Self-study
This passage was adapted from an article written by three economists.
P1
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Phenomenon ·
The Great Migration
Between 1915 and 1960, 40% of African Americans migrated north.
3 Historical Causes ·
WWI increased labor demand in North while cuting off European immigration; infestation ruined crops in South reducing labor demand there
This is what kicked off the Great Migration.
P2
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Question ·
But why did it continue?
And accelerate when the initial causes started to disappear?
P3
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Hypothesis ·
Migration develops its own momentum
Migration encourages future migration by making it easier to migrate.
Rule Premise ·
Economists' cost-benefit rule for migration
People migrate if earnings are high enough to offset the costs of moving.
Premise ·
Cost of migration: uncertainty; travel; settling in
Three costs of migration: 1. uncertainty about housing and labor-market conditions; 2. cost of time and money of moving; 3. settling in
P4
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Premise ·
All three costs were reduced for later migrants
Previous migrants could pass information to reduce uncertainty and help new migrants settle in. New migrants could travel with previous migrants to reduce the cost of moving.
Premise ·
Previous migrants further reduced costs
Previous migrants also provided new migrants with temporary housing, food, and credit. Also provided a cultural cushion for later migrants.
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
13.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ███████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████
a
The average amount ██ ████ ██ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████
This would not strengthen the authors’ argument. Remember that the authors argue that earlier migrants paved the way for later migrants, partially by providing information about things like
b
In general, communities ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ██████ █ ██████ ██████████ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ██████
(B) supports the authors’ hypothesis about the momentum of migration. The authors argue that earlier migrants paved the way for later migrants by sending
c
Housing prices in ███ █████ ██████████ ███████ ████ ███ ███ ████████ ████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██████████ █████████
This doesn’t impact the authors’ argument. The authors’ argument is that the Great Migration continued for decades because, overall, connections with previous migrants reduced the difficulty of migrating for those who came later; comparing the stability of housing prices in the North and the South doesn’t impact this argument.
d
To maintain a ██████ ████ ██ ███████████ █████ █████ ███ ██ ████████ █████████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ███ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████
This suggests an alternative hypothesis to explain why the Great Migration continued––according to (D), the continuation was not necessarily because of the momentum of migration (which is the authors’ argument), but instead could be because of increased efforts from Northern employers to recruit Southern labor. Because this suggests an alternative hypothesis, this actually weakens the author’s argument.
e
There was a ███████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ ████████ █████████ █████ ██ ███ █████████ ████████
The authors’ argument explains why the Great Migration continued until 1960, so a large-scale reverse migration that occurred later in the 20th century doesn’t impact the authors’ argument.