority, people, and nation is particularly confusing/unclear for the Roma". The definitions themselves might be confusing and unclear, since we're being told that we lack clear definitions. But this is saying "the lack is confusing and unclear". The passage is saying "Because there are no clear definitions for these terms (there are only confusing and unclear terms), the Roma in particular have a problem." Confusing / unclear is the source of the problem, but the actual problem is that the Roma don't qualify for minority status. We could possibly say that "problematic" in Passage B means something like confusing and unclear, since the first paragraph of B is saying that some states deny the Roma citizenship and thus minority status. So the legal criterion that "they be citizens of the state in question" can be problematic/confusing/unclear, if the Roma are confused / unclear on whether or not they are considered citizens of a given state. But by the end of the first paragraph of B, the author is saying, "it seems patently unfair that this problematic 4th part should be included in the definition". So problematic seems to mean more like "unfair" than "unclear".

   16%
3. C

   Correct73% picked this

   resulting in

   Why this is right

   This is really just what "problematic" means in its most obvious definition: creating problems / resulting in difficulties. It's very odd to see the correct answer be our most common association with a word, but this answer seems to best fit the two usages. In passage A, we're saying, "the lack of a clear definition for certain terms involved in minority status classification is particularly likely to result in difficulties for the Roma". In passage B, we're saying, "the fourth part of the definition of minority, that the group must be citizens of the state in question, can result in difficulties, given that the Roma's citizenship could be denied by the state and thus the state has the power to decide if the Roma constitute a minority."

   Skill tested: Meaning in Context · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   73%
4. D

   Bad Match6% picked this

   difficult to

   This answer is trying to appeal to our dictionary sense of "problematic / problem", as in something requiring a solution. But this would mean that Passage A was saying, the lack of clearly defined terms for the legal definition of minority is particularly difficult to solve for the Roma. That doesn't make any sense. The Roma aren't tasked with solving this problem. They are just particularly victimized / adversely affected by this problem.

   6%
5. E

   Too Strong: incoherent3% picked this

   theoretically

   The authors complain that the definitions of minority are at times unclear or give too much leverage to individual states to decide whether to grant citizenship / minority status, but neither author is saying the definitions of minority are incoherent, which is a really strong accusation that someone is speaking nonsense.

   3%