GMAT Reading Comprehension - During the Past Fifteen Years, Historians of Mexican American, or Chicano

Reading Passage Question

During the past fifteen years, historians of Mexican American, or Chicano, experience have contributed significantly to understanding the early twentieth­century history of the second largest ethnic minority group in the United States. Influenced greatly by recent trends in the nation's historiography—particularly the ''new'' social, labor, and urban histories—historians focusing on the Mexican American experience have begun to uncover a past long ignored by academics. Two recent books, Ricardo Romo's East Los Angeles and Mario Garcia's Desert Immigrants, make important contributions to Mexican American history.

Romo's study documents the impact of urbanization from 1900 to 1930 on the Mexican American pueblo society that had existed in the historical downtown plaza area of Los Angeles, California, since the mid-nineteenth century, and on the development, after 1900, of new immigrant barrios (neighborhoods) east of the Los Angeles River. He shows convincingly how Mexicans were excluded from the jobs that would have provided them some avenue for upward occupational mobility after the First World War. Romo also effectively analyzes the process of migration, resettlement, and adjustment of Los Angeles's Mexican immigrants, most of whom left Mexico after 1910 because of the Mexican Revolution. During this period a record number of Mexican American immigrants came to the United States, particularly to Los Angeles, which had the largest Mexican American population in the United States as early as 1930.

Overall, East Los Angeles bridges a critical gap in early twentieth-century Mexican American urban history. Garcia's Desert Immigrants, focusing primarily on the years 1900 to 1920 in El Paso, Texas, also examines the formation of a Mexican American urban community. Well researched and engaging, Garcia's study demonstrates that Mexican immigrants played an essential role in the dramatic expansion of the local economy by becoming the backbone of the labor market. Garcia skillfully portrays the ethnic and class factors in El Paso society that created significant problems for early Mexican immigrants and that were over­ come only as the Mexican American community in El Paso became more firmly established after 1920. Desert Immigrants also examines the special role that El Paso, as a border city, played in the political and cultural life of local Mexicans.

While advancing our understanding of Mexican American urban history, the books do not raise the question of whether the history of these two urban communities provides a general understanding of Chicano life in American cities. Neither study offers useful comparisons to other southwestern communities, nor does either adequately compare the urban experiences of Mexican and other immigrant groups. Did El Paso's proximity to the border and its function as a labor depot for Mexican workers in the United States make its historical trajectory significantly different from that of other Mexican American urban centers? Is East Los Angeles's meteoric rise as a mecca for Mexican immigration comparable to developments in San Antonio, Texas—the second largest urban community of Mexicans—during the first decades of the twentieth century?

‘During the past fifteen years, historians of Mexican American, or Chicano ’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. In the passage, the author is primarily interested in

(A) criticizing academic historiography
(B) evaluating recent studies of urban history
(C) comparing different historical methodologies
(D) describing the development of Chicano history
(E) explaining the historical importance of south-western cities

2. According to the passage, which of the following is true of Mexican-American communities in Los Angeles?

(A) The earliest settlement was in the area east of the Los Angeles River.
(B) The oldest Mexican-American community in the United States was in Los Angeles.
(C) There was a Mexican-American community in Los Angeles well before the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
(D) The largest Mexican-American community in the United States in 1900 was in Los Angeles.
(E) Los Angeles’ Mexican-American communities had a significant impact on Mexican culture early in the twentieth century.

3. It can be inferred from the passage's last paragraph that the author would regard which of the following studies as a valuable addition to Romo’s and Garcia's work.

(A) A study of changes in the family structure of non-English-speaking immigrant families as the children become bilingual
(B) A study of the growth of the political influence of the East Los Angeles barrio
(C) A study examining the impact of current immigration laws on Mexican-American communities in the Southwest
(D) A study of Mexican-American immigrants’ experiences from 1900 to 1930 in all major southwestern cities
(E) A study of the role of Mexican and Mexican- American workers in the economic development of El Paso

4. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about recent historians’ accounts of Mexican-American urban history?

(A) They have shown that Mexican-American immigrants experienced most of the same problems that other groups of immigrants to the United States did.
(B) They have documented the similarities between southwestern cities with established Mexican- American communities.
(C) They have concentrated primarily on the labor histories of Mexican-American urban communities.
(D) They have followed recent historiographical trends and ventured into areas unexplored by traditional academic historians.
(E) They have provided a thorough analysis of the ways in which Mexican-American urban immigrants’ life experiences are representative of all Mexican-American immigrants’ experiences.

5. The passage provides support for which of the following statements?

(A) Romo’s and Garcia’s books were the first accounts of the history of urban Mexican- American communities.
(B) Texas and California are currently the states with the two largest urban Mexican- American communities.
(C) Social and labor histories were not written until about fifteen years ago.
(D) El Paso is the only southwestern border city that has had any influence on Mexican culture.
(E) The only numerically significant Mexican immigration after 1910 occurred in Texas and California. ’

6. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as topics treated in Romo's book EXCEPT

(A) discrimination in the labor market
(B) adjustment of newly arrived immigrants to a foreign culture
(C) the effects of the Mexican Revolution on Los Angeles
(D) the formation of the pueblo society of downtown Los Angeles
(E) the establishment of immigrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles

7. The attitude of the author of the passage toward Romo’s and Garcia's books can be best described as

(A) reluctant acceptance
(B) qualified enthusiasm
(C) unrestrained admiration
(D) perplexity
(E) impatience

8. According to the passage, East Los Angeles and Desert Immigrants have which of the following in common?

1. They are urban histories.
2. They provide a general understanding of Mexican-American history in southwestern communities.
3. They place Mexican-American immigrants’ experiences in the larger context of other American immigrants’ experiences.

(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III

9. It can be inferred from the passage that the publication of East Los Angeles made which of the following available for the first time?

(A) An account of the geographical origins of the immigrants who fled from the Mexican Revolution of 1910
(B) The history of the downtown plaza area of Los Angeles from its beginnings
(C) An analysis of the similarities between the Mexican-American communities in Los Angeles and San Antonio
(D) An effective analysis of Mexican-American immigrant experiences in early-twentieth-century Los Angeles
(E) A comparison of the experiences of Mexican-Americans in California with those of Asian-Americans

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