For the Reading Comprehension section, it is a good idea to read the first paragraphs of the passage carefully and skim over the rest to gather central idea and the thought flow. Look out for typically misleading options using extreme words like always or never and eliminate these quickly.

College Notepad : Article : GMAT preparation tips

Answers with EXPLANATIONS please
Kindly summarise the ESSENCE, if somebody can
Thanks.

Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as fronts with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becomingand remainingdependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies
(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks
(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem
(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement
(E) explore the implications of a finding

2. The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?
(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?
(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as fronts by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?
(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?
(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3. According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy
(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors
(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations
(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers
(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5. The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding
(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation
(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation
(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns
(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6. It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by some federal and local agencies (lines 14-15) are
(A) more popular with large corporations
(B) more specific
(C) less controversial
(D) less expensive to enforce
(E) easier to comply with

7. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the authors assertion that, in the 1970s, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial
(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.
(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.
(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.
(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of front organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980s.
(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970s made substantial response impossible.

hi friends,
i need some suggestions:

I am doing RC from OG Verbal these days and finding it quite difficult....the accuracy is almost 50%. it was not that bad when i did OG 12.
i feel, even though the passage looks small and easy to understand, the questions it has are even more difficult to understand.

I am really disappointed with my RC and it is daunting me.
i have already booked the date of gmat:6th dec.
i have almost no confidence while solving RCs.

guys please suggest something...

I will go with option B. First para talks about huv TQM can work with other 2 management systems whereas second para talks about huv TQM is a tad diff from other 2 management systems.

-Deepak.

The OA is C. Even I marked B.
Can someone explain.

Gail.Wynand Says

Attached is a RC question from MBA.com GMATPrep test. Please post your explanations.

I will go with option B. First para talks about huv TQM can work with other 2 management systems whereas second para talks about huv TQM is a tad diff from other 2 management systems.

-Deepak.

Attached is a RC question from MBA.com GMATPrep test. Please post your explanations.

No takers yet ???

Answers with EXPLANATIONS please :)
Kindly summarise the ESSENCE, if somebody can :)
Thanks.
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as fronts with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becomingand remainingdependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

1.The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies
(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks
(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem
(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement
(E) explore the implications of a finding

2.The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?
(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?
(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as fronts by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?
(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?
(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3.According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy
(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors
(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations
(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers
(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4.The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5.The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding
(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation
(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation
(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns
(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6.It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by some federal and local agencies (lines 14-15) are
(A) more popular with large corporations
(B) more specific
(C) less controversial
(D) less expensive to enforce
(E) easier to comply with

7.Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the authors assertion that, in the 1970s, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial
(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.
(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.
(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.
(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8.The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of front organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980s.
(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970s made substantial response impossible.

Good tips Mukul...
I feel that GMAT is just the first stop in the journey, not the destination itself.
Therefore, just following a set of steps and rehearsing them for a short period of time isnt really the best thing. Make reading and writing a habit, so that you are prepared for the challenges which pose themselves in days, months or even years ahead.

I am also taking the GMAT in another 3 days....having prepared for almost a month now...

And to make myself comfortable with passages, essays and to be able to focus more, i have resorted to blogging. I do feel that along with reading newspapers, journals, magazines and novels, blogging is an awesome method of improving ones vocabulary, critical reasoning, concentration and patience.

Am also writing few lines about my preparation on my blogpage. Link to it is given below :
Insomnia

No takers???

Answers with EXPLANATIONS please :)
Kindly summarise the ESSENCE, if somebody can :)
Thanks.
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as fronts with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becomingand remainingdependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

1.The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies
(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks
(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem
(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement
(E) explore the implications of a finding

2.The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?
(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?
(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as fronts by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?
(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?
(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3.According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy
(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors
(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations
(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers
(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4.The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5.The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding
(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation
(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation
(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns
(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6.It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by some federal and local agencies (lines 14-15) are
(A) more popular with large corporations
(B) more specific
(C) less controversial
(D) less expensive to enforce
(E) easier to comply with

7.Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the authors assertion that, in the 1970s, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial
(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.
(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.
(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.
(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8.The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of front organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980s.
(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970s made substantial response impossible.

Answers with EXPLANATIONS please :)
Kindly summarise the ESSENCE, if somebody can :)
Thanks.
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as fronts with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becomingand remainingdependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

1.The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies
(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks
(C) propose a temporary solution to a problem
(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement
(E) explore the implications of a finding

2.The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contracts?
(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?
(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as fronts by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?
(D) How many more minority-owned businesses were there in 1977 than in 1972?
(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?

3.According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy
(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors
(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations
(D) not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers
(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power

4.The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts

5.The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding
(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation
(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation
(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns
(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns

6.It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by some federal and local agencies (lines 14-15) are
(A) more popular with large corporations
(B) more specific
(C) less controversial
(D) less expensive to enforce
(E) easier to comply with

7.Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the authors assertion that, in the 1970s, corporate response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial
(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.
(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.
(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.
(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.

8.The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of front organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980s.
(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970s made substantial response impossible.

sharma_vaibhav Says

i have been practising Gmat RC from OG and verbal review but my success ratio is less than 50% (can't get more than 2-3 question ryt)...what should i do to improve upon this part....also what should be the average time to complete an RC

Hi sharma_vaibhav,

When are you appearing for GMAT? How much do you read otherwise, I mean are you an avid novel reader, read newspaper throughly or if needed only work related stuff ?

If you have time on your side , I would suggest you start reading some novels that interest you and then move on to some dense ones. Some classic novels(such as The fountain head, Atlas shrugged) are pretty good read for GMAT.

For a decent size passage (mean 3-4 paragraph each 4 sentences ) I used to take upto 2-3 minutes to read and then 1-2 min per question after that.

Hope that helps.

Regards

One easy way that I use for timing RC questions is: Total Time for 1 passage = number of questions * 2 mins.
I think I read this in the manhattan guide. There can be more fine-grained planning about how to divide the time between reading the passage and reading the questions... Hope this helps.

i have been practising Gmat RC from OG and verbal review but my success ratio is less than 50% (can't get more than 2-3 question ryt)...what should i do to improve upon this part....also what should be the average time to complete an RC

Try the below RC:



At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were

OA for the above RC..Sorry for the delay.

1.D
2.C
3.A
4.E
5.C
6.B
7.C
8.A


-Deepak.

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me whether Kaplan premier 2010-11 with CD is useful? I'm looking for tough CR & RC questions for better practice. Will this book be helpful? Does it have 700-800 type questions in verbal? I found 1000 RC & 1000 CR quite easy.

Also,I've given a couple of Manhattan GMAT tests and wanted to know how easy/difficult its verbal is from actual GMAT tests. I've scored 670 & 710 in these tests and with 35 & 40 in verbal respectively. I know that its quant is tough, so 47 & 48 in quant is manageable.But verbal is a concern. Can anyone give his/her inputs?

Thanks in advance,
rish

Here are the OA for the above passage


1. D
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. A


-Deepak.

Why the answer for 7th Q. is A
I believe it should be E as it is mentioned that their metabolism rate is high to manage body heat. E can be drawn as a inference

Hi Deepakraam,
Plz post the OA...

Hi All,

I'm looking for some challenging questions in RC. Can anyone suggest where can I get it from?
Searched the net, but din find much info.

Thanks in advance,
rish

1.E
2.D
3.A
4.D
5.C
6.C
7.B
8.D

Pls post OAs. then will post the explanations

Try the below RC:



At the end of the nineteenth century, a rising interest in Native American customs and an increasing desire to understand Native American culture prompted ethnologists to begin recording the life stories of Native American. Ethnologists had a distinct reason for wanting to hear the stories: they were after linguistic or anthropological data that would supplement their own field observations, and they believed that the personal stories, even of a single individual, could increase their understanding of the cultures that they had been observing from without. In addition many ethnologists at the turn of the century believed that Native American manners and customs were rapidly disappearing, and that it was important to preserve for posterity as much information as could be adequately recorded before the cultures disappeared forever.
There were, however, arguments against this method as a way of acquiring accurate and complete information. Franz Boas, for example, described autobiographies as being "of limited value, and useful chiefly for the study of the perversion of truth by memory," while Paul Radin contended that investigators rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing, and inevitably derived results too tinged by the investigator's own emotional tone to be reliable.
Even more importantly, as these life stories moved from the traditional oral mode to recorded written form, much was inevitably lost. Editors often decided what elements were significant to the field research on a given tribe. Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English and that events that they thought significant were often deemed unimportant by their interviewers. Indeed, the very act of telling their stories could force Native American narrators to distort their cultures, as taboos had to be broken to speak the names of dead relatives crucial to their family stories.
Despite all of this, autobiography remains a useful tool for ethnological research: such personal reminiscences and impressions, incomplete as they may be, are likely to throw more light on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture.


1.Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) The historical backgrounds of two currently used research methods are chronicled.
(B) The validity of the data collected by using two different research methods is compared.
(C) The usefulness of a research method is questioned and then a new method is proposed.
(D) The use of a research method is described and the limitations of the results obtained are discussed.
(E) A research method is evaluated and the changes necessary for its adaptation to other subject areas are discussed.


2.Which of the following is most similar to the actions of nineteenth-century ethnologists in their editing of the life stories of Native Americans?
(A) A witness in a jury trial invokes the Fifth Amendment in order to avoid relating personally incriminating evidence.
(B) A stockbroker refuses to divulge the source of her information on the possible future increase in a stock's value.
(C) A sports announcer describes the action in a team sport with which he is unfamiliar.
(D) A chef purposely excludes the special ingredient from the recipe of his prizewinning dessert.
(E) A politician fails to mention in a campaign speech the similarities in the positions held by her opponent for political office and by herself.


3.According to the passage, collecting life stories can be a useful methodology because
(A) life stories provide deeper insights into a culture than the hypothesizing of academics who are not members of that culture
(B) life stories can be collected easily and they are not subject to invalid interpretations
(C) ethnologists have a limited number of research methods from which to choose
(D) life stories make it easy to distinguish between the important and unimportant features of a culture
(E) the collection of life stories does not require a culturally knowledgeable investigator


4.Information in the passage suggests that which of the following may be a possible way to eliminate bias in the editing of life stories?
(A) Basing all inferences made about the culture on an ethnological theory
(B) Eliminating all of the emotion-laden information reported by the informant
(C) Translating the informant's words into the researcher's language
(D) Reducing the number of questions and carefully specifying the content of the questions that the investigator can ask the informant
(E) Reporting all of the information that the informant provides regardless of the investigator's personal opinion about its intrinsic value


5.The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
(A) question an explanation
(B) correct a misconception
(C) critique a methodology
(D) discredit an idea
(E) clarify an ambiguity


6.It can be inferred from the passage that a characteristic of the ethnological research on Native Americans conducted during the nineteenth century was the use of which of the following?
(A) Investigators familiar with the culture under study
(B) A language other than the informant's for recording life stories
(C) Life stories as the ethnologist's primary source of information
(D) Complete transcriptions of informants' descriptions of tribal beliefs
(E) Stringent guidelines for the preservation of cultural data


7.The passage mentions which of the following as a factor that can affect the accuracy of ethnologists' transcriptions of life stories?
(A) The informants' social standing within the culture
(B) The inclusiveness of the theory that provided the basis for the research
(C) The length of time the researchers spent in the culture under study
(D) The number of life stories collected by the researchers
(E) The verifiability of the information provided by the research informants


8.It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the usefulness of life stories as a source of ethnographic information?
(A) They can be a source of information about how people in a culture view the world.
(B) They are most useful as a source of linguistic information.
(C) They require editing and interpretation before they can be useful.
(D) They are most useful as a source of information about ancestry.
(E) They provide incidental information rather than significant insights into a way of life.

Try this RC:


The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures werereptiles or birdsare among the questions scientists have puzzled over.

Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animals body.
The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs hind feet resembled a bats and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the
(A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances
(B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats
(C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight
(D) pterosaurs were reptiles Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles.
(E) pterosaurs walked on all fours
2. The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as
(A) revolutionary
(B) unlikely The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.
(C) unassailable
(D) probable
(E) outdated
3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the
(A) size of its wingspan
(B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones
(C) anatomic origin of its wing strut The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds.
(D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet
(E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
4. The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the passage suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) An animals brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.
(B) An animals appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. Since the animal modifed it's hair/body whatever it gives an idea regarding the fact that environmental factors affect
(C) Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.
(D) The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.
(E) The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
6. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.
(B) Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented, and each is disputed by means of specific information. This looks pretty simple ..3 hypothesis' are given and then each of them is disputed.
(C) Three hypotheses are outlined, and evidence supporting each is given.
(D) Recent discoveries are described, and their implications for future study are projected.
(E) A summary of the material in the preceding paragraphs is presented, and conclusions are drawn.
7. It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water was not very confident on this one, but selected this option as others seemed totally incorrect.
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature


-Deepak.

Could not get the answer for the 5th question, working on it , will let you know once i get the drift. .

Here are the OA for the above passage


1. D
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. A


-Deepak.

Try this RC:


The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures werereptiles or birdsare among the questions scientists have puzzled over.

Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animals body.
The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs hind feet resembled a bats and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the
(A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances
(B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats
(C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight
(D) pterosaurs were reptiles
(E) pterosaurs walked on all fours
2. The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as
(A) revolutionary
(B) unlikely
(C) unassailable
(D) probable
(E) outdated
3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the
(A) size of its wingspan
(B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones
(C) anatomic origin of its wing strut
(D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet
(E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
4. The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the passage suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) An animals brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.
(B) An animals appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities.
(C) Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.
(D) The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.
(E) The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
6. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.
(B) Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented, and each is disputed by means of specific information.
(C) Three hypotheses are outlined, and evidence supporting each is given.
(D) Recent discoveries are described, and their implications for future study are projected.
(E) A summary of the material in the preceding paragraphs is presented, and conclusions are drawn.
7. It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature


-Deepak.

My answers :

1. D
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. D
6. B
7. A


Post the OA's , will explain my reasonings afterwards ..

I searched this reading comprehension on Pagal Guy but didn't find any thing.
Attached is the reading comprehension and the question.

I am not very clear, why the answer is 1st option and not the 3rd option. According to me, 3rd option should be the answer.

Any help will be appreciated.

cool passage, just like those come in real GMAT... damn, i never got such passages in GMATprep even after 6 repeats... anyway,

here financiers are assuming that large deficit will cause inflation and they increase interest rate, but that is not actually happening because "financing the deficit by money supply will cause inflation only when there is no room for economic growth. So 3rd option is wrong. Thesis doesnt have strong support. 1st option rightly conveys that there is some truth to it because usual assumed reasons are problematic as para-3 starts.

hope that helps. not the best explanation but still...

I searched this reading comprehension on Pagal Guy but didn't find any thing.
Attached is the reading comprehension and the question.

I am not very clear, why the answer is 1st option and not the 3rd option. According to me, 3rd option should be the answer.

Any help will be appreciated.

Try this RC:


The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures werereptiles or birdsare among the questions scientists have puzzled over.

Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animals body.
The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs hind feet resembled a bats and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.

1.It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the
(A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances
(B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats
(C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight
(D) pterosaurs were reptiles
(E) pterosaurs walked on all fours
2.The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as
(A) revolutionary
(B) unlikely
(C) unassailable
(D) probable
(E) outdated
3.According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the
(A) size of its wingspan
(B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones
(C) anatomic origin of its wing strut
(D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet
(E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
4.The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the passage suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) An animals brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.
(B) An animals appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities.
(C) Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.
(D) The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.
(E) The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.
5.It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
6.Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.
(B) Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented, and each is disputed by means of specific information.
(C) Three hypotheses are outlined, and evidence supporting each is given.
(D) Recent discoveries are described, and their implications for future study are projected.
(E) A summary of the material in the preceding paragraphs is presented, and conclusions are drawn.
7.It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature


-Deepak.

My Take

1 B
2 B
3 C
4 B
5 D
6 B
7 B

Try this RC:


The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures were-reptiles or birds-are among the questions scientists have puzzled over.

Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animal's body.
The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs' hind feet resembled a bat's and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.

1.It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the
(A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances
(B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats
(C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight
(D) pterosaurs were reptiles
(E) pterosaurs walked on all fours
2.The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as
(A) revolutionary
(B) unlikely
(C) unassailable
(D) probable
(E) outdated
3.According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the
(A) size of its wingspan
(B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones
(C) anatomic origin of its wing strut
(D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet
(E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
4.The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the passage suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) An animal's brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.
(B) An animal's appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities.
(C) Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.
(D) The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.
(E) The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.
5.It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
6.Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.
(B) Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented, and each is disputed by means of specific information.
(C) Three hypotheses are outlined, and evidence supporting each is given.
(D) Recent discoveries are described, and their implications for future study are projected.
(E) A summary of the material in the preceding paragraphs is presented, and conclusions are drawn.
7.It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature


-Deepak.

My take on the above RC


1. E
2. D
3. B
4. C
5. E
6. C
7. E
8. A
9. A

Time taken : 14 mins

-Deepak.

My take


1 E
2 D
3 B
4 C
5 B
6 A
7 E
8 C
9 B

Time taken 15 min

OA's

1.E
2.D
3.B
4.C
5.B
6.A
7.E
8.D
9.A

smokinskull86 Says

How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is one of the most critical yet contentious social policy questions. In many ways, our social statistics exaggerate the degree of hardship. ................

My take


1 E
2 D
3 B
4 C
5 B
6 A
7 E
8 C
9 B

Time taken 15 min

My take on the above RC


1. E
2. D
3. B
4. C
5. E
6. C
7. E
8. A
9. A

Time taken : 14 mins

-Deepak.

How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is one of the most critical yet contentious social policy questions. In many ways, our social statistics exaggerate the degree of hardship. Unemployment does not have the same dire consequences today as it did in the 1930's when most of the unemployed were primary breadwinners, when income and earnings were usually much closer to the margin of subsistence, and when there were no countervailing social programs for those failing in the labor market. Increasing affluence, the rise of families with more than one wage earner, the growing predominance of secondary earners among the unemployed, and improved social welfare protection have unquestionably mitigated the consequences of joblessness. Earnings and income data also overstate the dimensions of hardship. Among the millions with hourly earnings at or below the minimum wage level, the overwhelming majority are from multiple-earner, relatively affluent families. Most of those counted by the poverty statistics are elderly or handicapped or have family responsibilities which keep them out of the labor force, so the poverty statistics are by no means an accurate indicator of labor market pathologies.
Yet there are also many ways our social statistics underestimate the degree of labor-market-related hardship. The unemployment counts exclude the millions of fully employed workers whose wages are so low that their families remain in poverty. Low wages and repeated or prolonged unemployment frequently interact to undermine the capacity for self-support. Since the number experiencing joblessness at some time during the year is several times the number unemployed in any month, those who suffer as a result of forced idleness can equal or exceed average annual unemployment, even though only a minority of the jobless in any month really suffer. For every person counted in the monthly unemployment tallies, there is another working part-time because of the inability to find full-time work, or else outside the labor force but wanting a job. Finally, income transfers in our country have always focused on the elderly, disabled, and dependent, neglecting the needs of the working poor, so that the dramatic expansion of cash and in-kind transfers does not necessarily mean that those failing in the labor market are adequately protected.
As a result of such contradictory evidence, it is uncertain whether those suffering seriously as a result of labor market problems number in the hundreds of thousands or the tens of millions, and, hence, whether high levels of joblessness can be tolerated or must be countered by job creation and economic stimulus. There is only one area of agreement in this debate-that the existing poverty, employment, and earnings statistics are inadequate for one their primary applications, measuring the consequences of labor market problems.


1. Which of the following is the principal topic of the passage?
(A) What causes labor market pathologies that result in suffering
(B) Why income measures are imprecise in measuring degrees of poverty
(C) Which of the currently used statistical procedures are the best for estimating the incidence of hardship that is due to unemployment
(D) Where the areas of agreement are among poverty, employment, and earnings figures
(E) How social statistics give an unclear picture of the degree of hardship caused by low wages and insufficient employment opportunities
2. The author uses "labor market problems" in lines 1-2 to refer to which of the following?
(A) The overall causes of poverty
(B) Deficiencies in the training of the work force
(C) Trade relationships among producers of goods
(D) Shortages of jobs providing adequate income
(E) Strikes and inadequate supplies of labor
3. The author contrasts the 1930's with the present in order to show that
(A) more people were unemployed in the 1930's
(B) unemployment now has less severe effects
(C) social programs are more needed now
(D) there now is a greater proportion of elderly and handicapped people among those in poverty
(E) poverty has increased since the 1930's
4. Which of the following proposals best responds to the issues raised by the author?
(A) Innovative programs using multiple approaches should be set up to reduce the level of unemployment.
(B) A compromise should be found between the positions of those who view joblessness as an evil greater than economic control and those who hold the opposite view.
(C) New statistical indices should be developed to measure the degree to which unemployment and inadequately paid employment cause suffering.
(D) Consideration should be given to the ways in which statistics can act as partial causes of the phenomena that they purport to measure.
(E) The labor force should be restructured so that it corresponds to the range of job vacancies.
5. The author's purpose in citing those who are repeatedly unemployed during a twelve-month period is most probably to show that
(A) there are several factors that cause the payment of low wages to some members of the labor force
(B) unemployment statistics can underestimate the hardship resulting from joblessness
(C) recurrent inadequacies in the labor market can exist and can cause hardships for individual workers
(D) a majority of those who are jobless at any one time to not suffer severe hardship
(E) there are fewer individuals who are without jobs at some time during a year than would be expected on the basis of monthly unemployment figures
6. The author states that the mitigating effect of social programs involving income transfers on the income level of low-income people is often not felt by
(A) the employed poor
(B) dependent children in single-earner families
(C) workers who become disabled
(D) retired workers
(E) full-time workers who become unemployed
7. According to the passage, one factor that causes unemployment and earnings figures to overpredict the amount of economic hardship is the
(A) recurrence of periods of unemployment for a group of low-wage workers
(B) possibility that earnings may be received from more than one job per worker
(C) fact that unemployment counts do not include those who work for low wages and remain poor
(D) establishment of a system of record-keeping that makes it possible to compile poverty statistics
(E) prevalence, among low-wage workers and the unemployed, of members of families in which others are employed
8. The conclusion stated in lines 33-39 about the number of people who suffer as a result of forced idleness depends primarily on the point that
(A) in times of high unemployment, there are some people who do not remain unemployed for long
(B) the capacity for self-support depends on receiving moderate-to-high wages
(C) those in forced idleness include, besides the unemployed, both underemployed part-time workers and those not actively seeking work
(D) at different times during the year, different people are unemployed
(E) many of those who are affected by unemployment are dependents of unemployed workers
9. Which of the following, if true, is the best criticism of the author's argument concerning why poverty statistics cannot properly be used to show the effects of problems in the labor market?
(A) A short-term increase in the number of those in poverty can indicate a shortage of jobs because the basic number of those unable to accept employment remains approximately constant.
(B) For those who are in poverty as a result of joblessness, there are social programs available that provide a minimum standard of living.
(C) Poverty statistics do not consistently agree with earnings statistics, when each is taken as a measure of hardship resulting from unemployment.
(D) The elderly and handicapped categories include many who previously were employed in the labor market.
(E) Since the labor market is global in nature, poor workers in one country are competing with poor workers in another with respect to the level of wages and the existence of jobs.

OA are
1 C
2 B
3 E
4 C
5 A
6 C
7 D

@deepakraam : Can you explain to me 3rd and 6th one

3.The passage suggests which of the following about global corporations?

(A) Their continued growth depends on the existence of a fully integrated international market. --> Nt sure from the passage

(B) Their potential effect on the world market is a matter of ongoing concern to international institutions. ---> the concern cannot be verified from the passage

(C) They will have to assume quasi-governmental functions if current economic trends continue. ---> overstating of facts

(D) They have provided a model of economic success for regional trading blocs. ---> cannot be confirmed from the last line of the passage.

(E) Their influence on world economics will continue to increase. ----> "the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly"


6.The author discusses the FTA and Europe 1992 most likely in order to

(A) point out the similarities between two seemingly disparate trading alliances ---> the passage dint talk abt this

(B) illustrate how different economic motivations produce different types of trading blocs ---> overstating of facts

(C) provide contrasting examples of a trend that is influencing the world economy --> evident from the passage

(D) identify the most important characteristics of successful economic integration --> successful is nt sure from last line of passage

(E) trace the history of regional trading blocs --> no history has been traced here.

Guys try this and please also include your explanations


(This passage was excerpted from material written in 1990.)
As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations, especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan. A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading blocs of nations, which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading system. Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Europe 1992, the move by the European Community (EC) to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states by the end of 1992. However, although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the ECs markets, concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major consideration. This is in sharp contrast to the FTA; the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States protectionism. Nonetheless, although markedly different in origin and nature, both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world, as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading system.

1.The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
(A) describe an initiative and propose its continuance
(B) chronicle a development and illustrate its inconsistencies
(C) identify a trend and suggest its importance
(D) summarize a process and question its significance
(E) report a phenomenon and outline its probable future

2.According to the passage, all of the following are elements of the shifting world economy EXCEPT
(A) an alteration in the role played by governments
(B) an increase in interaction between national governments and international regulatory institutions
(C) an increase in the formation of multinational trading alliances
(D) an increase in integration in the two richest markets of the world
(E) a fear of increasing United States protectionism

3.The passage suggests which of the following about global corporations?
(A) Their continued growth depends on the existence of a fully integrated international market.
(B) Their potential effect on the world market is a matter of ongoing concern to international institutions.
(C) They will have to assume quasi-governmental functions if current economic trends continue.
(D) They have provided a model of economic success for regional trading blocs.
(E) Their influence on world economics will continue to increase.

4.According to the passage, one similarity between the FTA and Europe 1992 is that they both
(A) overcame concerns about the role of politics in the shifting world economy
(B) originated out of concern over unfair trade practices by other nations
(C) exemplify a trend toward regionalization of commercial markets
(D) place the economic needs of the trading bloc ahead of those of the member nations
(E) help to ensure the continued economic viability of the world community

5.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the European Community prior to the adoption of the Europe 1992 program?
(A) There were restrictions on commerce between the member nations.
(B) The economic policies of the member nations focused on global trading issues.
(C) There were few impediments to trade between the member nations and the United States.
(D) The flow of goods between the member nations and Canada was insignificant.
(E) Relations between multinational corporations and the governments of the member nations were strained.

6.The author discusses the FTA and Europe 1992 most likely in order to
(A) point out the similarities between two seemingly disparate trading alliances
(B) illustrate how different economic motivations produce different types of trading blocs
(C) provide contrasting examples of a trend that is influencing the world economy
(D) identify the most important characteristics of successful economic integration
(E) trace the history of regional trading blocs

7.Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) An argument is put forth and evidence for and against it given.
(B) An assertion is made and opposing evidence presented.
(C) Two hypotheses are described and shown to inconsistent with one another.
(D) A phenomenon is identified and illustrations of this phenomenon offered.
(E) A specific case of a phenomenon is discussed a generalization drawn.

OA are
1 C
2 B
3 E
4 C
5 A
6 C
7 D

@deepakraam : Can you explain to me 3rd and 6th one

My take for the above RC :

1. C & E are the contenders.The passage doesn't exclusive say about the future.So,option C

2. A. Other facts are evident in the passage

3. E

4. C

5. A

6. C

7. D

Guys try this and please also include your explanations


(This passage was excerpted from material written in 1990.)
As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations, especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan. A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading blocs of nations, which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading system. Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Europe 1992, the move by the European Community (EC) to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states by the end of 1992. However, although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the ECs markets, concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major consideration. This is in sharp contrast to the FTA; the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States protectionism. Nonetheless, although markedly different in origin and nature, both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world, as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading system.

1.The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
(A) describe an initiative and propose its continuance
(B) chronicle a development and illustrate its inconsistencies
(C) identify a trend and suggest its importance
(D) summarize a process and question its significance
(E) report a phenomenon and outline its probable future

2.According to the passage, all of the following are elements of the shifting world economy EXCEPT
(A) an alteration in the role played by governments
(B) an increase in interaction between national governments and international regulatory institutions
(C) an increase in the formation of multinational trading alliances
(D) an increase in integration in the two richest markets of the world
(E) a fear of increasing United States protectionism

3.The passage suggests which of the following about global corporations?
(A) Their continued growth depends on the existence of a fully integrated international market.
(B) Their potential effect on the world market is a matter of ongoing concern to international institutions.
(C) They will have to assume quasi-governmental functions if current economic trends continue.
(D) They have provided a model of economic success for regional trading blocs.
(E) Their influence on world economics will continue to increase.

4.According to the passage, one similarity between the FTA and Europe 1992 is that they both
(A) overcame concerns about the role of politics in the shifting world economy
(B) originated out of concern over unfair trade practices by other nations
(C) exemplify a trend toward regionalization of commercial markets
(D) place the economic needs of the trading bloc ahead of those of the member nations
(E) help to ensure the continued economic viability of the world community

5.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the European Community prior to the adoption of the Europe 1992 program?
(A) There were restrictions on commerce between the member nations.
(B) The economic policies of the member nations focused on global trading issues.
(C) There were few impediments to trade between the member nations and the United States.
(D) The flow of goods between the member nations and Canada was insignificant.
(E) Relations between multinational corporations and the governments of the member nations were strained.

6.The author discusses the FTA and Europe 1992 most likely in order to
(A) point out the similarities between two seemingly disparate trading alliances
(B) illustrate how different economic motivations produce different types of trading blocs
(C) provide contrasting examples of a trend that is influencing the world economy
(D) identify the most important characteristics of successful economic integration
(E) trace the history of regional trading blocs

7.Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) An argument is put forth and evidence for and against it given.
(B) An assertion is made and opposing evidence presented.
(C) Two hypotheses are described and shown to inconsistent with one another.
(D) A phenomenon is identified and illustrations of this phenomenon offered.
(E) A specific case of a phenomenon is discussed a generalization drawn.

hi mukul bro.. juz one suggestion.. plz dont post only one question with the passage.. it becomes very easy 2 read the passage 2 answer juz 1 question.. post at least three questions wid the passage so dat we'll have a real feel of solving a RC set.. hope u take it in the rite sense..

tahnks..

@dare2 and mukultcs,
u both guys are seriously driving me in RC by putting passages and questions. Although it is much inviting for me to solve a passage for 1-2 questions but 3-4 questions would be really cool. that will tell the accuracy as well. More than that it will make u understand the passage in depth, which is the key... u guys rock!!

dare2 Says

hi mukul bro.. juz one suggestion.. plz dont post only one question with the passage.. it becomes very easy 2 read the passage 2 answer juz 1 question.. post at least three questions wid the passage so dat we'll have a real feel of solving a RC set..

Sure not a problem....I just thought that people would avoid attempting question if they see such big bunch of questions....

dare2 Says

hope u take it in the rite sense..tahnks..

whatz their to take offence to ?

mukultcs Says

OA is B. Sorry dont have OE

hi mukul bro.. juz one suggestion.. plz dont post only one question with the passage.. it becomes very easy 2 read the passage 2 answer juz 1 question.. post at least three questions wid the passage so dat we'll have a real feel of solving a RC set.. hope u take it in the rite sense..

tahnks..

I will go with option B

Try this one, As always please post your reasoning


The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low.............

OA is B. Sorry dont have OE

Try this one, As always please post your reasoning

7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or failed are discussed.
(B) A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered.
(C) A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence are summarized.
(D) The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have successfully resolved it are discussed.
(E) The causes of a problem are described, and then its effects are discussed.

I Think B because a problem is first describrd then advantages of resolving it is given in the last 3 paragraphs. Adventanges are increase in the social and environmental benefit involvements of the large corporations.

Thanks,
Anurag...

p_ratnawat Says

I have seen a lot of aid for Winners Guide for Reading comprehension. Did anybody reffered this book ? Please let me know your comments on this book.

Hi p_ratnawat,

Didnt quite get your question. Are you asking about some book?

I have seen a lot of aid for Winners Guide for Reading comprehension. Did anybody reffered this book ? Please let me know your comments on this book.

Try this one, As always please post your reasoning


The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low. Although pressure to recruit women directors, unlike that to employ women in the general work force, does not derive from legislation, it is nevertheless real.

Although small companies were the first to have women directors, large corporations currently have a higher percentage of women on their boards. When the chairs of these large corporations began recruiting women to serve on boards, they initially sought women who were chief executive officers (CEOs) of large corporations. However, such women CEOs are still rare. In addition, the ideal of six CEOs (female or male) serving on the board of each of the largest corporations is realizable only if every CEO serves on six boards. This raises the specter of director over-commitment and the resultant dilution of contribution. Consequently, the chairs next sought women in business who had the equivalent of CEO experience. However, since it is only recently that large numbers of women have begun to rise in management, the chairs began to recruit women of high achievement outside the business world. Many such women are well known for their contributions in government, education, and the nonprofit sector. The fact that the women from these sectors who were appointed were often acquaintances of the boards chairs seems quite reasonable: chairs have always considered it important for directors to interact comfortably in the boardroom.

Although many successful women from outside the business world are unknown to corporate leaders, these women are particularly qualified to serve on boards because of the changing nature of corporations. Today a companys ability to be responsive to the concerns of the community and the environment can influence that companys growth and survival. Women are uniquely positioned to be responsive to some of these concerns. Although conditions have changed, it should be remembered that most directors of both sexes are over fifty years old. Women of that generation were often encouraged to direct their attention toward efforts to improve the community. This fact is reflected in the career development of most of the outstandingly successful women of the generation now in their fifties, who currently serve on corporate boards: 25 percent are in education and 22 percent are in government, law, and the nonprofit sector.

One organization of women directors is helping business become more responsive to the changing needs of society by raising the level of corporate awareness about social issues, such as problems with the economy, government regulation, the aging population, and the environment. This organization also serves as a resource center of information on accomplished women who are potential candidates for corporate boards.


7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or failed are discussed.
(B) A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered.
(C) A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence are summarized.
(D) The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have successfully resolved it are discussed.
(E) The causes of a problem are described, and then its effects are discussed.

My take on this is B as

A problem is definitely described here as stated in Line 1 "The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low."

D can be ruled out as there are no historical origins mentioned
A is no good because there is no mention if proposed solutions have succeeded or failed
C The author doesnot keep on discussing the problem .He also suggests some resolution
E Again there are no effects described here

Try this one, As always please post your reasoning


The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low. Although pressure to recruit women directors, unlike that to employ women in the general work force, does not derive from legislation, it is nevertheless real.

Although small companies were the first to have women directors, large corporations currently have a higher percentage of women on their boards. When the chairs of these large corporations began recruiting women to serve on boards, they initially sought women who were chief executive officers (CEOs) of large corporations. However, such women CEOs are still rare. In addition, the ideal of six CEOs (female or male) serving on the board of each of the largest corporations is realizable only if every CEO serves on six boards. This raises the specter of director over-commitment and the resultant dilution of contribution. Consequently, the chairs next sought women in business who had the equivalent of CEO experience. However, since it is only recently that large numbers of women have begun to rise in management, the chairs began to recruit women of high achievement outside the business world. Many such women are well known for their contributions in government, education, and the nonprofit sector. The fact that the women from these sectors who were appointed were often acquaintances of the boards chairs seems quite reasonable: chairs have always considered it important for directors to interact comfortably in the boardroom.

Although many successful women from outside the business world are unknown to corporate leaders, these women are particularly qualified to serve on boards because of the changing nature of corporations. Today a companys ability to be responsive to the concerns of the community and the environment can influence that companys growth and survival. Women are uniquely positioned to be responsive to some of these concerns. Although conditions have changed, it should be remembered that most directors of both sexes are over fifty years old. Women of that generation were often encouraged to direct their attention toward efforts to improve the community. This fact is reflected in the career development of most of the outstandingly successful women of the generation now in their fifties, who currently serve on corporate boards: 25 percent are in education and 22 percent are in government, law, and the nonprofit sector.

One organization of women directors is helping business become more responsive to the changing needs of society by raising the level of corporate awareness about social issues, such as problems with the economy, government regulation, the aging population, and the environment. This organization also serves as a resource center of information on accomplished women who are potential candidates for corporate boards.


7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or failed are discussed.
(B) A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered.
(C) A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence are summarized.
(D) The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have successfully resolved it are discussed.
(E) The causes of a problem are described, and then its effects are discussed.

tough para and question as well.
I will go with B here. if you scan through the choices, u will see 3:1:1 split here also. i love such questions but i hate them when i get them wrong :(...
A problem is described, is it true? yes, ( but the ratio of female to male directors remains low.....)there is no historical origin of a problem in first para and no cause and effect thing as well. So rule out D and E. If we see the second part in remaining choices, then A suggests the reasons why proposed solution failed or succeeded. nothing in the passage talks about success of failures of a solution. C suggests the reasons for continuous existence of prob are discussed, partly it is true, but looks at the last para. It has nothing to do with existence of a prob.

So B is Ok. advantages of having more female in corporate boards are discussed.

Try this one, As always please post your reasoning


The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low. Although pressure to recruit women directors, unlike that to employ women in the general work force, does not derive from legislation, it is nevertheless real.

Although small companies were the first to have women directors, large corporations currently have a higher percentage of women on their boards. When the chairs of these large corporations began recruiting women to serve on boards, they initially sought women who were chief executive officers (CEOs) of large corporations. However, such women CEOs are still rare. In addition, the ideal of six CEOs (female or male) serving on the board of each of the largest corporations is realizable only if every CEO serves on six boards. This raises the specter of director over-commitment and the resultant dilution of contribution. Consequently, the chairs next sought women in business who had the equivalent of CEO experience. However, since it is only recently that large numbers of women have begun to rise in management, the chairs began to recruit women of high achievement outside the business world. Many such women are well known for their contributions in government, education, and the nonprofit sector. The fact that the women from these sectors who were appointed were often acquaintances of the boards chairs seems quite reasonable: chairs have always considered it important for directors to interact comfortably in the boardroom.

Although many successful women from outside the business world are unknown to corporate leaders, these women are particularly qualified to serve on boards because of the changing nature of corporations. Today a companys ability to be responsive to the concerns of the community and the environment can influence that companys growth and survival. Women are uniquely positioned to be responsive to some of these concerns. Although conditions have changed, it should be remembered that most directors of both sexes are over fifty years old. Women of that generation were often encouraged to direct their attention toward efforts to improve the community. This fact is reflected in the career development of most of the outstandingly successful women of the generation now in their fifties, who currently serve on corporate boards: 25 percent are in education and 22 percent are in government, law, and the nonprofit sector.

One organization of women directors is helping business become more responsive to the changing needs of society by raising the level of corporate awareness about social issues, such as problems with the economy, government regulation, the aging population, and the environment. This organization also serves as a resource center of information on accomplished women who are potential candidates for corporate boards.


7. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or failed are discussed.
(B) A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered.
(C) A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence are summarized.
(D) The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have successfully resolved it are discussed.
(E) The causes of a problem are described, and then its effects are discussed.

mukultcs Says

Answers highlighted above. Please post OA and OE.

OAs:
1. E
2. A
3. A
4. C

sorry dont have the OEs..

try this..

(This passage is excerpted from material published in 1997) Whereas
United States economic productivity grew at an annual rate of 3...........

Q1: Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the budget
deficit explanation for the discrepancy mentioned in line 27(boldface)?
A. Research shows that the federal budget deficit has traditionally
caused service companies to invest less money in research and
development of new technologies.
B. New technologies have been shown to play a significant role in
companies that have been able to increase their service productivity.
C. In both service sector and manufacturing, productivity
improvements are concentrated in gains in quality.
D. The service sector typically requires larger investments in new
technology in order to maintain productivity growth than dose
manufacturing
E. High interest rates tend to slow the growth of manufacturing
productivity as much as they slow the growth of service-sector
productivity in the United States. Correct


Q2. The passage states which of the following about the effect of
foreign competition on the American manufacturing sector since the
1970Ts?
A. It has often been exaggerated. Correct
B. It has not been a direct cause of job loss.
C. It has in large part been responsible for the subsequent slowing of
productivity growth.
D. It has slowed growth in the demand for manufactured goods in the
United States.
E. It has been responsible for the majority of American jobs lost in
manufacturing.

Q3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was
true of the United States manufacturing sector in the years immediately
prior to 1980?
A. It was performing relatively poorly.Correct
B. It was in a position of world prominence.
C. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 3 percent.
D. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 1 percent.
E. Its level of productivity was higher than afterward.
Q4. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which
of the following statements about productivity improvements in United
States service companies?
A. Such improvements would be largely attributable to efficiencies
resulting from corporate takeovers.
B. Such improvements would depend more on wise implementation of
technology than on managers' choice of skilled workers.
C. Such improvements would be more easily accomplished if there
were fewer governmental regulations of the service sector.Correct
D. Such improvements would require companies to invest heavily in the
development of new technologies.
E. Such improvements would be attributable primarily to companies'
facing global competitive pressure.

Answers highlighted above. Please post OA and OE.

try this..

Q1: Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the budget
deficit explanation for the discrepancy mentioned in line 27(boldface)?
A. Research shows that the federal budget deficit has traditionally
caused service companies to invest less money in research and
development of new technologies.
B. New technologies have been shown to play a significant role in
companies that have been able to increase their service productivity.
C. In both service sector and manufacturing, productivity
improvements are concentrated in gains in quality.
D. The service sector typically requires larger investments in new
technology in order to maintain productivity growth than dose
manufacturing
E. High interest rates tend to slow the growth of manufacturing
productivity as much as they slow the growth of service-sector
productivity in the United States.
Q2. The passage states which of the following about the effect of
foreign competition on the American manufacturing sector since the
1970Ts?
A. It has often been exaggerated. (True but not "often)
B. It has not been a direct cause of job loss. (correct)
C. It has in large part been responsible for the subsequent slowing of
productivity growth. (its definately not in large part refer this:while some manufacturing jobs have been lost due to foreign competition, many more have been lost simply ....)
D. It has slowed growth in the demand for manufactured goods in the
United States.
E. It has been responsible for the majority of American jobs lost in
manufacturing. (wrong again)
Q3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was
true of the United States manufacturing sector in the years immediately
prior to 1980? answer is in only 1 sentence in para: Since 1980, productivity improvements in manufacturing have moved the United States from a position of acute decline in manufacturing to one of world prominence.
A. It was performing relatively poorly. correct.
B. It was in a position of world prominence. (after 1980 this happened not before that... C,D,E can be eliminated likewise)
C. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 3 percent.
D. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 1 percent.
E. Its level of productivity was higher than afterward.
Q4. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which
of the following statements about productivity improvements in United
States service companies?
A. Such improvements would be largely attributable to efficiencies
resulting from corporate takeovers.(opposite to what is stated)
B. Such improvements would depend more on wise implementation of
technology than on managers' choice of skilled workers. (opposite again)
C. Such improvements would be more easily accomplished if there
were fewer governmental regulations of the service sector. (Correct choice, refer the last sentence: The culprits for
service-sector productivity stagnation are the forces such as corporate
takeovers and unnecessary governmental regulation that distract
managers from the task of making optimal use of available resources..remove the govt. regulation and improve productivity)
D. Such improvements would require companies to invest heavily in the
development of new technologies.
E. Such improvements would be attributable primarily to companies'
facing global competitive pressure.

my answers are:
1) E. I somehow not understand the funda of federal budget. if budget is lower, interest rate should be higher. i could narrow down to C and E. C looks too broad in scope so picked E.

2) B. explanation in blue
3) A. explanation in blue
4) C. explanation in blue

please post OA.

try this..

(This passage is excerpted from material published in 1997) Whereas
United States economic productivity grew at an annual rate of 3
percent from 1945 to 1965, it has grown at an annual rate of only
about 1 percent since the early 1970's. What might be preventing
higher productivity growth? Clearly, the manufacturing sector of the
economy cannot be blamed. Since 1980, productivity improvements in
manufacturing have moved the United States from a position of acute
decline in manufacturing to one of world prominence. Manufacturing,
however, constitutes a relatively small proportion of the economy. In
1992, goods-producing businesses employed only 19.1 percent of
American workers, whereas service-producing businesses employed 70
percent. Although the service sector has grown since the late 1970's,
its productivity growth has declined. Several explanations have been
Offered for this declined and for the discrepancy in productivity
growth between the manufacturing and service sectors. One is that
traditional measures fail to reflect service-sector productivity growth
because it has been concentrated in improved quality of services. Yet
traditional measures of manufacturing productivity have shown
significant increases despite the under-measurement of quality,
whereas service productivity has continued to stagnate. Others argue
that since the 1970's, manufacturing workers, faced with strong foreign
competition, have learned to work more efficiently in order to keep
their jobs in the United States, but service workers, who are typically
under less global competitive pressure, have not. However, the
pressure on manufacturing workers in the United States to work more
efficiently has generally been overstated, often for political reasons. In
fact, while some manufacturing jobs have been lost due to foreign
competition, many more have been lost simply because of slow growth
in demand for manufactured goods. Yet another explanation blames the
federal budget deficit: if it were lower, interest rate would be lower too,
thereby increasing investment in the development of new technologies,
which would spur productivity growth in the service sector. There is,
however, no dearth of techno-logical resources, rather, managers in the
service sector fail to take advantage of widely available skills and machines. High productivity growth levels attained by leading-edge
service companies indicate that service sector managers who wisely
implement available technology and choose skillful workers can
significantly improve their companies' productivity. The culprits for
service-sector productivity stagnation are the forcessuch as corporate
takeovers and unnecessary governmental regulationthat distract
managers from the task of making optimal use of available resources.
Q1: Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the budget
deficit explanation for the discrepancy mentioned in line 27(boldface)?
A. Research shows that the federal budget deficit has traditionally
caused service companies to invest less money in research and
development of new technologies.
B. New technologies have been shown to play a significant role in
companies that have been able to increase their service productivity.
C. In both service sector and manufacturing, productivity
improvements are concentrated in gains in quality.
D. The service sector typically requires larger investments in new
technology in order to maintain productivity growth than dose
manufacturing
E. High interest rates tend to slow the growth of manufacturing
productivity as much as they slow the growth of service-sector
productivity in the United States.
Q2. The passage states which of the following about the effect of
foreign competition on the American manufacturing sector since the
1970Ts?
A. It has often been exaggerated.
B. It has not been a direct cause of job loss.
C. It has in large part been responsible for the subsequent slowing of
productivity growth.
D. It has slowed growth in the demand for manufactured goods in the
United States.
E. It has been responsible for the majority of American jobs lost in
manufacturing.
Q3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was
true of the United States manufacturing sector in the years immediately
prior to 1980?
A. It was performing relatively poorly.
B. It was in a position of world prominence.
C. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 3 percent.
D. It was increasing its productivity at an annual rate of 1 percent.
E. Its level of productivity was higher than afterward.
Q4. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which
of the following statements about productivity improvements in United
States service companies?
A. Such improvements would be largely attributable to efficiencies
resulting from corporate takeovers.
B. Such improvements would depend more on wise implementation of
technology than on managers' choice of skilled workers.
C. Such improvements would be more easily accomplished if there
were fewer governmental regulations of the service sector.
D. Such improvements would require companies to invest heavily in the
development of new technologies.
E. Such improvements would be attributable primarily to companies'
facing global competitive pressure.

OA are
E
E
D

but I had some doubts.

In second question the passage mentions "Every company I know that has freed itself from the paradox has done so, in part, by developing and implementing a manufacturing strategy. Such a strategy focuses on the manufacturing structure and on equipment and process technology. In one company a manufacturing strategy that allowed different areas of the factory to specialize in different markets replaced the conventional cost-cutting approach; "

This means that manufacturing strategy is composed of manufacturing structure and process technology...and then author gives and example of manufacturing strategy, which is an example of process tech as well..therefore answer can't be point E. Also author doesn't explicitly mention business principle anywhere although 2nd para feels like a business principle


third question is turner makes which of the following connections,but the second para begin with "Turner claims....." i.e Author says that Turner had claimed so and so...but Author never mentions that turner achieved this. So I think "I" point can't be correct.


Any thoughts where I am going wrong ??

I see. you are mixing things in second question. refer to the blue part above. Process technology is a part of Manufacturing strategy or subset u can say. so example of manu. strategy doesnt imply automatically for process technology and so E is the answer.

for 3rd question i am still confused, may be dare2 can help here. But i can say smthing about ur query. questions asks about the connection turner makes, it has nothing to do with what turner claimed or achieved. I can make connection with out claiming or achieving anything. so as long as there is a connection it a true choice. But
Can somone explain the connection between geographical expansion and social change??

Guys try these, Please post your reasoning too

Passage 1
In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past,.......................
4.Which of the following would be the most likely topic for a paragraph that logically continues the passage?
(A) The kinds of plants normally found in arid regions
(B) The effect of variation in lake levels on pollen distribution
(C) The material best suited to preserving signals of climatic changes
(D) Other criteria invoked by paleoclimatologists when choosing a method to determine past climatic conditions
(E) A third method for investigating past climatic conditions


Passage 2
Since the late 1970's, in the face of a severe loss of market share in dozens of industries, .........
6.In the passage, the author includes all of the following EXCEPT
(A) personal observation
(B) a business principle
(C) a definition of productivity
(D) an example of a successful company
(E) an illustration of a process technology



Passage 3
The settlement of the United States has occupied traditional historians since 1893 ...............
4.According to the passage, Turner makes which of the following connections in his Frontier Thesis?
I.A connection between American individualism and economic equality
II.A connection between geographical expansion and social change
III.A connection between social change and financial prosperity
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I, II and III

OA are
E
E
D

but I had some doubts.

In second question the passage mentions "Every company I know that has freed itself from the paradox has done so, in part, by developing and implementing a manufacturing strategy. Such a strategy focuses on the manufacturing structure and on equipment and process technology. In one company a manufacturing strategy that allowed different areas of the factory to specialize in different markets replaced the conventional cost-cutting approach; "

This means that manufacturing strategy is composed of manufacturing structure and process technology...and then author gives and example of manufacturing strategy, which is an example of process tech as well..therefore answer can't be point E. Also author doesn't explicitly mention business principle anywhere although 2nd para feels like a business principle


third question is turner makes which of the following connections,but the second para begin with "Turner claims....." i.e Author says that Turner had claimed so and so...but Author never mentions that turner achieved this. So I think "I" point can't be correct.


Any thoughts where I am going wrong ??

Guys try these, Please post your reasoning too

Passage 1
In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal criteria.
One very old method used in the investigation of past climatic conditions involves the measurement of water levels in ancient lakes.
Another problematic method is to reconstruct former climates on the basis of pollen profiles.

4. Which of the following would be the most likely topic for a paragraph that logically continues the passage?
(A) The kinds of plants normally found in arid regions
(B) The effect of variation in lake levels on pollen distribution
(C) The material best suited to preserving signals of climatic changes
(D) Other criteria invoked by paleoclimatologists when choosing a method to determine past climatic conditions
(E) A third method for investigating past climatic conditions

Answer should be E. First para talks about criterias used for the method. Second and third para demonstrates the methods. On a logical continuation it should be third method for investigating past climatic conditions.

Passage 2
Since the late 1970s, in the face of a severe loss of market share in dozens of industries, manufacturers in the United States have been trying to improve productivityand therefore enhance their international competitivenessthrough cost-cutting programs. (Cost-cutting here is defined as raising labor output while holding the amount of labor constant.) However, from 1978 through 1982, productivitythe value of goods manufactured divided by the amount of labor inputdid not improve; and while the results were better in the business upturn of the three years following, they ran 25 percent lower than productivity improvements during earlier, post-1945 upturns. At the same time, it became clear that the harder manufactures worked to implement cost-cutting, the more they lost their competitive edge.

With this paradox in mind, I recently visited 25 companies; it became clear to me that the cost-cutting approach to increasing productivity is fundamentally flawed. Manufacturing regularly observes a 40, 40, 20 rule. Roughly 40 percent of any manufacturing-based competitive advantage derives from long-term changes in manufacturing structure (decisions about the number, size, location, and capacity of facilities) and in approaches to materials. Another 40 percent comes from major changes in equipment and process technology. The final 20 percent rests on implementing conventional cost-cutting. This rule does not imply that cost-cutting should not be tried. The well-known tools of this approachincluding simplifying jobs and retraining employees to work smarter, not harderdo produce results. But the tools quickly reach the limits of what they can contribute.

Another problem is that the cost-cutting approach hinders innovation and discourages creative people. As Abernathys study of automobile manufacturers has shown, an industry can easily become prisoner of its own investments in cost-cutting techniques, reducing its ability to develop new products. And managers under pressure to maximize cost-cutting will resist innovation because they know that more fundamental changes in processes or systems will wreak havoc with the results on which they are measured. Production managers have always seen their job as one of minimizing costs and maximizing output. This dimension of performance has until recently sufficed as a basis of evaluation, but it has created a penny-pinching, mechanistic culture in most factories that has kept away creative managers.

Every company I know that has freed itself from the paradox has done so, in part, by developing and implementing a manufacturing strategy. Such a strategy focuses on the manufacturing structure and on equipment and process technology. In one company a manufacturing strategy that allowed different areas of the factory to specialize in different markets replaced the conventional cost-cutting approach; within three years the company regained its competitive advantage. Together with such strategies, successful companies are also encouraging managers to focus on a wider set of objectives besides cutting costs. There is hope for manufacturing, but it clearly rests on a different way of managing.

6. In the passage, the author includes all of the following EXCEPT
(A) personal observation
(B) a business principle
(C) a definition of productivity
(D) an example of a successful company
(E) an illustration of a process technology
This is a serious toughy and confusing one. A B and C are obviously there. Refer to the bold part in third para. It implies that every company that has implemented manufacturing strategy can be considered successful company though It is not directly stated. So the answer is E. There is no illustration of process technology.


Passage 3
The settlement of the United States has occupied traditional historians since 1893 when Frederick Jackson Turner developed his Frontier Thesis, a thesis that explained American development in terms of westward expansion. From the perspective of womens history, Turners exclusively masculine assumptions constitute a major drawback: his defenders and critics alike have reconstructed mens, not womens, lives on the frontier. However, precisely because of this masculine orientation, revising the Frontier Thesis by focusing on womens experience introduces new themes into womens historywoman as lawmaker and entrepreneurand, consequently, new interpretations of womens relationship to capital, labor, and statute.

Turner claimed that the frontier produced the individualism that is the hallmark of American culture, and that this individualism in turn promoted democratic institutions and economic equality. He argued for the frontier as an agent of social change. Most novelists and historians writing in the early to midtwentieth century who considered women in the West, when they considered women at all, fell under Turners spell. In their works these authors tended to glorify womens contributions to frontier life. Western women, in Turnerian tradition, were a fiercely independent, capable, and durable lot, free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters. This interpretation implied that the West provided a congenial environment where women could aspire to their own goals, free from constrictive stereotypes and sexist attitudes. In Turnerian terminology, the frontier had furnished a gate of escape from the bondage of the past.

By the middle of the twentieth century, the Frontier Thesis fell into disfavor among historians. Later, Reactionist writers took the view that frontier women were lonely, displaced persons in a hostile milieu that intensified the worst aspects of gender relations. The renaissance of the feminist movement during the 1970s led to the Stasist school, which sidestepped the good bad dichotomy and argued that frontier women lived lives similar to the live of women in the East. In one now-standard text, Faragher demonstrated the persistence of the cult of true womanhood and the illusionary quality of change on the westward journey. Recently the Stasist position has been revised but not entirely discounted by new research.


4. According to the passage, Turner makes which of the following connections in his Frontier Thesis?
I. A connection between American individualism and economic equality
II. A connection between geographical expansion and social change
III. A connection between social change and financial prosperity
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I, II and III

lets work with our conventional POE for such questions. Refer to Bold part in second para. So I is true for sure. that eliminates B and C. second para talk about social change but there is no direct connection between social change and geographical expansion or financial prosperity. Although passage suggest that women could aspire their own goals, but no indication of financial prosperity. Also west and east sisters could be confusing for geographical but nothing suggests expansion.So the answer should be A.

My answers and explanations above. please post OA.thanks for pushing me, i am realizing i should start working on my RC now, its high time...

mukultcs Says

Do you have OE also ?

sorry dear.. only OAs were given..

Guys try these, Please post your reasoning too

Passage 1
In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal criteria. First, the material-rocks, lakes, vegetation, etc.-on which the method relies must be widespread enough to provide plenty of information, since analysis of material that is rarely encountered will not permit correlation with other regions or with other periods of geological history. Second, in the process of formation, the material must have received an environmental signal that reflects a change in climate and that can be deciphered by modern physical or chemical means. Third, at least some of the material must have retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in the environment. Fourth, it must be possible to determine the time at which the inferred climatic conditions held. This last criterion is more easily met in dating marine sediments, because dating of only a small number of layers in a marine sequence allows the age of other layers to be estimated fairly reliably by extrapolation and interpolation. By contrast, because sedimentation is much less continuous in continental regions, estimating the age of a continental bed from the known ages of beds above and below is more risky.

One very old method used in the investigation of past climatic conditions involves the measurement of water levels in ancient lakes. In temperate regions, there are enough lakes for correlations between them to give us a reliable picture. In arid and semiarid regions, on the other hand, the small number of lakes and the great distances between them reduce the possibilities for correlation. Moreover, since lake levels are controlled by rates of evaporation as well as by precipitation, the interpretation of such levels is ambiguous. For instance, the fact that lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United States appear to have been higher during the last ice age than they are now was at one time attributed to increased precipitation. On the basis of snow-line elevations, however, it has been concluded that the climate then was not necessarily wetter than it is now, but rather that both summers and winters were cooler, resulting in reduced evaporation.

Another problematic method is to reconstruct former climates on the basis of pollen profiles. The type of vegetation in a specific region is determined by identifying and counting the various pollen grains found there. Although the relationship between vegetation and climate is not as direct as the relationship between climate and lake levels, the method often works well in the temperate zones. In arid and semiarid regions in which there is not much vegetation, however, small changes in one or a few plant types can change the picture dramatically, making accurate correlations between neighboring areas difficult to obtain.


4.Which of the following would be the most likely topic for a paragraph that logically continues the passage?
(A) The kinds of plants normally found in arid regions
(B) The effect of variation in lake levels on pollen distribution
(C) The material best suited to preserving signals of climatic changes
(D) Other criteria invoked by paleoclimatologists when choosing a method to determine past climatic conditions
(E) A third method for investigating past climatic conditions


Passage 2
Since the late 1970's, in the face of a severe loss of market share in dozens of industries, manufacturers in the United States have been trying to improve productivity-and therefore enhance their international competitiveness-through cost-cutting programs. (Cost-cutting here is defined as raising labor output while holding the amount of labor constant.) However, from 1978 through 1982, productivity-the value of goods manufactured divided by the amount of labor input-did not improve; and while the results were better in the business upturn of the three years following, they ran 25 percent lower than productivity improvements during earlier, post-1945 upturns. At the same time, it became clear that the harder manufactures worked to implement cost-cutting, the more they lost their competitive edge.

With this paradox in mind, I recently visited 25 companies; it became clear to me that the cost-cutting approach to increasing productivity is fundamentally flawed. Manufacturing regularly observes a "40, 40, 20" rule. Roughly 40 percent of any manufacturing-based competitive advantage derives from long-term changes in manufacturing structure (decisions about the number, size, location, and capacity of facilities) and in approaches to materials. Another 40 percent comes from major changes in equipment and process technology. The final 20 percent rests on implementing conventional cost-cutting. This rule does not imply that cost-cutting should not be tried. The well-known tools of this approach-including simplifying jobs and retraining employees to work smarter, not harder-do produce results. But the tools quickly reach the limits of what they can contribute.

Another problem is that the cost-cutting approach hinders innovation and discourages creative people. As Abernathy's study of automobile manufacturers has shown, an industry can easily become prisoner of its own investments in cost-cutting techniques, reducing its ability to develop new products. And managers under pressure to maximize cost-cutting will resist innovation because they know that more fundamental changes in processes or systems will wreak havoc with the results on which they are measured. Production managers have always seen their job as one of minimizing costs and maximizing output. This dimension of performance has until recently sufficed as a basis of evaluation, but it has created a penny-pinching, mechanistic culture in most factories that has kept away creative managers.

Every company I know that has freed itself from the paradox has done so, in part, by developing and implementing a manufacturing strategy. Such a strategy focuses on the manufacturing structure and on equipment and process technology. In one company a manufacturing strategy that allowed different areas of the factory to specialize in different markets replaced the conventional cost-cutting approach; within three years the company regained its competitive advantage. Together with such strategies, successful companies are also encouraging managers to focus on a wider set of objectives besides cutting costs. There is hope for manufacturing, but it clearly rests on a different way of managing.

6.In the passage, the author includes all of the following EXCEPT
(A) personal observation
(B) a business principle
(C) a definition of productivity
(D) an example of a successful company
(E) an illustration of a process technology



Passage 3
The settlement of the United States has occupied traditional historians since 1893 when Frederick Jackson Turner developed his Frontier Thesis, a thesis that explained American development in terms of westward expansion. From the perspective of women's history, Turner's exclusively masculine assumptions constitute a major drawback: his defenders and critics alike have reconstructed men's, not women's, lives on the frontier. However, precisely because of this masculine orientation, revising the Frontier Thesis by focusing on women's experience introduces new themes into women's history-woman as lawmaker and entrepreneur-and, consequently, new interpretations of women's relationship to capital, labor, and statute.

Turner claimed that the frontier produced the individualism that is the hallmark of American culture, and that this individualism in turn promoted democratic institutions and economic equality. He argued for the frontier as an agent of social change. Most novelists and historians writing in the early to midtwentieth century who considered women in the West, when they considered women at all, fell under Turner's spell. In their works these authors tended to glorify women's contributions to frontier life. Western women, in Turnerian tradition, were a fiercely independent, capable, and durable lot, free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters. This interpretation implied that the West provided a congenial environment where women could aspire to their own goals, free from constrictive stereotypes and sexist attitudes. In Turnerian terminology, the frontier had furnished "a gate of escape from the bondage of the past."

By the middle of the twentieth century, the Frontier Thesis fell into disfavor among historians. Later, Reactionist writers took the view that frontier women were lonely, displaced persons in a hostile milieu that intensified the worst aspects of gender relations. The renaissance of the feminist movement during the 1970's led to the Stasist school, which sidestepped the good bad dichotomy and argued that frontier women lived lives similar to the live of women in the East. In one now-standard text, Faragher demonstrated the persistence of the "cult of true womanhood" and the illusionary quality of change on the westward journey. Recently the Stasist position has been revised but not entirely discounted by new research.


4.According to the passage, Turner makes which of the following connections in his Frontier Thesis?
I.A connection between American individualism and economic equality
II.A connection between geographical expansion and social change
III.A connection between social change and financial prosperity
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I, II and III

my take..
1. E
2. E
3. D

Guys try these, Please post your reasoning too

Passage 1
In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal criteria. First, the materialrocks, lakes, vegetation, etc.on which the method relies must be widespread enough to provide plenty of information, since analysis of material that is rarely encountered will not permit correlation with other regions or with other periods of geological history. Second, in the process of formation, the material must have received an environmental signal that reflects a change in climate and that can be deciphered by modern physical or chemical means. Third, at least some of the material must have retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in the environment. Fourth, it must be possible to determine the time at which the inferred climatic conditions held. This last criterion is more easily met in dating marine sediments, because dating of only a small number of layers in a marine sequence allows the age of other layers to be estimated fairly reliably by extrapolation and interpolation. By contrast, because sedimentation is much less continuous in continental regions, estimating the age of a continental bed from the known ages of beds above and below is more risky.

One very old method used in the investigation of past climatic conditions involves the measurement of water levels in ancient lakes. In temperate regions, there are enough lakes for correlations between them to give us a reliable picture. In arid and semiarid regions, on the other hand, the small number of lakes and the great distances between them reduce the possibilities for correlation. Moreover, since lake levels are controlled by rates of evaporation as well as by precipitation, the interpretation of such levels is ambiguous. For instance, the fact that lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United States appear to have been higher during the last ice age than they are now was at one time attributed to increased precipitation. On the basis of snow-line elevations, however, it has been concluded that the climate then was not necessarily wetter than it is now, but rather that both summers and winters were cooler, resulting in reduced evaporation.

Another problematic method is to reconstruct former climates on the basis of pollen profiles. The type of vegetation in a specific region is determined by identifying and counting the various pollen grains found there. Although the relationship between vegetation and climate is not as direct as the relationship between climate and lake levels, the method often works well in the temperate zones. In arid and semiarid regions in which there is not much vegetation, however, small changes in one or a few plant types can change the picture dramatically, making accurate correlations between neighboring areas difficult to obtain.


4.Which of the following would be the most likely topic for a paragraph that logically continues the passage?
(A) The kinds of plants normally found in arid regions
(B) The effect of variation in lake levels on pollen distribution
(C) The material best suited to preserving signals of climatic changes
(D) Other criteria invoked by paleoclimatologists when choosing a method to determine past climatic conditions
(E) A third method for investigating past climatic conditions


Passage 2
Since the late 1970s, in the face of a severe loss of market share in dozens of industries, manufacturers in the United States have been trying to improve productivityand therefore enhance their international competitivenessthrough cost-cutting programs. (Cost-cutting here is defined as raising labor output while holding the amount of labor constant.) However, from 1978 through 1982, productivitythe value of goods manufactured divided by the amount of labor inputdid not improve; and while the results were better in the business upturn of the three years following, they ran 25 percent lower than productivity improvements during earlier, post-1945 upturns. At the same time, it became clear that the harder manufactures worked to implement cost-cutting, the more they lost their competitive edge.

With this paradox in mind, I recently visited 25 companies; it became clear to me that the cost-cutting approach to increasing productivity is fundamentally flawed. Manufacturing regularly observes a 40, 40, 20 rule. Roughly 40 percent of any manufacturing-based competitive advantage derives from long-term changes in manufacturing structure (decisions about the number, size, location, and capacity of facilities) and in approaches to materials. Another 40 percent comes from major changes in equipment and process technology. The final 20 percent rests on implementing conventional cost-cutting. This rule does not imply that cost-cutting should not be tried. The well-known tools of this approachincluding simplifying jobs and retraining employees to work smarter, not harderdo produce results. But the tools quickly reach the limits of what they can contribute.

Another problem is that the cost-cutting approach hinders innovation and discourages creative people. As Abernathys study of automobile manufacturers has shown, an industry can easily become prisoner of its own investments in cost-cutting techniques, reducing its ability to develop new products. And managers under pressure to maximize cost-cutting will resist innovation because they know that more fundamental changes in processes or systems will wreak havoc with the results on which they are measured. Production managers have always seen their job as one of minimizing costs and maximizing output. This dimension of performance has until recently sufficed as a basis of evaluation, but it has created a penny-pinching, mechanistic culture in most factories that has kept away creative managers.

Every company I know that has freed itself from the paradox has done so, in part, by developing and implementing a manufacturing strategy. Such a strategy focuses on the manufacturing structure and on equipment and process technology. In one company a manufacturing strategy that allowed different areas of the factory to specialize in different markets replaced the conventional cost-cutting approach; within three years the company regained its competitive advantage. Together with such strategies, successful companies are also encouraging managers to focus on a wider set of objectives besides cutting costs. There is hope for manufacturing, but it clearly rests on a different way of managing.

6.In the passage, the author includes all of the following EXCEPT
(A) personal observation
(B) a business principle
(C) a definition of productivity
(D) an example of a successful company
(E) an illustration of a process technology



Passage 3
The settlement of the United States has occupied traditional historians since 1893 when Frederick Jackson Turner developed his Frontier Thesis, a thesis that explained American development in terms of westward expansion. From the perspective of womens history, Turners exclusively masculine assumptions constitute a major drawback: his defenders and critics alike have reconstructed mens, not womens, lives on the frontier. However, precisely because of this masculine orientation, revising the Frontier Thesis by focusing on womens experience introduces new themes into womens historywoman as lawmaker and entrepreneurand, consequently, new interpretations of womens relationship to capital, labor, and statute.

Turner claimed that the frontier produced the individualism that is the hallmark of American culture, and that this individualism in turn promoted democratic institutions and economic equality. He argued for the frontier as an agent of social change. Most novelists and historians writing in the early to midtwentieth century who considered women in the West, when they considered women at all, fell under Turners spell. In their works these authors tended to glorify womens contributions to frontier life. Western women, in Turnerian tradition, were a fiercely independent, capable, and durable lot, free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters. This interpretation implied that the West provided a congenial environment where women could aspire to their own goals, free from constrictive stereotypes and sexist attitudes. In Turnerian terminology, the frontier had furnished a gate of escape from the bondage of the past.

By the middle of the twentieth century, the Frontier Thesis fell into disfavor among historians. Later, Reactionist writers took the view that frontier women were lonely, displaced persons in a hostile milieu that intensified the worst aspects of gender relations. The renaissance of the feminist movement during the 1970s led to the Stasist school, which sidestepped the good bad dichotomy and argued that frontier women lived lives similar to the live of women in the East. In one now-standard text, Faragher demonstrated the persistence of the cult of true womanhood and the illusionary quality of change on the westward journey. Recently the Stasist position has been revised but not entirely discounted by new research.


4.According to the passage, Turner makes which of the following connections in his Frontier Thesis?
I.A connection between American individualism and economic equality
II.A connection between geographical expansion and social change
III.A connection between social change and financial prosperity
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I, II and III

Here are the OAs:

1. B
2. E
3. A
4. C
5. C
6. E
7. D

@mukul
this RC was 4m one of the gmat forums.. dont remember exactly.. hit upon it while googling(coz i was not satisfied with my RC collection)

Do you have OE also ?

where did you get this ?? ...I wont be surprised if I got all of them wrong..anyways answers below


IMO
1 B
2 D
3 B
4 E
5 A
6 C
7 D

Here are the OAs:

1. B
2. E
3. A
4. C
5. C
6. E
7. D

@mukul
this RC was 4m one of the gmat forums.. dont remember exactly.. hit upon it while googling(coz i was not satisfied with my RC collection)

anulgoswami Says

reading comprehension has always been a problematic area for me, as there is no good source to practise for it. Can anybody tell me some good source to practice RC, besides the OG's.

Hi Anul,

When do you plan to give GMAT?

You can try Kaplan material and 1000RC.

Also you can try kaplan verbal book from here

reading comprehension has always been a problematic area for me, as there is no good source to practise for it. Can anybody tell me some good source to practice RC, besides the OG's.