Reading Comprehension

PT134 · S4 · P2 · Q12 Mexican American Proverb Use

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Mexican Americans share with speakers of Spanish throughout the world a rich and varied repertoire of proverbs as well as a vital tradition of proverb use.

Topic

Mexican American proverbs: their origins, uses, and cultural significance

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy

Main Point

Mexican Americans not only have a rich tradition of proverbs inherited from broader Spanish and European sources, but proverb use plays a particularly important role in teaching youth and fostering a sense of ethnic identity in Mexican American communities. (Most Valuable Sentence: The final sentence of paragraph 3 encapsulates the main takeaway: )

P1: Introduction to Mexican American Proverbs

Mexican Americans, like Spanish speakers worldwide, have a diverse and abundant collection of proverbs, most of which were passed down from Spain or the broader European tradition. These proverbs carry wisdom and can be understood outside specific conversations.

P2: Functions and Didactic Role of Proverbs

Using a proverb is personal and adapts to different situations, BUT community and tradition shape how proverbs are used. In Mexican American communities in particular, proverbs are often used by parents to teach young people—especially about behavior and peer relationships, sometimes more so than in English-speaking traditions. The example proverb about friends highlights concern over outside influences and the desire to maintain traditional norms.

P3: Proverbs as a Foundation for Ethnic Identity

Proverbs aren’t just for giving advice—they also help Mexican Americans feel connected to their ethnic heritage, teaching not only values but also language and cultural traditions. Even the proverbs that aren’t directly educational still help pass on Mexican culture and reinforce a sense of belonging.

12.

Which one of the following is most strongly implied by the passage?

If a proverb is used
Too Strong
Too Strong: if/then, primary Word Salad The author does cite using proverbs to inculcate table manners, but under the umbrella of the primary purpose being instruction of the young (P2). The part about reinforcing an ethnic tradition comes in the next paragraph (P3). "Word Salad" is a trap answer term we sometimes use to remind ourselves that test writers will often grab some words from here, some words from there, and toss them together to create a new, unsupported meaning.
1% picked this
The frequent use of proverbs
Too Strong: any community
The author has stressed the way that proverbs reinforce ethnic consciousness within the Mexican American community, but there's isn't any text to support the idea that all communities use proverbs in part to convey ethnicity to their children.
23% picked this
The ways in which Mexican
Too Strong: typical
The author tells us in the first sentence that Mexican Americans share with speakers of Spanish through the world a rich, varied arsenal of proverbs, and share a vital tradition of proverb use. But the way Mexican Americans use proverbs (didactically, to instruct the young, as well as to foster a consciousness of ethnicity) is never linked to any other community. So we can't say whether this usage is typical. It's very possible that Mexican Americans are way more likely to have these purposes since their children are growing up in a country whose primary language and culture is not Spanish. Maybe most Spanish speaking people in the world live in countries that primarily speak Spanish, so they don't use proverbs to "remind" their children of their ethnicity.
4% picked this
Correct
There are some sayings that
Why this is right
This is one of those brutal correct answers on Inference questions that pull together support from two separate places. The first half of this answer comes from the first paragraph, where we are told that a proverb is a self-contained saying that can be understood independent of a specific verbal context. The second half of the answer comes from the beginning of the second paragraph, where we're told that a proverb's meaning depends on the particular social context in which it occurs.
Skill tested: Inference · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
64% picked this
The emphasis within Mexican American
Too Broad
This is frustratingly tempting. First of all, the meaning of the answer is a bit ambiguous: If we say that "the emphasis on X distinguishes MA communities from other communities", are we saying it distinguishes MA communities from at least some other communities or it distinguishes them from all other communities. We have a pretty close line reference in near the end of the second paragraph, but this part of text is saying that Mexican American communities are distinguished in the sense that they use proverbs particularly frequently to teach children about peer-group relationships. This answer choice is saying "the fact that they emphasize teaching children about peer-group relationships" itself distinguishes them. The passage only told us that Mexican Americans are more likely than others to use proverbs to accomplish this goal, but the passage never said that Mexican Americans are more likely than others to have the goal of teaching children about peer-group relationships.
8% picked this

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