Reading Comprehension

PT149 · S2 · P1 · Q3 Chinatown Chinese

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

The following passage is adapted from an article published in 1981.

Topic

The debate over whether "Chinatown Chinese" in San Francisco should be considered a distinct dialect from traditional Chinese dialects.

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

The commonly accepted idea that "Chinatown Chinese" is a distinct dialect is flawed—the language among Chinese Americans in San Francisco is not fundamentally different from traditional Chinese dialects, and its unique vocabulary has not created a new dialect but merely supplemented the original dialects. Most Valuable Sentence: End of P2 — “The supposed language barrier is, therefore, mostly imaginary.”

P1: Introduction to the Distinct Dialect Claim

Some linguists say that a unique dialect, “Chinatown Chinese,” has evolved in San Francisco. They base this claim on the idea that it’s so different from Chinese dialects back in China that new arrivals have trouble communicating, and that all Chinese Americans in San Francisco can communicate using a shared local vocabulary, regardless of their original dialect.

P2: Challenging the First Claim—Communication Barrier with Newcomers?

The author explains that while Chinatown Chinese has new words that name American things or experiences—not found in China—the core of each dialect remains unchanged. Newcomers and Chinese Americans who speak the same traditional dialect can usually understand each other just fine, since unfamiliar terms are easy to explain, avoid, or figure out from context. So, the notion that the language barrier is significant is mostly made up.

P3: Challenging the Second Claim—Common Vocabulary Means Mutual Understanding?

The author argues that having a few shared Americanized words doesn’t create a unified dialect, since the base dialects (like Cantonese) still differ greatly in sounds, grammar, and core vocabulary. So, knowing a handful of locally-used terms doesn’t mean everyone can understand each other—those words are just a tiny part of each dialect.

3.

The author mentions the words dang-tang (second sentence of the second paragraph) and gong-ngihn ngiht (third sentence of the second paragraph) in order to

  1. demonstrate the extent to which

    Too Strong: dominate

    The author is never trying to make the case that American English terms dominate Chinatown Chinese. She seems to be making the more limited claim that "most new words that Chinatown Chinese has that someone from China wouldn't recognize aren't new ways to say Chinese words ... they're just Chinese adaptations of American English proper nouns". She still thinks that "regular ol' Chinese" dominates Chinatown Chinese, and these American-related terms are just some add-ons.

    2% picked this

  2. illustrate how Chinese Americans are

    Opposite, if anything

    The author's stance is that Chinatown Chinese is not a different dialect, so her purpose certainly wouldn't be to show how Chinatown Chinese speakers and people newly arrived from China are communicating despite having different dialects. She's rebutting the idea that Chinatown Chinese would be confusing to newly arrived people from China "because it's a different dialect", and saying, "No, it's still fundamentally Chinese. The reason those two groups would sometimes struggle to communicate is just because there are a lot of terms that refer to American places or holidays that aren't familiar to people from China."

    3% picked this

  3. explain why native Chinese are

    Unsupported: understand with ease

    The author isn't ever saying that newly arrived people from China can understand Chinese Americans with ease. She agrees that newly arrived Chinese people would have trouble understanding some words from Chinatown Chinese. She's just saying that the confusion isn't because "it's a different dialect" but because there are a lot of terms that refer to American places or holidays that aren't familiar to people from China.

    7% picked this

  4. show why Chinatown Chinese should

    Opposite

    The author's stance is that Chinatown Chinese is not a different dialect. She's rebutting the idea that Chinatown Chinese would be confusing to newly arrived people from China "because it's a different dialect", and saying, "No, it's still fundamentally Chinese. The reason those two groups would sometimes struggle to communicate is just because there are a lot of terms that refer to American places or holidays that aren't familiar to people from China."

    2% picked this

  5. Correct

    exemplify the ways in which

    Why this is right

    This answer reinforces language from the broader idea right before the detail, which is what we expect on Local Purpose. The first sentence of the 2nd paragraph is saying, "Much of Chinatown Chinese's distinct words are proper names of geographical places and terms that some people, especially rural ones, had never encountered in China (because these terms aren't common outside America)." For example: downtown is an example of a geographical place that a rural Chinese person wouldn't know. Labor Day is an American holiday that rural Chinese people wouldn't know.

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

    86% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free