All India GMAT Group

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?

The seafront properties in Southern coastal regions of India had always been expensive and most sought after. After the Tsunami hit the coastal regions of India last year, the prices of the seafront properties dropped as most inhabitants started evacuating their homes and moved inlands.  As a result the property values of inland homes started increasing.  The installation of the Tsunami sensors will definitely bring the seafront property prices to its original glory and thus the original price.

Which of the following, if true, most calls into question the reasoning on which the plan is based?

A restaurant that comes up with an innovative dish can normally increase its profits by capitalizing on the novelty of the dish. Since recipes can be easily replicated, the restaurant with a new dish advertises it aggressively to attract customers while the novelty factor can still be used as a selling point. But aggressive advertising generates a fear of losing customers in the competitors and gives them a strong incentive to quickly replicate the new dish. Therefore, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new dish is to advertise it selectively.

Which of the following, if true, strengthens the suggestion given by the author?

Directions: Read the Passage carefully and answer the question as follow.

Prior to the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev, seeing a country falling behind its Western rival and a people increasingly clamoring for change, addressed the growing internal unrest in the summer of 1987 by introducing a series of reforms known as perestroika (literally, restructuring). In Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World, Mikhail Gorbachev discussed his analysis of the problems facing the USSR and his plans to solve them.

Perhaps the most pressing and visible problem facing the USSR in the last 1980s came in the form of the country’s consistently mediocre economic performance, despite its vast natural resource wealth and large labor force. Gorbachev flatly admitted that economic failures were increasing and current policies were failing to offer a sustainable remedy. Failing to take advantage of the numerous scientific and technological advancements available, the USSR relied on inefficient and outdated business models. As a result, Gorbachev said, "in the last fifteen years the national income growth rates had declined by more than a half and by the beginning of the eighties had fallen to a level close to economic stagnation." With business executives focused on using more resources (in order to employ more people) instead of becoming more efficient, the country produced poor quality products unable to compete in a global economy. Further, this inefficiency led to shortages: "the Soviet Union, the world’s biggest producer of steel, raw materials, fuel and energy, has shortfalls in them due to wasteful or inefficient use."

The decrepit economy engendered social unrest and woe that only compounded economic difficulties and societal misery. Gorbachev wrote of "a gradual erosion of the ideological and moral values of our people" and noted the considerable growth in "alcoholism, drug addiction and crime." Accentuating these difficulties, the Communist government often ignored the needs of the average citizen, causing distrust and resentment. Perhaps the most destructive element of the social unraveling and inadequate government response was the mediocre education system. Gorbachev said, "Creative thinking was driven out from the social sciences, and superfluous and voluntarist assessments and judgments were declared indisputable truths."

Although Gorbachev also opined about the growing public disbelief in the content of the immense government propaganda campaigns, the extent to which economic underdevelopment and social deviance gripped Soviet culture made the collapse of the USSR virtually inevitable in the minds of many observers. When combined with glasnost (literally, openness), Gorbachev’s plan that allowed greater transparency, perestroika actually served to hasten the collapse of the USSR. Contrary to its purpose, perestroika ensured that the fall of the USSR would occur sooner rather than later. Only a few years after Gorbachev implemented changes that would have been unthinkable and antithetical to the philosophy of previous leaders like Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev, the USSR fell.

Q. According to the passage, which of the following best describes the relationship between perestroika and the fall of the USSR?

Herman Pontzer did the first ever comparative measurements of the bone structure of variety of African apes, which showed that human bone structure is essentially same as that of ape’s, having the exception of human pelvis that in becoming shorter, broader, and more bowl shaped supported erect posture and efficient bipedal locomotion.

Directions: Each multi-source reasoning question is based on a series of information contained in text, charts, or tables. For each practice you should examine the relevant information and select the best answer of the choices given.
 

July 19 – If current trends continue, fossil fuels will be exhausted by 2052. Industry and transportation and the inability of governments to put stricter emissions regulations in place means that there will be a greater demand for alternative energy sources. Additionally, recent concerns about the high-cost of implementing new systems such as public transportation in industrialized areas has led many voters to actually strike down propositions to subsidize alternative fuel research.
 

August 3 – Dr. Lisa Goodman, one of the team of architects behind several new battery-operated commercial vehicles, has criticized the government’s unwillingness to aggressively lobby voters to pass measures to reduce fossil fuel usage. She suggests that without a significant reduction in per-person fossil fuel consumption, the rate of global warming could soon increase threefold.

“I know that voters continue to reject costly measures to reduce widespread fossil fuel consumption such as large-scale public transportation projects, and that politicians are naturally going to avoid stumping for unpopular policies. However, if something isn’t done soon, by 2055, a barrel of gasoline may become a luxury that only the rich can afford.”

August 29 – The price of crude oil has jumped by 500% over the last decade as a decrease in supply has met with an increased demand. This demand has encouraged many new oil wells to launch in the Gulf of Mexico, and some American environmental groups have expressed concern that certain oil companies are not following the safest procedures, emphasizing that the companies are more concerned with the speed of extraction than the well-being of the ecosystem. Some scientists in the Gulf have called for an increase in safety regulations for oil companies drilling off the coast, but the companies warn that this may dramatically increase the cost of crude oil, at a time when many Americans are already struggling to pay the increased price.

Q. If the change in oil price continues trending in the exact same way, by 2055, the price of oil will be 2000% higher than where it is now.

The institute’s lead trainer, whose subject expertise, views on the questions on the test, and problem-solving style were impressive to the students who worked with her, was also acknowledged as a leading strategist by many people outside her firm, including teachers at rival institutes, whose approaches often differed substantially from her own.