Reading Comprehension questions, test your ability to understand the substance

and the logical structure of a written passage. The GRE verbal section may have
2 to 4 reading passages of various lengths, ranging from 200 to 600 words.

The passages are of two basic types: Science and Non-science.

1) The science passage may deal with topics from medicine, zoology, chemistry,
physics,geology, astronomy.

2) The non-science passages will be about either Humanities or Social Studies.

a) Humanities passages include art, literature, music, philosophy, folklore. They

typically take a specific point of view, or compare several views.
b) Social science passages includes history, economics, sociology, government.
They usually introduce an era or event by focussing on a specific problem, topic,
person, or group of persons.

The Reading Comprehension passages usually either:

a) Argue a position
b) Discuss a specific subject
c) Explain new findings or research ( generally Science topics)

Even though the reading passages on the GRE may be taken from disciplines
outside your field of study, you need not feel any apprehensions of it. The
material under discussion may initially
seem foreign to you, but you should find it comprehensible. Remember that the
passages on the GRE are chosen because they are self-contained, they explain
their own terms, they will give you
all the information which is required to answer the questions which are asked
after it. So it is not needed that you should have the knowledge of that subject.

The key words for success in reading comprehension are:

1) Concentration.
2) Patience.
3) Practice.

Strategies for Solving RC's

[b]Strategy-I :[/b]

Read the complete paragraph paying the highest grade of concentration.

Particularly, for the first and the last sentences of a paragraph. Once you have
started reading the passage, no person or thing should distract your mind. While
going through the passage, scrutinize it and find out what is main idea, or the
main theme of the passage. Also while going through the passage check out the
mood or the attitude of the author.
[b]Strategy-II :[/b]

Learn to identify the major Reading Comprehension questions, which will

be asked after the passages.

1) Main Idea

The General questions asked on it are:

a) The main point of the passage is to?.
b) The primary purpose of the passage is?..
c) The chief theme of passage is?..
d) The central idea is?..
e) Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

2) Information specifically mentioned

The General questions asked on it are:

a) According to the author?..

b) The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following
questions?
c) Which of the following statements are best supported by the passage?
d) According to the passage which of the following is true of the..
e) The author states all of the following EXCEPT?

3) Drawing Inferences

The General questions asked on it are:

a) It can be inferred form the passage that ?

b) The author implies that?.
c) The passage suggests that?.
d) Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

4) Application to other situations

The General questions asked on it are:

a) With which of the statements would the author of the passage be most likely
to agree?
b) With which of the statements the author be in strongest agreement ?
c) The authors argument would be most weakened by the discovery of which of
the following statements?
d) The authors contention would be strengthen by if which of the following were
found to be true?
e) The author is probably addressing which of the following audiences?
5) Tone/Mood/Attitude of the passage

The General questions asked on it are:

a) The authors attitude towards the problem can best be described as ?.
b) The author regards the idea that?..
c) The authors tone in the passage is that of a person attempting to ?.
d) Which of the following best describes the authors tone in the passage?
e) The mood of the author is ?.

6) Logical Structure/ Writing techniques:

The General questions asked on it are:

a) Which of the following best describes the development of this passage?

b) In presenting the argument, the author does all of the following EXCEPT?.
c) The relationship between the second paragraph and the first paragraph can
best be described as?.
d) In the passage, the author makes the central point primarily by ?.
e) The organization of the passage can best be described as?

7) Determining the meaning of the words from the context.

The General questions asked on it are:

a) The phrase___________ is used in the passage to mean that?.

b) As used by the author , the term _________ refers to???
c) The author uses the phrase__________ to describe?.
d) As it is used in the passage, the term___________ can best be described as?..

Strategy-III

Always start reading the answers from option A and then proceed. Before
confirming make sure you have read all the answers.

Strategy-IV

Always use the "Elimination Technique", the process of eliminating the

answers which are wrong i.e. those options which are out of scope of the
passage, those which have complete different meanings than which is asked in
the question.

Strategy-V

Always guess the answers if you think the answers are out of your reach,
rather than wasting your valuable time.
Strategy-VI

Answer all the questions on the basis of information provided in the

passage and do not rely on outside knowledge.

Exercise-1

PASSAGE-1

During World War I, the issue of neutral rights on the seas revived to plague
America's foreign relations with the belligerents or Central Powers. One of the
German justifications for its shoot-on-sight policy was, as we have seen, the
fragility of the Uboat and its vulnerability to any armed vessels. To deal with this
problem, in early 1916 Lansing proposed a modus vivendi: if the Allies agreed to
disarm their merchant ships,
the Germans would agree to the principle, suspended but not yet formally
acknowledged, that their submarines would not attack such vessels without
warning and without protecting the safety of civilians. In effect, the submarine
would function as a surface cruiser and observe the previously established rules
of naval warfare.

Unwilling to surrender what they considered to be a well-established right to arm

surface vessels in exchange for a German concession to abide by existing
international law, the British rejected the proposal immediately. Faced with this
hostile response, Lansing quickly dropped the modus vivendi proposal.
Unfortunately, he had opened a Pandora's box. In explaining it to the German
government, Lansing had implied that the American government regarded Allied
armed merchant vessels as warships. This had been the German position all
along, and they eagerly seized on the opening the Americans had created. On
February 10, the Kaiser's government informed the American State Department
that beginning on February 29, German U-boats would resume their
attacks on armed merchant vessels without prior warning. In effect, the truce
ushered in by the Arabic pledge was over.

This sequence of events alarmed the pacifists and the isolationists. The Wilson
administration, by dropping the modus vivendi, seemed to be saying that it
accepted the British position that armed merchant vessels were not warships. If
this were so, then by the administration's interpretation, Americans would have
the right to travel on such
vessels. Since the Germans now intended to attack them on sight, Wilson was
almost guaranteeing a collision with Germany. Hoping to head off such a
confrontation, Representative Jeff McLemore of Texas and Senator Thomas P.
Gore of Oklahoma introduced resolutions forbidding American travel on armed or
contraband-carrying ships. Wilson interpreted this as a challenge to his idealism
and his leadership in foreign affairs and a cowardly surrender of American rights.
"For my own part, " Wilson wrote
the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "I cannot consent to
any abridgment of the rights of American citizens in any respect. Once we accept
a single abatement of rights, many other humiliations would certainly follow, and
the whole fine fabric of international law might crumble in our hands piece by
piece. " Congress backed down under the President's pressure and tabled the
Gore-McLemore resolutions. Wilson's victory over Congress and the peace
groups would later be viewed as a pivotal incident, since subsequent attacks on
U.S. shipping drew America into the war.

1) Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

a) The role of American diplomacy in enforcing international laws concerning sea

travel.
b) How conflicts over control of the sea lanes helped lead to the outbreak of war.
c) The effects on international relations of internal political conflicts in the United
States.
d) Wilson's failure to accede in certain steps that could have prevented United
States involvement in war.
e) The disagreement between the Germans and the Allies over the rights of
merchant ships and how it helped draw the United States into war.

2) According to the passage, the Gore-McLemore resolutions were introduced in

an attempt to:
a) Conciliate the British
b) Avoid a confrontation with Germany
c) Appease pro-pacifist sentiment
d) Undercut the Allied bargaining position
e) Assert the rights of U.S. citizens on the seas

3) According to the passage, the U-boat was:

a) A formidable weapon against any type of surface warship.
b) Relatively vulnerable to attack by surface vessels.
c) Clearly subject to the same international laws that governed surface warships.

d) Generally unable to inflict serious damage on large surface vessels.

e) Considered by the Allies as subject to attack without

PASSAGE-2

The full-time unemployment rate cannot be determined with great precision. One
thing is certain: it cannot be zero or even close to zero. A zero unemployment
rate would mean that no one ever entered or re-entered the labor force, that no
one ever quit a job or was laid off, and that for new entrants or re-entrants, the
process of searching for a job
consumed no time. Moreover, full-time employment cannot be defined as an
equality between the number of unemployed persons and the number of unfilled
jobs. By this definition, almost any unemployment rate could be consistent with
the full-time employment rate.
The customary definition of the full-time U.S. unemployment rate is the lowest
rate of unemployment that can be attained without resulting in an accelerated
rate of inflation, given the existing economic conditions. However, no one can be
sure exactly what the unemployment rate is, based on this definition, since it is
not possible to predict exactly how great a change in the rate of inflation will be
associated with any given
change in the unemployment rate. In the early 1960s, President Kennedy's
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) determined that 4 percent was the best
estimate of the fulltime U.S. unemployment rate. That rate was based on data
collected during the period from mid-1955 to mid-1957, when the U.S.
unemployment rate fluctuated around an average of 4.1 percent and the
consumer price index advanced at an average rate of 2.5 percent per year.
Although a 4-percent U.S. unemployment rate may have been consistent with an
acceptably low rate of inflation in the mid-1950s, by the 1960s this proposition
had become increasingly doubtful. Our experience since then has been such that
those who accept the customary definition of the full-time U.S. unemployment
rate now
consider 4.5 percent to be the optimal rate under the existing circumstances.

The principal reason for this upward adjustment in the full-time U.S.
unemployment rate is the changed composition of the labor force. As the labor
force becomes increasingly composed of elderly people and women, the number
of workers has increased. Similarly, the number of workers who are now eligible
to collect benefits has increased. To the extent that these changes have
increased voluntary and involuntary layoff rates and the average length of time
unemployed persons spend looking for work,
the full-time unemployment rate has risen.

4) The passage states that the full-time unemployment rate represents:

a) A rate consistent with the greatest number of job opportunities for the
greatest number of workers.
b) The greatest degree of stability in the placement of the labor force that is
practically attainable.
c) A figure below which unemployment is unlikely to fall without having negative
economic effects.
d) An ideal matching of unemployed workers with the number and type of
unfilled jobs available.
e) The unemployment rate most likely to help keep inflation at the lowest
possible level.

5) According to the passage, all of the following factors must be considered in

estimating the full-time unemployment rate EXCEPT

a) The percentage of women in the work force

b) The ratio of the number of unemployed workers to the number of vacant
positions
c) The strength of inflationary tendencies in the economic system
d) The number of older people in the job market
e) The availability of financial help for those who are out of work

6) The primary purpose of the passage is to

a) Define a term
b) Correct a misconception
c) Suggest a new theory
d) Pose a dilemma
e) Make a prediction

7) The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

a) Why is a zero unemployment rate unlikely ever to be attained?
b) What is the likely future trend of the full-employment unemployment rate?
c) Why has the percentage of younger workers in the job market increased?
d) What rate of inflation is generally considered to be the highest acceptable
rate?
e) To what extent do workers tend to quit their jobs as a result of increased
unemployment benefits?

PASSAGE-3

The magnetic field of Jupiter is approximately twenty to thirty times stronger

than that of Earth. Because of its strength and great distance from the sun,
Jupiter has a magnetosphere that is considerably larger than the magnetosphere
of Earth. If we could see the Jovian magnetosphere from Earth, it would appear
close to the size of the moon in the sky, despite our great distance from Jupiter.

Jupiter's magnetosphere has three distinct regions. The inner region is

doughnutshaped,with the planet in the hole of the doughnut. This region is
similar to Earth's inner magnetosphere, but more intense; containing several
shells, where protons and electrons of enormous energies concentrate, as they
do in Earth's Van Allen radiation belts.
Jupiter's small innermost satellite, Amalthea, and three of its large satellites Io,
Europa, and Ganymede travel through this inner region.
The middle region of Jupiter's magnetosphere has no Earthly counterpart. The
middle Jovian region consists of a sheath of electrically charged particles being
whirled around rapidly by the rotation of Jupiter's magnetic field. These particles
strongly distort the intrinsic magnetic field of Jupiter.
The outer region is similar to the outer magnetosphere of Earth in that its shape
is affected by the solar wind, a blizzard of electrons and protons that blows
across space from the sun. The solar wind often forces the magnetic field of
Jupiter back toward the planet, squeezing the magnetosphere as though it were
a great air-filled bag. Leaks develop, from which high-energy particles 'squirt'
across the solar system. Some of these particles have been detected in the
atmospheres of Earth and Mercury by orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft. The
energized particles in the Jovian magnetosphere appear to have several sources.
Some originate in the planet's ionosphere; others appear to be injected into the
magnetosphere from the surface of the satellites. Io, in particular, is believed to
interact with the Jovian magnetic field to produce energetic electrons, while
volcanic activity on Io and the bombardment of Io's surface with energetic
particles are believed to be responsible for releasing sodium, potassium, and
sulfur ions into the magnetosphere.

These atoms and ions form neutral clouds around Io and a doughnut-shaped
torus of ions circling Jupiter in the plane of the magnetic equator.
Investigations of this complex toric region of plasma, where gas is fully ionized,
are important in understanding not only the magnetosphere of Earth but other
plasmas in general. Since most of the intensely energetic processes of the
universe take place in plasmas, their study is important to future energy
research, particularly in fusion power. The dynamic magnetosphere of Jupiter
provides us with a unique laboratory for the study of these and other issues of
astrophysics.

8) The passage states which of the following about the solar wind?

a) It is a major source of the energetic particles found in Jupiter's

magnetosphere.
b) It has a distorting effect on the contour of Jupiter's magnetosphere.
c) It produces particles that have been detected near Earth's orbit.
d) It exerts a powerful gravitational attraction upon the magnetosphere of Jupiter

e) It is considerably stronger at the orbit of Jupiter than at that of Earth.

9) The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

a) Where is the ionosphere of Jupiter located in relation to its magnetosphere?
b) What is the total number of Jovian satellites?
c) What causes the toric shape of plasma?
d) Is it possible to observe the Jovian magnetosphere with the naked eye from
Earth?
e) What is the effect of volcanic activity on the surface of Jupiter upon the
planet's magnetosphere?

10) The passage provides information about how the magnetosphere of Jupiter
compares with that of Earth in which of the following ways?
I. Strength
II. Size
III. Structure
a) I only
b) II only
c) I and II only
d) I and III only
e) I, II, and III
11) According to the passage, which of the following statements about Io is
FALSE?
a) Its surface is under bombardment by energetic particles.
b) It orbits Jupiter in the inner ring of the magnetosphere.
c) It is one source of the ions found orbiting Jupiter.
d) It appears to be marked by volcanic activity.
e) It is one of the smallest satellites of Jupiter.

ANSWERS EXERCISE-1

Ex.01-PASSAGE 01

1.Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

A) The role of American diplomacy in enforcing international laws concerning sea
travel.
B) How conflicts over control of the sea lanes helped lead to the outbreak of war.

C) The effects on international relations of internal political conflicts in the United

States.
D) Wilson's failure to accede in certain steps that could have prevented United
States involvement in war.
E) The disagreement between the Germans and the Allies over the rights of
merchant ships and how it helped draw the United States into war.

(E) As the first sentence of the passage states, it is 'the problem of

neutral rights on the seas' that is mainly discussed in the passage.
Choice D is too narrow: Wilson's rejectionof the Gore-McLemore
resolutions is not the primary subject of the passage, since it only
comes up in one place in the passage. And don't be fooled by choice B:
the war had already 'broken out' well before the sequence of events
discussed in this passage began, as the first-sentence reference to 'the
belligerents or Central Powers' implies.

2) According to the passage, the Gore-McLemore resolutions were introduced in

an attempt to:
A) conciliate the British
B) avoid a confrontation with Germany
C) appease pro-pacifist sentiment
D) undercut the Allied bargaining position
E) assert the rights of U.S. citizens on the seas

(B) See the beginning of the fifth sentence of paragraph 3, where we

read that Gore and McLemore introduced their resolutions hoping to
head off' a confrontation with Germany. There is no suggestion that the
resolutions were introduced merely to placate those who opposed entry
into the war; for this reason, choice C is wrong.
3) According to the passage, the U-boat was:

A) a formidable weapon against any type of surface warship.

B) relatively vulnerable to attack by surface vessels.
C) clearly subject to the same international laws that governed surface warships.

D) generally unable to inflict serious damage on large surface vessels.

E) considered by the Allies as subject to attack without warning.

(B) The second sentence of the passage refers to the 'fragility' and
'vulnerability' of the Uboat. (E) means that the allies would attack the
U-boats immediately upon seeing them. Choice E is wrong because the
question of shooting without warning discussed in the passage refers to
attacks by U-boats, not against U-boats.

Ex.01-PASSAGE 02

4) The passage states that the full-time unemployment rate represents:

A) a rate consistent with the greatest number of job opportunities for the
greatest number of workers.
B) the greatest degree of stability in the placement of the labor force that is
practically attainable.
C) a figure below which unemployment is unlikely to fall without having
negativeeconomic effects.
D) an ideal matching of unemployed workers with the number and type of
unfilled jobs available.
E) the unemployment rate most likely to help keep inflation at the lowest
possible level.

(C). This definition can be found in the first sentence of paragraph 2.

Choice E may sound plausible, but it implies that the maintenance of a
low inflation rate is the most important criterion for a full employment
unemployment rate, whereas the main criterion is, of course, the low
unemployment rate itself.

5) According to the passage, all of the following factors must be considered in

estimating the full-time unemployment rate EXCEPT

A) the percentage of women in the work force

B) the ratio of the number of unemployed workers to the number of vacant
positions
C) the strength of inflationary tendencies in the economic system
D) the number of older people in the job market
E) the availability of financial help for those who are out of work
(B). Choices A and D are both based on the fourth paragraph, where the
importance of the age- and gender-specific (women's) shares of the
work force is discussed. Choice C is implied in the passage as a whole,
and particularly in the second and third paragraphs, which discuss the
need to vary the estimated full-employment unemployment rate as the
strength if inflationary tendencies varies. The last paragraph suggests
choice E. Choice B, however, is clearly ruled out by the last two
sentences of paragraph 1.

6) The primary purpose of the passage is to

A) define a term
B) correct a misconception
C) suggest a new theory
D) pose a dilemma
E) make a prediction

(A) The passage focuses on defining the term 'full-time unemployment

rate,' so choice A is correct.

7) The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

A) Why is a zero unemployment rate unlikely ever to be attained?

B) What is the likely future trend of the full-employment unemployment rate?
C) Why has the percentage of younger workers in the job market increased?
D) What rate of inflation is generally considered to be the highest acceptable
rate?
E) To what extent do workers tend to quit their jobs as a result of increased
unemployment benefits?

(A) The question in choice A is discussed in the first paragraph of the

passage. The other questions may all be raised by the information
provided in the passage, but none of them can be answered by the
passage.

Ex.01-PASSAGE 03

8) The passage states which of the following about the solar wind?

A) It is a major source of the energetic particles found in Jupiter's

magnetosphere.
B) It has a distorting effect on the contour of Jupiter's magnetosphere.
C) It produces particles that have been detected near Earth's orbit.
D) It exerts a powerful gravitational attraction upon the magnetosphere of Jupiter

E) It is considerably stronger at the orbit of Jupiter than at that of Earth.

(B) This effect of the solar wind is described in the fourth paragraph.
According to the passage, the particles referred to in choice C are not
produced by the solar wind but freed by it from Jupiter's
magnetosphere.

9) The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

A) Where is the ionosphere of Jupiter located in relation to its magnetosphere?

B) What is the total number of Jovian satellites?
C) What causes the toric shape of plasma?
D) Is it possible to observe the Jovian magnetosphere with the naked eye from
Earth?
E) What is the effect of volcanic activity on the surface of Jupiter upon the
planet's magnetosphere?

(C) The last sentence of paragraph 1 states that it is not possible to see
the Jovian magnetosphere from Earth. Choices A, B, and C refer to
topics that are mentioned in the passage, but they raise questions that
the passage itself does not answer. Choice E is wrong because the only
volcanic activity it mentioned in the passage is on Io, not on Jupiter.

10) The passage provides information about how the magnetosphere of Jupiter
compares with that of Earth in which of the following ways?

I. Strength
II. Size
III. Structure
A) I only
B) II only
C) I and II only
D) I and III only
E) I, II, and III

(D) The differences in size and strength are mentioned in the first two
sentences of the passage. Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 explain some of the
structural similarities and differences.

11) According to the passage, which of the following statements about Io is

FALSE?
A) Its surface is under bombardment by energetic particles.
B) It orbits Jupiter in the inner ring of the magnetosphere.
C) It is one source of the ions found orbiting Jupiter.
D) It appears to be marked by volcanic activity.
E) It is one of the smallest satellites of Jupiter.

(E) We are told in paragraph 2 that Io is one of Jupiter's large satellites.

Paragraphs 2 and 5 are the sources of the facts alluded to in choices A
through D.
Exercise-2
Ex.02-PASSAGE-1

The belief that friendly sociopolitical climates and low costs of government may
be important (to competition among states to attract, keep, and enlarge high
tech and manufacturing resources) has been reinforced by anecdotal evidence
from business publications and business lobbyists who threaten to shift
resources among states in response to costs or inconveniences imposed by state
governments. Imbedded within the
larger question of whether state policy initiatives affect the interstate movement
of developmental resources is the more specific question of whether state-
imposed environmental costs affect the interstate allocation of these resources.
Do the actual or anticipated costs of complying with expensive environmental
regulations in some states encourage producers to shift resources to other
states? Extant evidence is mixed.

One set of scholars argues that interstate competition for economic development
initiates a process analogous to Gresham's Law in which low regulatory costs in
one state 'drive out' higher costs in competing states because states that impose
higher marginal costs of government will lose in the competition for economic
resources. Empirical tests of the Gresham's Law analogy have produced
inconsistent results; however, recent research suggests that, while they have by
no means supplanted traditional locational factors, these environmental costs-of-
government are increasingly important determinants of plant location, especially
of intraregional location choices among states with comparable extra-
governmental characteristics.

Others argue that the environmental costs of government, like other costs of
government, remain a trivial factor in industries' resource allocation decisions.
Christopher Duerkson's extensive study for the Conservation Foundation (1981)
found little effect of state regulation on plant siting decisions, corroborating
Healy's finding two years earlier that environmental regulation had an
insignificant impact on the location of
industry. Moreover, industry publications have consistently ranked
environmental regulation as one of the least important elements of 'business
climate' influences on location decisions.

What is one to make of this contradictory evidence? To some degree it reflects

inherent research design difficulties. Multicollinearity, for example, makes it
extremely difficult to distinguish the attractiveness of environmental regulation
from other aspects of 'business climate.' Likewise, the concentration of energy
and other natural resources in
states with relatively low costs of government make it difficult to distinguish the
effects of these two potential influences. But the inherent design difficulties
should not obscure the possibility that both sets of evidence are partially correct.
1) According to this passage, what are the main two influences on business
competition among states?

a) locational factors and business climate

b) state policy initiatives and state-imposed environmental costs
c) interstate flight of capital and declining business capital
d) actual and anticipated costs of compliance with environmental regulation
e) sociopolitical climate and business climate

2) In the search for the critical factor in plant siting decisions, the weight of the
evidence indicates that:

a) higher costs of government outweigh traditional locational factors.

b) environmental costs are critical determinants.
c) environmental costs are a trivial factor.
d) state policy decisions are critical determinants.
e) concentration of energy is a critical factor.

3) Which statement below most comprehensively states the central idea of this
passage?

a) Anecdotal evidence from business publications and lobbyists is suspect.

b) The relative weight of critical factors in plant siting decisions is difficult to
determine.
c) Environmental regulation is a major deterrent in plant siting decisions.
d) Anticipated and actual costs of environmental regulation differ.
e) Evidence concerning factors in plant siting decisions is consistent.

PASSAGE-2

It is paradoxical that the old countries involve themselves in the most absurd
complexities to prevent a shrinkage of their agricultural population and the new
countries seem even more anxious to speed up the growth of the industrial
population by artificial means. Much of this endeavor on the latter's part seems
to be based on a rather naive fallacy of the post hoc ergo propter hoc variety:
because historically the growth of wealth
has regularly been accompanied by rapid industrialization, it is assumed that
industrialization will bring about a more rapid growth of wealth. This involves a
clear confusion of an intermediate effect with a cause. It is true that, as
productivity per head increases as a result of investment in knowledge and skill,
more and more of the additional output will be wanted in the form of industrial
products. It is also true that a
substantial increase in the production of food in those countries will require an
increased supply of tools. But neither of these considerations alters the fact that
if large-scale industrialization is to be the most rapid way of increasing average
income, there must be an agricultural surplus available so that an industrial
population can be fed. If unlimited amounts of capital were available and if the
mere availability of sufficient capital could speedily change the knowledge and
attitudes of an agricultural population, it might be sensible for such countries to
impose a planned reconstruction of their economies on the model of the most
advanced capitalist countries. This, however, is clearly not within the range of
actual possibilities. It would seem, indeed, that if such countries as India and
China are to effect a rapid rise in the standard of living, only a small portion of
such capital as becomes available should be devoted to the creation of elaborate
industrial equipment and perhaps none of it to the kind of highly automatized,
'capital-intensive' plants that are characteristic of countries where the value of
labor is very high, and that these countries should aim at spreading such capital
as widely and thinly as possible among those uses that will directly increase the
production of food.

The essentially unpredictable developments that may be produced by the

application of advanced technological knowledge to economies extremely poor in
capital are more likely to be speeded up if opportunity for free development is
provided than if a pattern is imposed which is borrowed from societies in which
the proportion between capital and labor is altogether different from what it will
be in the newer economies in the
foreseeable future. However strong a case there may exist in such countries for
the government's taking the initiative in providing examples and spending freely
on spreading knowledge and education, it seems to me that the case against
over-all planning and direction of all economic activity is even stronger there
than in more advanced countries.

1) According to this passage, which term below describes the argument that
industrialization will accelerate the growth of wealth?
a) illogical
b) probabilistic
c) possible
d) economic
e) deterministic

2) What does the author of this passage recommend in order to produce a rapid
rise in standard of living in India and China?

a) direction of capital to the creation of industrial equipment

b) direction of capital to automated, capital-intensive plants
c) direction of capital to increased production of food
d) modeling of their economies on those of advanced capitalist countries
e) increased investment in knowledge and skill

3) Capital-intensive plants are characteristic of countries where

a) All economic activity is planned and directed.
b) Economies are poor in capital.
c) The value of labor is very high.
d) The value of labor is low.
e) capital is spread thinly and widely.

4) The major objective of this passage is

a) To argue that developing countries should increase productivity per head.

b) To compare industrial/agricultural policies of developing countries to those of
the most advanced countries.
c) To argue against overall planning and direction of all economic activity in
developing countries.
d) To advocate management of proportion between capital and labor in
developing countries.
e) To link increased standard of living with increased industrialization.

PASSAGE-3

Sound travels through the air in waves from a central source much as ripples
from a pebble dropped into a pond travel across the surface of the pond,
diminishing in intensity as they move away from the source. The speed at which
sound waves travel in the air is affected by the air temperature, but for most
purposes we can consider the speed of sound
to be relativelyconstant at 1,100 feet per second. The distance between the
peaks of the waves is the wavelength of the sound just as the distance between
the ripples in the pond is the wavelength of the water. If we continue with the
ripple-in-the-pond analogy and imagine a cork floating on the surface of the
water, we can think of the frequency of
sound waves as the number of times the cork bobs up and down during a given
interval as the waves of water pass it.

The frequency is simply the speed of propagation of the wave divided by its
wavelength. Therefore, if a sound is created at a given point, a system of
spherical waves propagates from that point outward through the air at a speed
of 1,100 feet per second, with the first wave making an ever-increasing sphere
with time. On that sphere, the sound energy remains essentially constant in an
ideal case. As the wave spreads, the height of
the wave or the intensity of the sound at any given point must diminish as the
fixed amount of energy is spread over the increasing surface area of the sphere.
This phenomenon is known as the geometric attenuation of the sound. If we
placed monitoring stations along the path of propagation of the sound, we would
find that the intensity of the sound near the source would be much higher than
the intensity of the sound at a great
distance due to this phenomenon.

Mathematical relationships have been derived to describe this geometric

attenuation, according to which for every doubling of distance the sound level
will decrease by 6 decibels (dB). In other words, if station I were at a distance of
50 feet from the point source, and if station 2 were 100 feet from the point
source, the sound level measured at station 2 would be 6 dB less than the sound
level measured at station 1.

This kind of relationship holds true when the sound source is a single vehicle or
an aircraft and when sound is propagating in free air, either from an airplane to
the ground in completely spherical propagation or, in the case of an automobile
on the ground, when the propagation field is only half a sphere. When a number
of vehicles are lined up and
constitute a continuous stream of noise sources, the situation is no longer
characterized by a spherical or hemispherical spreading of the sound. Instead,
the reinforcement by the line of point sources makes the propagation field more
like a cylinder or half-cylinder. In this case, the decrease in sound for each
doubling of the distance from the line source is
only 3 decibels.

1) In the analogy of a ripple in a pond to a sound in the air drawn in the first
paragraph of the passage, the floating cork is analogous to:

a) a solid medium that retards sound propagation

b) a sound-frequency monitoring device
c) an object on which a sound is likely to echo
d) the source of a particular sound
e) a sound wave moving through space

2) According to the passage, sound waves and water waves are similar in all of
the following ways EXCEPT:

a) Each forms a sphere of ever-increasing size.

b) Each is characterized by a particular wavelength.
c) Each is propagated outward from a central source.
d) Each is characterized by a particular wave frequency.
e) Each is characterized by a diminishing average strength at greater distances
from the source.

3) The intensity of a sound is lower farther from the source because..

a) the amount of sound energy present decreases rapidly with outward

movement of the sound waves
b) the frequency of the sound waves decreases as the sound spreads
c) the same amount of sound energy is spread over a larger area
d) most of the sound energy is lost within a few feet of the source
e) the wavelength of the sound increases with its distance from the source

4) The propagation field of a sound produced by an automobile on the ground is

half a sphere because...

a) the surface of most highways reflects sounds upward

b) the engine of an automobile is generally located in the front half of the vehicle

c) the metal body of an automobile conducts sound relatively well

d) most highways are surrounded by embankments on either side
e) The sound is not propagated through the ground below the automobile

EXERCISE- 02 Answers

1) B

According to this passage, what are the main two influences on business
competition among states?

A) locational factors and business climate

B) state policy initiatives and state-imposed environmental costs
C) interstate flight of capital and declining business capital
D) actual and anticipated costs of compliance with environmental regulation
E) sociopolitical climate and business climate

(B) is correct. (A) is incorrect, since it names factors too broadly and too
abstractly. Plainly, the passage focuses on state policy initiatives and
environmental costs. (C) is incorrect, because interstate flight is a consequence,
not an influence. (D) is incorrect, for it names only costs of environmental
regulation, not state policy initiatives. (E) is incorrect, because it is too abstract,
(B) is much more specific.

2) C

In the search for the critical factor in plant siting decisions, the weight of the
evidence indicates that:

A) higher costs of government outweigh traditional locational factors.

B) environmental costs are critical determinants.
C) environmental costs are a trivial factor.
D) state policy decisions are critical determinants.
E) concentration of energy is a critical factor.

Duerkson's finding corroborates Healy's earlier finding that

environmental costs are a trivial factor. Industry publications confirm
this finding. (A) may be an accurate statement, but it does not answer
the question. (B), (D), and (E) are incorrect, for the passage flatly
declares the contrary.

3) B

Which statement below most comprehensively states the central idea of this
passage?
A) Anecdotal evidence from business publications and lobbyists is suspect.
B) The relative weight of critical factors in plant siting decisions is difficult to
determine.
C) Environmental regulation is a major deterrent in plant siting decisions.
D) Anticipated and actual costs of environmental regulation differ.
E) Evidence concerning factors in plant siting decisions is consistent.

(A) is incorrect, because it cites a flaw in the data gathering concerning

critical factors in plant siting decisions. (C) is incorrect. According to
the passage, evidence from research declares the contrary. (D) is
incorrect, since the passage says nothing about the difference between
actual and anticipated costs of environmental regulation. (E) is
incorrect, because the passage flatly indicates that evidence
concerning factors in plant siting decisions is inconsistent.

4) A

According to this passage, which term below describes the argument that
industrialization will accelerate the growth of wealth?

A) illogical
B) probabilistic
C) possible
D) economic
E) deterministic

The author declares that the argument is based on a naive fallacy (a

flaw resulting from ignorance of logic) of the post hoc ergo proper hoc
variety. (B) is incorrect, for what is probable is not at issue here. (C) is
incorrect, since what is possible is not at issue here. (D) is incorrect, for
although the passage concerns economic conditions, the central
argument is not an economic argument but a logical argument. (E) is
incorrect; nowhere does the passage mention deterministic impetus for
economic conditions.

5) C

What does the author of this passage recommend in order to produce a rapid
rise in standard of living in India and China?

A) direction of capital to the creation of industrial equipment

B) direction of capital to automated, capital-intensive plants
C) direction of capital to increased production of food
D) modeling of their economies on those of advanced capitalist countries
E) increased investment in knowledge and skill
(A), (B), and (D) are incorrect, for the passage flatly declares the
contrary. (E) may be partially correct, but the best answer is (C),
direction of capital to increased production of food. Everything in the
passage points to this answer.

6) C

Capital-intensive plants are characteristic of countries where

A) all economic activity is planned and directed.

B) economies are poor in capital.
C) the value of labor is very high.
D) the value of labor is low.
E) capital is spread thinly and widely.

(B) is correct, the passage states that capital-intensive plants are

characteristic of developed countries where the value of labor is very
high. Choice (A) is incorrect, for nowhere does the passage associate
planning and direction of all economic activity with the creation of
capital-intensive plants. (B) is incorrect, because the passage does not
associate economies poor in capital with capital-intensive plants. (D) is
incorrect, since the passage flatly declares the contrary. (E) is
incorrect; nowhere does the passage describe a country where capital
is spread thinly and widely.

7) C

The major objective of this passage is

A) to argue that developing countries should increase productivity per head.

B) to compare industrial/agricultural policies of developing countries to those of
the most advanced countries.
C) to argue against overall planning and direction of all economic activity in
developing countries.
D) to advocate management of proportion between capital and labor in
developing countries.
E) to link increased standard of living with increased industrialization.

(C) is the correct answer, the passage argues against overall economic
planning in developing countries. (A) is incorrect, for the passage
connects productivity per head to increased need for industrial
products, yet the passage argues most strongly for increased
production of food. (B) is incorrect, since the task of the passage is not
detailed comparison but argument. (D) is incorrect, because the
passage advocates nothing about the management of proportion
between capital and labor. (E) is incorrect, for although it may be
objectively true, it is not a position argued by this passage
 B

In the analogy of a ripple in a pond to a sound in the air drawn in the first
paragraph of the passage, the floating cork is analogous to:

A) a solid medium that retards sound propagation

B) a sound-frequency monitoring device
C) an object on which a sound is likely to echo
D) the source of a particular sound
E) a sound wave moving through space

The cork is mentioned as a simple device for measuring the frequency

of water waves, which the author compares to sound waves.

9) A

According to the passage, sound waves and water waves are similar in all of the
following ways EXCEPT:

A) Each forms a sphere of ever-increasing size.

B) Each is characterized by a particular wavelength.
C) Each is propagated outward from a central source.
D) Each is characterized by a particular wave frequency.
E) Each is characterized by a diminishing average strength at greater distances
from the source.

(A) Soundwaves may radiate in a sphere, but water waves radiate only
in two dimensions, forming a circle.

10) C

The intensity of a sound is lower farther from the source because..

A) the amount of sound energy present decreases rapidly with outward

movement of the sound waves
B) the frequency of the sound waves decreases as the sound spreads
C) the same amount of sound energy is spread over a larger area
D) most of the sound energy is lost within a few feet of the source
E) the wavelength of the sound increases with its distance from the source
Reread the third, fourth, and fifth sentences of paragraph 2, which describe and
name this phenomenon (geometric attenuation of sound).

11) E

The propagation field of a sound produced by an automobile on the ground is

half a sphere because...

A) the surface of most highways reflects sounds upward

B) the engine of an automobile is generally located in the front half of the vehicle

C) the metal body of an automobile conducts sound relatively well

D) most highways are surrounded by embankments on either side
E) the sound is not propagated through the ground below the automobile
The sound produced by the car, unlike that produced by the aircraft in flight, is
not 'propa ating in free air.' Instead, it is partially blocked by the ground on
which the car rests. See the first sentence of the last paragraph: the situation
being discussed involves 'a number of vehicles . . . lined up to form a continuous
stream of noise sources'.

EXERCISE-3

Ex.03 PASSAGE-1

The answers to our research questions can easily be summarized. States do vary
substantially in the pollution abatement expenses (PAE) they impose on the
chemical industry and in their ability to attract that industry's capital. This
variance is not accounted for by frostbelt/sunbelt differences; variance within
each region rendered differences between regions insignificant. Variance in
ability to attract new capital shares
is, however, related to private PAE; interstate variance in pollution abatement
expense explains more than half the 1977-1981 change in states' ability to
attract a share of the chemical industry's new capital.
In addition to the straightforward statistical findings, these data suggest that, for
the chemical industry, the relationship between resource allocation and
environmental costs may not be linear. While states which impose high pollution
abatement costs tend to compete unsuccessfully for new capital, those who
impose the lowest marginal costs are not necessarily the most successful in
increasing their share of new capital.

Rather, there appears to be a PAE threshold; when a state exceeds it, the state
loses capital to states that remain below it. In all likelihood states with limited
capacity to socialize the costs of environmental regulation must exceed that
marginal-cost threshold to meet federally imposed environmental standards
while states with greater fiscal capacity can meet such standards without
exceeding the threshold and compete for developmental resources on the basis
of other incentives.

Firmer conclusions are limited by some implicit caveats and design limitations.
First, our findings tell us little about the relationship between overall quality of
environmental protection and the allocation of CAP (chemical and allied
producers') resources. We do not, therefore, know whether the adequacy of
regulation is affected by economic development. Second, our conclusions are
limited to our sample and time frame. Third,
we could not, in this exploratory study, control the possibility that our statistical
relationships are the spurious artifact of other, unexamined, effects. Finally, we
have not controlled for the possibility that a large relative pollution abatement
expense in 1977 may be accounted for partially by an exodus of resources
before 1977 that left relatively
fixed expenses to be balanced against a shrinking pool of shipments.

1) Which inference below may be derived from the information given in this
passage?

a) The relationship between resource allocation and environmental costs is

linear.
b) States that impose lowest pollution abatement expenses compete most
successfully for new chemical industry capital.
c) States that impose highest pollution abatement expenses compete least
successfully for new chemical industry capital.
d) Pollution abatement expenses are a negligible factor in competition for new
chemical industry capital.
e) Variance in ability to attract new chemical industry capital appears to relate to
a threshold figure for pollution abatement expenses.

2) States with greater fiscal capacity:

a) Can meet federal environmental standards and compete for resources on the
basis of other incentives.
b) Must exceed marginal-cost threshold.
c) Can control quality of environmental protection.
d) Can adjust pollution abatement costs to increase share of new capital.
e) Can balance quality and cost of environmental protection.

3) Which of the following is not a statistical finding summarized in this passage?

a) The ability of states to attract chemical industry capital varies greatly.

b) Variance in ability to attract chemical industry capital is not explained by
frostbelt/sunbelt differences.
c) Pollution abatement expenses imposed by states on the chemical industry
vary greatly.
d) Quality of environmental protection and attraction of new capital correlate
strongly.
e) Variance within regions renders differences between regions insignificant.

PASSAGE-2

The English spoken across the Atlantic nevertheless began to receive admiring
commentaries from British visitors. William Eddis, who toured the colonies in
1770, was surprised to find that 'the language of the
immediate descendants of such a promiscuous ancestry is perfectly uniform, and
unadulterated; nor has it borrowed any provincial, or national accent, from its
British or foreign parentage.

A few years later, another visitor noted: 'It is a curious fact that there is perhaps
no one portion of the British empire, in which two or three millions of persons
speak their mother-tongue with greater purity, or a truer pronunciation, than the
white inhabitants of the United States. And even John Witherspoon noted that
'the vulgar in America speak
much better than the vulgar in England.'

L. Dillard has suggested that the colonists created a koine language-a kind of
standardized dialect that often emerges among a group of emigrants speaking
various dialects of one basic language. When the colonists came to North
America, they left behind their old social order, including the social rankings of
dialects. They came in contact with a wide range of other languages: the foreign
tongues of the maritime trade,
the Creoles of slaves, the languages of the Indians. These influences accelerated
the breakdown of the colonists' English regional dialects and resulted in the
formation of a naturally standardized American speech pattern, which British
visitors later discovered and praised.

English opinions of American speech, of course, were of relatively little interest

to the colonists, who quite impolitely proceeded to separate themselves from the
empire. In the aftermath of the Revolution, there was understandably even less
of an urge to subscribe to English authority, in matters of language or anything
else, and the Americans embarked on a period of furious growth, industry and,
occasionally,
romanticism.

4) The author of this passage points out that favorable appraisals by the English
of the qualities of American speech:
a) were encouraging to American colonists, who accelerated the breakdown of
English dialects
b) were of little interest to American colonists, who energetically promoted the
formation of a standard speech
c) were increasingly sensitive to the dialectal divergence of the colonists' speech
patterns from the standard language
d) reflected the admiration of English visitors for the uniformity and purity of the
Americans' language
e) derived from the English visitors' comparison of the language of the
mercantile classes and the language of the vulgar in America

5) Which of the following influences did not accelerate the formation of a

standardized English in the American colonies?

a) exposure of emigrants to various dialects of one basic language

b) isolation from social rankings of dialects
c) contact with foreign tongues of maritime trade
d) contact with Creoles of slaves and languages of Indians
e) isolation from substandard speech of the vulgar

6) A promiscuous ancestry is one that is:

a) vulgar
b) mixed
c) licentious
d) homogeneous
e) differentiated according to social rank

7) The approving commentary of English visitors to the American colonies on the

quality of the language spoken by the colonists reflects:

a) gratification
b) provincial bias
c) mystified surprise
d) fulfilled expectation
e) self-congratulatory class prejudice

PASSAGE-3

Many readers assume that, as a neoclassical literary critic, Samuel Johnson

would normally prefer the abstract, the formal, and the regulated to the
concrete, the natural, and the spontaneous in a work of literature. Yet any close
reading of Johnson's criticism shows that Johnson is not blind to the importance
of the immediate, vivid, specific detail in literature; rather, he would underscore
the need for the 'telling' rather than the merely 'accidental' detail.

In other ways, too, Johnson's critical method has much in common with that of
the Romantics, with whom Johnson and, indeed, the entire neoclassical tradition,
are generally supposed to be in conflict. Johnson was well aware, for example, of
the sterility of literary criticism that is legalistic or pedantic, as was the case with
the worst products
of the neoclassical school. His famous argument against the slavish following of
the 'three unities' of classical drama is a good example, as is his defense of the
supposedly illegitimate 'tragicomic' mode of Shakespeare's latest plays. Note, in
particular, the basis
of that defense: 'That this is a practice contrary to the rules of criticism,' Johnson
wrote, 'will be readily allowed; but there is always an appeal from criticism to
nature.

The sentiment thus expressed could easily be endorsed by any of the Romantics;
the empiricism it exemplifies is a vital quality of Johnson's criticism, as is the
willingness to jettison 'laws' of criticism when to do so makes possible a more
direct appeal to the emotions of the reader. Addison's Cato, highly praised in
Johnson's day for its 'correctness,' is damned with faint praise by Johnson: 'Cato
affords a splendid exhibition
of artificial and fictitious manners, and delivers just and noble sentiments, in
diction easy, elevated, and harmonious, but its hopes and fears communicate no
vibration to the heart.Wordsworth could hardly demur.

Even on the question of poetic diction, which, according to the usual

interpretation of Wordsworth's 1800 Preface to the 'Lyrical Ballads', was the
central area of conflict between Romantic and Augustan, Johnson's views are
surprisingly 'modern.' In his 'Life of Dryden', he defends the use of a special
diction for poetry, it is true; but his reasons are all important. For Johnson, poetic
diction should serve the ends of direct emotional impact and ease of
comprehension, not those of false profundity or grandiosity- 'Words too familiar,'
he wrote, or too remote, defeat the purpose of a poet. From those sounds that
we hear on small or on coarse occasions, we do not easily receive strong
impressions, or delightful images; and words to which we are nearly strangers,
whenever
they occur, draw that attention on themselves which they should transmit to
things. If the poetic diction of the neoclassical poets, at its worst, erects needless
barriers between reader and meaning, that envisioned by Johnson would do just
the opposite: it would put the reader in closer contact with the 'things' that are
the poem's subject.

8) The author of the passage demonstrates his ideas concerning Johnson mainly
by:

a) contrasting Johnson's critical methods with those of his contemporaries

b) citing specific illustrations drawn from Johnson's work
c) alluding to contemporary comments concerning Johnson's theories
d) quoting Johnson's remarks about the critical approaches prevalent in his own
day
e) Emphasizing the fallacies inherent in the most common view of Johnson.

9) The passage implies that the judging of literary works according to

preconceived rules:

a) tends to lessen the effectiveness of much modern literary criticism

b) is the primary distinguishing mark of the neoclassical critic
c) was the primary neoclassical technique against which the Romantics rebelled
d) is the underlying basis of much of Johnson's critical work
e) characterizes examples of the worst neoclassical criticism

10) The passage implies that the neoclassical critics generally condemned:

a) Shakespeare's use of the 'tragicomic' literary mode

b) the slavish following of the 'three unities' in drama
c) attempts to judge literary merit on the basis of 'correctness'
d) artificiality and abstraction in literary works
e) the use of a special diction in the writing of poetry

11) According to the passage, Johnson's opinion of Addison's 'Cato' was:

a) roundly condemnatory
b) somewhat self-contradictory
c) ultimately negative
d) effusively adulatory
e) uncharacteristically bold

Exercise-03 Answers

Ex.03-Passage-011) E

Which inference below may be derived from the information given in this
passage?
A) The relationship between resource allocation and environmental costs is
linear.
B) States that impose lowest pollution abatement expenses compete most
successfully for new chemical industry capital.
C) States that impose highest pollution abatement expenses compete least
successfully for new chemical industry capital.
D) Pollution abatement expenses are a negligible factor in competition for new
chemical industry capital.
E) Variance in ability to attract new chemical industry capital appears to relate to
a threshold figure for pollution abatement expenses.

Answer (E). (A) is incorrect, since the passage clearly declares that the
relationship 'may not be linear.' (B) and (C) are incorrect, since neither
accurately identifies the cause of variance in ability to attract new chemical
industry capital. (D) is incorrect, because the passage
does not give enough evidence to warrant the conclusion that pollution
abatement expenses are a negligible factor. The only acceptable inference is (E),
that variance in the ability to attract new industry appears to relate to a
threshold figure for pollution expenses.

2) A
States with greater fiscal capacity:
A) can meet federal environmental standards and compete for resources on the
basis of other incentives.
B) must exceed marginal-cost threshold.
C) can control quality of environmental protection.
D) can adjust pollution abatement costs to incre