Reading Comprehension

PT148 · S2 · P2 · Q8 The Great Migration

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This passage was adapted from an article written by three economists.

Topic

The causes and momentum of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North between 1915 and 1960.

Framework

Answer / Explain

Main Point

The Great Migration started due to increased income opportunities in the North compared to the South, but the migration continued and even accelerated because earlier migrants made it much easier and less costly for others to follow. *Most Valuable Sentence:* (Start of P3)

P1: Causes of the Great Migration

Three main factors sparked the Great Migration: World War I pushed up demand for northern industrial labor, halted European immigration forced factories to recruit Black Southerners, and the boll weevil devastated Southern cotton crops, making local jobs scarce.

P2: Initial vs. Continuing Migration

Migration began in 1915 mainly due to the large pay gap, but it’s puzzling why migration didn’t slow down—even as the North-South income gap shrank, migration rates kept increasing.

P3: Explaining Ongoing Migration (Momentum Hypothesis)

The passage proposes that migration gained "momentum": once some people migrated, they made it easier and cheaper for future migrants by reducing uncertainty, costs of moving, and the challenges of settling into a new place.

8.

According to the passage, the Great Migration did not start earlier than 1915 because

  1. Correct

    the income gap between the

    Why this is right

    The phrasing here is a little bit tricky and what we call a temporal fact flip. The passage states "it was only then that the...income gap became large enough". We can flip that fact and rephrase it as "before 1915, the income gap wasn't large enough."

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

    99% picked this

  2. the cost of living in

    Unrelated to Goal

    We have a prediction, and this ain't it. The passage never asserts that it was expensive to live up North.

    0% picked this

  3. industrial jobs in the North

    Unrelated to Goal

    We have a prediction, and this ain't it. The passage never asserts that Southerners lacked the skills to do the jobs in the North

    0% picked this

  4. previous migration had yet to

    Unsupported Relationship / Outside Support Window

    Tempting because we end the passage talking about how migration leads to more migration, but that's not the author explicitly states caused the 1915 start date in P2. Don't get trapped by the "last thing you read" answer!

    1% picked this

  5. agricultural jobs in the South

    Unrelated to Goal

    We have a prediction, and this ain't it. The passage never asserts that jobs down South paid well before the boll weevil.

    0% picked this

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