Hi, everyone. Let’s try to answer this Redditor’s question about how to approach the summary question. The Redditor mentions, “I always fail choosing 1 because I usually choose minor ideas. Where are the main ideas usually?” Out of curiosity, we posed this question to three leading AIs, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Let’s see who got it right.
Let’s use Dr. Byrnes’ strategy, which is to first eliminate definitely wrong options and then fact-check the remaining ones against the passage. In her TOEFL book on Amazon and her online TOEFL reading course, Dr. Byrnes teaches five strategies that help identify definitely wrong options.
Now, the most important clue Dr. Byrnes teaches is to utilize the introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage provided in the question. Correct options must support this sentence. And this is the introductory sentence: "Ceramics have been produced in China for a very long time." So, candidates for correct options must mention something relating to the long history of Chinese ceramics. Keeping this in mind, let’s consider each option.
A. The Chinese produced earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain pottery and they used their ceramics for a variety of utilitarian, architectural, and ceremonial purposes. Option A talks about the variety of Chinese ceramics, namely earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain pottery, and their various uses, including utilitarian, architectural, and ceremonial purposes. So, option A clearly supports the introductory summary sentence that "Ceramics have been produced in China for a very long time." Let’s keep A.
B. The shape and decoration of ceramics produced for religious use in China were influenced by Chinese ceramics produced for export. B only talks about religious purposes of ceramics and does not relate to the long history of Chinese ceramic production. So B is questionable. Also, the idea of ceramics used for religious function being influenced by ceramics for export doesn’t make sense since religious function and commercial function do not seem to correlate well. Therefore, we can discard B.
C. As a result of trade relations, Chinese ceramic production changed and Chinese influenced the ceramics production of other countries. C also talks about trade like B, but C is far more general and makes more sense compared to B. So, C should be kept.
D. Chinese burial ceramics have the longest and most varied history of production and were frequently decorated with written texts that help scholars date them. D has a problem with the absolute words like "the longest" and "the most varied." Dr. Byrnes emphasizes that academic writing is characterized by writing carefully, avoiding making unnecessary absolute statements. It is possible that some other cultures or other types of ceramics have an even longer history. Since D has extreme words like "the longest" and "the most varied," D can be eliminated.
E. Before China had contact with the West, the meaning of various designs used to decorate Chinese ceramics was well understood. E is not directly related to the production of Chinese ceramics. However, it does talk about the long history of Chinese ceramics, which does relate to the introductory sentence. So, we should keep E.
F. Ceramics made in imperial factories were used in both religious and non-religious contexts. F is too specific, talking only about imperial factories, not even the imperial era. But we are looking for the long history of Chinese ceramics. Due to its narrow scope, focusing only on ceramics made in factories during the imperial era, we can eliminate F.
So what are the remaining options? A, C, E are the only ones remaining, and we need three items. So the answer should be A, C, and E. So, all three AIs got the answer wrong.