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GMAT – Graduate Management AdmissionTest

Reading Comprehension

Feminist sociolinguists, over the course of the last few decades, have conducted studies that they believe support the conclusion that women are routinely discriminated against in English-speaking society. They point to the words used to describe women, as well as the words used to describe society as a whole, as indications that the English language, and therefore the English-speaking culture, is slanted towards the advantage of males.

The words used to describe women are used an instrument by feminist sociolinguists to denote an inherent sexism in the English language. Word pairs such as master and mistress and sir and madam, they claim, epitomize such sexism. All of the words in question once held positive connotations but, while the masculine forms have retained their respectable associations, the feminine forms have undergone pejoration and now imply sexual promiscuity and other negative characteristics. Feminist researchers posit that such pejorations indicate that the status of women in English-speaking society is relatively low.

These researchers also find fault with the use of masculine words to describe unisex entities. For example, they feel that there is nothing inherently manly about mankind, the best man for the job, or the common man. Similarly, the use of such constructions such as the average student is worried about his grades indicate to these researchers an inherent sexism in English that is reflective of the cultures in which they are produced.

Carolyn Jacobson, author of Non-Sexist Language, has proposed a solution to this conundrum. She advocates the elimination of all sexed words in favor of gender-neutral terms. No longer should we refer to actors and actresses, or waiters and waitresses, as such dichotomies allow for the possibility of negative connotations being associated with the feminine designation. Likewise, she believes that phrases such as mankind should give way to human kind, and that the use of the masculine pronoun as the default should be relinquished in favor of neutral constructions. Thus, when sexism is eliminated from the English language, the culture will be more amenable to the deliverance of women as well.

Question 1: The primary purpose of this passage is to:

Choices:

  1. compare and contrast ideology in various cultures
  2. refute a commonly held belief
  3. describe a problem and a possible solution
  4. analyze the historical origins of a modern situation
  5. illustrate several approaches to a problem and advocate for the most practical

Question 2: According to the passage, gender-neutral constructions should be advocated because:

Choices:

  1. the elimination of sexism in the English language will precede the elimination of sexism in the culture
  2. they are more grammatically sound than sexed structures
  3. they are archaic in nature and are not relevant to modern English speakers
  4. unisex terms are less awkward in casual speech
  5. sex-specific terms always carry negative

Question 3: The author refers to mankind, the best man for the job, and the common man in order to:

Choices:

  1. demonstrate the superiority of males in English-speaking society
  2. pbovide an example of speech that is slanted towards the advantage of males
  3. support her hypothesis that pejoration has attached a negative connotation to words describing women
  4. to enumerate the characteristics of the feminist sociolinguist movement
  5. discount the notion that the English language discriminates against women





Sentence Correction

Question 1: The employees viewed the work-sharing plan with hostility, having feared that it will undermine the seniority system and negatively affect their retirement benefits:

Choices:

  1. having feared that it will undermine
  2. fearing that it would undermine
  3. having the fear that it would undermine
  4. feared that it would undermine
  5. fearing that it will undermine

Question 2: In many coastal New England towns, the fisherman still operates as they have for generations, displaying and selling their catch dockside at the end of each day:

Choices:

  1. the fisherman still operates as they have
  2. the fisherman still operates as was done
  3. fishermen still operate as they have done
  4. the fisherman still operates as he has
  5. fishermen still operate as they had

Question 3: The significant number of overtime and weekend hours accumulated by many employees in order to compensate for overly optimistic deadlines lend validity to the observation that many of the firm's top managers still pine for the era of the six-day work week:

Choices:

  1. lend validity to the observation that many of the firm's top managers still pine for the era of the six-day work week
  2. lends validity to the observation of many of the firm's top managers' still pining for the era of the six-day work week
  3. lends validity to the observation of many of the firm's top managers, still pining for the six-day work week era
  4. lend it validity to observe that many of the firm's top managers still pine for the era of the six-day work week
  5. lends validity to the observation that many of the firm's top managers still pine for the era of the six-day work week

Question 1: Advertisement: Quicktrak is gaining more subscribers each year than any other business news service. Quicktrak offers the most up-to-date international business news, and the most comprehensive company information needed to make wise investment decisions. Quicktrak is the only service devoted exclusively to international business news and the financial analysis of corporations. So, by choosing a financial news service other than Quicktrak, you are doing your company a disservice.

Which of the following is an assumption of the argument in the advertisement above?

Choices:

  1. A subscription to Quicktrak is not appreciably more expensive than a subscription to standard business magazines or newspapers.
  2. A significant portion of any business involves international trade or investing in other companies.
  3. Quicktrak has more subscribers than other business news services.
  4. The market share of Quicktrak is increasing.
  5. Choosing a financial news service other than Quicktrak is worse than choosing no financial news service at all..

Question 2: Enrollment in graduate and professional programs tends to be high in a strong economy and much lower during recessions. The perceived likelihood of future job availability, therefore, affects people's willingness to pass up immediate earning potential in order to invest in career-related training.

The argument above assumes that:

Choices:

  1. the perceived likelihood of job availability has decreased in recent years.
  2. all those who avoid graduate and professional school during an economic slump do so because of the perceived lack of future jobs.
  3. perceptions of the likelihood of job availability are related to the state of the economy.
  4. those who enroll in graduate and professional schools during a strong economy help increase the economy's strength.
  5. graduate and professional programs admit fewer students during recessions.

Question 3: Staff members at the Willard Detention Center typically oversee student schedules and make all final decisions regarding the required activities in which students participate. Students are permitted, however, to make their own decisions regarding how they spend their free time. Therefore, students should be permitted to make their own decisions regarding the elective courses that they wish to take.

The conclusion above would be more reasonably drawn if which of the following were inserted into the argument as an additional premise?

Choices:

  1. Decisions regarding required activities are more important than decisions regarding the elective courses that students take.
  2. Students are more willing to take elective courses than to participate in required Center activities.
  3. Required activities contribute more to the rehabilitation of students than do their free-time activities.
  4. Staff members at Willard have found that elective courses are more beneficial for students than the available free-time activities.
  5. When compared for decision-making purposes, elective courses are more like free-time activities than required activities.

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