Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions RC Hard Set (Question 4)

GRE Verbal Problem Solving
1

The massive influx of women cyclists—making up at least a third of the total market—
was perhaps the most striking and profound social consequence of the mid-1890s
cycling boom. Although the new, improved bicycle had appealed immediately to a few
privileged women, its impact would have been modest had it not attracted a greater
cross section of the female population. It soon became apparent that many of these
pioneer women bicyclists had not taken up the sport as an idle pastime. Rather, they
saw cycling as a noble cause to be promoted among all women as a means to improve
the general female condition. Not only would cycling encourage healthy outdoor
exercise, they reasoned, it would also hasten long-overdue dress reform. To feminists,
the bicycle affirmed nothing less than the dignity and equality of women.

  1. Which of the following does the passage suggest about pioneer women cyclists?
    A They saw cycling as a means to promote the advancement of women.
    B They argued that cycling would encourage women to get involved in a
    variety of noble causes.
    C They provided several reasons for a cross section of the female population
    to use the bicycle.

Explanation
Choices A and C are correct. The question asks what the passage suggests about
pioneer women cyclists.
Choice A is correct: The passage states that pioneer women cyclists saw cycling “as
a means to improve the general female condition” and believed that it “affirmed nothing less than the dignity and equality of women.”
Choice B is incorrect: The passage states that bicycle pioneers saw cycling itself as a
noble cause but does not mention any other noble causes to which cycling would lead.
Choice C is correct. The passage mentions that pioneer women cyclists saw at least
two independent reasons for all women to use bicycles: they believed that cycling
would “encourage healthy outdoor exercise” as well as “hasten long-overdue dress
reform.”

Option C mentions “several reasons” but in the explanation they say the passage mentions “at least two independent reasons”. How do we know if we should consider “two” as “several”? According to Dictionary.com, Vocabulary.com, Merriam-Webster all suggest that several means more than a couple (more than two). In this explanation they refer to the passage having at least two reasons, but at least two could mean two or more than two. So what is true and how do you deal with such words?

2

Hi, great question.

It’s important to avoid answers that appear ambiguous. In this case the source of ambiguity is the use of the word “several” and it’s specific meaning by definition.

And by the definitions you’ve provided, there must be more than 2 things.

The way the question is phrased however, gives enough flexibility to allow the word several to be used. “Which of the following does the passage suggest…”.

We can see for sure that there are at least 2 reasons the pioneer women cyclists promoted the bicycle. But what does the passage suggest?

If we look closely, the last sentence “the bicycle affirmed nothing less than the dignity and equality of women” could be considered another reason. “They saw cycling as a noble cause” could be considered another reason.

So if we’re counting, then the passage does suggest that the pioneer women cyclists provided several reasons.

If we look at this from another direction. Let’s assume the third option were “they provided two reasons…” would that option be a better answer than the current version?
It wouldn’t because, in this scenario, it would be too specific. With the wording of the passage - not specifying a number of reasons, and speaking about some broad buckets of reasons - combined with the wording of the question, “which of the following does the passage suggest…”
It would be too much of an assumption, that the pioneer women cyclists gave only two reasons.

1 Like
3

Hi Max,

Thank you for the detailed response. I understand what you meant about making an inference based on the passage. The way I understood what’s in the passage at a high level is that it was suggesting that women pioneers linked biking with improved physical health as well as women empowerment. In that case it’s still just two different reasons right? I’m trying to learn when to make a broader inference and when to be a bit more specific so need to understand what suggests which path I have to take for a given passage.