PT148.S2.P2.Q7 > Analytics

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This passage was adapted from an article written by three economists.

Phenomenon · The Great Migration

Between 1915 and 1960, 40% of African Americans migrated north.

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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.

Question · But why did it continue?

And accelerate when the initial causes started to disappear?

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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.

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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

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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

Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████

Question Type

Main point

The main point of this Phenomenon-Hypothesis passage is to propose a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon of thecontinuation of the Great Migration. The authors’ hypothesis is that once migration began, it built momentum and reduced difficulties for future migrants, thus facilitating the trend of migration from the South to the North that continued for decades.

Approximately 40 percent ██ ███ ███████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ █████ ██████████ █████ ██ ██ ███ █████ ██████████

While this is stated in the passage, this isn’t the main point. The main point of the passage is to explore why the Great Migration continued, not just to define the Great Migration. This is just the phenomenon; the main point will include the phenomenon and the hypothesis that explains it.

The Great Migration ███ █████████ ██ ██ █████████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████ ██ █████ ███ █ ███ █ ███████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██ █ ████ ██████ ████████████

While this is stated in the passage, this is not the main point. (B) just explains why the Great Migration began. Instead, the main point is to explore why the Great Migration continued for decades, even as North-South income differences narrowed.

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(C) does capture the phenomenon (the continuation of the great migration), but (C) gives an incomplete explanation of the authors’ hypothesis. The fact that earlier migrants helped reduce the financial costs of migration for later migrants is part of the hypothesis, but not the whole thing. The authors’ hypothesis is also that previous migrants helped ease the transition for later migrants by providing information, temporary housing, food, credit, and a cultural cushion. Because (C) only mentions the financial aspect, it doesn’t fully capture the authors’ hypothesis and it isn’t the main point of the passage.

20%

In migration movements, ███████ ████████ ██████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████ █ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████ █████████

While this is stated in the passage, this is not the main point. The main point is to explore Great Migration specifically and to hypothesize why it continued for decades; (D) doesn’t even mention the Great Migration and instead makes a broad claim about migration movements in general.

Although the Great █████████ ███ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████████████ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ██████ █████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ████ ███████ ████████

This is the main point. The authors set out to explore why the Great Migration continued even when the conditions that initially triggered it (North-South income differences) were declining. Their hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that other factors account for the continuation and acceleration of the Great Migration.

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