Acting on the recommendation of a British government committee investigating the high incidence in white lead factories of illness among employees, most of whom were women, the Home Secretary proposed in 1895 that Parliament enact legislation that would prohibit women from holding most jobs in white lead factories. Although the Women's Industrial Defence Committee (WIDC), formed in 1892 in response to earlier legislative attempts to restrict women's labor, did not discount the white lead trade's potential health dangers, it opposed the proposal, viewing it as yet another instance of limiting women's work opportunities. Also opposing the proposal was the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW), which attempted to challenge it by investigating the causes of illness in white lead factories. SPEW contended, and WIDC concurred, that controllable conditions in such factories were responsible for the development of lead poisoning. SPEW provided convincing evidence that lead poisoning could be avoided if workers were careful and clean and if already extant workplace safety regulations were stringently enforced. However, the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), which had ceased in the late 1880s to oppose restrictions on women's labor, supported the eventually enacted proposal, in part because safety regulations were generally not being enforced in white lead factories, where there were no unions (and little prospect of any) to pressure employers to comply with safety regulations.
84. The passage suggests that WIDC differed from WTUL in which of the following ways? (A) WIDC believed that the existing safety regulations were adequate to protect women's health, whereas WTUL believed that such regulations needed to be strengthened. (B) WIDC believed that unions could not succeed in pressuring employers to comply with such regulations, whereas WTUL believed that unions could succeed in doing so. (C) WIDC believed that lead poisoning in white lead factories could be avoided by controlling conditions there, whereas WTUL believed that lead poisoning in such factories could not be avoided no matter how stringently safety regulations were enforced. (D) At the time that the legislation concerning white lead factories was proposed, WIDC was primarily concerned with addressing health conditions in white lead factories, whereas WTUL was concerned with improving working conditions in all types of factories. (E) At the time that WIDC was opposing legislative attempts to restrict women's labor, WTUL had already ceased to do so.
85. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly support the contention attributed to SPEW in lines 17–20? (A) Those white lead factories that most strongly enforced regulations concerning worker safety and hygiene had the lowest incidences of lead poisoning among employees. (B) The incidence of lead poisoning was much higher among women who worked in white lead factories than among women who worked in other types of factories. (C) There were many household sources of lead that could have contributed to the incidence of lead poisoning among women who also worked outside the home in the late nineteenth century. (D) White lead factories were more stringent than were certain other types of factories in their enforcement of workplace safety regulations. (E) Even brief exposure to the conditions typically found in white lead factories could cause lead poisoning among factory workers.
86. The passage is primarily concerned with (A) presenting various groups' views of the motives of those proposing certain legislation (B) contrasting the reasoning of various groups concerning their positions on certain proposed legislation (C) tracing the process whereby certain proposed legislation was eventually enacted (D) assessing the success of tactics adopted by various groups with respect to certain proposed legislation (E) evaluating the arguments of various groups concerning certain proposed legislation
In 1955 Maurice Duverger published The Political Role of Women, the first behavioralist, multinational comparison of women's electoral participation ever to use election data and survey data together. His study analyzed women's patterns of voting, political candidacy, and political activism in four European countries during the first half of the twentieth century. Duverger's research findings were that women voted somewhat less frequently than men (the difference narrowing the longer women had the vote) and were slightly more conservative. Duverger's work set an early standard for the sensitive analysis of women's electoral activities. Moreover, to Duverger's credit, he placed his findings in the context of many of the historical processes that had shaped these activities. However, since these contexts have changed over time, Duverger's approach has proved more durable than his actual findings. In addition, Duverger's discussion of his findings was hampered by his failure to consider certain specific factors important to women's electoral participation at the time he collected his data: the influence of political regimes, the effects of economic factors, and the ramifications of political and social relations between women and men. Given this failure, Duverger's study foreshadowed the enduring limitations of the behavioralist approach to the multinational study of women's political participation.
87. The primary purpose of the passage is to (A) evaluate a research study (B) summarize the history of a research area (C) report new research findings (D) reinterpret old research findings (E) reconcile conflicting research findings
88. According to the passage, Duverger's study was unique in 1955 in that it (A) included both election data and survey data (B) gathered data from sources never before used in political studies (C) included an analysis of historical processes (D) examined the influence on voting behavior of the relationships between women and men (E) analyzed not only voting and political candidacy but also other political activities
89. Which of the following characteristics of a country is most clearly an example of a factor that Duverger, as described in the passage, failed to consider in his study? (A) A large population (B) A predominantly Protestant population (C) A predominantly urban population (D) A one-party government (E) Location in the heart of Europe
90. The author implies that Duverger's actual findings are (A) limited because they focus on only four countries (B) inaccurate in their description of the four countries in the early 1950s (C) out-of-date in that they are inapplicable in the four countries today (D) fl awed because they are based on unsound data (E) biased by Duverger's political beliefs
91. The passage implies that, in comparing four European countries, Duverger found that the voting rates of women and men were most different in the country in which women (A) were most politically active (B) ran for office most often (C) held the most conservative political views (D) had the most egalitarian relations with men (E) had possessed the right to vote for the shortest time
92. The author implies that some behavioralist research involving the multinational study of women's political participation that followed Duverger's study did which of the following? (A) Ignored Duverger's approach (B) Suffered from faults similar to those in Duverger's study (C) Focused on political activism (D) Focused on the influences of political regimes (E) Focused on the political and social relations between women and men
The majority of successful senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed "intuition" to manage a network of interrelated problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness. Isenberg's recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers' intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and hands-on experience that build skills. A third function of intuition is to synthesize isolated bits of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an "Aha!" experience. Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the results of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and those who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns. One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that "thinking" is inseparable from acting. Since managers often "know" what is right before they can analyze and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later. Analysis is inextricably tied to action in thinking/acting cycles, in which managers develop thoughts about their
companies and organizations not by analyzing a problematic situation and then acting, but by acting and analyzing in close concert. Given the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, senior managers often instigate a course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They then use the results of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. One implication of thinking/acting cycles is that action is often part of defining the problem, not just of implementing the solution.
93. According to the passage, senior managers use intuition in all of the following ways EXCEPT to (A) speed up the creation of a solution to a problem (B) identify a problem (C) bring together disparate facts (D) stipulate clear goals (E) evaluate possible solutions to a problem
94. The passage suggests which of the following about the "writers on management" ?
(A) They have criticized managers for not following the classical rational model of decision analysis. (B) They have not based their analyses on a sufficiently large sample of actual managers. (C) They have relied in drawing their conclusions on what managers say rather than on what managers do. (D) They have misunderstood how managers use intuition in making business decisions. (E) They have not acknowledged the role of intuition in managerial practice.
95. Which of the following best exemplifies "an 'Aha!' experience" (line 30) as it is presented in the passage? (A) A manager risks taking an action whose outcome is unpredictable to discover whether the action changes the problem at hand. (B) A manager performs well-learned and familiar behavior patterns in creative and uncharacteristic ways to solve a problem. (C) A manager suddenly connects seemingly unrelated facts and experiences to create a pattern relevant to the problem at hand. (D) A manager rapidly identifies the methodology used to compile data yielded by systematic analysis. (E) A manager swiftly decides which of several sets of tactics to implement in order to deal with the contingencies suggested by a problem.
96. According to the passage, the classical model of decision analysis includes all of the following EXCEPT (A) evaluation of a problem (B) creation of possible solutions to a problem (C) establishment of clear goals to be reached by the decision (D) action undertaken in order to discover more information about a problem (E) comparison of the probable effects of different solutions to a problem
97. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would most probably be one major difference in behavior between Manager X, who uses intuition to reach decisions, and Manager Y, who uses only formal decision analysis? (A) Manager X analyzes first and then acts; Manager Y does not. (B) Manager X checks possible solutions to a problem by systematic analysis; Manager Y does not. (C) Manager X takes action in order to arrive at the solution to a problem; Manager Y does not. (D) Manager Y draws on years of hands-on experience in creating a solution to a problem; Manager X does not. (E) Manager Y depends on day-to-day tactical maneuvering; Manager X does not.
98. The passage provides support for which of the following statements? (A) Managers who rely on intuition are more successful than those who rely on formal decision analysis. (B) Managers cannot justify their intuitive decisions. (C) Managers' intuition works contrary to their rational and analytical skills. (D) Logical analysis of a problem increases the number of possible solutions. (E) Intuition enables managers to employ their practical experience more efficiently.
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