All India GMAT Group

Last year, the United States introduced compulsory vaccination for all children of a certain age against rotavirus. Without the vaccination, rotavirus hospitalized 55,000 to 70,000 children in the United States per year; this year, the number of hospitalizations has been reduced by 20%. Based on this data, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that the rotavirus vaccine prevents more than 50,000 doctor visits per year.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the estimate prepared by the CDC?

Records of trade between ancient civilizations in Europe and the Americas indicate the use of seagoing ships along the trade over the Atlantic Ocean, which were the main arteries of contact between the various empires. Although the first sailing boats were built in 8000 B.C., it is likely that the earliest trade exchanges between Europe and the Americas started only after the first boats that could cross the sea were built 1000 years later. 

Which of the following, if true, casts doubts on the author’s conclusion above?

Economist: To increase exports, the government of Targania has planned to reduce the price at which it exports timber and has, therefore, reduced the price at which it buys timber from local manufacturers. Even though sales will increase, the plan, because of the lower profit margins, will lead to a decline in profits for timber manufacturers, forcing some of them into losses. Therefore, in the interest of the local manufacturers, the government should shelve the plan to increase the exports.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the economist’s recommendation?

The Erythrovirus412, which affects farmed Atlantic salmon, infects human beings by adhering to red blood cells. The virus elevates the body’s white blood cell count, indicating that the body is fighting an infection. Surprisingly, when a group of recently-infected people were tested, the proportion of white blood cells compared to red blood cells in their bodies was similar to that of an uninfected person.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the surprising finding?

Although the journal Social Text was never at the forefront of publishing articles on feminism and never debated whether capitalism was the source of women’s oppression in 1970s or whether male supremacy was itself a systematic form of domination, it is not clear whether social feminist’s classification of the journal as the one run by “boy’s club” could have been completely justified till recently. There could have been many reasons that the journal’s mission statement as set out in its first prospectus in 1979 did not take notice of the burning issues feminists were then discussing. May be triumvirate of founding editors were too focused on Marxist high theory to consider gender alongside economic class as an important mode of social organization and oppression, or on the other hand they may have simply chosen on purpose to not include feminism specifically in its charter.

The recent paper by Rosa Luxemburg suggests that the first prospectus contained the seeds of its own feminist undoing. The founders demarcated fields of focus for the journal that could hardly be explored without attention to gender, sexuality, and the historical experiences of women. They were rather interested in “everyday life,” “mass culture,” and “consumer society”. Hence, the little feminist work that appears in Social Text is in the realm of cultural analysis not revolutionary praxis and is often buried in the back of the journal in “Unequal Developments,” the section that offers reviews and experimental writing.

 

For example, in the second edition of the journal in the section Unequal Developments, Christine Holmland performs a thorough feminist dissection of the then-current Disney film ‘The North Avenue Irregulars’, showing how this comedy about a group of church ladies who take on the local mafia superficially celebrates, but finally deflates the idea of women’s activism, and along the way reinforces gendered roles at every level of social life.

What does the author imply when he states “May be triumvirate of founding editors were too focused on Marxist high theory to consider gender alongside economic class as an important mode of social organization and oppression”?

Although the journal Social Text was never at the forefront of publishing articles on feminism and never debated whether capitalism was the source of women’s oppression in 1970s or whether male supremacy was itself a systematic form of domination, it is not clear whether social feminist’s classification of the journal as the one run by “boy’s club” could have been completely justified till recently. There could have been many reasons that the journal’s mission statement as set out in its first prospectus in 1979 did not take notice of the burning issues feminists were then discussing. May be triumvirate of founding editors were too focused on Marxist high theory to consider gender alongside economic class as an important mode of social organization and oppression, or on the other hand they may have simply chosen on purpose to not include feminism specifically in its charter.

The recent paper by Rosa Luxemburg suggests that the first prospectus contained the seeds of its own feminist undoing. The founders demarcated fields of focus for the journal that could hardly be explored without attention to gender, sexuality, and the historical experiences of women. They were rather interested in “everyday life,” “mass culture,” and “consumer society”. Hence, the little feminist work that appears in Social Text is in the realm of cultural analysis not revolutionary praxis and is often buried in the back of the journal in “Unequal Developments,” the section that offers reviews and experimental writing.

 

For example, in the second edition of the journal in the section Unequal Developments, Christine Holmland performs a thorough feminist dissection of the then-current Disney film ‘The North Avenue Irregulars’, showing how this comedy about a group of church ladies who take on the local mafia superficially celebrates, but finally deflates the idea of women’s activism, and along the way reinforces gendered roles at every level of social life.

What does the passage suggest about the kind of articles published by Social Text journal in relation to feminism?

Since the last few years, bird watching has become increasingly popular as a hobby in Ohio. The National Parks in Ohio have also been conducting bird watch programs for the past decade. Certainly, the increased interest in bird watching among the Ohio residents is because of the bird watch programs conducted by Ohio State National Parks.

Each of the following, if true, provides some support for the historians’ account described above EXCEPT:

Patrick takes 2 hours to drive in his car from point A to point B. What is the distance between A and B?

(1) If his average speed for the journey had been 20 kilometers per hour greater, he would have taken only 1 hour and 36 minutes to reach point B

(2) Patrick covered an average of 800 meters every 36 seconds

Recently, a plane crashed near the outskirts of Berlin within minutes after its takeoff from Berlin airport. Initial analysis confirmed that the crash was caused by either the usage of substandard fuel or a fault in the control board. Since the airport staff tested the control board before the plane took off, analysts hypothesize that the reason behind the plane crash was substandard fuel.

Which of the following options, if true, most strengthens the analysts’ hypothesis?

In the given figure, AB = 6cm. Find the area of the triangle ADC. 
 

This data sufficiency problem consists of a question and two statements, labeled (1) and (2), in which certain data are given. You have to decide whether the data given in the statements are sufficient for answering the question. Using the data given in the statements, plus your knowledge of mathematics and everyday facts (such as the number of days in a leap year or the meaning of the word counterclockwise), you must indicate whether -

Q.  How many of the numbers x, y, and z are positive if each of these numbers is less than 10?

1. x + y + z = 20
2. x + y = 14

In general, psychology is the study of human thought and consciousness and includes everything from the biological way in which cognitive processes occur to why people behave in certain ways. Sociology, on the other hand, is the study of society and how people interact with each other in different ways. The major differences between psychology and sociology typically concern the focal points of each field and how those foci are studied. In psychology, for example, the focus of research typically involves understanding the human cognitive process and how the brain functions in general. In sociology, however, there is a great deal of importance placed on the role that society has in the formation of human thought and action. Even though sociology does include how people think with relation to each other, human thought is not necessarily the sole focus. Also, since it studies the interactions between people, sociology can lay much more importance on actions than psychology does, stressing the importance of human behavior over cognitive responses or processes.

 

There are some ways in which both psychology and sociology are similar, however, such as the ways in which the fields cross into each other. Social psychology, for example, is quite similar to sociology in that it focuses on how people interact and how society affects the thoughts and mental activities of individual people. Explorations within sociology on how social interactions can be based on various psychological principles can also connect the two disciplines. Ultimately, someone interested in different facets of psychology and sociology is likely to study both fields and find that there are numerous ways in which they can relate and enhance each other.

Which of the following would the author most likely agree with?

John Maynard Keynes, the British economist whose ideas shaped the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, influenced public opinion on critically important areas like monetary policy of the central bank and relative merits of public vs. private investment, thereby advocating a mixed economy.

Though the truism about Inuits having a hundred words for snow is an exaggeration, languages really are full of charming quirks that reveal the character of a culture. Dialects of Scottish Gaelic, for instance, traditionally spoken in the Highlands and, later on, in fishing villages, have a great many very specific words for seaweed, as well as names for each of the components of a rabbit snare and a word for an egg that emerges from a hen sans shell. Unfortunately for those who find these details fascinating, languages are going extinct at an incredible clip, - one dies every 14 days - and linguists are rushing around with tape recorders and word lists, trying to record at least a fragment of each before they go. The only way the old tongues will stick around is if populations themselves decide that there is something of value in them, whether for reasons of patriotism, cultural heritage, or just to lure in some language-curious tourists. But even when the general public opinion is for preservation of their linguistic diversity, linguists are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve such a task.

Mathematicians can help linguists out in this mission. To provide a test environment for programs that encourage the learning of endangered local languages, Anne Kandler and her colleagues decided to make a mathematical model of the speakers of Scottish Gaelic. This was an apposite choice because the local population was already becoming increasingly conscious about the cultural value of their language and statistics of the Gaelic speakers was readily available. The model the mathematicians built not only uses statistics such as the number of people speaking the languages, the number of polyglots and rate of change in these numbers but also figures which represent the economic value of the language and the perceived cultural value amongst people. These numbers were substituted in the differential equations of the model to find out the number of new Gaelic speakers required annually to stop the dwindling of the Gaelic population. The estimate of the number determined by Kandler’s research helped the national Gaelic Development Agency to formulate an effective plan towards the preserving the language.  

Many languages such as Quechua, Chinook and Istrian Vlashki can be saved using such mathematical models. Results from mathematical equations can be useful in strategically planning preservation strategies. Similarly mathematical analysis of languages which have survived against many odds can also provide useful insights which can be applied towards saving other endangered languages.

The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?

Every day, Tom walks from his home to his office, via the same route, covering s feet at a speed of x feet per minute. Today he took a different route and ended up walking 10% more than he usually does, at a speed that was 100 meters per minute faster than his usual speed. What is the percentage change in the time he took today compared to the time he takes on a usual day? (1 feet =0.3 meter)  

Analyst 1: Many parents take their children along when they go for shopping for toys because they want to know whether the children will really enjoy playing with a toy before buying it for them. But in many cases, children ask for toys that are either out of their parents’ budgets or are somewhat unsafe for the children. Either way, it is not a good idea to take children along when shopping for toys.

Analyst 2: But since parents have the ultimate authority to decide whether to purchase a particular toy, your consideration is not valid.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to strengthen the conclusion drawn by analyst 1?

Choice overload is a term used to describe the effects of having too many options to choose from while making a decision. Under such conditions, people usually feel paralyzed and as a result are unable to make decisions for themselves. However, various studies have shown that when making decisions for others, people face what is called “reverse-choice overload”. In other words, people are enthused and more decisive while making decisions from a wide variety of available options. Clearly, people are less careful while making decisions for others and hence are not overwhelmed with the stress to make the choice. 

Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the argument?