An Assumption That Underlies Most Discussions Of Electric Facility GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

An assumption that underlies most discussions of electric facility siting is that the initial selection of a site is the responsibility of the utility concerned—subject to governmental review and approval only after the site has been chosen. This assumption must be changed so that site selection becomes a joint responsibility of the utilities and the appropriate governmental authorities from the outset. Siting decisions would be made in accordance with either of two strategies. The metropolitan strategy takes the existing distribution of population and supporting facilities as given. An attempt is then made to choose between dispersed or concentrated siting and to locate generating facilities in accordance with some economic principle. For example, the economic objectives of least-cost construction and rapid start-up may be achieved, in part, by a metropolitan strategy that takes advantage of existing elements of social and physical infrastructure in the big cities.

Under the frontier strategy, the energy park may be taken as an independent variable, subject to manipulation by policymakers as a means of achieving desired demographic or social goals, e.g., rural-town-city mix. Thus, population distribution is taken as a goal of national social policy, not as a given of a national energy policy. In the frontier strategy, the option of dispersed siting is irrelevant from the standpoint of community impact because there is no preexisting community of any size.

Traditionally, the resource endowment of a location—and especially its situation relative to the primary industry of the hinterland—has had a special importance in American history. In the early agricultural period, the most valued natural endowment was arable land with good climate and available water. America’s oldest cities were mercantile outposts of such agricultural areas. Deepwater ports developed to serve the agricultural hinterlands, which produced staple commodities in demand on the world market. From the 1840s onward, the juxtaposition of coal, iron ore, and markets afforded the impetus for manufacturing growth in the northeastern United States. The American manufacturing heartland developed westward to encompass Lake Superior iron ores, the Pennsylvania coalfields, and the Northeast’s financial, entrepreneurial, and manufacturing roles. Subsequent metropolitan growth has been organized around this national core.

Against the theory of urban development, it is essential to bear in mind the unprecedented dimensions of an energy park. The existing electric power plant at Four Corners in the southwest United States—the only human artifact visible to orbiting astronauts—generates only 4,000 megawatts of electricity. The smallest energy parks will concentrate five times the thermal energy represented by the Four Corners plant. An energy park, then, would seem every bit as formidable as the natural harbor conditions or coal deposits that underwrote the growth of the great cities of the past—with a crucial difference. The founders of past settlements could not choose the geographic locations of their natural advantages.

The frontier strategy implements the principle of man-made opportunity; and this helps explain why some environmentalists perceive the energy park idea as a threat to nature. But the problems of modern society, with or without energy parks, require ever more comprehensive planning. And energy parks are a means of advancing American social history rather than merely responding to power needs in an unplanned, ad hoc manner.

“An assumption that underlies most discussions of electric facility”- is a reading comprehension passage with answers for the GMAT. Candidates must have a strong understanding of English GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT Reading Comprehension section contains 6 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are intended to assess candidates' abilities to comprehend, analyse, and apply information or concepts. GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions can help candidates actively prepare.

Solutions and Explanation

1. Which of the following statements best describes the main point of the passage?

(A) Government regulatory authorities should participate in electric facility site selection to further social goals.
(B) Energy parks will have a significant influence on the demographic features of the American population.
(C) Urban growth in the United States was largely the result of economic forces rather than conscientious planning.
(D) Under the frontier siting strategy for energy parks, siting decisions are influenced by the natural features of the land.
(E) America needs larger power-producing facilities in urban and rural areas to meet the increased demand for energy.

2. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as characteristics of energy parks EXCEPT

(A) energy parks will be built on previously undeveloped sites
(B) energy parks will be built in areas remote from major population centers
(C) energy parks will produce considerably more thermal energy than existing facilities
(D) energy parks will be built at sites that are near fuel sources such as coal
(E) energy parks may have considerable effects on population distribution

3. According to the passage, which of the following is the most important feature of the traditional process of siting decisions for electric facilities?

(A) Sites were selected for the ability to advance social history.
(B) Siting was viewed as a tool for achieving economic goals.
(C) The primary responsibility for siting resided with the utility.
(D) Decisions were made jointly by utilities and government.
(E) Groups of affected citizens participated on advisory panels.

4. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the author’s position?

(A) The first settlements in America were established in order to provide trading posts with Native Americans.
(B) The cost of constructing an electric power plant in an urban area is not significantly greater than that for a rural area.
(C) An energy park will be so large that it will be impossible to predict the demographic consequences of its construction.
(D) Cities in European countries grew up in response to political pressures during the feudal period rather than economic pressures.
(E) The United States is presently in a period of population migration that will change the rural-town-city mix.

5. With which one of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

(A) Decisions about the locations for power plant construction should be left in the hands of the utilities.
(B) Government leaders in the nineteenth century were irresponsible in not supervising urban growth more closely.
(C) Natural features of a region such as cultivatable land and water supply are no longer important to urban growth.
(D) Modern society is so complex that governments must take greater responsibility for decisions such as power plant siting.
(E) The electric power plant at Four Corners should not have been built because of its mammoth size.

6. According to the passage, the most important difference between the natural advantages of early cities and the features of an energy park is

(A) the features of an energy park will be located where the builders choose
(B) natural advantages are no longer as important as they once were
(C) natural features cannot be observed from outer space but energy parks can
(D) early cities grew up close to agricultural areas, but energy parks will be located in mountains
(E) policy planners have learned to minimize the effects of energy parks on nature

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