During The Final Decades Of The Nineteenth Century GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

During the final decades of the nineteenth century, America experienced unprecedented technological innovation and industrial expansion. Railroads spanned the country, linking the eastern and western states. Steam-powered engines fueled the mighty factories built along the waterways of the Northeast. The west offered seemingly endless resources: timber, gold and silver. As people left their farms and immigrants arrived to work in the booming urban centers, the labor force changed from skilled artisans to assembly-line workers, who felt chained to the machines of industrial progress. America's transformation from an agrarian to an industrialized economy was a time when great fortunes were amassed by the speculative industrialists and financiers, known as robber barons, who used such unscrupulous tactics as vertical and horizontal integration to increase profits and create monopolies. As profits grew, so did America's standard of living, as per capita income and production exceeded those of any other nation, excluding Britain. But not all shared in the newfound wealth. The exploding population of cities created disease-ridden slums that grew larger with the influx of immigrants, exploited by corrupt political bosses with the promise of work in exchange for their votes. Men, women and children worked long hours for low pay in unsafe factories to keep up with the demand for cheap, mass-produced products.

By the early twentieth century, many of the Protestant, college-educated, middle-class citizens were disturbed by the materialism, corruption and economic polarization, and felt a moral and social obligation to reshape the American landscape on a path aligned with what they believed the nation's founding fathers had intended. From 1900 to 1918, these progressives led a movement to battle the problems of industrialization and urbanization. Legislation was enacted that restricted child labor, established a minimum wage, regulated working conditions, and gave the public increased control of government through primaries to elect political leaders. Theodore Roosevelt departed from the laissez-faire approach and extended the executive branches of government to curtail monopolistic practices and ensure competition. Industries, like meat-packing, railroads and banks, became federally regulated. This precedent of addressing social and economic issues at the federal, state and local levels was significant for it changed the expectations of the role that government would play in society and inspired the recovery from the Depression of 1929.

“During the final decades of the nineteenth century”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates must have a solid grasp on English GMAT reading comprehension. There are three comprehension questions in this GMAT Reading Comprehension section. GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed to evaluate candidates' abilities to comprehend, analyze, and apply information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare by answering GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. All of the following points are supported by the passage, EXCEPT:

1. By the end of the nineteenth century, America had essentially transitioned from an agrarian to an industrialized society.
2. The administrations prior to Roosevelt did not strongly interfere with the operations of big businesses.
3. The "progressives" believed that the ideals of democracy had dramatically shifted away from their original intent.
4. The business practices of many of the early "robber barons" were intentionally designed to handicap competition.
5. The Progressive Movement created a national awareness of the problems brought about by industrialization and urbanization.

2. Which of the following situations is most consistent with the progressives' principles and actions?

1. A group of legislators forms a series of town hall meetings to determine which reforms citizens desire most.
2. Citizens from neighboring towns form a multidistrict Parent-Teacher Organization to formulate solutions for budget cuts in lower-income schools.
3. A laid-off factory worker writes his congressman to ask for subsidies for his declining industry.
4. Students at a university stage a sit-in at the dormitory cafeteria to campaign for healthier dining options.
5. Prominent musicians band together for a benefit concert to raise money for victims of an overseas natural disaster.

3. The passage suggests which of the following about American society prior to the early twentieth century?

1. Though assembly-line workers did not receive much of the value that their work produced, they felt that they did not have a choice but to continue to work in the industrial factories.
2. Farming was becoming less important, which is why many farmers left their land to work in the factories.
3. Prior to industrialization, workers had better working conditions and were less exploited.
4. There was less wealth polarization between America's upper-class and its labor force.
5. The United States became the world leader in applied technology and production.

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