Admission Tests GMAT Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

Admission Tests GMAT Online Questions & Answers

• Question 211:

  Many companies today are making new product development a central element of their competitive strategy. Because the potential benefits of successful product innovation are great--prolonged growth, superior financial returns, and strong investor interest-many companies offer employees incentives such as promotions and bonuses for developing new products, incentives not offered for innovations in other areas of the business, firms' priorities can also be shaped by their measurement systems, since these systems can directly measure returns from new products more immediately than they can measure returns from investments in such areas as organizational restructuring or innovations in marketing.

  But the organizational culture of such companies can hurt them in the marketplace because a narrow focus on product development can ultimately detract from a firm's performance. For instance, a company's ability to profit from new products can be severely hampered if it has neglected other functions and business processes. If a company develops a superior new product but is unable to distribute and promote t rapidly, competitors with better distribution systems may copy the product and introduce It into the market before the innovator can profit from its innovation. In contrast, effective distribution, marketing, and accounting systems-that is, strong overall business systems -can act as entry barriers, deterring would-be competitors from entering a particular.

  The passage suggests which of the following about companies' investment in the development of new products?

  A. Heavy investment in the development of new products is a less risky business practice than most business leaders believe.
  B. Companies might invest less heavily in the development of new products if company executives felt equally able to measure the results of investments in all areas of business innovation.
  C. Companies are most likely to focus their investment on the development of new products if they perceive competitors to lack strong overall business systems.
  D. While investment in the development of new products can bring greater returns to companies than can investment in other areas of a business, the benefits are usually short- lived.
  E. It is generally more expensive for companies to invest in the development of new products than to invest in such things as organizational restructuring or the development of new marketing practices.
  E. It is generally more expensive for companies to invest in the development of new products than to invest in such things as organizational restructuring or the development of new marketing practices.

• Question 212:

  In only a very few of the cases where plants have been said to be engaged in "chemical warfare," such as In the case of knapweed and certain shrubs In California chaparral country, there Is solid evidence that secreted toxins are the inhibitory growth factor acting against neighboring plants.

  A. there is solid evidence that secreted toxins are the inhibitory growth factor acting against
  B. there is solid evidence that secreted toxins are what inhibits growth in
  C. does there exist solid evidence for secreted toxins inhibiting against the growth
  D. solid evidence can be found for secreted toxins being the Inhibitory factor against the growth of
  E. is there solid evidence that it is secreted toxins that inhibit the growth of
  E. is there solid evidence that it is secreted toxins that inhibit the growth of

• Question 213:

  The Hupa's overwhelming interest in wealth and social position allies them with the North Pacific tribes, but the Hupa thought that the distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch, as those tributes did, was a preposterous idea and beyond their comprehension.

  A. the Hupa thought that the distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch, as those tribes did, was a preposterous idea and beyond their comprehension
  B. the Hupa thought it a preposterous idea and beyond their comprehension to distribute or destroy property during a potlatch, like those tribes did
  C. the latter's distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch was to the Hupa a preposterous idea and beyond their comprehension
  D. their distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch they thought was a preposterous idea and beyond their comprehension
  E. the distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch by the latter was a preposterous idea to them and beyond their comprehension
  E. the distribution or destruction of property during a potlatch by the latter was a preposterous idea to them and beyond their comprehension

• Question 214:

  The length of the longest thin rigid rod that can fit inside a right circular cylindrical can is 25 inches. If the can has depth 20 inches, which of the following is closest to the volume of the can in cubic inches?

  

  A. Option A
  B. Option B
  C. Option C
  D. Option D
  E. Option E
  D. Option D

• Question 215:

  When the newly elected prime minister gave his first official speech, he took pains not to dwell on what might have been if his party should have attained a clear maim its by on how the coalition government, given sufficient time and appropriate resources, would benefit the country.

  A. if his party should have attained a clear majority, but
  B. had his party attained a dear majority, and instead focused
  C. if his party attained a clear majority, and focusing Instead
  D. had his party attained a clear majority, but Instead
  E. should his party have attained a dear majority, but rather
  B. had his party attained a dear majority, and instead focused

• Question 216:

  Originally, the bill for Quon's mea! was $11.88, which included an 8% tax on the cost of the meal. Quon presented a discount coupon for 25% off the cost of his meal. Quon's final bill was the discounted cost of the meal plus the 8% tax on the discounted cost of the meal. How much was Quon's final bill?

  A. $8.91
  B. $8.93
  C. $9.13
  D. $9.62
  E. $11.63
  A. $8.91

• Question 217:

  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.

  The passage most strongly suggests which of the following about mallard competition?

  A. Greater competition among mallards sometimes results in home ranges of greater size.
  B. The more competition there is among mallards, the lesser the quality of habitat occupied by young female mallards.
  C. The greater the amount of wetlands that are present, the greater the competition among mallards.
  D. The greater the amount of wood-shrub habitat that is present, the greater the competition among mallards.
  E. Larger female mallards have greater success at competing for habitat than do smaller female mallards.
  D. The greater the amount of wood-shrub habitat that is present, the greater the competition among mallards.

• Question 218:

  The passage Is primarily concerned with which of the following?

  A. Comparing a traditional theory concerning managerial work with a new theory
  B. Explaining a controversy concerning managerial work
  C. Recommending specific new approaches to managerial work
  D. Reporting recent changes in managerial work
  E. Anticipating future developments in managerial work
  D. Reporting recent changes in managerial work

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  Explanation/Reference:

  Managerial work is undergoing enormous and rapid change. With little precedent to guide them, managers are coping with the fading away of hierarchy and the blurring of clear distinctions of title, task, department, even corporation. Traditional sources of power are being eroded as levels of complexity and interdependence increase. Competitive pressures from recent business downturns are forcing corporations to adopt flexible strategies and structures, including reductions In management staff and increased use of performance-based (rather than longevity-based) rewards. In a more profound change, in a growing number of companies horizontal ties between peers are replacing vertical ties as channels of activity and communication. Companies are asking departmental staff to play a more strategic role, with greater cross-departmental collaboration. Some organizations are forming strategic alliances with customers and outside suppliers that bring external relationships inside, where they can influence company policy. Fundamentally, the new managerial work involves new ways of obtaining and using power. Position, title, and authority are no longer adequate tools when managers have to work cooperatively with other departments and even other companies. The ability of managers to get things done depends more on the number of networks in which they are included than on their rank in a hierarchy. In the past, formal structures and the emphasis on rank were more limiting. For example, access to information and the ability to get informal backing were often confined to the few officially sanctioned contact points between departments or between the company and Its suppliers or customers. Today, official barriers between departments and between companies are disappearing while Informal networks grow in importance. The new corporation has many more channels for action, strategic pathways that ignore the chain of command. These strategic pathways also serve to diffuse power. As the number of ways to combine resources Increases, the ability to command diminishes. Alternative paths of communication and resource access erode the authority of those in the nominal chain of command. In other words, greater speed and flexibility undermine hierarchy. As more and more of the strategic action takes place in these informal networks, the Jobs that focus inward on particular departments decline In power.

• Question 219:

  In 90 percent of the commercial airline accidents last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 18 percent of the world's commercial airlines was involved. Since the other 82 percent of airlines were generally flying the same types of airplanes as the accident-prone airlines, significant differences in safety procedures must have been responsible for these differences In safety records.

  Which of the following, if true about the world's commercial airlines last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

  A. Fifteen percent of the airlines were responsible for 97 percent of all air miles flown, and those airlines were involved in 87 percent of the accidents.
  B. The accident-prone airlines were cited by their governments for a significantly higher number of safety violations than were the other airlines.
  C. After an airline is involved in a serious accident, many of its regular customers switch to another airline, and some flights are canceled.
  D. Twenty percent of the airlines employ personnel currently serving in their country's armed forces.
  E. Twenty-four percent of the airplanes in regular service are over fifteen years old.
  A. Fifteen percent of the airlines were responsible for 97 percent of all air miles flown, and those airlines were involved in 87 percent of the accidents.

• Question 220:

  The scientists discussed in the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements about attempting to limit phytoplankton blooms in an estuary by placing restrictions on discharges from wastewater treatment plants and runoff from agricultural fields?

  A. The approach would most likely have an effect opposite to that which was intended.
  B. The approach would probably be initially successful but have long-term negative effects.
  C. The approach would probably not produce a significantly different effect than inaction would.
  D. The approach would not be as likely to have the intended effect the scientists would have expected prior to the San Francisco Bay blooms.
  E. The approach would produce the intended effect if the estuary in question were located in a warm climate.
  E. The approach would produce the intended effect if the estuary in question were located in a warm climate.

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  Explanation/Reference:

  United States Geological Survey scientists have found that a cooling in Pacific Ocean temperatures led to increases in ecologically threatening phytoplankton blooms in 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 in 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 that 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 phytoplankton blooms. With the increase in predators, there was a corresponding decrease in clam populations and an increase in phytoplankton.