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ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension 1.3 Summary. What is the main purpose of this passage?
ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension 1.2 Vocabulary-In-Context. In this passage, the word "illustrious" most nearly means...what?
ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension 1.2 Summary. Which of the following best describes the purpose of this passage?
ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension 4.2 Summary 168 Views
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ASVAB Paragraph Comprehension 4.2 Summary. The main purpose of this passage is to...what?
More Video DetailsTranscript
- 00:01
We speak student!
- 00:04
[ musical flourish ]
- 00:07
And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the Cold War.
- 00:11
We better bring a jacket for this one.
- 00:13
Check out the following passage.
Full Transcript
- 00:14
[ mumbles ]
- 00:26
Okay, well, the main purpose of this passage is to... what?
- 00:29
And here are the potential answers.
- 00:31
[ mumbles ]
- 00:34
All right, in Soviet Russia, paragraph summarizes you.
- 00:37
Yeah. [ mumbles ]
- 00:40
Unfortunately, we're not in Soviet Russia, so we've gotta do the work here.
- 00:44
This passage gives us a lot of specific information about
- 00:46
a point in time in which the U.S. and Russia, well,
- 00:49
nearly blew ourselves up. Yep.
- 00:51
We almost did.
- 00:52
As for our answer choices, they mainly discuss things that the passage is not about.
- 00:57
We can begin by getting rid of option D.
- 01:00
The passage is not specifically about the Kennedy administration.
- 01:04
He was president during the incident, but that's not the important point here.
- 01:07
Notice how there's no mention of the rest of Kennedy's legacy?
- 01:10
Like, uh, say his vow to put a man on the moon? Yeah.
- 01:14
[ singing ] If you believe. [ normal voice ] Yeah, like that.
- 01:16
Option C can go, too.
- 01:18
The passage isn't a subjective criticism of
- 01:21
the Soviet Union's nuclear program.
- 01:23
In fact, the tone of the passage is pretty objective in laying out the facts.
- 01:27
It implies that the policies of both the Soviets and the Americans
- 01:29
pushed the world to the brink of war and everyone was pointing fingers at each other.
- 01:33
Option B is a bit trickier because, obviously, the passage is about the Cold War.
- 01:38
However, it's not a general history of the Cold War. It's about a single specific event.
- 01:43
Talking about a young Elvis doesn't mean we're talking about his entire career, right?
- 01:47
Which leaves us with option A.
- 01:48
The event in question is right in the first sentence of the passage -
- 01:52
the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 01:53
Now if only solving a crisis was as easy as solving this question.
- 01:57
We typically enjoy sequels, but, uh,
- 01:59
we think we'll pass on Cold War II: The Revenge.
- 02:03
[ siren ]
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