Reading comprehension questions appear in the Verbal section of the GMAT® exam. The Verbal section uses multiple-choice questions to measure your ability to read and comprehend written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard written English. Because the Verbal section includes content from a variety of topics, you may be generally familiar with some of the material; however, neither the passages nor the questions assume knowledge of the topics discussed. Reading comprehension questions are intermingled with critical reasoning and sentence correction questions throughout the Verbal section of the test.
You will have 75 minutes to complete the Verbal section, or an average of about 1¾ minutes to answer each question. Keep in mind, however, that you will need time to read the written passages—and that time is not factored into the 1¾ minute average. You should therefore plan to proceed more quickly through the reading comprehension questions in order to give yourself enough time to read the passages thoroughly.
Reading comprehension questions begin with written passages up to 350 words long. The passages discuss topics from the social sciences, humanities, the physical or biological sciences, and such business-related fields as marketing, economics, and human resource management. The passages are accompanied by questions that will ask you to interpret the passage, apply the information you gather from the reading, and make inferences (or informed assumptions) based on the reading. For these questions, you will see a split computer screen. The written passage will remain visible on the left side as each question associated with that passage appears in turn on the right side. You will see only one question at a time, however. The number of questions associated with each passage may vary.
As you move through the reading comprehension sample questions, try to determine a process that works best for you. You might begin by reading a passage carefully and thoroughly, though some test-takers prefer to skim the passages the first time through, or even to read the first question before reading the passage. You may want to reread any sentences that present complicated ideas or introduce terms that are new to you. Read each question and series of answers carefully. Make sure you understand exactly what the question is asking and what the answer choices are.
If you need to, you may go back to the passage and read any parts that are relevant to answering the question. Specific portions of the passages may be highlighted in the related questions.
The following pages describe what reading comprehension questions are designed to measure, present the directions that will precede questions of this type, and describe the various question types. This chapter also provides test-taking strategies, sample questions, and detailed explanations of all the questions. The explanations further illustrate the ways in which reading comprehension questions evaluate basic reading skills.
Reading comprehension questions measure your ability to understand, analyze, and apply information and concepts presented in written form. All questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the reading material, and no specific prior knowledge of the material is required.
The GMAT reading comprehension questions evaluate your ability to do the following:
There are six kinds of reading comprehension questions, each of which tests a different skill. The reading comprehension questions ask about the following areas:
Each passage is a unified whole—that is, the individual sentences and paragraphs support and develop one main idea or central point. Sometimes you will be told the central point in the passage itself, and sometimes it will be necessary for you to determine the central point from the overall organization or development of the passage. You may be asked in this kind of question to
These questions measure your ability to comprehend the supporting ideas in a passage and differentiate them from the main idea. The questions also measure your ability to differentiate ideas that are explicitly stated in a passage from ideas that are implied by the author but that are not explicitly stated. You may be asked about
Whereas questions about the main idea ask you to determine the meaning of a passage as a whole, questions about supporting ideas ask you to determine the meanings of individual sentences and paragraphs that contribute to the meaning of the passage as a whole. In other words, these questions ask for the main point of one small part of the passage.
These questions ask about ideas that are not explicitly stated in a passage but are implied by the author. Unlike questions about supporting details, which ask about information that is directly stated in a passage, inference questions ask about ideas or meanings that must be inferred from information that is directly stated. Authors can make their points in indirect ways, suggesting ideas without actually stating them. Inference questions measure your ability to understand an author’s intended meaning in parts of a passage where the meaning is only suggested. These questions do not ask about meanings or implications that are remote from the passage; rather, they ask about meanings that are developed indirectly or implications that are specifically suggested by the author.
To answer these questions, you may have to
If a passage explicitly states an effect, for example, you may be asked to infer its cause. If the author compares two phenomena, you may be asked to infer the basis for the comparison. You may be asked to infer the characteristics of an old policy from an explicit description of a new one. When you read a passage, therefore, you should concentrate not only on the explicit meaning of the author’s words, but also on the more subtle meaning implied by those words.
These questions measure your ability to discern the relationships between situations or ideas presented by the author and other situations or ideas that might parallel those in the passage. In this kind of question, you may be asked to
Unlike inference questions, application questions use ideas or situations not taken from the passage. Ideas and situations given in a question are like those given in the passage, and they parallel ideas and situations in the passage; therefore, to answer the question, you must do more than recall what you read. You must recognize the essential attributes of ideas and situations presented in the passage when they appear in different words and in an entirely new context.
These questions require you to analyze and evaluate the organization and logic of a passage. They may ask you
These questions measure your ability not only to comprehend a passage but also to evaluate it critically. However, it is important for you to realize that logical structure questions do not rely on any kind of formal logic, nor do they require you to be familiar with specific terms of logic or argumentation. You can answer these questions using only the information in the passage and careful reasoning.
Style and tone questions ask about the expression of a passage and about the ideas in a passage that may be expressed through its diction—the author’s choice of words. You may be asked to deduce the author’s attitude to an idea, a fact, or a situation from the words that he or she uses to describe it. You may also be asked to select a word that accurately describes the tone of a passage—for instance, “critical,” “questioning,” “objective,” or “enthusiastic.”
To answer this type of question, you will have to consider the language of the passage as a whole. It takes more than one pointed, critical word to make the tone of an entire passage “critical.” Sometimes, style and tone questions ask what audience the passage was probably intended for or what type of publication it probably appeared in. Style and tone questions may apply to one small part of the passage or to the passage as a whole. To answer them, you must ask yourself what meanings are contained in the words of a passage beyond the literal meanings. Did the author use certain words because of their emotional content, or because a particular audience would expect to hear them? Remember, these questions measure your ability to discern meaning expressed by the author through his or her choice of words.
These are the directions that you will see for reading comprehension questions when you take the GMAT exam. If you read them carefully and understand them clearly before going to sit for the test, you will not need to spend too much time reviewing them once you are at the test center and the test is under way.
The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
Line Biologists have advanced two theories to explain
why schooling of fish occurs in so many fish species.
Because schooling is particularly widespread among
species of small fish, both theories assume that
(5) schooling offers the advantage of some protection
from predators.
Proponents of theory A dispute the assumption that
a school of thousands of fish is highly visible.
Experiments have shown that any fish can be seen,
(10) even in very clear water, only within a sphere of 200
meters in diameter. When fish are in a compact group,
the spheres of visibility overlap. Thus the chance of a
predator finding the school is only slightly greater
than the chance of the predator finding a single fish
(15) swimming alone. Schooling is advantageous to the
individual fish because a predator’s chance of finding
any particular fish swimming in the school is much
smaller than its chance of finding at least one of the
same group of fish if the fish were dispersed
(20) throughout an area.
However, critics of theory A point out that some
fish form schools even in areas where predators are
abundant and thus little possibility of escaping
detection exists. They argue that the school continues
(25) to be of value to its members even after detection.
They advocate theory B, the “confusion effect,” which
can be explained in two different ways.
Sometimes, proponents argue, predators simply
cannot decide which fish to attack. This indecision
(30) supposedly results from a predator’s preference for
striking prey that is distinct from the rest of the
school in appearance. In many schools the fish are
almost identical in appearance, making it difficult for a
predator to select one. The second explanation for
(35) the “confusion effect” has to do with the sensory
confusion caused by a large number of prey moving
around the predator. Even if the predator
makes the decision to attack a particular fish,
the movement of other prey in the school can
(40) be distracting. The predator’s difficulty can be
compared to that of a tennis player trying to
hit a tennis ball when two are approaching
simultaneously.
According to the passage, theory B states that which of the following is a factor that enables a schooling fish to escape predators?
According to the passage, both theory A and theory B have been developed to explain how
According to one explanation of the “confusion effect,” a fish that swims in a school will have greater advantages for survival if it
The author is primarily concerned with
Line Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental
impact through the reduction or elimination of waste
from production processes) has become a goal for
companies worldwide, with many realizing significant
(5) cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and
Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but
suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency
innovations could actually worsen environmental
stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce
(10) production waste but do not alter the number of
products manufactured nor the waste generated
from their use and discard; indeed, most companies
invest in ecoefficiency improvements in order to
increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no
(15) guarantee that increased economic growth from
ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways,
since in today’s global markets, greater profits may
be turned into investment capital that could easily be
reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even
(20) a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could,
were it to grow much larger, generate more total
waste and destroy more habitat and species than
would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge
and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global
(25) environment and sustain economic growth,
businesses must develop a new systemic approach
that reduces total material use and total accumulated
waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which
offers a compelling business case according to
(30) established thinking, may distract companies from
pursuing radically different products and business
models.
Questions 5–7 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
The passage mentions which of the following as a possible consequence of companies’ realization of greater profits through ecoefficiency?
The passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a company’s adoption of innovations that increase its ecoefficiency?
Line Archaeology as a profession faces two major
problems. First, it is the poorest of the poor.
Only paltry sums are available for excavating and
even less is available for publishing the results
(5) and preserving the sites once excavated. Yet
archaeologists deal with priceless objects every day.
Second, there is the problem of illegal excavation,
resulting in museum-quality pieces being sold to the
highest bidder.
(10) I would like to make an outrageous
suggestion that would at one stroke provide
funds for archaeology and reduce the amount
of illegal digging. I would propose that scientific
archaeological expeditions and governmental
(15) authorities sell excavated artifacts on the open
market. Such sales would provide substantial
funds for the excavation and preservation of
archaeological sites and the publication of results.
At the same time, they would break the illegal
(20) excavator’s grip on the market, thereby decreasing
the inducement to engage in illegal activities.
You might object that professionals excavate to
acquire knowledge, not money. Moreover, ancient
artifacts are part of our global cultural heritage,
(25) which should be available for all to appreciate, not
sold to the highest bidder. I agree. Sell nothing that
has unique artistic merit or scientific value. But,
you might reply, everything that comes out of the
ground has scientific value. Here we part company.
(30) Theoretically, you may be correct in claiming
that every artifact has potential scientific value.
Practically, you are wrong.
I refer to the thousands of pottery vessels and
ancient lamps that are essentially duplicates of
(35) one another. In one small excavation in Cyprus,
archaeologists recently uncovered 2,000 virtually
indistinguishable small jugs in a single courtyard.
Even precious royal seal impressions known as
l’melekh handles have been found in abundance
(40) —more than 4,000 examples so far.
The basements of museums are simply not
large enough to store the artifacts that are likely
to be discovered in the future. There is not enough
money even to catalog the finds; as a result, they
(45) cannot be found again and become as inaccessible
as if they had never been discovered. Indeed, with
the help of a computer, sold artifacts could be more
accessible than are the pieces stored in bulging
museum basements. Prior to sale, each could be
(50) photographed and the list of the purchasers could
be maintained on the computer. A purchaser could
even be required to agree to return the piece if it
should become needed for scientific purposes.
It would be unrealistic to suggest that illegal
(55) digging would stop if artifacts were sold on the
open market. But the demand for the clandestine
product would be substantially reduced. Who would
want an unmarked pot when another was available
whose provenance was known, and that was dated
(60) stratigraphically by the professional archaeologist
who excavated it?
Questions 8–10 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to propose
The author implies that all of the following statements about duplicate artifacts are true EXCEPT
Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a disadvantage of storing artifacts in museum basements?
Line Io and Europa, the inner two of Jupiter’s four
largest moons, are about the size of Earth’s moon
and are composed mostly or entirely of rock and
metal. Ganymede and Callisto are larger and roughly
(5) half ice. Thus, these four moons are somewhat
analogous to the planets of the solar system, in which
the rock- and metal-rich inner planets are distinct from
the much larger gas- and ice-rich outer planets.
Jupiter’s moons are, however, more “systematic”:
(10) many of their properties vary continuously with
distance from Jupiter. For example, Io is ice-free,
Europa has a surface shell of ice, and while
Ganymede and Callisto are both ice-rich, outermost
Callisto has more.
(15) This compositional gradient has geological
parallels. Io is extremely geologically active, Europa
seems to be active on a more modest scale, and
Ganymede has undergone bouts of activity in its
geological past. Only Callisto reveals no geological
(20) activity. In similar fashion, Callisto’s surface is very
heavily cratered from the impact of comets and
asteroids; Ganymede, like Earth’s moon, is heavily
cratered in parts; Europa is very lightly cratered; and
no craters have been detected on Io, even though
(25) Jupiter’s gravity attracts comets and asteroids
passing near it, substantially increasing the
bombardment rate of the inner moons compared to
that of the outer ones. But because of Io’s high
degree of geological activity, its surface undergoes
(30) more-or-less continuous volcanic resurfacing.
Questions 11–13 refer to the passage above.
According to the passage, the difference in the amount of cratering on Callisto’s and Io’s respective surfaces can probably be explained by the difference between these two moons with respect to which of the following factors?
Which of the following best describes the purpose of the second paragraph of the passage?
The author’s reference to Jupiter’s gravity in line 25 serves primarily to
Line When Jamaican-born social activist Marcus
Garvey came to the United States in 1916, he
arrived at precisely the right historical moment.
What made the moment right was the return of
(5) African American soldiers from the First World War
in 1918, which created an ideal constituency for
someone with Garvey’s message of unity, pride,
and improved conditions for African American
communities.
(10) Hoping to participate in the traditional American
ethos of individual success, many African American
people entered the armed forces with enthusiasm,
only to find themselves segregated from white
troops and subjected to numerous indignities. They
(15) returned to a United States that was as segregated
as it had been before the war. Considering similar
experiences, anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace
has argued that when a perceptible gap arises
between a culture’s expectations and the reality of
(20) that culture, the resulting tension can inspire a
revitalization movement: an organized, conscious
effort to construct a culture that fulfills long-
standing expectations.
Some scholars have argued that Garvey created
(25) the consciousness from which he built, in the
1920s, the largest revitalization movement in
African American history. But such an argument
only tends to obscure the consciousness of
identity, strength, and sense of history that already
(30) existed in the African American community. Garvey
did not create this consciousness; rather, he gave
this consciousness its political expression.
Questions 14–17 refer to the passage above.
According to the passage, which of the following contributed to Marcus Garvey’s success?
The passage suggests that many African American people responded to their experiences in the armed forces in which of the following ways?
It can be inferred from the passage that the “scholars” mentioned in line 24 believe which of the following to be true?
According to the passage, many African American people joined the armed forces during the First World War for which of the following reasons?
Line In terrestrial environments, gravity places
special demands on the cardiovascular systems of
animals. Gravitational pressure can cause blood to
pool in the lower regions of the body, making it
(5) difficult to circulate blood to critical organs such as
the brain. Terrestrial snakes, in particular, exhibit
adaptations that aid in circulating blood against the
force of gravity.
The problem confronting terrestrial snakes is best
(10) illustrated by what happens to sea snakes when
removed from their supportive medium. Because the
vertical pressure gradients within the blood vessels
are counteracted by similar pressure gradients in the
surrounding water, the distribution of blood
(15) throughout the body of sea snakes remains about
the same regardless of their orientation in space,
provided they remain in the ocean. When removed
from the water and tilted at various angles with the
head up, however, blood pressure at their midpoint
(20) drops significantly, and at brain level falls to zero.
That many terrestrial snakes in similar spatial
orientations do not experience this kind of circulatory
failure suggests that certain adaptations enable them
to regulate blood pressure more effectively in those
(25) orientations.
One such adaptation is the closer proximity of the
terrestrial snake’s heart to its head, which helps to
ensure circulation to the brain, regardless of the
snake’s orientation in space. The heart of sea snakes
(30) can be located near the middle of the body, a
position that minimizes the work entailed in
circulating blood to both extremities. In arboreal
snakes, however, which dwell in trees and often
assume a vertical posture, the average distance
(35) from the heart to the head can be as little as 15
percent of overall body length. Such a location
requires that blood circulated to the tail of the
snake travel a greater distance back to the heart,
a problem solved by another adaptation. When
(40) climbing, arboreal snakes often pause
momentarily to wiggle their bodies, causing waves
of muscle contraction that advance from the lower
torso to the head. By compressing the veins and
forcing blood forward, these contractions
(45) apparently improve the flow of venous blood
returning to the heart.
Questions 18–25 refer to the passage above.
The passage provides information in support of which of the following assertions?
According to the passage, one reason that the distribution of blood in the sea snake changes little while the creature remains in the ocean is that
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is true of species of terrestrial snakes that often need to assume a vertical posture?
The author describes the behavior of the circulatory system of sea snakes when they are removed from the ocean (see lines 17–20) primarily in order to
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is a true statement about sea snakes?
The author suggests that which of the following is a disadvantage that results from the location of a snake’s heart in close proximity to its head?
The primary purpose of the third paragraph is to
In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with doing which of the following?
Line In 1988 services moved ahead of
manufacturing as the main product of the United
States economy. But what is meant by “services”?
Some economists define a service as something
(5) that is produced and consumed simultaneously, for
example, a haircut. The broader, classical definition
is that a service is an intangible something that
cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities
can store energy, and computer programmers
(10) save information electronically. Thus, the classical
definition is hard to sustain.
The United States government’s definition is
more practical: services are the residual category
that includes everything that is not agriculture or
(15) industry. Under this definition, services includes
activities as diverse as engineering and driving a
bus. However, besides lacking a strong conceptual
framework, this definition fails to recognize the
distinction between service industries and service
(20) occupations. It categorizes workers based on their
company’s final product rather than on the actual
work the employees perform. Thus, the many
service workers employed by manufacturers—
ookkeepers or janitors, for example—would
(25) fall under the industrial rather than the services
category. Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness
of this definition and suggest that, although
practical for government purposes, it does not
accurately reflect the composition of the current
(30) United States economy.
Questions 26–30 refer to the passage above.
The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
In comparing the United States government’s definition of services with the classical definition, the author suggests that the classical definition is
The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States?
The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government’s definition of services?
The author refers to “service workers employed by manufacturers” (line 23) primarily in order to point out
Line Current feminist theory, in validating women’s own
stories of their experience, has encouraged scholars
of women’s history to view the use of women’s oral
narratives as the methodology, next to the use of
(5) women’s written autobiography, that brings historians
closest to the “reality” of women’s lives. Such
narratives, unlike most standard histories, represent
experience from the perspective of women, affirm
the importance of women’s contributions, and furnish
(10) present-day women with historical continuity that is
essential to their identity, individually and collectively.
Scholars of women’s history should, however, be
as cautious about accepting oral narratives at face
value as they already are about written memories.
(15) Oral narratives are no more likely than are written
narratives to provide a disinterested commentary on
events or people. Moreover, the stories people tell to
explain themselves are shaped by narrative devices
and storytelling conventions, as well as by other
(20) cultural and historical factors, in ways that the
storytellers may be unaware of. The political rhetoric
of a particular era, for example, may influence
women’s interpretations of the significance of their
experience. Thus a woman who views the Second
(25) World War as pivotal in increasing the social
acceptance of women’s paid work outside the home
may reach that conclusion partly and unwittingly
because of wartime rhetoric encouraging a positive
view of women’s participation in such work.
Questions 31–36 refer to the passage above.
The passage is primarily concerned with
According to the passage, which of the following shapes the oral narratives of women storytellers?
The author of the passage would be most likely to make which of the following recommendations to scholars of women’s history?
Which of the following best describes the function of the last sentence of the passage?
According to the passage, scholars of women’s history should refrain from doing which of the following?
According to the passage, each of the following is a difference between women’s oral narratives and most standard histories EXCEPT:
Line Manufacturers have to do more than build large
manufacturing plants to realize economies of scale.
It is true that as the capacity of a manufacturing
operation rises, costs per unit of output fall as plant
(5) size approaches “minimum efficient scale,” where the
cost per unit of output reaches a minimum,
determined roughly by the state of existing technology
and size of the potential market. However, minimum
efficient scale cannot be fully realized unless a steady
(10) “throughput” (the flow of materials through a plant) is
attained. The throughput needed to maintain the
optimal scale of production requires careful
coordination not only of the flow of goods through the
production process, but also of the flow of input from
(15) suppliers and the flow of output to wholesalers and
final consumers. If throughput falls below a critical
point, unit costs rise sharply and profits disappear. A
manufacturer’s fixed costs and “sunk costs” (original
capital investment in the physical plant) do not
(20) decrease when production declines due to inadequate
supplies of raw materials, problems on the factory
floor, or inefficient sales networks. Consequently,
potential economies of scale are based on the
physical and engineering characteristics of the
(25) production facilities—that is, on tangible capital—but
realized economies of scale are operational and
organizational, and depend on knowledge, skills,
experience, and teamwork—that is, on organized
human capabilities, or intangible capital.
(30) The importance of investing in intangible capital
becomes obvious when one looks at what happens in
new capital-intensive manufacturing industries. Such
industries are quickly dominated, not by the first firms
to acquire technologically sophisticated plants of
(35) theoretically optimal size, but rather by the first to
exploit the full potential of such plants. Once some
firms achieve this, a market becomes extremely hard
to enter. Challengers must construct comparable
plants and do so after the first movers have already
(40) worked out problems with suppliers or with new
production processes. Challengers must create
distribution networks and marketing systems in
markets where first movers have all the contacts and
know-how. And challengers must recruit management
(45) teams to compete with those that have already
mastered these functional and strategic activities.
Questions 37–41 refer to the passage above.
The passage suggests that in order for a manufacturer in a capital-intensive industry to have a decisive advantage over competitors making similar products, the manufacturer must
The passage suggests that which of the following is true of a manufacturer’s fixed and sunk costs?
In the context of the passage as a whole, the second paragraph serves primarily to
The passage LEAST supports the inference that a manufacturer’s throughput could be adversely affected by
The primary purpose of the passage is to
Line In the seventeenth-century Florentine textile
industry, women were employed primarily in low-
paying, low-skill jobs. To explain this segregation
of labor by gender, economists have relied on
(5) the useful theory of human capital. According
to this theory, investment in human capital—the
acquisition of difficult job-related skills—generally
benefits individuals by making them eligible to
engage in well-paid occupations. Women’s role as
(10) child bearers, however, results in interruptions in
their participation in the job market (as compared
with men’s) and thus reduces their opportunities
to acquire training for highly skilled work. In
addition, the human capital theory explains why
(15) there was a high concentration of women workers
in certain low-skill jobs, such as weaving, but not
in others, such as combing or carding, by positing
that because of their primary responsibility in child
rearing women took occupations that could be
(20) carried out in the home.
There were, however, differences in pay scales
that cannot be explained by the human capital
theory. For example, male construction workers
were paid significantly higher wages than female
(25) taffeta weavers. The wage difference between
these two low-skill occupations stems from the
segregation of labor by gender: because a limited
number of occupations were open to women, there
was a large supply of workers in their fields, and
(30) this “overcrowding” resulted in women receiving
lower wages and men receiving higher wages.
Questions 42–44 refer to the passage above.
The passage suggests that combing and carding differ from weaving in that combing and carding were
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the explanation provided by the human capital theory for women’s concentration in certain occupations in seventeenth-century Florence?
The author of the passage would be most likely to describe the explanation provided by the human capital theory for the high concentration of women in certain occupations in the seventeenth-century Florentine textile industry as
(This passage was adapted from an article written in 1992.)
Line Some observers have attributed the dramatic
growth in temporary employment that occurred in
the United States during the 1980s to increased
participation in the workforce by certain groups,
(5) such as first-time or reentering workers, who
supposedly prefer such arrangements. However,
statistical analyses reveal that demographic
changes in the workforce did not correlate with
variations in the total number of temporary
(10) workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that
factors affecting employers account for the rise
in temporary employment. One factor is product
demand: temporary employment is favored by
employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand
(15) for products while at the same time seeking
to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor
is labor’s reduced bargaining strength, which
allows employers more control over the terms of
employment. Given the analyses, which reveal that
(20) growth in temporary employment now far exceeds
the level explainable by recent workforce entry
rates of groups said to prefer temporary jobs, firms
should be discouraged from creating excessive
numbers of temporary positions. Government
(25) policymakers should consider mandating benefit
coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay
equity between temporary and permanent workers,
assisting labor unions in organizing temporary
workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary
(30) jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate
that preference.
Questions 45–51 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
According to the passage, which of the following is true of the “factors affecting employers” that are mentioned in lines 10–19?
The passage suggests which of the following about the use of temporary employment by firms during the 1980s?
The passage suggests which of the following about the workers who took temporary jobs during the 1980s?
The first sentence in the passage suggests that the “observers” mentioned in line 1 would be most likely to predict which of the following?
In the context of the passage, the word “excessive” (line 23) most closely corresponds to which of the following phrases?
The passage mentions each of the following as an appropriate kind of governmental action EXCEPT
Line Among the myths taken as fact by the
environmental managers of most corporations is
the belief that environmental regulations affect all
competitors in a given industry uniformly. In reality,
(5) regulatory costs—and therefore compliance—fall
unevenly, economically disadvantaging some
companies and benefiting others. For example,
a plant situated near a number of larger
noncompliant competitors is less likely to attract
(10) the attention of local regulators than is an isolated
plant, and less attention means lower costs.
Additionally, large plants can spread compliance
costs such as waste treatment across a larger
revenue base; on the other hand, some smaller
(15) plants may not even be subject to certain
provisions such as permit or reporting
requirements by virtue of their size. Finally, older
production technologies often continue to generate
toxic wastes that were not regulated when the
(20) technology was first adopted. New regulations
have imposed extensive compliance costs on
companies still using older industrial coal-fired
burners that generate high sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide outputs, for example, whereas new
(25) facilities generally avoid processes that would
create such waste products. By realizing that they
have discretion and that not all industries are
affected equally by environmental regulation,
environmental managers can help their companies
(30) to achieve a competitive edge by anticipating
regulatory pressure and exploring all possibilities
for addressing how changing regulations will affect
their companies specifically.
Questions 52–55 refer to the passage above.
It can be inferred from the passage that a large plant might have to spend more than a similar but smaller plant on environmental compliance because the larger plant is
According to the passage, which of the following statements about sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide outputs is true?
Which of the following best describes the relationship of the statement about large plants (lines 12–17) to the passage as a whole?
The primary purpose of the passage is to
Line In Winters v. United States (1908), the Supreme
Court held that the right to use waters flowing through
or adjacent to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation
was reserved to American Indians by the treaty
(5) establishing the reservation. Although this treaty did
not mention water rights, the Court ruled that the
federal government, when it created the reservation,
intended to deal fairly with American Indians by
reserving for them the waters without which their
(10) lands would have been useless. Later decisions, citing
Winters, established that courts can find federal rights
to reserve water for particular purposes if (1) the land
in question lies within an enclave under exclusive
federal jurisdiction, (2) the land has been formally
(15) withdrawn from federal public lands—i.e., withdrawn
from the stock of federal lands available for private
use under federal land use laws—and set aside or
reserved, and (3) the circumstances reveal the
government intended to reserve water as well as land
(20) when establishing the reservation.
Some American Indian tribes have also established
water rights through the courts based on their
traditional diversion and use of certain waters prior to
the United States’ acquisition of sovereignty. For
(25) example, the Rio Grande pueblos already existed when
the United States acquired sovereignty over New
Mexico in 1848. Although they at that time became
part of the United States, the pueblo lands never
formally constituted a part of federal public lands; in
(30) any event, no treaty, statute, or executive order has
ever designated or withdrawn the pueblos from public
lands as American Indian reservations. This fact,
however, has not barred application of the Winters
doctrine. What constitutes an American Indian
(35) reservation is a question of practice, not of legal
definition, and the pueblos have always been treated
as reservations by the United States. This pragmatic
approach is buttressed by Arizona v. California (1963),
wherein the Supreme Court indicated that the manner
(40) in which any type of federal reservation is created
does not affect the application to it of the Winters
doctrine. Therefore, the reserved water rights of
Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens’ water
rights as of 1848, the year in which pueblos must be
(45) considered to have become reservations.
Questions 56–62 refer to the passage above.
According to the passage, which of the following was true of the treaty establishing the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation?
The passage suggests that, if the criteria discussed in lines 10–20 were the only criteria for establishing a reservation’s water rights, which of the following would be true?
Which of the following most accurately summarizes the relationship between Arizona v. California in lines 38–42, and the criteria citing the Winters doctrine in lines 10–20?
The “pragmatic approach” mentioned in lines 37–38 of the passage is best defined as one that
The author cites the fact that the Rio Grande pueblos were never formally withdrawn from public lands primarily in order to do which of the following?
The primary purpose of the passage is to
The passage suggests that the legal rights of citizens other than American Indians to the use of water flowing into the Rio Grande pueblos are
Line Milankovitch proposed in the early twentieth
century that the ice ages were caused by variations
in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. For some
time this theory was considered untestable,
(5) largely because there was no sufficiently precise
chronology of the ice ages with which the orbital
variations could be matched.
To establish such a chronology it is necessary
to determine the relative amounts of land ice that
(10) existed at various times in the Earth’s past. A recent
discovery makes such a determination possible:
relative land-ice volume for a given period can be
deduced from the ratio of two oxygen isotopes,
16 and 18, found in ocean sediments. Almost
(15) all the oxygen in water is oxygen 16, but a few
molecules out of every thousand incorporate the
heavier isotope 18. When an ice age begins, the
continental ice sheets grow, steadily reducing the
amount of water evaporated from the ocean that
(20) will eventually return to it. Because heavier isotopes
tend to be left behind when water evaporates
from the ocean surfaces, the remaining ocean
water becomes progressively enriched in oxygen
18. The degree of enrichment can be determined
(25) by analyzing ocean sediments of the period,
because these sediments are composed of calcium
carbonate shells of marine organisms, shells that
were constructed with oxygen atoms drawn from
the surrounding ocean. The higher the ratio of
(30) oxygen 18 to oxygen 16 in a sedimentary specimen,
the more land ice there was when the sediment
was laid down.
As an indicator of shifts in the Earth’s climate,
the isotope record has two advantages. First, it is
(35) a global record: there is remarkably little variation
in isotope ratios in sedimentary specimens taken
from different continental locations. Second, it is
a more continuous record than that taken from
rocks on land. Because of these advantages,
(40) sedimentary evidence can be dated with sufficient
accuracy by radiometric methods to establish a
precise chronology of the ice ages. The dated
isotope record shows that the fluctuations in
global ice volume over the past several hundred
(45) thousand years have a pattern: an ice age occurs
roughly once every 100,000 years. These data have
established a strong connection between variations
in the Earth’s orbit and the periodicity of the ice
ages.
(50) However, it is important to note that other
factors, such as volcanic particulates or variations
in the amount of sunlight received by the Earth,
could potentially have affected the climate. The
advantage of the Milankovitch theory is that it
(55) is testable; changes in the Earth’s orbit can be
calculated and dated by applying Newton’s laws
of gravity to progressively earlier configurations
of the bodies in the solar system. Yet the lack of
information about other possible factors affecting
(60) global climate does not make them unimportant.
Questions 63–68 refer to the passage above.
In the passage, the author is primarily interested in
The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the Milankovitch theory?
It can be inferred from the passage that the isotope record taken from ocean sediments would be less useful to researchers if which of the following were true?
According to the passage, which of the following is true of the ratios of oxygen isotopes in ocean sediments?
It can be inferred from the passage that precipitation formed from evaporated ocean water has
It can be inferred from the passage that calcium carbonate shells
Line Two works published in 1984 demonstrate
contrasting approaches to writing the history of
United States women. Buel and Buel’s biography of
Mary Fish (1736–1818) makes little effort to place
(5) her story in the context of recent historiography on
women. Lebsock, meanwhile, attempts not only to
write the history of women in one southern
community, but also to redirect two decades of
historiographical debate as to whether women
(10) gained or lost status in the nineteenth century as
compared with the eighteenth century. Although
both books offer the reader the opportunity to
assess this controversy regarding women’s status,
only Lebsock’s deals with it directly. She examines
(15) several different aspects of women’s status, helping
to refine and resolve the issues. She concludes that
while women gained autonomy in some areas,
especially in the private sphere, they lost it in many
aspects of the economic sphere. More importantly,
(20) she shows that the debate itself depends on frame
of reference: in many respects, women lost power
in relation to men, for example, as certain jobs
(delivering babies, supervising schools) were taken
over by men. Yet women also gained power in
(25) comparison with their previous status, owning a
higher proportion of real estate, for example. In
contrast, Buel and Buel’s biography provides ample
raw material for questioning the myth, fostered by
some historians, of a colonial golden age in the
(30) eighteenth century but does not give the reader
much guidance in analyzing the controversy over
women’s status.
Questions 69–74 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
The author of the passage mentions the supervision of schools primarily in order to
With which of the following characterizations of Lebsock’s contribution to the controversy concerning women’s status in the nineteenth-century United States would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?
According to the passage, Lebsock’s work differs from Buel and Buel’s work in that Lebsock’s work
The passage suggests that Lebsock believes that compared to nineteenth-century American women, eighteenth-century American women were
The passage suggests that Buel and Buel’s biography of Mary Fish provides evidence for which of the following views of women’s history?
Line It was once believed that the brain was
independent of metabolic processes occurring
elsewhere in the body. In recent studies, however,
we have discovered that the production and release
(5) in brain neurons of the neurotransmitter serotonin
(neurotransmitters are compounds that neurons use
to transmit signals to other cells) depend directly on
the food that the body processes.
Our first studies sought to determine whether
(10) the increase in serotonin observed in rats given
a large injection of the amino acid tryptophan
might also occur after rats ate meals that change
tryptophan levels in the blood. We found that,
immediately after the rats began to eat, parallel
(15) elevations occurred in blood tryptophan, brain
tryptophan, and brain serotonin levels. These
findings suggested that the production and release
of serotonin in brain neurons were normally coupled
with blood-tryptophan increases. In later studies we
(20) found that injecting insulin into a rat’s bloodstream
also caused parallel elevations in blood and brain
tryptophan levels and in serotonin levels. We then
decided to see whether the secretion of the animal’s
own insulin similarly affected serotonin production.
(25) We gave the rats a carbohydrate-containing meal
that we knew would elicit insulin secretion. As we
had hypothesized, the blood tryptophan level and
the concentrations of tryptophan and of serotonin
in the brain increased after the meal.
(30) Surprisingly, however, when we added a large
amount of protein to the meal, brain tryptophan
and serotonin levels fell. Since protein contains
tryptophan, why should it depress brain tryptophan
levels? The answer lies in the mechanism that
(35) provides blood tryptophan to the brain cells. This
same mechanism also provides the brain cells with
other amino acids found in protein, such as tyrosine
and leucine. The consumption of protein increases
blood concentration of the other amino acids much
(40) more, proportionately, than it does that of tryptophan.
The more protein is in a meal, the lower is the ratio
of the resulting blood-tryptophan concentration to
the concentration of competing amino acids, and
the more slowly is tryptophan provided to the brain.
(45) Thus the more protein in a meal, the less serotonin
subsequently produced and released.
Questions 75–83 refer to the passage above.
Which of the following titles best summarizes the contents of the passage?
According to the passage, the speed with which tryptophan is provided to the brain cells of a rat varies with the
According to the passage, when the authors began their first studies, they were aware that
According to the passage, one reason that the authors gave rats carbohydrates was to
According to the passage, the more protein a rat consumes, the lower will be the
The authors’ discussion of the “mechanism that provides blood tryptophan to the brain cells” (lines 34–35) is meant to
According to the passage, an injection of insulin was most similar in its effect on rats to an injection of
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would be LEAST likely to be a potential source of aid to a patient who was not adequately producing and releasing serotonin?
It can be inferred from the passage that the authors initially held which of the following hypotheses about what would happen when they fed large amounts of protein to rats?
Line Acting on the recommendation of a British
government committee investigating the high
incidence in white lead factories of illness among
employees, most of whom were women, the Home
(5) Secretary proposed in 1895 that Parliament enact
legislation that would prohibit women from holding
most jobs in white lead factories. Although the
Women’s Industrial Defence Committee (WIDC),
formed in 1892 in response to earlier legislative
(10) attempts to restrict women’s labor, did not discount
the white lead trade’s potential health dangers, it
opposed the proposal, viewing it as yet another
instance of limiting women’s work opportunities.
Also opposing the proposal was the Society for
(15) Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW),
which attempted to challenge it by investigating the
causes of illness in white lead factories. SPEW
contended, and WIDC concurred, that controllable
conditions in such factories were responsible for the
(20) development of lead poisoning. SPEW provided
convincing evidence that lead poisoning could be
avoided if workers were careful and clean and if
already extant workplace safety regulations were
stringently enforced. However, the Women’s Trade
(25) Union League (WTUL), which had ceased in the late
1880s to oppose restrictions on women’s labor,
supported the eventually enacted proposal, in part
because safety regulations were generally not being
enforced in white lead factories, where there were
(30) no unions (and little prospect of any) to pressure
employers to comply with safety regulations.
Questions 84–86 refer to the passage above.
The passage suggests that WIDC differed from WTUL in which of the following ways?
Which of the following, if true, would most clearly support the contention attributed to SPEW in lines 17–20?
The passage is primarily concerned with
Line In 1955 Maurice Duverger published The
Political Role of Women, the first behavioralist,
multinational comparison of women’s electoral
participation ever to use election data and survey
(5) data together. His study analyzed women’s patterns
of voting, political candidacy, and political activism
in four European countries during the first half of
the twentieth century. Duverger’s research findings
were that women voted somewhat less frequently
(10) than men (the difference narrowing the longer
women had the vote) and were slightly more
conservative.
Duverger’s work set an early standard for the
sensitive analysis of women’s electoral activities.
(15) Moreover, to Duverger’s credit, he placed his
findings in the context of many of the historical
processes that had shaped these activities.
However, since these contexts have changed
over time, Duverger’s approach has proved more
(20) durable than his actual findings. In addition,
Duverger’s discussion of his findings was hampered
by his failure to consider certain specific factors
important to women’s electoral participation
at the time he collected his data: the influence
(25) of political regimes, the effects of economic
factors, and the ramifications of political and
social relations between women and men. Given
this failure, Duverger’s study foreshadowed the
enduring limitations of the behavioralist approach
(30) to the multinational study of women’s political
participation.
Questions 87–92 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
According to the passage, Duverger’s study was unique in 1955 in that it
Which of the following characteristics of a country is most clearly an example of a factor that Duverger, as described in the passage, failed to consider in his study?
The author implies that Duverger’s actual findings are
The passage implies that, in comparing four European countries, Duverger found that the voting rates of women and men were most different in the country in which women
The author implies that some behavioralist research involving the multinational study of women’s political participation that followed Duverger’s study did which of the following?
Line The majority of successful senior managers do
not closely follow the classical rational model of first
clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating
options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a
(5) decision, and only then taking action to implement
the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical
maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is
vaguely termed “intuition” to manage a network of
interrelated problems that require them to deal with
(10) ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise; and
to integrate action into the process of thinking.
Generations of writers on management have
recognized that some practicing managers rely
heavily on intuition. In general, however, such
(15) writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is.
Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others
view it as an excuse for capriciousness.
Isenberg’s recent research on the cognitive
processes of senior managers reveals that
(20) managers’ intuition is neither of these. Rather,
senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct
ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem
exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to
perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This
(25) intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based
on years of painstaking practice and hands-on
experience that build skills. A third function of
intuition is to synthesize isolated bits of data and
practice into an integrated picture, often in
(30) an “Aha!” experience. Fourth, some managers use
intuition as a check on the results of more rational
analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with
the formal decision analysis models and tools,
and those who use such systematic methods
(35) for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of
solutions suggested by these methods which run
counter to their sense of the correct course of
action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass
in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a
(40) plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an
almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a
manager recognizes familiar patterns.
One of the implications of the intuitive style
of executive management is that “thinking” is
(45) inseparable from acting. Since managers often “know”
what is right before they can analyze and explain it,
they frequently act first and explain later. Analysis is
inextricably tied to action in thinking/acting cycles,
in which managers develop thoughts about their
(50) companies and organizations not by analyzing a
problematic situation and then acting, but by acting
and analyzing in close concert. Given the great
uncertainty of many of the management issues that
they face, senior managers often instigate a course
(55) of action simply to learn more about an issue.
They then use the results of the action to develop
a more complete understanding of the issue. One
implication of thinking/acting cycles is that action
is often part of defining the problem, not just of
(60) implementing the solution.
Questions 93–98 refer to the passage above.
According to the passage, senior managers use intuition in all of the following ways EXCEPT to
The passage suggests which of the following about the “writers on management” mentioned in line 12?
Which of the following best exemplifies “an ‘Aha!’ experience” (line 30) as it is presented in the passage?
According to the passage, the classical model of decision analysis includes all of the following EXCEPT
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would most probably be one major difference in behavior between Manager X, who uses intuition to reach decisions, and Manager Y, who uses only formal decision analysis?
The passage provides support for which of the following statements?
Line Frazier and Mosteller assert that medical
research could be improved by a move toward
larger, simpler clinical trials of medical treatments.
Currently, researchers collect far more background
(5) information on patients than is strictly required for
their trials—substantially more than hospitals
collect—thereby escalating costs of data
collection, storage, and analysis. Although limiting
information collection could increase the risk that
(10) researchers will overlook facts relevant to a study,
Frazier and Mosteller contend that such risk, never
entirely eliminable from research, would still be
small in most studies. Only in research on entirely
new treatments are new and unexpected variables
(15) likely to arise.
Frazier and Mosteller propose not only that
researchers limit data collection on individual
patients but also that researchers enroll more
patients in clinical trials, thereby obtaining a more
(20) representative sample of the total population with
the disease under study. Often researchers restrict
study participation to patients who have no
ailments besides those being studied. A treatment
judged successful under these ideal conditions can
(25) then be evaluated under normal conditions.
Broadening the range of trial participants, Frazier
and Mosteller suggest, would enable researchers to
evaluate a treatment’s efficacy for diverse patients
under various conditions and to evaluate its
(30) effectiveness for different patient subgroups. For
example, the value of a treatment for a progressive
disease may vary according to a patient’s stage of
disease. Patients’ ages may also affect a
treatment’s efficacy.
Questions 99–103 refer to the passage above.
The passage is primarily concerned with
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about a study of the category of patients referred to in lines 21–23?
It can be inferred from the passage that a study limited to patients like those mentioned in lines 21–23 would have which of the following advantages over the kind of study proposed by Frazier and Mosteller?
The author mentions patients’ ages (line 33) primarily in order to
According to the passage, which of the following describes a result of the way in which researchers generally conduct clinical trials?
Line According to a recent theory, Archean-age
gold-quartz vein systems were formed more than
two billion years ago from magmatic fluids that
originated from molten granite-like bodies deep
(5) beneath the surface of the Earth. This theory is
contrary to the widely held view that the systems
were deposited from metamorphic fluids, that is,
from fluids that formed during the dehydration of
wet sedimentary rocks.
(10) The recently developed theory has considerable
practical importance. Most of the gold deposits
discovered during the original gold rushes were
exposed at the Earth’s surface and were found
because they had shed trails of alluvial gold
(15) that were easily traced by simple prospecting
methods. Although these same methods still lead
to an occasional discovery, most deposits not yet
discovered have gone undetected because they are
buried and have no surface expression.
(20) The challenge in exploration is therefore to
unravel the subsurface geology of an area and
pinpoint the position of buried minerals. Methods
widely used today include analysis of aerial images
that yield a broad geological overview; geophysical
(25) techniques that provide data on the magnetic,
electrical, and mineralogical properties of the
rocks being investigated; and sensitive chemical
tests that are able to detect the subtle chemical
halos that often envelop mineralization. However,
(30) none of these high-technology methods are of any
value if the sites to which they are applied have
never mineralized, and to maximize the chances of
discovery the explorer must therefore pay particular
attention to selecting the ground formations most
(35) likely to be mineralized. Such ground selection relies
to varying degrees on conceptual models, which
take into account theoretical studies of relevant
factors.
These models are constructed primarily from
(40) empirical observations of known mineral deposits
and from theories of ore-forming processes.
The explorer uses the models to identify those
geological features that are critical to the formation
of the mineralization being modeled, and then tries
(45) to select areas for exploration that exhibit as many
of the critical features as possible.
Questions 104–110 refer to the passage above.
The author is primarily concerned with
According to the passage, the widely held view of Archean-age gold-quartz vein systems is that such systems
The passage implies that which of the following steps would be the first performed by explorers who wish to maximize their chances of discovering gold?
Which of the following statements about discoveries of gold deposits is supported by information in the passage?
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is easiest to detect?
The theory mentioned in lines 1–5 relates to the conceptual models discussed in the passage in which of the following ways?
According to the passage, methods of exploring for gold that are widely used today are based on which of the following facts?
Line While the most abundant and dominant species
within a particular ecosystem is often crucial in
perpetuating the ecosystem, a “keystone” species,
here defined as one whose effects are much larger
(5) than would be predicted from its abundance, can
also play a vital role. But because complex species
interactions may be involved, identifying a keystone
species by removing the species and observing
changes in the ecosystem is problematic. It might
(10) seem that certain traits would clearly define a
species as a keystone species; for example,
Pisaster ochraceus is often a keystone predator
because it consumes and suppresses mussel
populations, which in the absence of this starfish
(15) can be a dominant species. But such predation on a
dominant or potentially dominant species occurs in
systems that do as well as in systems that do not
have species that play keystone roles. Moreover,
whereas P. ochraceus occupies an unambiguous
(20) keystone role on wave-exposed rocky headlands, in
more wave-sheltered habitats the impact of
P. ochraceus predation is weak or nonexistent, and
at certain sites sand burial is responsible for
eliminating mussels. Keystone status appears to
(25) depend on context, whether of particular
geography or of such factors as community
diversity (for example, a reduction in species
diversity may thrust more of the remaining species
into keystone roles) and length of species
(30) interaction (since newly arrived species in particular
may dramatically affect ecosystems).
Questions 111–114 refer to the passage above.
The passage mentions which of the following as a factor that affects the role of P. ochraceus as a keystone species within different habitats?
Which of the following hypothetical experiments most clearly exemplifies the method of identifying species’ roles that the author considers problematic?
Which of the following, if true, would most clearly support the argument about keystone status advanced in the last sentence of the passage (lines 24–31)?
The passage suggests which of the following about the identification of a species as a keystone species?
Line After evidence was obtained in the 1920s that
the universe is expanding, it became reasonable
to ask: Will the universe continue to expand
indefinitely, or is there enough mass in it for the
(5) mutual attraction of its constituents to bring this
expansion to a halt? It can be calculated that
the critical density of matter needed to brake the
expansion and “close” the universe is equivalent
to three hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. But the
(10) density of the observable universe—luminous matter
in the form of galaxies—comes to only a fraction
of this. If the expansion of the universe is to stop,
there must be enough invisible matter in the
universe to exceed the luminous matter in density
(15) by a factor of roughly 70.
Our contribution to the search for this “missing
matter” has been to study the rotational velocity
of galaxies at various distances from their center
of rotation. It has been known for some time that
(20) outside the bright nucleus of a typical spiral galaxy
luminosity falls off rapidly with distance from the
center. If luminosity were a true indicator of mass,
most of the mass would be concentrated toward
the center. Outside the nucleus the rotational
(25) velocity would decrease geometrically with distance
from the center, in conformity with Kepler’s law.
Instead we have found that the rotational velocity
in spiral galaxies either remains constant with
increasing distance from the center or increases
(30) slightly. This unexpected result indicates that the
falloff in luminous mass with distance from the
center is balanced by an increase in nonluminous
mass.
Our findings suggest that as much as 90
(35) percent of the mass of the universe is not radiating
at any wavelength with enough intensity to be
detected on the Earth. Such dark matter could be
in the form of extremely dim stars of low mass,
of large planets like Jupiter, or of black holes,
(40) either small or massive. While it has not yet been
determined whether this mass is sufficient to
close the universe, some physicists consider it
significant that estimates are converging on the
critical value.
Questions 115–119 refer to the passage above.
The passage is primarily concerned with
The authors’ study indicates that, in comparison with the outermost regions of a typical spiral galaxy, the region just outside the nucleus can be characterized as having
The authors’ suggestion that “as much as 90 percent of the mass of the universe is not radiating at any wavelength with enough intensity to be detected on the Earth” (lines 34–37) would be most weakened if which of the following were discovered to be true?
It can be inferred from information presented in the passage that if the density of the universe were equivalent to significantly less than three hydrogen atoms per cubic meter, which of the following would be true as a consequence?
The authors propose all of the following as possibly contributing to the “missing matter” in spiral galaxies EXCEPT
Line Jon Clark’s study of the effect of the
modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange
maintenance work and workers is a solid
contribution to a debate that encompasses two
(5) lively issues in the history and sociology of
technology: technological determinism and social
constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a
technology have a decisive influence on job skills
(10) and work organization. Put more strongly,
technology can be a primary determinant of social
and managerial organization. Clark believes this
possibility has been obscured by the recent
sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman’s
(15) analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery
reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate to the
manager’s desire to wrest control of the labor
process from the workers. Technological change is
(20) construed as the outcome of negotiations among
interested parties who seek to incorporate their own
interests into the design and configuration of the
machinery. This position represents the new
mainstream called social constructivism.
(25) The constructivists gain acceptance by
misrepresenting technological determinism:
technological determinists are supposed to believe,
for example, that machinery imposes appropriate
forms of order on society. The alternative to
(30) constructivism, in other words, is to view technology
as existing outside society, capable of directly
influencing skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists
by both theoretical and empirical arguments.
(35) Theoretically he defines “technology” in terms of
relationships between social and technical variables.
Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to
cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is
just scrap unless it is organized functionally and
(40) supported by appropriate systems of operation and
maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how
a change at the telephone exchange from
maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches
to semielectronic switching systems altered work
(45) tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration,
and organization of workers. Some changes Clark
attributes to the particular way management and
labor unions negotiated the introduction of the
technology, whereas others are seen as arising from
(50) the capabilities and nature of the technology itself.
Thus Clark helps answer the question: “When is
social choice decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more important?”
Questions 120–127 refer to the passage above.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is supported by information in the passage?
Which of the following most accurately describes Clark’s opinion of Braverman’s position?
The information in the passage suggests that which of the following statements from hypothetical sociological studies of change in industry most clearly exemplifies the social constructivists’ version of technological determinism?
The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?
According to the passage, constructivists employed which of the following to promote their argument?
The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in line 27 primarily in order to
Which of the following statements about Clark’s study of the telephone exchange can be inferred from information in the passage?
Line All the cells in a particular plant start out with
the same complement of genes. How then can
these cells differentiate and form structures as
different as roots, stems, leaves, and fruits? The
(5) answer is that only a small subset of the genes in a
particular kind of cell are expressed, or turned on,
at a given time. This is accomplished by a complex
system of chemical messengers that in plants
include hormones and other regulatory molecules.
(10) Five major hormones have been identified: auxin,
abscisic acid, cytokinin, ethylene, and gibberellin.
Studies of plants have now identified a new class of
regulatory molecules called oligosaccharins.
Unlike the oligosaccharins, the five well-known
(15) plant hormones are pleiotropic rather than specific;
that is, each has more than one effect on the
growth and development of plants. The five have
so many simultaneous effects that they are not
very useful in artificially controlling the growth of
(20) crops. Auxin, for instance, stimulates the rate of
cell elongation, causes shoots to grow up and roots
to grow down, and inhibits the growth of lateral
shoots. Auxin also causes the plant to develop a
vascular system, to form lateral roots, and to
(25) produce ethylene.
The pleiotropy of the five well-studied plant
hormones is somewhat analogous to that of certain
hormones in animals. For example, hormones from
the hypothalamus in the brain stimulate the anterior
(30) lobe of the pituitary gland to synthesize and release
many different hormones, one of which stimulates
the release of hormones from the adrenal cortex.
These hormones have specific effects on target
organs all over the body. One hormone stimulates
(35) the thyroid gland, for example, another the ovarian
follicle cells, and so forth. In other words, there is a
hierarchy of hormones.
Such a hierarchy may also exist in plants. Oligosaccharins
are fragments of the cell wall released
(40) by enzymes: different enzymes release different
oligosaccharins. There are indications that pleiotropic
plant hormones may actually function by activating
the enzymes that release these other, more specific
chemical messengers from the cell wall.
Questions 128–133 refer to the passage above.
According to the passage, the five well-known plant hormones are not useful in controlling the growth of crops because
The passage suggests that the place of hypothalamic hormones in the hormonal hierarchies of animals is similar to the place of which of the following in plants?
The passage suggests that which of the following is a function likely to be performed by an oligosaccharin?
The author mentions specific effects that auxin has on plant development in order to illustrate the
According to the passage, which of the following best describes a function performed by oligosaccharins?
The passage suggests that, unlike the pleiotropic hormones, oligosaccharins could be used effectively to
Line In the two decades between 1910 and 1930,
more than ten percent of the black population
of the United States left the South, where the
preponderance of the black population had been
(5) located, and migrated to northern states, with the
largest number moving, it is claimed, between 1916
and 1918. It has been frequently assumed, but not
proved, that the majority of the migrants in
what has come to be called the Great Migration
(10) came from rural areas and were motivated by two
concurrent factors: the collapse of the cotton
industry following the boll weevil infestation, which
began in 1898, and increased demand in the North
for labor following the cessation of European
(15) immigration caused by the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914. This assumption has led to
the conclusion that the migrants’ subsequent lack
of economic mobility in the North is tied to rural
background, a background that implies unfamiliarity
(20) with urban living and a lack of industrial skills.
But the question of who actually left the South
has never been rigorously investigated. Although
numerous investigations document an exodus from
rural southern areas to southern cities prior to the
(25) Great Migration, no one has considered whether the
same migrants then moved on to northern cities.
In 1910 more than 600,000 black workers, or ten
percent of the black workforce, reported themselves
to be engaged in “manufacturing and mechanical
(30) pursuits,” the federal census category roughly
encompassing the entire industrial sector. The Great
Migration could easily have been made up entirely
of this group and their families. It is perhaps
surprising to argue that an employed population
(35) could be enticed to move, but an explanation lies in
the labor conditions then prevalent in the South.
About thirty-five percent of the urban black
population in the South was engaged in skilled
trades. Some were from the old artisan class of
(40) slavery—blacksmiths, masons, carpenters—which
had had a monopoly of certain trades, but they
were gradually being pushed out by competition,
mechanization, and obsolescence. The remaining
sixty-five percent, more recently urbanized, worked in
(45) newly developed industries—tobacco, lumber, coal
and iron manufacture, and railroads. Wages in
the South, however, were low, and black workers
were aware, through labor recruiters and the black
press, that they could earn more even as unskilled
(50) workers in the North than they could as artisans
in the South. After the boll weevil infestation,
urban black workers faced competition from the
continuing influx of both black and white rural
workers, who were driven to undercut the wages
(55) formerly paid for industrial jobs. Thus, a move north
would be seen as advantageous to a group that was
already urbanized and steadily employed, and the
easy conclusion tying their subsequent economic
problems in the North to their rural background
(60) comes into question.
Questions 134–139 refer to the passage above.
The author indicates explicitly that which of the following records has been a source of information in her investigation?
In the passage, the author anticipates which of the following as a possible objection to her argument?
According to the passage, which of the following is true of wages in southern cities in 1910?
The author cites each of the following as possible influences in an African American worker’s decision to migrate north in the Great Migration EXCEPT
It can be inferred from the passage that the “easy conclusion” mentioned in line 58 is based on which of the following assumptions?
The primary purpose of the passage is to
| 1. B | 29. C | 57. C | 85. A | 113. B |
| 2. B | 30. B | 58. B | 86. B | 114. D |
| 3. D | 31. C | 59. A | 87. A | 115. C |
| 4. A | 32. B | 60. A | 88. A | 116. D |
| 5. C | 33. D | 61. B | 89. D | 117. A |
| 6. D | 34. B | 62. E | 90. C | 118. C |
| 7. B | 35. E | 63. D | 91. E | 119. D |
| 8. B | 36. C | 64. D | 92. B | 120. C |
| 9. E | 37. C | 65. B | 93. D | 121. C |
| 10. E | 38. E | 66. C | 94. D | 122. B |
| 11. E | 39. A | 67. B | 95. C | 123. A |
| 12. A | 40. D | 68. E | 96. D | 124. B |
| 13. A | 41. A | 69. D | 97. C | 125. D |
| 14. C | 42. B | 70. E | 98. E | 126. A |
| 15. D | 43. A | 71. B | 99. D | 127. C |
| 16. B | 44. A | 72. D | 100. A | 128. B |
| 17. B | 45. C | 73. C | 101. C | 129. D |
| 18. B | 46. B | 74. C | 102. D | 130. A |
| 19. B | 47. E | 75. E | 103. A | 131. E |
| 20. B | 48. E | 76. A | 104. B | 132. E |
| 21. A | 49. A | 77. E | 105. A | 133. C |
| 22. D | 50. A | 78. C | 106. C | 134. D |
| 23. E | 51. D | 79. B | 107. B | 135. C |
| 24. D | 52. B | 80. C | 108. D | 136. A |
| 25. A | 53. C | 81. D | 109. A | 137. D |
| 26. C | 54. C | 82. A | 110. C | 138. C |
| 27. B | 55. E | 83. A | 111. A | 139. D |
| 28. A | 56. D | 84. E | 112. C |
The following discussion of reading comprehension is intended to familiarize you with the most efficient and effective approaches to the kinds of problems common to reading comprehension. The particular questions in this chapter are generally representative of the kinds of reading comprehension questions you will encounter on the GMAT exam. Remember that it is the problem solving strategy that is important, not the specific details of a particular question.