Directions: Each passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer, that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed by the United States Congress in 1947, gave states the power to enact “right-to-work” legislation that prohibits union shop (必须加入工会条款) agreements. According to such an agreement, a labor union negotiates wages and working conditions for all workers in a business, and all workers are required to belong to the union. Since 1947, 20 states have adopted right-to-work laws. Much of the literature concerning right-to-work laws implies that such legislation has not actually had a significant impact. This point of view, however, has not gone uncriticized. Thomas V Carroll has proposed that the conclusions drawn by previous researchers are attributable to their myopic focus on the premise that, unless right-to-work laws significantly reduce union membership within a state, they have no effect. Carroll argues that the right-to-work laws “do matter” in that such laws generate differences in real wages across states. Specifically, Carroll indicates that while right-to-work laws may not “destroy” unions by reducing the absolute number of unionized workers, they do impede the spread of unions and thereby reduce wages within right-to-work states. Because the countervailing power of unions is weakened in right-to-work states, manufacturers and their suppliers can act cohesively in competitive labor markers, thus lowering wages in the affected industries.
Such a finding has important implications regarding the demographics of employment and wages in right-to-work states. Specifically, if right-to-work laws lower wages by weakening union power, minority workers can be expected to suffer a relatively greater economic disadvantage in right-to-work states than in union shop states. This is so because, contrary to what was once thought, union tend to have a significant positive impact on the economic position of minority workers, especially Black workers, relative to White workers. Most studies concerned with the impact of unionism on the Black worker’s economic position relative to the White worker’s have concentrated on the changes in Black wages due to union membership. That is, they have concentrated on union versus nonunion groups. In a pioneering study, however, Ashenfelter finds that these studies overlook an important fact: although craft unionism increase the differential between the wages of White workers and Black workers due to the traditional exclusion of minority workers from unions in the craft sectors of the labor market, strong positive wage gains are made by Black workers within industrial unions. In fact, Ashenfelter estimates that industrial unionism decreases the differential between the wages of Black workers and White workers by about 3 percent. If state right-to-work laws weaken the economic power of unions to raise wages, Black workers will experience a disproportionate decline in their relative wage positions. Black workers in right-to-work states would therefore experience a decline in their relative economic positions unless there is strong economic growth in right-to-work states, creating labor shortages and thereby driving up wages.
1. The reasoning behind the “literature” (line 9), as that reasoning is presented in the passage, is most analogous to the reasoning behind which one of the following situations?
(A) A law is proposed that benefits many but disadvantages a few: those advocating passage of the law argue that the disadvantages to few are not so serious that the benefits should be denied to many.
(B) A new tax on certain categories of consumer items is proposed: those in favor of the tax argue that those affected by the tax are well able to pay it, since the items taxed are luxury items.
(C) A college sets strict course requirements that every student must complete before graduating; students already enrolled argue that it is unfair for the new requirements to apply to those enrolled before the change.
(D) The personnel office of a company designs a promotions become effective on January 1: the managers protest that such a policy means that they cannot respond fast enough to changes in staffing needs.(E)
(E) A fare increase in a public transportation system does not significantly reduce the number of fares sold: the management of the public transportation system asserts, therefore, that the fare hike has had no negative effects.
2. According to the passage, which one of the following is true of Carroll’s study?
(A) It implies that right-to-work laws have had a negligible effect on workers in right-to-work states.
(B) It demonstrates that right-to-work laws have significantly decreased union membership from what it once was in right-to-work states.
(C) It argues that right-to-work laws have affected wages in right-to-work states.
(D) It supports the findings of most earlier researchers.(C)
(E) It explains the mechanisms by which collusion between manufacturers and suppliers is accomplished.
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which one of following about craft unions?
(A) Craft unions have been successful in ensuring that the wages of their members remain higher than the wages of nonunion workers in the same occupational groups.
(B) The number of minority workers joining craft unions has increased sharply in states that have not adopted right-to-work legislation.
(C) Wages for workers belonging to craft unions have generally risen faster and more steadily than wages for workers belonging to industrial unions.
(D) The wages of workers belonging to craft unions have not been significantly affected by right-to-work legislation, although the wages of workers belonging to industrial unions have been negatively affected.(A)
(E) The wages of workers belonging to craft unions are more likely to be driven up in the event of labor shortages than are the wages of workers belonging to industrial unions.
4. Which one of the following best describes the effect industrial unionism has had on the wages of Black workers relative to those of White workers, as that effect is presented in the passage?
(A) Prior to 1947, industrial unionism had little effect on the wages of Black workers relative to those of White workers: since 1947, it has had a slight positive effect.
(B) Prior to 1947, industrial unionism had a strong positive effect on the wages of Black workers relative to those of White workers: since 1947, it has had little effect.
(C) Prior to 1947, industrial unionism had a negative effect on the wages of Black workers relative to those of White workers: since 1947, it has had a significant positive effect.
(D) Industrial unionism has contributed moderately to an increase in the wage differential between Black workers and White workers.(E)
(E) Industrial unionism has contributed strongly to a 3 percent decrease in the wage differential between Black workers and White workers.
5. According to the passage, which one of the following could counteract the effects of a decrease in unions’ economic power to raise wages in right-to-work states?
(A) a decease in the number of union shop agreements
(B) strong economic growth that creates labor shortages
(C) a decrease in membership in craft unions
(D) the merging of large industrial unions(B)
(E) a decline in the craft sectors of the labor market
6. Which one of the following best describes the passage as a whole?
(A) an overview of a problem in research methodology and a recommended solution to that problem
(B) a comparison of two competing theories and a suggestion for reconciling them
(C) a critique of certain legislation and a proposal for modification of that legislation
(D) a review of research that challenges the conclusions of earlier researchers(D)
(E) a presentation of a specific case that confirms the findings of an earlier study
In the late nineteenth century, the need for women physicians in missionary hospitals in Canton, China, led to expanded opportunities for both Western women and Chinese women. The presence of Western women as medical missionaries in China was made possible by certain changes within the Western missionary movement. Beginning in the 1870s, increasingly large numbers of women were forming women’s foreign mission societies dedicated to the support of women’s foreign mission work. Beyond giving the women who organized the societies a formal activity outside their home circles, these organizations enabled an increasing number of single women missionaries (as opposed to women who were part of the more typical husband-wife missionary teams) to work abroad. Before the formation of these women’s organizations, mission funds had been collected by ministers and other church leaders, most of whom emphasized local parish work. What money was spent on foreign missions was under the control of exclusively male foreign mission boards whose members were uniformly uneasy about the new idea of sending single women out into the mission field. But as women’s groups began raising impressive amounts of money donated specifically in support of single women missionaries, the home churches bowed both to women’s changing roles at home and to increasing numbers of single professional missionary women abroad.
Although the idea of employing a woman physician was a daring one for most Western missionaries in China, the advantages of a well-trained Western woman physician could not be ignored by Canton mission hospital administrators. A woman physician could attend women patients without offending any of the accepted conventions of female modesty. Eventually, some of these women were able to found and head separate women’s medical institutions, thereby gaining access to professional responsibilities far beyond those available to them at home.
These developments also led to the attainment of valuable training and status by a significant number of Chinese women. The presence of women physicians in Canton mission hospitals led many Chinese women to avail themselves of Western medicine who might otherwise have failed to do so because of their culture’s emphasis on physical modesty. In order to provide enough women physicians for these patients, growing numbers of young Chinese women were given instruction in medicine. This enabled them to earn an independent income, something that was then largely unavailable to women within traditional Chinese society. Many women graduates were eventually able to go out on their own into private practice, freeing themselves of dependence upon the mission community.
The most important result of these opportunities was the establishment of clear evidence of women’s abilities and strengths, clear reasons for affording women expanded opportunities, and clear role models for how these abilities and responsibilities might be exercised.
7. Which one of the following statements about Western women missionaries working abroad can be inferred from the passage?
(A) There were very few women involved in foreign missionary work before the 1870s.
(B) Most women working abroad as missionaries before the 1870s were financed by women’s foreign mission societies.
(C) Most women employed in mission hospitals abroad before the 1870s were trained as nurses rather than as physicians.
(D) The majority of professional women missionaries working abroad before the 1870s were located in Canton, China.(E)
(E) Most women missionaries working abroad before the 1870s were married to men who were also missionaries.
8. The author mentions that most foreign mission boards were exclusively male most probably in order to
(A) Contrast foreign mission boards with the boards of secular organizations sending aid to China.
(B) Explain the policy of foreign mission boards toward training Chinese women in medicine.
(C) Justify the preference of foreign mission boards for professionally qualified missionaries.
(D) Help account for the attitude of foreign mission boards towards sending single women missionaries abroad.(D)
(E) Differentiate foreign mission boards from boards directing parish work at home.
9. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) A situation is described, conditions that brought about the situation are explained, and results of the situation are enumerated.
(B) An assertion is made, statements supporting and refuting the assertion are examined, and a conclusion is drawn.
(C) An obstacle is identified, a variety of possible ways to overcome the obstacle are presented, and an opinion is ventured.
(D) A predicament is outlined, factors leading up to the predicament are scrutinized, and a tentative resolution of the predicament is recommended.(A)
(E) A development is analyzed, the drawbacks and advantages accompanying the development are contrasted, and an eventual outcome is predicted.
10. Which one of the following, if true, would most undermine the author’s analysis of the reason for the increasing number of single women missionaries sent abroad beginning in the 1870s?
(A) The Western church boards that sent the greatest number of single women missionaries abroad had not received any financial support from women’s auxiliary groups.
(B) The women who were sent abroad as missionary physicians had been raised in families with a strong history of missionary commitment.
(C) Most of the single missionary women sent abroad were trained as teachers and translators rather than as medical practitioners.
(D) The western church boards tended to send abroad single missionary women who had previously been active in local parish work.(A)
(E) None of the single missionary women who were sent abroad were active members of foreign mission boards.
11. According to the passage, which one of the following was a factor in the acceptance of Western women as physicians in mission hospitals in Canton, China?
(A) The number of male physicians practicing in that region.
(B) The specific women’s foreign mission society that supplied the funding.
(C) The specific home parishes from which the missionary women came.
(D) The cultural conventions of the host society.(D)
(E) The relations between the foreign mission boards and the hospital administrators.
12. The passage suggests which one of the following about medical practices in late-nineteenth-century Canton, China?
(A) There was great suspicion of non-Chinese medical practices.
(B) Medical care was more often administered in the home than in hospitals.
(C) It was customary for women physicians to donate a portion of their income for the maintenance of their extended family.
(D) It was not customary for female patients to be treated by male physicians.(D)
(E) Young women tended to be afforded as many educational opportunities in medicine as young men were.
In recent years the early music movement, which advocates performing a work as it was performed at the time of its composition, has taken on the character of a crusade, particularly as it has moved beyond the sphere of medieval and baroque music and into music from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. Granted, knowledge about the experience of playing old music on now-obsolete instruments has been of inestimable value to scholars. Nevertheless, the early music approach to performance raises profound and troubling questions.
Early music advocates assume that composers write only for the instruments available to them, but evidence suggests that composers of Beethoven’s stature imagined extraordinarily high and low notes as part of their compositions, even when they recognized that such notes could not be played on instruments available at the time. In the score of Beethoven’s first piano concerto, there is a “wrong” note, a high F-natural where the melody obviously calls for a high F-sharp, but pianos did not have this high an F-sharp when Beethoven composed the concerto. Because Beethoven once expressed a desire to revise his early works to exploit the extended range of pianos that became available to him some years later, it seems likely that he would have played the F-sharp if given the opportunity. To use a piano exactly contemporary with the work’s composition would require playing a note that was probably frustrating for Beethoven himself to have had to play.
In addition, early music advocates often inadvertently divorce music and its performance from the life of which they were, and are, a part. The discovery that Haydn’s and Mozart’s symphonies were conducted during their lifetimes by a pianist who played the chords to keep the orchestra together has given rise to early music recordings in which a piano can be heard obtrusively in the foreground, despite evidence indicating that the orchestral piano was virtually inaudible to audiences at eighteenth-century concerts and was dropped as musically unnecessary when a better way to beat time was found. And although in the early nineteenth century the first three movements (sections) of Mozart’s and Beethoven’s symphonies were often played faster, and the last movement slower than today, this difference can readily be explained by the fact that at that time audiences applauded at the end of each movement, rather than withholding applause until the end of the entire work. As a result, musicians were not forced into extra brilliance in the finale in order to generate applause, as they are now. To restore the original tempo of these symphonies represents an irrational denial of the fact that our concepts of musical intensity and excitement have quite simply, changed.
13. It can be inferred from the passage that by “a piano exactly contemporary” (line 30) with the composition of Beethoven’s first piano concerto, the author means the kind of piano that was
(A) Designed to be inaudible to the audience when used by conductors of orchestras.
(B) Incapable of playing the high F-natural that is in the score of Beethoven’s original version of the concerto.
(C) Unavailable to Mozart and Haydn.
(D) Incapable of playing the high F-sharp that the melody of the concerto calls for.(D)
(E) Influential in Beethoven’s decision to revise his early compositions.
14. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) The early music movement has yet to resolve a number of troubling questions regarding its approach to the performance of music.
(B) The early music movement, while largely successful in its approach to the performance of medieval and baroque music, has yet to justify its use of obsolete instruments in the performance of music by Beethoven and Mozart.
(C) The early music approach to performance often assumes that composers write music that is perfectly tailored to the limitations of the instruments on which it will be performed during their lifetimes.
(D) Although advocates of early music know much about the instruments used to perform music at the time it was composed, they lack information regarding how the style of such performances has changed since such music was written.(A)
(E) The early music movement has not yet fully exploited the knowledge that it has gained from playing music on instruments available at the time such music was composed.
15. In the second paragraph, the author discusses Beethoven’s first piano concerto primarily in order to
(A) Illustrate how piano music began to change in response to the extended range of pianos that became available during Beethoven’s lifetime.
(B) Illustrate how Beethoven’s work failed to anticipate the changes in the design of instruments that were about to be made during his lifetime.
(C) Suggest that early music advocates commonly perform music using scores that do not reflect revisions made to the music years after it was originally composed.
(D) Illustrate how composers like Beethoven sometimes composed music that called for notes that could not be played on instruments that were currently available.(D)
(E) Provide an example of a piano composition that is especially amenable to being played on piano available at the time the music was composed.
16. The author suggests that the final movements of symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven might be played more slowly by today’s orchestras if which one of the following were to occur?
(A) Orchestras were to use instruments no more advanced in design than those used by orchestras at the time Mozart and Beethoven composed their symphonies.
(B) Audiences were to return to the custom of applauding at the end of each movement of a symphony.
(C) Audiences were to reserve their most enthusiastic applause for the most brilliantly played finales.
(D) Conductors were to return to the practice of playing the chords on an orchestral piano to keep the orchestra together.(B)
(E) Conductors were to conduct the symphonies in the manner in which Beethoven and Mozart had conducted them.
17. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph?
(A) A generalization is made evidence undermining it is presented, and a conclusion rejecting it is then drawn.
(B) A criticism is stated and then elaborated with two supporting examples.
(C) An assumption is identified and then evidence undermining its validity is presented.
(D) An assumption is identified and then evidence frequently provided in support of it is then critically evaluated.(B)
(E) Two specific cases are presented and then a conclusion regarding their significance is drawn.
18. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s explanation in lines 50-54 would be most weakened if which one of the following were true?
(A) Musicians who perform in modern orchestras generally receive more extensive training than did their nineteenth-century counterparts.
(B) Breaks between the movements of symphonies performed during the early nineteenth century often lasted longer than they do today because nineteenth-century musicians needed to retune their instruments between each movement.
(C) Early nineteenth-century orchestral musicians were generally as concerned with the audience’s response to their music as are the musicians who perform today in modern orchestras.
(D) Early nineteenth-century audience applauded only perfunctorily after the first three movements of symphonies and conventionally withheld their most enthusiastic applause until the final movement was completed.(D)
(E) Early nineteenth-century audiences were generally more knowledgeable about music than are their modern counterparts.
19. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following assertions regarding the early music recordings mentioned in the third paragraph?
(A) These recordings fail to recognize that the last movements of Haydn’s and Mozart’s symphonies were often played slower in the eighteenth century than they are played today.
(B) These recordings betray the influence of baroque musical style on those early music advocates who have recently turned their attention to the music of Haydn and Mozart.
(C) By making audible the sound of an orchestral piano that was inaudible in eighteenth century performances, these recordings attempt to achieve aesthetic integrity at the expense of historical authenticity.
(D) By making audible the sound of an orchestral piano that was inaudible in eighteenth century performances, these recordings unwittingly create music that is unlike what eighteenth century audiences heard.(D)
(E) These recordings suggest that at least some advocates of early music recognize that concepts of musical intensity and excitement have changed since Haydn and Mozart composed their symphonies.
20. The author suggests that the modern audience’s tendency to withhold applause until the end of a symphony’s performance is primarily related to which one of the following?
(A) The replacement of the orchestral piano as a method of keeping the orchestra together.
(B) A gradual increase since the time of Mozart and Beethoven in audiences’ expectations regarding the ability of orchestral musicians.
(C) A change since the early nineteenth century in audiences’ concepts of musical excitement and intensity.
(D) A more sophisticated appreciation of the structural integrity of the symphony as a piece of music.(C)
(E) The tendency of orchestral musicians to employ their most brilliant effects in the early.
Although the United States steel industry faces widely publicized economic problems that have eroded its steel production capacity, not all branches of the industry have been equally affected. The steel industry is not monolithic: it includes integrated producers, minimills, and specialty-steel mills. The integrated producers start with iron ore and coal and produce a wide assortment of shaped steels. The minimills reprocess scrap steel into a limited range of low-quality products, such as reinforcing rods for concrete. The specialty-steel mills are similar to minimills in that they tend to be smaller than the integrated producers and are based on scrap, but they manufacture much more expensive products than minimills do and commonly have an active in-house (in-house: adj.内部的) research-and-development effort.
Both minimills and specialty-steel mills have succeeded in avoiding the worst of the economic difficulties that are afflicting integrated steel producers, and some of the mills are quite profitable. Both take advantage of new technology for refining and casting steel, such as continuous casting, as soon as it becomes available. The minimills concentrate on producing a narrow range of products for sale in their immediate geographic area, whereas specialty-steel mills preserve flexibility in their operations in order to fulfill a customer’s particular specifications.
Among the factors that constrain the competitiveness of integrated producers are excessive labor, energy, and capital costs, as well as manufacturing inflexibility. Their equipment is old and less automated, and does not incorporate many of the latest refinement in steelmaking technology. (For example, only about half of the United States integrated producers have continuous casters, which combine pouring and rolling into one operation and thus save the cost of separate rolling equipment.) One might conclude that the older labor-intensive machinery still operating in United States integrated plants is at fault for the poor performance of the United States industry, but this cannot explain why Japanese integrated producers, who produce a higher-quality product using less energy and labor, are also experiencing economic trouble. The fact is that the common technological denominator of integrated producers is an inherently inefficient process that is still rooted in the nineteenth century.
Integrated producers have been unable to compete successfully with minimills because the minimills, like specialty-steel mills, have dispensed almost entirely with the archaic energy and capital-intensive front end of integrated steelmaking: the iron-smelting process, including the mining and preparation of the raw materials and the blast-furnace operation. In addition, minimills have found a profitable way to market steel products: as indicated above, they sell their finished products locally, thereby reducing transportation costs, and concentrate on a limited range of shapes and sizes within a narrow group of products that can be manufactured economically. For these reasons, minimills have been able to avoid the economic decline affecting integrated steel producers.
21. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) United States steel producers face economic problems that are shared by producers in other nations.
(B) Minimills are the most successful steel producers because they best meet market demands for cheap steel.
(C) Minimills and specialty-steel mills are more economically competitive than integrated producers because they use new technology and avoid the costs of the iron-smelting process.
(D) United States steel producers are experiencing an economic decline that can be traced back to the nineteenth century.(C)
(E) New steelmaking technologies such as continuous casting will replace blast-furnace operations to reverse the decline in United States steel production.
22. The author mentions all of the following as features of minimills EXCEPT
(A) flexibility in their operations
(B) local sale of their products
(C) avoidance of mining operations
(D) use of new steel-refining technology(A)
(E) a limited range of low-quality products
23. The author of the passage refers to “Japanese integrated producers” (line 43) primarily in order to support the view that
(A) different economic difficulties face the steel industries of different nations
(B) not all integrated producers share a common technological denominator
(C) labor-intensive machinery cannot be blamed for the economic condition of United States integrated steel producers
(D) modern steelmaking technology is generally labor-and energy-efficient(C)
(E) labor-intensive machinery is an economic burden on United States integrated steel producers
24. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the third paragraph?
(A) A hypothesis is proposed and supported; then an opposing view is presented and criticized.
(B) A debate is described and illustrated: then a contrast is made and the debate is resolved.
(C) A dilemma is described and cited as evidence for a broader criticism.
(D) A proposition is stated and argued, then rejected in favor of a more general statement, which is supported with additional evidence.(E)
(E) General statements are made and details given; then an explanation is proposed and rejected, and an alternative is offered.
25. It can be inferred from the passage that United States specialty-steel mills generally differ from integrated steel producers in that the specialty-steel mills
(A) sell products in a restricted geographical area
(B) share the economic troubles of the minimills
(C) resemble specialty-steel mills found in Japan
(D) concentrate on producing a narrow range of products(E)
(E) do not operate blast furnaces
26. Each of the following describes an industry facing a problem also experienced by United Stated integrated steel producers EXCEPT
(A) a paper-manufacturing company that experiences difficulty in obtaining enough timber and other raw materials to meet its orders
(B) a food-canning plant whose canning machines must constantly be tended by human operators
(C) a textile firm that spends heavily on capital equipment and energy to process raw cotton before it is turned into fabric
(D) a window-glass manufacturer that is unable to produce quickly different varieties of glass with special features required by certain customers(A)
(E) a leather-goods company whose hand-operated cutting and stitching machines were manufactured in Italy in the 1920s
27. Which one of the following, if true, would best serve as supporting evidence for the author’s explanation of the economic condition of integrated steel producers?
(A) Those nations that derive a larger percentage of their annual steel production from minimills than the United States does also have a smaller per capita trade deficit.
(B) Many integrated steel producers are as adept as the specialty-steel mills at producing high-quality products to meet customer specifications.
(C) Integrated steel producers in the United States are rapidly adopting the production methods of Japanese integrated producers.
(D) Integrated steel producers in the United States are now attempting to develop a worldwide market by advertising heavily.(E)
(E) Those nations in which iron-smelting operations are carried out independently of steel production must heavily subsidize those operations in order to make them profitable.
