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• Question 161:

  In criticizing the "second approach" to explaining the supposed lack o* rational transformation of the workplace, the author most likely assumes which of the Wowing?

  A. Upper management sometimes encourages innovative policies of flexible and participative work arrangements.

  B. Versions of the second approach take upper management to have sometimes attempted to transform the workplace to improve performance.

  C. The second approach often takes factors within a firm to have less of an impact on its organizational culture than they in fact do.

  D. The second approach fails to consider the various ways In which new policies an be mediated by the manner In which they are introduced.

  E. The second approach often fails to address the point that middle managers tend to view new work practices as threats to their traditional status and authority.

  Correct Answer: B

  Although a substantial body of evidence Indicates that flexible and participative work arrangements make possible significant performance advantages over more traditional centralized and hierarchical structures, the proportion of businesses that have so transformed themselves remains quite small. Why, then, do firms that purport to be rationally acting organizations appear to resist the very methods that would best equip them to achieve their stated goals? One line of analysis points toward the phenomenon of structural inertia, suggesting that organizations are "imprinted" with the conditions under which they were born, tending thereafter to ding to long-established routines, production methods, and identities. A second approach fastens on resistance to change among middle managers, who are said to view new work practices as threats to their traditional status and authority. A third approach suggests that because firms have tended to adopt innovations singly, rather than in clusters, the firms often fail to achieve far-reaching organization change. Although each of these perspectives contains a partial truth, each one is limited. Analysis using the concept of structural inertia tends to emphasize the conservative aspects of organizational culture and to neglect inside factors as sources of change. While theories of managerial resistance have stressed the importance of within-firm political processes, they often endow upper levels of management with an omniscience and openness to egalitarian practices that upper-level managers do not possess. Finally, the last approach often views new practices as if they exist in a vacuum--as if they are unmediated by the manner in which they are introduced.

• Question 162:

  Taking as her focus Bengali-language books of household advice, the author traces how colonialism gradually reconfigured daily domestic life, with the result that familial and domestic authority, once held by elder women, was replaced by that of the modern colonial husband.

  A. familial and domestic authority, once held by elder women, was

  B. elder women's authority was in familial and domestic matters

  C. authority over familial and domestic matters held by elder women was

  D. elder women, the authorities in familial and domestic matters, were

  E. the authority of elder women in familial and domestic matters was

  Correct Answer: E

• Question 163:

  If estuary managers were informed that Pacific temperatures near the bay are likely to fall, their taking which of the following actions would be most likely to prevent a recurrence of phytoplankton blooms?

  A. Trying to prevent the number of filter feeders in the bay from decreasing by providing them with additional nourishment

  B. Restricting the numbers of shrimp, crabs, and other marine SDecies that fishers can legal y remove from the bay

  C. Encouraging the growth of plant life in the bay for the purpose of raising the bay's temperature

  D. Requiring that wastewater treatment plants and agricultural concerns regularly report rhe quantities of nutrients they introduce into the bay

  E. Introducing into the hay non-filter-feeding species on which bay shrimp and Dungeness crabs would preferentially prey

  Correct Answer: E

  United States Geological Survey scientists have found that a cooling in Pacific Ocean temperatures ed to increases in ecologically threatening phytoplankton blooms m San Francisco Bay, California. The declining temperatures took place off the coast of California between 1999 and 2004. The occurrence of these blooms is surprising because such blooms are normally associated with increases n the amount of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, entering estuaries from such sources as wastewater treatment plants and agricultural fields. In this case, the bay's phytoplankton blooms occurred during a period of decreasing nutrient concentration and inputs. The scientists discovered the effects of the cold Pacific temperatures by using biological and water-quality data collected over twenty-five years. The colder temperatures caused changes in the types, abundance, and migration patterns of marine life into the San Francisco Bay from coastal ocean waters. For example, marine life, such as fish, shrimp, and crabs, migrated to the warmer waters thot are found in the bay. The migrations increased the numbers of predators such as bay shrimp and Dungeness crabs that eat filter feeders, such as clams. Clams can filter large quantities of phytoplankton from the bay's water, which can prevent phytopldnklon blooms. With the increase in predators, there wds d corresponding decrease In clam populations and an increase in phytoplarkton.

• Question 164:

  Upon entering the mayor's outer office, one is immediately greeted by a mural of local historical images, for which several are repeated in other paintings, the sofa pillows, a patchwork quilt, and crafted items enclosed in a locked glass case.

  A. for which several are repeated In other paintings.

  B. several which are repeated in other paintings as well as

  C. several repeated in other paintings and

  D. many of which repeat in other paintings and

  E. of which several are repeated In oilier paintings and on

  Correct Answer: B

• Question 165:

  Psychologist: People tend instinctively to impose patterns on events even when such patterns are not really present. If early humans believed that a rustle in the grass indicated a dangerous predator when it was just the wind, they were more likely to survive than if they believed that it was just the wind when a dangerous predator was there. Thus, in a world of split-second interactions between predators and prey, a person who made an error of the first type was more likely to survive than a person who made an error of the second type. So the tendency to make the first type of error is probably due to__________.

  Which of the following would, if true, most logically complete the psychologist's argument?

  A. evolutionary processes affecting the human species

  B. a decision people make to avoid taking risks

  C. a widespread fear of dangerous animals

  D. a tendency to treat hidden perils as more dangerous than obvious perils

  E. anxiety to avoid the first type of error

  Correct Answer: A

• Question 166:

  In Moldova in 1979, Russian was claimed as a native language by a large proportion of Jews (66 percent), ethnic Belarusians (62 percent), and bv a significant proportion of ethnic Ukrainians (30 percent).

  A. percent), ethnic Belarusians (62 percent), and by

  B. percent) and ethnic Belarusians (62 percent) and by

  C. percent), ethnic Belarusians (62 percent) and of

  D. percent), of ethnic Belarusians (62 percent), and of

  E. percent), ethnic Belarusians (62 percent), and

  Correct Answer: B

• Question 167:

  Buoyed by stability and economic growth at home, Russia has developed a foreign policy that seeks to reestablish its place as a key actor on the world stage.

  A. Buoyed by stability and economic growth at home, Russia has developed a foreign policy that seeks to reestablish its place as a key actor on the world stage.

  B. Given that it is stable at home and with economic growth, Russia has developed a foreign policy that seeks to restore its place being a key actor throughout the world stage.

  C. Held high by its own stability and economic growth, Russia has developed a foreign policy that seeks to once again restore its key place acting on the world stage.

  D. Through stability and economic growth at home, Russia invigorated a foreign policy that desires reestablishment of its place as a key actor on the world stage.

  E. Russia has developed a foreign policy seeking to reestablish its place as a key actor on the world stage elevated by stability and economic growth at home.

  Correct Answer: A

• Question 168:

  Because of the positive correlation across animal species between body size and home range size, researchers suspected that body size of female mallards (a species of duck) may influence their home range size. The researchers also reasoned that younger females may be forced into less suitable habitats by older females competing with them for optimal areas, with the younger females compensating by having larger home ranges. However, their research supported neither suspicion. The failure to detect variation of range size according to body size may be due to other, undetermined mallard attributes (for example, body condition) that may have been a significant factor affecting home range size. The fact that most yearling females can breed may help to explain why the expected age effect was not confirmed, since home range size may be affected by breeding capability.

  The researchers did find, however, that home range size of females was Inversely related to the percentage of the study area composed of seasonal or semipermanent wetlands. This may have been because of reduced competition for breeding space within the species when more of the wetlands were present. They also found home range size to decrease somewhat as the percentage of wood-shrub habitat increased, suggesting that reduction in visual contact among mallard pairs may reduce interaction and thus reduce competition among breeding pairs.

  Regarding female mallards, which of the following was a finding of the researchers' study described in the passage?

  A. Female mallards in larger home ranges tend to be those that have had greater success at breeding.

  B. Female mallard body size has relatively little if any effect on home range size.

  C. The bodies of larger female mallards tend to be in better condition.

  D. Younger female mallards tend to be forced into less suitable habitat by older female malar ds.

  E. Female mallard body size sometimes influences the birds' home range size.

  Correct Answer: C

• Question 169:

  The company's choice of Mr. Frederick for the position was based mostly on his being mote of a manager than the other candidates.

  A. mostly on his being more of a manager than the other candidates

  B. mostly from the fact that he was more a manager than the other candidates

  C. mostly on the fact that he was more of a manager than on what the other candidates were

  D. more on his being a manager than what the other candidates were

  E. on the fact of he being more a manager than the other candidates were

  Correct Answer: A

• Question 170:

  It can be inferred from the passage that if Cope's hypothesis were correct, which of the following would most likely be true concerning salt-affected areas in Victoria?

  A. The permeable layer of soil would be less thick than the impermeable layer.

  B. Average soil salinity would be less before a rainfall than after a rainfall.

  C. Average soil salinity on certain hillside areas would be less than average soil salinity in adjacent valleys.

  D. During a year of especially low rainfall, the salinity of the soil on the valley floor would decrease.

  E. The land in valley floors affected by salinization would tend to be waterlogged except in dry seasons.

  Correct Answer: C

  Soil salinization--the process by which soil acquires excess soluble salt, adversely affecting pasture or crop growth--is regarded as Australia's most serious environmental problem. Cope, whose 1958 investigation is considered the earliest survey of salt-affected areas in Victoria, hypothesized that surplus rainwater mobilized soluble salt stored in the permeable layer of soil, causing it to accumulate above an impermeable layer and then discharge downslope or onto a valley floor. In the late 1970s, however, Jenkin identified saline water underground as the main and immediate (though not ultimate) source of the salt, and hypothesized that the spread of salinity resulted from a rise in that groundwater. He attributed the rise to a decrease in coverage by water-absorbing trees and other vegetation at some ill-defined point in Australia's post-settlement history. However, more-recent research suggests there was no rise in post- settlement groundwater levels. Furthermore, soil salinity probably antedated European settlement: early cartographic evidence indicates that some streams were saline when Europeans arrived. Dahlhaus suggests that salt accumulation resulted from marine incursions several million years ago, when parts of Victoria may have been submerged--as well as from transport of salt from the sea by wind and rain. Dahlhaus also notes that various minerals dissolved in groundwater by weathering may have produced salt.