Historians have long recognized the Japanese sword as one of

[rustom.hakimiyan]

Historians have long recognized the Japanese sword as one of the finest cutting weapons ever created. But to consider the sword that is synonymous with the samurai as merely a weapon is to ignore what makes it so special. The Japanese sword has always been considered a splendid weapon and even a spiritual entity. The traditional Japanese saying "The sword is the soul of the samurai" not only reflects the sword's importance to its wielder but also is indicative of its importance to its creator, the master smith.

Master smiths may not have been considered artists in the classical sense, but every one of them took great care in how he created a sword, and no sword was created in exactly the same way. The forging process of the blade itself took hundreds of hours as two types of steel were heated, hammered and folded together many times. This created a blade consisting of thousands of very thin layers that had an extremely sharp and durable cutting edge; at the same time, the blade was flexible and therefore less likely to break. It was common, though optional, for a master smith to place a physical Signature on a blade; in addition, every master smith had a "structural signature" due to his own secret forging process. Each master smith brought a high level of devotion, skill, and attention to detail to the sword-making process, and the sword itself was a reflection of his personal honor and ability. This effort made each blade as unique as the samurai who wielded it; today the Japanese sword is recognized as much for its artistic merit as for its historical significance.


5. One function of the second paragraph of the passage is to
(A) present an explanation for a change in perception
(B) determine the historical significance of Japanese swords
(C) explain why each Japanese sword is unique
(0) compare Japanese master smiths to classical artists
(E) review the complete process of making a Japanese sword

Hi,

I have a question regarding this problem in the MGMAT study guide.(Not sure if this is the right place to post this)

I picked A over C but can't figure out why that's wrong.

My reasoning was as follows: The first sentence says "Smiths weren't considered artists but everyone took great care xxx". The paragraph gives examples of how the smith's spent a lot of time and attention to the the sword making process. And the paragraph ended with "today the xx is recognized as much for its artistic merit as for xxx"

Doesn't these 3 things show the purpose of the passage, it's internal conclusion so to speak? It also ties into the first paragraph where they state that the sword was very special, not just because of it's cutting habit but also because it was a "splendid" weapon, which i thought could also be considered as a "artsy" piece.

I felt that C was too narrow and didn't grasp the scope of the whole passage either.

[RonPurewal]

hi,
if it's from one of our guides, please post it in the MGMAT non-CAT folder.

thanks.

[rustom.hakimiyan]

hi,
if it's from one of our guides, please post it in the MGMAT non-CAT folder.

thanks.

Moved. My apologies.

[tim]

thanks.

[RonPurewal]

thread is now locked.