A One-Child Policy was Implemented in China in 1979 GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Comprehension

A one-child policy was implemented in China in 1979, and for nearly 40 years, until the policy was amended to allow two children in 2015, some Han Chinese families could legally have only one child. This rule was implemented in an attempt to slow the continued growth of a population that had almost doubled since 1949. The Chinese government claimed that the policy prevented 400 million births, though some have suggested that the decline may be at least partly due to economic reasons, not legal ones.
One result of the policy seems to be the birth and survival of significantly more boys than girls. One study found that China had 33 million more boys than girls under the age of 20, and it is believed that by 2030, 25 percent of Chinese men in their late 30s will never have been married. Research has shown that an excess of men of marriageable age is linked to higher rates of psychological problems, as it creates a marginalized underclass, and history would suggest such situations may correlate with increased aggression and violence, both inside and outside a country’s borders.
Economist Amartya Sen wrote in 1990 about the phenomenon of “missing women” in population data, noting that in China, “the survival prospects of female children clearly have been unfavorably affected by restrictions on the size of the family.” In a society that has traditionally strongly favored sons, it has been suggested that sex-specific pregnancy terminations and infanticide account for the discrepancy in numbers. But others have countered this argument, believing that disease might better explain the phenomenon, either by making women more likely to give birth to male children or by making it more likely that female children will die prenatally or when very young. For at least some of the missing girls, however, a less sinister explanation may prove the correct one: parents who already had a child, or who wanted to be able to have another in an attempt to have a son, simply never registered their daughters with government officials. A recent study found evidence that as many as 25 million girls were not registered at birth, some of them officially “existing” only many years later and others perhaps never officially existing at all.

“A one-child policy was implemented in China in 1979”- is a section for the GMAT that addresses reading comprehension. Candidates must have a high level of English GMAT reading comprehension.
There are 6 questions and answers on this GMAT Reading Comprehension section. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions test a candidate's comprehension, analysis, and application of information skills. With the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions, candidates may actively prepare.

Solution and Explanation

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) criticize the accepted explanation for missing girls in China since the implementation of the one-child policy
(B) show why the expected population decline in China due to the one-child policy was not due to a decrease in the number of males
(C) demonstrate how China’s one-child policy has influenced past and future birth rates
(D) explore the phenomenon of missing girls in China during the years of the one-child policy
(E) argue that the expected population decline in China due to the one-child policy was due entirely to a decrease in the number of women

2. According to the passage, which of the following is true of societies in which there are not enough female partners for men of marriageable age?

(A) They occurred historically but are not known to occur in the modern day.
(B) They may be at increased risk of international conflict.
(C) They are more likely to develop when a significant proportion of the population is psychologically damaged.
(D) They are not known to have occurred prior to the modern day.
(E) They can result in the disappearance of women from official records.

3. The last paragraph in the passage serves primarily to

(A) present multiple potential explanations for a phenomenon described in the second paragraph
(B) offer a critique of explanations put forward for the outcome of the policy in which the author is primarily interested
(C) demonstrate that the least sinister explanation of a troubling phenomenon is the correct one
(D) explain fully the phenomenon described in the second paragraph
(E) outline why social attitudes may explain the result of the policy that is the topic of the passage

4. According to the passage, each of the following is a possible reason for missing girls in China EXCEPT:

(A) Disease may cause more boys to be born than girls.
(B) The one-child policy does not require girls to be registered.
(C) Disease may cause more girls to die prenatally than boys.
(D) Infanticide of female children occurs because families prefer sons.
(E) Some girls are not registered so that parents can have another child.

5. Based on information in the passage, which of the following outcomes would have been most likely to occur if a Han Chinese family had a baby daughter prior to 2015?

(A) The parents are eventually pleased to have had a daughter, because there are so many marriageable men.
(B) Because disease may kill the daughter, the parents have another child in hopes of having a son.
(C) The parents appeal to the authorities to approve an exception to the number of children allowed.
(D) Because a pregnancy is more likely to result in a son than a daughter, the parents have another child.
(E) The parents fail to officially register the daughter, and they have another child.

6. The author mentions a “marginalized underclass” (Highlighted) most likely in order to

(A) show one potential societal risk of the one-child policy
(B) give an example of why there are more men than women in China
(C) demonstrate that men are inherently more violent than women
(D) argue that widespread poverty may cause people to value boys more than girls
(E) illustrate the effect of the one-child policy on average family income

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