GMAT考试历年全真试题二_GMAT
time—30 minutes
directions: in this sections you will need to analyze the issue presented below and explain your views on it. the question has no "correct" answer. instead, you should consider various perspectives as you develop you develop your own position on the issue.
read the statement and the directions that follow it, and then make any notes in your test booklet that will help you plan your response. begin writing yoiur response on the separate answer document. make sure that you use the answer document that goes with this writing task.
"business relations are infected through and through with the disease of short-sighted motives. we are so concerned with immediate results and short-term goals that we fail to look beyond them."
assuming that the term "business relations" can refer to the decisions and actions of any organization—for instance, a small family business, a community association, or a large international corporation—for instance, a small family business, a community association, or a large international corporation—explain the extent to which you think that this criticism is valid. in your discussion of the issue, use reasons and/or examples from your own experience, your observation of others or your reading.
analysis of an argument
time—30 minutes
directions: in section, you will be asked to write a critique of the argument presented below. note that you are not being asked to present your own views on the subject. instead, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking, what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion, or what sort of evidence could help strengthen or refute the argument
read the argument and the instructions that follow it, and then make any notes in your test booklet that will help you plan your response. begin writing your response on the separate answer document. make sure that you use the answer docume
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 ant that goes with this writing task.
the following appeared in the deitorial section of a newpaper.
"as public concern over drug abuse has increased authorities have become more vigilant in their to prevent illegal drugs from entering the country. many drug traffickers have consequently switched from marijuana which is bulky, or heroin, which has a market too small to justify the risk of severe punishment, to cocaine thus cnforcement efforts have ironieally resulted in an observed increase in the illegal use of cocaine."
discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. in your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. you can also discuss what if anything, would make the argument more sound and persuasive or would help you to better evaluate its conclusion.
section 2
time-25 minutes
16 questions
directrons : for each question in this section . select the best of the answer choices given .
1. a report on acid rain concluded . "most forests in critics are not being damaged by acid rain "canada of the report insist the conclusion be changed to . "most forests in canada do not show visible symptoms of growth or higher morality."
which of the following if true . provides the best logical justification for the critics insistence that the report s justification for critics insistence that the report s conclusion be changed?
(a) some forests in canada are being damaged by acid rain .
(b) acid rain could be causing damage for which symptoms have not yet become visible .
(c) the report does not compare acid rain damage to canadian forests with acid rain damage to forests in other countries .
(d) all forests in canada have received acid ram during the past fifteen years .
(e) the severity of damage by acid rain differs from forest to forest .
2. in the past most airline companies minimized aircraft weight to minimize fuel costs . the sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 afest airline seats were heavy . and airlines equipped their planes with few of these seats .this year the seat that has sold best to airlines has been the safest one----a clear indication that airlines are assigning a higher priority to safe seating than to minimizing fuel costs .
which of the following if true. most seriously weakens the argument above ?
(a) i not year s beat selling airline seat was not the safest airline seat on the market
(b) no airline company has announced that it would be making safe seating a higher priority this year .
(c) the price of fuel was higher this year than it had been in most of the ye
...
ars when the safest airline seats sold poorly .
(d) because of increases in the cost of materials all airline seats were more expensive to manufacture this year than in any previous year.
(e) because of technological innovations, the safest airline seat on the market this year weighet less than most other airline seats on the market.
3. a computer equipped with signature-recognition software, which restricts access to a computer to those people whose signatures are on file, identifies a person s signature by annlyzing not only the form of the signature but also such characteristies as pen pressure and signing speed. even the most adept forgers cannot duplicate all of the characteristies the program analyzes.
which of the following can be logically concluded from the passage above?
(a) the time it takes to record and analyze a signature makes the software impractical for everyday use.
(b) computers equipped with the softwate will same be installed in most banks.
(c) nobody can gain access to a computer equipped with the software solely by virtue of skill at forging signatures.
(d) signature-recognition software has taken many years to develop and pericet.
(e) in many cases even authorized users are denied legitimate access to computers equipped with the software.
4. di
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 avision manager: i want to replace the microton computers in my division with vitech computers.
general manager: why?
division manager: it costs 28 percent less to train new staff on the vitech.
general manager: but that is not a good enough reason. we can simply hire only people who already know how to use the microton computer.
which of the following if true most sctiously undermines the general manager s lobjection to the replacement of microton computers with vitechs?
(a) currently all employees in the company are required to attend workshops on how to use microton computers in new applications.
(b) once employees learn how to use a computer, they tend to change employers more readily than before.
(c) experienced users of microton computers command much higher salaries than do prospective employees who have no experience in the use of computers.
(d) the average productivity of employees in the general manager s company is below the average productivity of the employees of its competitors
(e) the high costs of replacement parts make vitech computers more expensive to mainatin than microton computers.
5. an airplane engine manufacturer developed a new engine model with safely features lacking in the earlier model, which was still being manufactured during the first year that both were sold, the earlier model far outsold the new model: the manufacturer thus concluded that safety was not the customers primary consideration.
which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the manufacturer s conclusion?
(a) both private plane owners and commercial airlines buy engines from this airplane engine manufacturer.
(b) many customers consider earlier engine models better safety rlaks than new englne makels, since more is usually known about the safety of the earlier models.
(c) many customers of this airplane engine manufacturet also bought airplane engines from manufactu
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 arers who did not provide additional safety features in their newer models.
(d) the newer engine model can be used in all planes in which the earlier engine model can be used.
(e) there was no significant difference in price between the newer engine model and the earlier engine model.
6. between 1975 and 1985, nttrsing-home occupancy rates averaged 87 percent of capacity, while admission rates remained constant, at an average of 95 admissions per 1,000 beds per year. between 1985 and 1988, however, occupancy rates rose to an average of 92 percent of capacity, while admission rates declined to 81 per 1,000 beds per year.
if the statements above are true which of the following conclusions can be most properly drawn?
(a) the average leagth of time nursing-home residents stayed in nursing homes increased between 1985 and 1988.
(b) the proportion of older people living in nursing hostnes was greater in 1988 than in 1975
(c) nursing home admission rates tend to decline whenever occupancy rates rise.
(d) nursing homes built prior to 1985 generally had fewer beds than did aursing homes bulit between 1985 and 1988.
(e) the more beds a sursing home has, the higher its occupancy rate is likely to be.
7. firms adopting "profit-related-
...
pay" (prp) contracts pay wages at levels that vary with the flrm s prooths in the metalworking industry last year, firms with prp contracts in place showed productivity per worker on average 13 percent higher than that of their competitors who used more traditional contracts.
if on the basis of the evidence above, it is argued that prp contracts increase worker productivity. which of the following if true, would most seriously weaken that graument?
(a) results similar to those cited for the metalworking industry have been found in other industries where prp contracts are used
(b) under prp contracts costs other than labor costs, such asplant machinery and energy make
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aup an incrensed proportion of the total cost of-each unit of output.
(c) because introducing prp contracts greatly changes individual workers relationships to the firm negotiating the introduction of prp contracts is complex and time consuming.
(d) many firms in the metalworking industry have modernized production equipment in the last five years, and most of these introduced prp contracts at the same time.
(e) in firms in the metalworking industry where prp contracts are in place the average take-home pay is 15 percent higher than it is in those thrms where workers have more traditional contracts.
8. crops can be traded on the futures market before they are harvested if a poor corn harvest is predicted prices of corn futures rise; if a bountiful corn harvest is predicted prices of corn futures fall this morning meteorologists are predicting muchneeded rain for the corn-growing region starting tomorrow. therefore, since adequate moisture is essential for the current crop s survival prices of corn futures will fall sharply today.
which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?
(a) corn that does not receive adequate moisture druing its critical pollination stage will not produce a bountiful harvest.
(b) futures prices for corn have been fluctuating more dramatically this season than last season
(c) the rain that meteorologists predicted for tomorrow is expected to extend well beyond the corn-growing region.
(d) agriculture experts announced today that a disease that has devastated some of the corn crop will spread widely before the end of the growing season.
(e) most people who trade in corn futures rarely take physical possession of the corn they trade.
9. a discount reatiler of basic household necessities employs thousands of people and pays most of them at the minimum wagte rate, yet following a federally mandated increase of the minimum wage rate that increased the retai
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aler s operating costs considerably, the retailer s profits increased markedly.
which of the following if true, most helps resoive the apparent paradox?
(a) over half of the retailer s operating costs consist of payroll expendintres: yet only a small percentage of those expenditures go to pay management salaries
(b) the retailer s customer base is made up primarily of people who earn or who depend on the earnings of others who earn the minimum wage.
(c) the retailer s operating costs other than wages increased substantially after the increase in the minimum wage rate went into effect
(d) when the increase in the minimum wage rate went into effect the retailer also raised the wage rate for employees who had been carning just above minimum wage.
(e) the majority of the retailer s employees work as cashiers and most cashiers are paid the minimum wage.
10. the cotton farms of country q became so productive that the market could not abort all that they produced consequently cotton prices fell. the government tried to boost cotton prices by offering farmers who took 25 percent of their cotton acreage out of production direct support payments up to a specified maximum per farm.
the government s program if successful will not be a net burden on the budget. which of the following if true is the best basis for an explanation of how this could be so?
(a) depressed cotton prices meant operating losses for cotton farms, and the government lost revenue from taxes on farm profits
(b) cotton production in seyeral countries other than q declined slightly the year that the support-payment program went into effect in q.
(c) the first year that the support-payment program was in effect cotton acreage in q was 5% below its level in the base year for the program.
(d) the specified maximum per farm meant that for very large cotton farms the support payments were less pe
...
r acre for those acres that were withdrawn
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 a from production than they were for smaller farms. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aexplain why the increased cost-efficiency of solar power has not decreased its threshold of economic viability? ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 an 1981,30 percent of the women between twenty and twenty-one were cnrolled in college. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 a ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 ax2, then 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aof the assumption ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 afactory work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 acomparable to those prevailing in the service sector of the economy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 agold-quartz vein systems were formed over two billion years ago from magmatie fluids that originated from molten granitelike [7] ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aentify those geological features that are critical to the formation of the mineralization being modeled,and then tries to select areas for exploration that exhibit as many of the critical features as possible. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aiginal gold deposits will ever yield as much as did those deposits discovered during the original gold rushes. [8] ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aosits are buried and have no surface expression 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 abor disruptions common in the 1970 s and early 1980 s have now virtually disappeared. at british telecom, there is no longer a waiting list—as there always was before privatization—to have a telephone installed. was before privatization—to have a telephone installed. [9] ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aich of the following resulted in increased productivity in companies that have been privatized? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 aet without government subsidies. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 a [10] ...
(e) parmera who wished to quallfy for support payments could not use the cotton acreage that was withdrawn from production to grow any other crop.
11. unlted states hospitals have traditionally relied primarily on revemes from paying patients to offised losses from unreimbttrsed care. almost all paying patients now rely on governmental or private health insurance to pay hospital bills. recently insures have been strictly limiting what they pay hospitals for the care of insured patients to amounts at or below actual costs.
which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information above?
(a) although the advance of technology has made expensive medical procedures available to the wealthy such procedures are out of the reach of low-income patients.
(b) if hospitals do not find ways of raising additional income for unreimbursed care, they must either deny some of that care or suffer losses if they give it.
(c) some patlents have incomes too high for eligibility for governmental health insturance but are unable to afford private insurance for hospital care.
(d) if the hospitals reduce their costs in providing care, insurance companies will maintain the current level of reimbursement, thereby providing more funds for unreimbused care.
(e) even though philanthropic donations have fraditionally provided some support for the hospitals, such donations are at present declining.
12. generally selentists enter their field with the goal of doing important new research and accept as their collegagues those with similar motivation. therefore wben any scientist wins renown as an expounder of science to general andiences most other scientists conclude that this popularizer should no longer be regarded as a true colleague.
the explanation offered above for the low esteem in which scientifie popularizers are held by research scientists assumes that
(b) reseasch scientists tend not to regard as colleagues those scientists whose renown they eavy
(c) a scientist can become a famous populnrizer without having completed any importatn research
(d) research scientists believe that those who are well known as popularizers of science are not motivated to do important new research
(e) no important new research can be accessible to or accurately assessed by those who are not themselves scientists
13. mouth cancer is a danger for people who rarely brush their teeth, in order to achieve early detection of mouth cancer in these individuals, a town s public health officinls sent a pamphlet to all town residents, describing how to perform weekly self-examinations of the mouth for lumps.
which of the following if true is the best criticism of the pamphlet as a method of achieving the public health officials goal?
(a) many dental diseases produce symptoms that cannot be detected in a weekly self-examination
(b) once mouth cancer has been detected the effectiveness of treatment can vary from person to person
(c) the pamphlet was sent to all town residents including those individuals who brush their teeth regularly.
(d) mouth cancer is much more common in adults than in children.
(e) people who rarely brush their teeth are unlikely to perform a weekly examination of their mouth.
14. technological improvements and reduced equipment costs have made converting solar energy directly into electricity far more cost-efficient in the last decade however the threshold of economic viability for solar power (that is, the proice per barrel to which oil would have to rise in order for new solar power plants to be more economical than new oil-fired power plants) is unchanged at thirty-five dollars.
whcih of the following if true, does most to help
(a) the cost of oil has fallen dramatically.
(b) the reduction in the cost of solar-power equipment has occurred despite increased raw material costs for that equipment.
(c) technological changes have increased the efficiency of oll-fired power plants.
(d) most electiricity is generated by coal-fired o
r nuclear, rather than oil-fired power plants.
(e) when the price of oil increases, reserves of oil not previously worth exploiting become econormically viable.
15. start-up companles financed by capitalists have a much lower fallure rate than companles financed by other means. source of financing, therefore, much be a more important cauative factor in the success of a start-up company than are such factors as the personal characteristies of the management structure of the company.
which of the following if true most seriously weakens the argument above?
(a) venture capitalists tend to be more responsive than other sources of financing to changes in a start-up company s financial needs.
(b) the strategic planning of a start-up company is a less important factor in the long-term success of the company than are the personal characteristies of the entrepreneur.
(c) mote than half of all new companles fall within five years.
(d) the management structres of start-up companies are gencreally less formal than the management structures of ongoing businesses.
(e) venture capitalists base their decisions to found start-up companies on such factors as the characteristies of the entrepreneur and quality of strategic planning of the company.
16. the proportion of women among students enrolled in higher education programs has increased over the past decades. this is partly shown by the fact that in 1959, only 11 percent of the women between twenty and twenty-one were enrolled in college, while i
to evaluate the argument above, it would be most useful to compare 1959 and 1981 with regard to which of the following characteristies?
(a) the percentage of women between twenty and twenty-one who were not enrolled in college
(b) the percentage of women between twenty and twenty-five who graduated from college
(c) the percentage of women who after attending college entered highly paid professions
(d) the percentage of men between twenty and twenty-one who were enrolled in college
(e) the percentage of men who graduated from high school
section 3
time—25 minutes
16 questions
directions:in this section solve each problem using any available space on the page for scratchwork. then indicate the best of the answer choieces given.
numbers: all numbers used are real numbers.
figures: figures that accompany problems in this section are intended to provide information useful in solving the problems. they are drawn as accurately as possible exept when it is stated in a specifie problem that its figure is not drawn to scale. all figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.
1. if p is an even integer and q is an odd integer, which of the following must be an odd integer?
2. a certain college has a student-to-teacher ration of 11 to 1. the average (arithmetic mean) annual salary for teachers is $26,000. if the college pays a total of $3,380,000 in annual salaries to its teachers, how many students does the college have?
(a) 1.30
(b) 1.69
(c) 1.300
(d) 1.430
(e) 1.560
3. last year if 97 percent of the revenues of a company came from domestic sources and the remaining revenues, totaling $450,000, came from foreign sources, what was the total of the company s revenues?
(a) $1.350.000
(b) $1.500.000
(c) $4.500.000
(d) $15.000.000
(e) $150.000.000
4. drum x is full of oil and drutn y, which has twice the capacity of drum x, is full of oil, if all of the oil in drum x is poured into drum y, then drum y will be filled to what fraction of its capacity?
5. in a certain population, there are 3 times as many people aged twenty-one or under as there are people over twenty-one the ratio of those twenty-one or under to the total population is
(a) 1 to 2
(b) 1 to 3
(c) 1 to 4
(d) 2 to 3
(e) 3 to 4
6. =
(a)
(b) 2
(c) 1+
(d) 1+2
(e) 2+
7. a certain telescope increases the visual range at a particular location from 90 kilometers to 150 kllometera, lly what patecent is the vlsual tange increased by using the telescope?
(a) 30%
(b) 33%
(c) 40%
(d) 60%
(e) 66%
note: figure not drawn to scale.
8. in the figure above, the value of y is
(a) 6
(b) 12
(c) 24
(d) 36
(e) 42
9. a part-time employee whose hourly wage was increatnal by 25 pottent decliletl to toduce the number of hours worked per we
ek so that the employee s total weekly income would remain unchanged. by what percent should the number of bours worked be reduced?
(a) 12.5%
(b) 20%
(c) 25%
(d) 50%
(e) 75%
10. if x>0, is what percent of x?
(a) 6%
(b) 25%
(c) 37%
(d) 60%
(e) 75%
11. if the operation @ is defined for all a and b by the equation a @ b =, then 2 @ (3 @-1)=
(a) 4
(b) 2
(c)
(d) -2
(e) -4
12. a factory that employ 1,000 assembly-line workers pays each of these workers $5 per hour for the first 40 hours worked during a week and 1times that rate for hours worked in excess of 40. what was the total payroll for the assembly-line workers for a week in which 30 percent of them worked 20 hours, 50 percent worked 40 hours, and the rest worked 50 hours?
(a) $180,000
(b) $185,000
(c) $190,000
(d) $200,000
(e) $205,000
13. if
(a) 3x2-x+2
(b) 3x2+1
(c) 3x2
(d) 3x2-1
(e) 3x3-2
14. in a certain school, 40 more than of all the students are taking a science course and of those taking a science course are taking physies. if of all the students in the school are talking physies, how many students are in the school?
(a) 240
(b) 300
(c) 480
(d) 720
(e) 960
15. if d>0 and 0<1-<1, which of the following must be true?
16. the inside dimensions of a rectangular wooden box are 6 inches by 8 inches by 10 inches. a cylindrical cannister is to be placed inside the box so that it stands upright when the closed box rests on one of its six faces. of all such cannisters that could be used, what is the radius in inches, of the one that has maximum volume?
(a) 3
(b) 4
(c) 5
(d) 6
(e) 8
section 4
time—30 minutes
23 questions
historians of women s labor in the united states at first largely disregarded the story of female service workers —women caring wages in occupations such as salesclerk.
line domestic servant and office secretary these historians
(5) focused instead on factory work, primarily because it seemed so different from traditional, unpaid "woman s work" in the home, and because the underlying economic forces of industrialism were presumed to be gender- blind ans hence emancipatory in effect. unfortunately, emanci
(10) pation has been less profound than expected for not even industrial wago lalxx has cacaped contimted as acgregation in the workplace.
to explain this unfinished revolution in the status of women, historians have recently begun to emphasize the
(15) way a prevailing definition of femininity often determines the kinds of work allocated to women, even when such allocation is inappropriate to new conditions. for instance, early textile-mill entrepreneurs, in justifying women s employment in wage labor, made much
(20) that women were by nature skillful at detailed tasks and patient in carrying out repetitive chores; the mill owners thus imported into the new industrial order hoary stereotypes associated with the homemaking activities they presumed to have been the purview of women. because
(25) women accepted the more unattractive new industrial tasks more readily than did men, such jobs came to be regarded as female jobs. and employers, who assumed that women s "real" aspirations were for marriage and family life. declined to pay women wages commensurate with those of
(30) men. thus many lowr-skilled. lower-paid, less secure jobs came to be perceived as "female".
more remarkable than the origin has been the persistence of such sex segregation in twentieth-century industry. once an occupation came to be perceived as "female", employers
(35) showed surprisingly little interest in changing that perception even when higher profits beckoned. and despite the urgent need of the united states during the second world war to mobilize its human resources fully job segregation by set characterized even the most important
(40) war industries, moreover once the war ended, employers quickly returned to men most of the "male" jobs that women had been permitted to matter.
1. according to the passage, job segregation by sex in the united states was
(a) greatly dlmlalahed by labor mobillzatlon during the second world war
(b) perpetuated by those textile-mill owners who argued in favor of women s employment in wage labor
(c) one means by which women achieved greater job security
(d) reluctantly challenged by employers except when the sco
nomic advantages were obvious
(e) a constant source of labor unrest in the young textile industry
2. according to the passage, historians of women s labor focused on factory work as a more promising area of research than service-sector work because
(a) involved the payment of higher wages
(b) required skill in detailed tasks
(c) was as umed to be less characterized by sex segregation
(d) was more readily accepted by women than by men
(e) fitted the economie dynamie of industrialism better
3. it can be inferred from the passage that early historians of women s labor in the united states paid little attention to women s employment in the dervice sector of the economy because
(a) the extreme variety of these occupations made it very difficult to assemble meaningful statisties about them
(b) fewer women found employment in the service sector than in factory work
(c) the wages paid to workers in the service sector were much lower than those paid in the industrial sector
(d) women s employment in the service sector tended to be much more short- term than in factory work
(e) employment in the service sector seemed to have much in common with the unpaid work associated with homemaking
4. the passage supports which of the following statements about the early mill owners mentioned in the second paragraph?
(a) they hoped that by creating relatively unatractive "female" jobs they would discourage women from losing interest in marriage and family life
(b) they sought to increase the size of the available labor force as a means to keep men s wages low.
(c) they argued that women were inherently suited to do well in particular kinds of factory work.
(d) they thought that factory work bettered the condition of women by emancipating them from dependence on income earned by men.
(e) they felt guilty about disturbing the traditional division of labor in the family.
5. it can be inferred from the passage that the "unfinished revolution" the author mentions in line 13 refers to the
(a) entr of women into the industrial labor market
(b) recognition that work done by women as homemakers should be compensated at rates
(c) development of a new definition of feminimity unrelated to the economic forces of industrialism
(d) introduction of equal pay for equal work is all professions
(e) emancipation of women wage earners from gender-determined job allocation
6. the passage support which of the following? statements about hiring policies in the united states?
(a) after a crisis many formerly "male" jobs are reclassified as "female" jobs
(b) industrial employers generally prefer to hire women with previous expcrience as homemakers
(c) post-second world war hiring policies caused women to lose many of their wartime gains in employment opportunity.
(d) even war industries during the second world war were teluctant to hlte women for factory work
(e) the service sector of the economy has proved more nearly gender-blind in its hiring policies than has the manufacturing sector.
7. which of the following words best expresses the opinion of the author of the passage concerning the notion that women are more skillful than men in carrying out detailed tasks?
(a)"patient" (line 21)
(b) "repetitive" (line 21)
(c) "hoary" (line 22)
(d) "homemaking" (line 23)
(e) "purview" (line 24)
8. which of the following best describes the relationship of the final paragraph to the passage as a whole?
(a) the central idea is reinforced by the citation of evidence drawn from twentieth-century history
(b) the central idea is restated in such a way as to form a transition to a new topic for discussion.
(c) the central idea is restated and juxtaposed with evidence that might appear to contradict it.
(d) a partial exception to the generalizations of the central idea is dismissed as unimportant.
(e) recent history is cited to suggest that the central idea s validity is gradually diminishing.
according to a recent theory. archcan-age
line bodies deep beneath the surface of the earth. this theory is
(5) contra
ry to the widely held view that the systems were deposited from metamorphie fluids, that is from fluids that formed during the dehydration of wet sedimentary rocks.
the recently developed theory has considerable practical importance. most of the gold deposits discovered during
(10) the original gold rushes were exposed at the earth s surface and were found because they had shed trails of alluvial gold that were easily traced by simple prospecting methods, although these same methxxls atill lead to an occamional discovery, most deposits not yet discovered have gone
(15) undetected because they are buried and have no surface expression.
the challenge in exploration is therefore to unravel the subsurface geology of an area and pinpoint the position of buried minerals.methods widely used today include
(20) analysis of aerial images that yield a broadgeological overview geophysical techniques that provide data on the magnetic, electrical, and mineralogical properties of the rocks being investigated; and sensitive chemical tests that are able to detect the subtle chemical halos that often
(25) envelop mineralization. however, none of any value if the sites to which they are applied have never mineralized, and to maximize the chances of discovery the explorer must therefore pay particular attention to selecting the ground formations most
(30) likely to be mineralized such ground selection relies to varying degrees on conceptual models, which take into account theoretical studies of relevant factors.
these models are constructed primarily from empirical observations of known mineral deposits and from theories
(35) of ore-forming processes. the explorer user the models to id
9. the autbor is primarily concerned wild
(a) advcating a return to an older methodology
(b) explaining the importance of a recent theory
(c) enumerating differences between two widely used methods
(d) describing events leading to a discovery
(e) challenging the assumptions on which a theory is based
10. according to the passage, the widely held view of archean-age gold-quartz vein systems is that such systems
(a) were formed from metamorphie fluids
(b) originated in molten granitelike bodies
(c) were formed from alluvial deposits
(d) generally have surface expression
(e) are not discoverable through chemical tests
11. the passage implies that which of the following steps would be the first performed by explorers who wish to maximize their chancex of discovering gold?
(a) surveying several sites known to have been formed more than two billion years ago.
(b) limiting exploration to sites known to have been formed from metamorphic fluid
(c) using an appropriate conceptual model to select a site for further exploration
(d) using geophysical methods to analyze rocks over a broad area
(e) limiting exploration to sites where alluvial gold has previously been found
12. which of the following statements about discoveries of gold deposits is supported by information in the passage?
(a) the number of gold discoveries made annually has increased between the time of the original gold rushes and the present.
(b) new discoveries of gold deposits are likely to be the result of exploration techniques designed to locate buried mineralization.
(c) it is unlikely that newly discovered gold deposits will ever yield as much as did those deposits discovered during the or
(d) modern explorers are divided on the question of the untility of simple prospecting methods as a source of new discoveries of gold deposits.
(e) models based on the theory that gold originated from magmatic fluide have already led to new discoveries of gold deposits.
13. it can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is easiest to detect?
(a) a gold-quartz vein system originating in magmatic fluids
(b) a gold-quartz vein system originating in metamorphic fluids
(c) a gold deposit that is mixed with granite
(d) a gold deposit that has shed alluvial gold
(e) a gold deposit that exhibits chemical halos
14. the theory mentioned in line 1 relates to the conceptual models discussed in the
passage in which of the following ways?
(a) it may furnish a valid account of ore-forming processes, and hence can support conceptual models that have great practical significance.
(b) it suggests that ecrtain geological formations, long believed to be mineralized are in fact mineralized, thus confirming current conceptual models.
(c) it suggests that there may not be enough similarity across archean-age gold-quartz vein systens to warrant the formulation of conceptual models.
(d) it corrects existing theories about the chemical halos of gold deposits and thus provides a basis for correcting current conceptual models.
(e) it suggests that simple prospecting methods still have a higher success rate in the discovery of gold deposits than do more modern methods.
15. according to the passage, methods of exploring for gold that are widely used today are based on which of the following facts?
(a) most of the earth s remaining gold deposits are still molten.
(b) most of the earth s remaining deposits are exposed at the surface.
(c) most of the earht s remaining gold dep
(d) only one type of gold deposit warrants exploration since the other types of gold deposits are found in regions difficult to reach
(e) only one type of gold deposit warrants exploratin since the other types of gold deposits are unlikely to yield concentrated quantities of gold.
16. it can be inferred from the passage that the efficiency of model-based gold exploration depends which of the following?
the closeness of the match between the geological features identified by the model as critical and the actual geological features of a given area
the degree to which the model chosen relies on empirical observation of konwn mineral deposits rather than on theories of ore-forming processes
the degree to which the model chosen is based on an accurate description of the events leading to mineralization
while there is no blueprint for transforming a largely government- controlled economy into a free one, the experience of the united kingdom since 1979 clearly
line shows one approach that works: privatization, in which
(5) state-owned industries are sold to private companies. by 1979, the total borrowings and losses of state-owned industries were running at about f3 billion a year. by selling many of these industries, the government has decreased these borrowings and losses gained over f3-4
(10) billion from the sales and now receives tax revenues from the newly privatized companies. along with a dramatically improved overall economy. the government has been able to repay 12.5 percent of the net national debt over a two-year period.
(15) in fact privatization has not only rescued individual industries and a whole economy headed for disaster but has also raised the level of performance in every area. at british airways and british gas, for example, productivity per employee has risen by 20 percent. at associated
(20) british port. la
part of this improved productivity has come about
(25) because the employees of privatized industries were given the opportunity to buy shares in their own companies. they responded enthusiastically to the offer of shares: at british acrospace 89 percent of the eligible work force bought shares: at associated british ports 90percent: and at
(30) british telecom 92 percent when people have a personal stake in something, they think about it ,care about it, work to make it prosper. at the national freight consortium, the new employee-owners grew so concerned about their company s profits that during wage negotiations they
(35) actually pressed their union to lower its wage demands.
some economists have suggested that giving away free shares would provide a needed acceleration of the privatization process. yet they miss thomas paine s point that "what we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly." in
(40) order for the far-ranging benefits of individual ownership to be achieved by owners, companies and countries, employees and other individuals must make their own decisions to buy, and they must commit some of their own resources to the cboice.
17. accordign to the passag
e, all of the following were benefits of privatizing state-owned industries in the united kingdom except:
(a) privatized industries paid taxes to the government
(b) the government gained revenue from selling state-owned industries.
(c) the government repaid some of its national debt.
(d) profits from industries that were still state-owned increased.
(e) total borrowings and losses of state-owned industries decreased.
18. according to the passage, wh
(a) a lareg number of employees chose to purchase shares in their companies.
(b) free shares were widely distributed to individual sharcholdens.
(c) the government ceassed to regulate major industries.
(d) unions conducted wage negotiations for employees.
(e) employee-owners agreed to have their wages lowered.
19. it can be inferred from the passage that the author considers labor disruptions to be
(a) an inevitable problem in a weak national economy
(b) a positive sign of cmployee concern about a company
(c) a predictor of cmployee reactions to a company s offer to sell shares to then
(d) a phenomenon found more often in state-owned industries than in private companies
(e) a deterrence to high performance levels in an industry
20. the passage supports which of the following statements about employees buying shares in their own companies?
(a) at three different companies, approximately nine out of ten of the workers were eligible to buy shares in their companies.
(b) approxlmately 90% of the ellgible workers at three different companies chose to buy shares in their companies
(c) the opportunity to buy shares was diseouraged by at least some labor unions.
(d) companies that demonstrated the highest productivity were the first to allow their employees the opporrunity to buy shares.
(e) eligibility to buy shares was contingent on employees agreeing to increased work loads.
21. which of the following statements is most consistent with the principle described in lines 30-32?
(a) a democratie government that decides it is inappropriate to own a particular industry has in no way abdicated its responsibilities as guardina of the public interest
(b) the ideal way for a government to protect employee interests is to force companies to maintain their share of a contpetitive mark
(c) the failure to harness the power of self-interest is an important reason that state-owned industries perform poorly.
(d) governments that want to implement privatization programs must try to eliminate all resistance to the free-market system.
(e) the individual sharebolder will reap only a minute share of the gains from whatever sacrifices he or she makes to achieve these gains.
22. which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the privatization process in the united kingdom?
(a) it depends to a potentlally dangerous degtee on individual ownership of shares
(b) it conforms in its most general outlines to thomas palne s pecriptlon for business ownership.
(c) it was originally conceived to include some giving away of free shares.
(d) it has been successful, even though privatization has failed in other countries.
(e) it is taking place more slowly than some economists suggest is necessary.
23. the quotation in line 39 is most probably used to
(a) counter a position that the author of the passage believes is incorrect
(b) state a solution to a problem described in the previous sentence
(c) show hos opponents of the viewpoint of the author of the passage have supported their arguments
(d) point out a paradox contained in a controversial viewpoint
(e) prescent a historical maxlm to challenge the principle introduced in the third paragraph
section 5
time—25 minutes
16 questions
directions: in this section solve each problem, using any available space on the page for scratchwork. then indicate the best of the answer choices given.
numbers: all numbers used are real numbers.
figures: figures that accompany problems in this section are intended to provide in formation useful in solving the problems. they are drawn as accurately as possible except when it is stated in a specific problem that i