Reading Comprehension

PT148 · S2 · P2 · Q9 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.

9.

The third and fourth paragraphs of the passage function primarily to

  1. cast doubt upon a historical

    Out of Scope: cast doubt

    The historical explanation presented in the 1st paragraph is for what caused the Great Migration to begin. The author is never disputing that. In the 3rd and 4th paragraphs, the author is providing an explanation for why the Great Migration continued for as long as it did (and even picked up steam, once the original impetus as less of a factor).

    0% picked this

  2. survey the repercussions of a

    Repercussions vs. Causes

    The last two paragraphs aren't about the effects of the Great Migration. They are an attempt to explain the cause of the later decades of the Great Migration.

    1% picked this

  3. derive a historical model from

    Out of Scope: derive a model

    The 3rd paragraph references an already existing model regarding the cost/benefit considerations of migrating. The authors never try to derive a new model. They are using the preexisting model to help explain how the Great Migration continued even once the economic draw of the North wasn't as strong as when the Great Migration started.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    answer a question raised in

    Why this is right

    The 3rd and 4th paragraphs are trying to answer the question posed at the end of the 2nd paragraph about why the Great Migration continued and even accelerated long after the income disparity between North and South had shrunk. The answer proposed is that, "Yes, in the later decades of the Migration, the expected benefit of moving to the North wasn't as compelling as it was when the Migration began. But ... the expected costs of moving were much lower because previous waves of migrants made it easier for later waves of migrants to make the transition."

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

    93% picked this

  5. provide additional evidence for historical

    Wrong Purpose

    The first paragraph covers the reasons why the Great Migration started. The 3rd and 4th paragraphs aren't providing more evidence to back up that explanation. The 3rd and 4th paragraphs are trying to explain why the Great Migration continued even after those initial causal conditions seemed to be less compelling.

    3% picked this

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