Tollefson's Immigration Study

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct87% picked this

   It provides the scholarly context for Tollefson’s study and a description

   Why this is right

   The first two sentences place Tollefson's study within a wider scholarly context. When it comes to studying the resettlement process, most scholarship focuses on immigrants' adjustment to life in the new country and on the psychological effects of leaving their homeland. Meanwhile, Tollefson's scholarship focuses on the educational programs offered in immigrant processing centers. The 3rd sentence provides a description of Tollefson's methodology: he used interviews, transcripts from classes, essays by immigrants, personal visits to a training unit, and official government documents.

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

   87%
2. B

   Out of Scope: main argument7% picked this

   It compares Tollefson’s study to other works and presents the main argument

   The first half of this answer matches the first two sentences. But the 3rd sentence of the first paragraph isn't saying anything about what Tollefson's main argument will be. In fact we can see that we don't hear "Tollefson's main contention" until the start of the 2nd paragraph.

   7%
3. C

   Out of Scope: other studies' docs0% picked this

   It compares the types of documents Tollefson uses to those used

   The first two sentences compare Tollefson's study to other studies, in terms of what aspects of the resettlement process they each focus on. The third sentence tells us the type of documents that Tollefson uses, but it never compares these to the documents used by other studies. We don't have any idea what these other studies are based on.

   0%
4. D

   Out of Scope: accepted theory4% picked this

   It presents the accepted theory on Tollefson’s topic and the method by which

   This answer makes it seem like Tollefson's study refutes or challenges the studies mentioned in the first sentence. It doesn't. They're not even addressing the same topic. Tollefson's work is about the educational programs offered in immigrant processing centers. The studies in the first sentence are not. The "most studies" in the first sentence don't represent any "accepted theory". They just represent a tendency in terms of where scholars direct their attention.

   4%
5. E

   Too Strong: superiority1% picked this

   It argues for the analytical and technical superiority of Tollefson’s study over other works

   The author establishes a contrast between Tollefson's focus and that of most studies, but she doesn't offer any opinionated wording to suggest that she finds Tollefson's superior. She compliments his range of evidence as consisting of "an impressive amount and variety and documentation". but we never hear about what evidence is used to support "Most studies". Again, there's no comparison, so there's no way to support the claim that Tollefson is technically superior.

   1%