For Years Now, Critics Of United States Cities Have Pictured City Cent GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

For years now, critics of United States cities have pictured city centers as empty places, devoid of life. Fortunately, a recent trend in urban development is making some cities lively. One example of this trend is Baltimore’s Harbor place, a stunning waterfront complex of one hundred shops set in glass pavilions. Not long ago, Baltimore’s dockland area, like clock areas in other older cities, was a collection of abandoned warehouses. Now the area is expected to add thirty million dollars to Baltimore’s annual tax base and to draw home buyers back to the city and away from the nearby Washington, DC area.

Baltimore has long been a pioneer in urban renewal, not only building from scratch, as at Harbor place, but preserving and restoring buildings throughout the town center. Although few cities show this much care for their old residential areas, the officials of many cities are starting to believe that central districts ought to be sufficiently attractive to draw permanent residents to them. Several other cities built around water are also exploiting their easily accessible waterfront areas. San Francisco, in its Ghirardelli Square project, converted an old factory at the edge of the bay into a labyrinth of boutiques. St. Louis Savannah, Louisville, and Portland all have “riverside malls” in progress, while Boston’s Quincy Market also on the waterfront, is expected to bring in 1.5 million dollars in city taxes annually.

This trend reflects an important change in social attitudes in the United States, brought on by new economic factors. In the 1960’s, the availability of low-cost housing beyond city limits caused many cities in the east and Midwest to lose residents, thus leaving city centers relatively empty of life. In the southwest a different phenomenon, the relentless impetus of cities like TU Houston, and Phoenix to extend their orders across the desert, has had much the same effect: centers full of skyscrapers and streets that are empty after five o’clock, for years it seemed that the “ideal” home was tranquil suburban residence.

But recently, the rise in gas prices has made long automobile journeys to work less tolerable. Trips of fifty miles are not uncommon for the suburban commuter. In addition, suburban property taxes have risen sharply as utility lines are stretched ever farther from central sources. The rise in house prices has increased the differential between city and suburban property; now it is generally cheaper to buy an old urban house than a newer suburban one. Young working people, usually without children, are the most likely purchasers of urban homes. Following these people are huge projects including apartments, offices, and shops, all embracing the increasingly attractive belief that people should live, work, and shop within as little traveling distance as possible.

“For years now, critics of United States cities have pictured city cent”- is a GMAT reading comprehension exercise. Candidates need to be highly proficient in GMAT reading comprehension. There are seven comprehension questions in this GMAT reading comprehension section. The purpose of the GMAT Reading Comprehension questions is to evaluate candidates' comprehension, analysis, and application skills. Candidates who are actively preparing can benefit from GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. According to the passage, the officials of Baltimore expect the Harbor place complex to help solve which of the following problems?

1. The lack of creation facilities in Baltimore.
2. Draw homebuyers back to the city.
3. The high rate of unemployment among employees of Baltimore’s shipping industries.

A) I only
B) II only
C) I and II only
D) I and III only
E) I, II and III

2. According to the passage, Baltimore differs from most other cities in the United States because it

A) Shows particular care for its old residential sections.
B) Competes with another major city for the home-buying market.
C) Concentrates most of its development projects in areas that are located away from its waterfront area.
D) Has failed in its efforts to strengthen its tax base through major urban renewal projects.
E) Has developed urban renewal plans that emphasize the needs of suburbanites shopping in the city rather than those of city residents.

3. According to the author, Ghirardelli Square differs from Harbor place in that the Ghirardelli Square project

A) Lacks the accessibility of Harbor place.
B) Was developed cooperatively with a nearby city.
C) Has not significantly affected the shopping habits of city residents.
D) Includes a building that was already standing when the project began.
E) Is more successful at attracting homebuyers to its vicinity.

4. The author suggests that, in the United States, southwestern cities can be distinguished from eastern cities by the fact that

A) Cities in the southwest have declined at a different rate than have cities in the east.
B) Officials in southwestern cities have shown less interest in revitalizing their city centers than have officials in eastern cities.
C) Southwestern cities have had more success than have eastern cities in attracting new home buyers.
D) Southwestern cities tend to be smaller than eastern cities and thus have fewer buildings that need to be maintained.
E) The centers of southwestern cities have lost residents for different reasons than have the centers of eastern cities.

5. The author most likely puts the word “ideal” in quotation marks because he

A) Is quoting directly from another published source on a similar subject.
B) Is quoting directly from a homeowner he interviewed.
C) Believes that the ideal has changed in response to social aid economic factors.
D) Believes that the ideal is only attainable in the United States.
E) Believes that most people who held this ideal never attained it.

6. The author suggests that critics of United States cities have done which of the following?

A) Misunderstood the causes of the decline of the cities after the 1960’s.
B) Created much needless public resistance to urban development projects.
C) Made irresponsible predictions about the cost of revitalizing major cities.
D) Held views that no longer reflect actual conditions in many major cities.
E) Overemphasized the problems of northern cities and under emphasized the problems of southern cities.

7. This passage is most likely an excerpt from

A) a study of population shifts between cities and suburbs before 1960.
B) a study of housing prices in the northeastern United States.
C) an article promoting tourism in the northeastern United States.
D) an article describing new places to shop in the centers of cities.
E) an article on recent innovations in cities in the United States.

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