Directions (1-10): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the primary economic development strategy of local governments in the United States was to attract manufacturing industries. Unfortunately, this strategy was usually implemented at another community’s expense: many manufacturing facilities were lured away from their moorings elsewhere through tax incentives and slick promotional efforts. Through the transfer of jobs and related revenues that resulted from this practice, one town’s triumph could become another town’s tragedy.
In the 1980s the strategy shifted from this zero-sum game to one called “high-technology development,” in which local governments competed to attract newly formed high-technology manufacturing firms. Although this approach was preferable to victimizing other geographical areas by taking their jobs, it also had its shortcomings: high-tech manufacturing firms employ only a specially trained fraction of the manufacturing workforce, and there simply are not enough high-tech firms to satisfy all geographic areas.
Recently, local governments have increasingly come to recognize the advantages of yet a third strategy: the promotion of homegrown small businesses. Small indigenous businesses are created by a nearly ubiquitous resource, local entrepreneurs. With roots in their communities, these individuals are less likely to be enticed away by incentives offered by another community. Indigenous industry and talent are kept at home, creating an environment that both provides jobs and fosters further entrepreneurship.
Q1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(a) advocate more effective strategies for encouraging the development of high-technology enterprises in the United States
(b) contrast the incentives for economic development offered by local governments with those offered by the private sector
(c) acknowledge and counter adverse criticism of programs being used to stimulate local economic development
(d) define and explore promotional efforts used by local governments to attract new industry
(e) review and evaluate strategies and programs that have been used to stimulate economic development
Q2. The passage suggests which of the following about the majority of United States manufacturing industries before the high-technology development era of the 1980s?
(a) They lost many of their most innovative personnel to small entrepreneurial enterprises.
(b) They experienced a major decline in profits during the 1960s and 1970s.
(c) They could provide real economic benefits to the areas in which they were located.
(d) They employed workers who had no specialized skills.
(e) They actively interfered with local entrepreneurial ventures.
Q3. The tone of the passage suggests that the author is most optimistic about the economic development potential of which of the following groups?
(a) Local governments
(b) High-technology promoters
(c) Local entrepreneurs
(d) Manufacturing industry managers
(e) Economic development strategists
Q4. The passage does NOT state which of the following about local entrepreneurs?
(a) They are found nearly everywhere.
(b) They encourage further entrepreneurship.
(c) They attract out-of-town investors.
(d) They employ local workers.
(e) They are established in their communities.
Q5. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as an advantage of high-technology development?
(a) It encourages the modernization of existing manufacturing facilities.
(b) It promotes healthy competition between rival industries.
(c) It encourages the growth of related industries.
(d) It takes full advantage of the existing workforce.
(e) It does not advantage one local workforce at the expense of another.
Directions (6-10): Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the above passages.
Q6. lured
(a) precise
(b) discernible
(c) explanatory
(d) enumerate
(e) beguile
Q7. Mooring
(a) alternatives
(b) distracters
(c) harbor
(d) atrocious
(e) directions
Q8. indigenous
(a) longitude
(b) depletion
(c) aboriginal
(d) replenishment
(e) reclamation
Q9. ubiquitous
(a) single
(b) pervasive
(c) lonely
(d) stimulus
(e) multiple
Q10. fosters
(a) precise
(b) discernible
(c) explanatory
(d) enumerate
(e) stimulate
Directions (11-15): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select the best answer of the choices given.
In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the United States economy. But what is meant by “services”? Some economists define a service as something that is produced and consumed simultaneously, for example, a haircut. The broader, classical definition is that a service is an intangible something that cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities can store energy, and computer programmers save information electronically. Thus, the classical definition is hard to sustain.
The United States government’s definition is more practical: services are the residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry. Under this definition, services includes activities as diverse as engineering and driving a bus. However, besides lacking a strong conceptual framework, this definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and service occupations. It categorizes workers based on their company’s final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform. Thus, the many service workers employed by manufacturers – bookkeepers or janitors, for example – would fall under the industrial rather than the services category. Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition and suggest that, although practical for government purposes, it does not accurately reflect the composition of the current United States economy.
Q11. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(a) discussing research data underlying several definitions
(b) arguing for the adoption of a particular definition
(c) exploring definitions of a concept
(d) comparing the advantages of several definitions
(e) clarifying some ambiguous definitions
Q12. In comparing the United States government’s definition of services with the classical definition, the author suggests that the classical definition is
(a) more pragmatic
(b) more difficult to apply
(c) less ambiguous
(d) more widely used
(e) more arbitrary
Q13. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States?
(a) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.
(b) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.
(c) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.
(d) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in service industries.
(e) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.
Q14. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government’s definition of services?
(a) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
(b) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
(c) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
(d) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service industries.
(e) It misclassifies many workers who are employed in service industries.
Q15. The author refers to “service workers employed by manufacturers” primarily in order to point out
(a) a type of worker not covered by the United States government’s system of classifying occupations
(b) a flaw in the United States government’s definition of services
(c) a factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the United States
(d) a type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather than on the basis of the company’s final product
(e) the diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers
Solutions
S1. Ans.(e)
Sol. review and evaluate strategies and programs that have been used to stimulate economic development
Sol. They could provide real economic benefits to the areas in which they were located.
Sol. Local entrepreneurs
S4. Ans.(c)
Sol. They attract out-of-town investors.
S5. Ans.(e)
Sol. It does not advantage one local workforce at the expense of another.
S6. Ans.(e)
Sol. beguile- charm or enchant (someone), often in a deceptive way.
S7. Ans.(c)
Sol. mooring- a place where a boat or ship can be anchored or moored
S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. indigenous- originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
S9. Ans.(b)
Sol. ubiquitous- present, appearing, or found everywhere.
S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. foster-encourage the development of (something, especially something desirable).
S11. Ans.(c)
Sol. exploring definitions of a concept
S12. Ans.(b)
Sol. more difficult to apply
S13. Ans.(a)
Sol. The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.
S14. Ans.(c)
Sol. It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
S15. Ans.(b)
Sol. a flaw in the United States government’s definition of services
