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.
26. 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
27. 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
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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
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