Many political economists believe that the soundest indicator of the economic health of a nation is the nation's gross-national product (GNP) per capita ?a figure reached by dividing the total value of the goods produced yearly in a nation by its population and taken to be a measure of the welfare of the nation's residents. But there are many factors affecting residents' welfare that are not captured by per capita GNP; human indicators, while sometimes more difficult to calculate or document, provide sounder measures of a nation's progress than does the indicator championed by these economists. These human indicators include nutrition and life expectancy; birth weight and level of infant mortality; ratio of population level to availability of resources; employment opportunities; and the ability of governments to provide services such as education, clean water, medicine, public transportation, and mass communication for their residents.
The economists defend their use of per capita GNP as the sole measure of a nation's economic health by claiming that improvements in per capita GNP eventually stimulate improvements in human indicators. But, in actuality, this often fails to occur. Even in nations where economic stimulation has brought about substantial improvements in per capita GNP, economic health as measured by human indicators does not always reach a level commensurate with the per capita GNP. Nations that have achieved a relatively high per capita GNP, for example, sometimes experience levels of infant survival, literacy, nutrition, and life expectancy no greater than levels in nations where per capita GNP is relatively low. In addition, because per capita GNP is an averaged figure, it often presents a distorted picture of the wealth of a nation; for example, in a relatively sparsely populated nation where a small percentage of residents receives most of the economic benefits of production while the majority receives very little benefit, per capita GNP may nevertheless be high. The welfare of a nation's residents is a matter not merely of total economic benefit, but also of the distribution of economic benefits across the entire society. Measuring a nation's economic health only by total wealth frequently obscures a lack of distribution of wealth across the society as a whole.
In light of the potential for such imbalances in distribution of economic benefits, some nations have begun to realize that their domestic economic efforts are better directed away from attempting to raise per capita GNP and instead toward ensuring that the conditions measured by human indicators are salutary. They recognize that unless a shift in focus away from using material wealth as the sole indicator of economic success is effected, the well-being of the nation may be endangered, and that nations that do well according to human indicators may thrive even if their per capita GNP remains stable or lags behind that of other nations. Which one of the following scenarios, if true, would most clearly be a counterexample to the views expressed in the last paragraph of the passage?
A. The decision by a nation with a low level of economic health as measured by human indicators to focus on increasing the levels of human indicators results in slower growth in its per capita GNP.Curator: Since ancient times, the fine arts were developed and sustained with the aid of large subsidies from the aristocracies and religious institutions that were the public sectors of their day; it is doubtful that the arts would have survived without these subsidies. Clearly, contemporary societies should fulfill their obligation as stewards of cultural heritage without the assistance of aristocracies or religious institutions, so governments must help finance the maintenance,1 advancement, and enrichment of the fine arts today.
The curator's argument depends on assuming which one of the following?
A. The fine arts would be more highly developed now if they had been given greater governmental subsidies in the past.Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was no exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17, 1903, were excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine, impulsive fools. Negative reactions, however, did not stop the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued their experiments in aviation. Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in flight grew into a compulsion. Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts. After further study, the Wright brothers concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces must be wrong. They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments with model wings. Because of their efforts, the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the Wrights built their first airplane, which cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built their own source of propulsion- a lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December 17, the airplane puffed wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds, however, and it flew one hundred twenty feet. By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power. As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.
People thought that the Wright brothers had ____.
A. acted without thinkingIn 1892 the Sierra Club was formed. In 1908 an area of coastal redwood trees north of San Francisco was established as Muir Woods National Monument. In the Sierra Nevada mountains, a walking trail from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney was dedicated in 1938. It is called John Muir Trail. John Muir was born in 1838 in Scotland. His family name means "moor," which is a meadow full of flowers and animals. John loved nature from the time he was small. He also liked to climb rocky cliffs and walls. When John was eleven, his family moved to the United States and settled in Wisconsin. John was good with tools and soon became an inventor. He first invented a model of a sawmill. Later he invented an alarm clock that would cause the sleeping person to be tipped out of bed when the timer sounded. Muir left home at an early age. He took a thousand-mile walk south to the Gulf of Mexico in 1867and 1868. Then he sailed for San Francisco. The city was too noisy and crowded for Muir, so he headed inland for the Sierra Nevadas. When Muir discovered the Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevadas, it was as if he had come home. He loved the mountains, the wildlife, and the trees. He climbed the mountains and even climbed trees during thunderstorms in order to get closer to the wind. He put forth the theory in the late 1860's that the Yosemite Valley had been formed through the action of glaciers. People ridiculed him. Not until 1930 was Muir's theory proven correct. Muir began to write articles about the Yosemite Valley to tell readers about its beauty. His writing also warned people that Yosemite was in danger from timber mining and sheep ranching interests. In 1901 Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States. He was interested in conservation. Muir took the president through Yosemite, and Roosevelt helped get legislation passed to create Yosemite National Park in 1906. Although Muir won many conservation battles, he lost a major one. He fought to save the Hetch Valley, which people wanted to dam in order to provide water for San Francisco. In the late 1913 a bill was signed to dam the valley. Muir died in 1914. Some people say losing the fight to protect the valley killed Muir.
When did John Muir meet Theodore Roosevelt?
A. between 1901 and 1906"Old woman," grumbled the burly white man who had just heard Sojourner Truth speak, "do you think your talk about slavery does any good? I don't care anymore for your talk than I do for the bite of a flea." The tall, imposing black woman turned her piercing eyes on him. "Perhaps not," she answered, "but I'll keep you scratching." The little incident of the 1840s sums up all that Sojourner Truth was: utterly dedicated to spreading her message, afraid of no one, forceful and witty in speech. Yet forty years earlier, who could have suspected that a spindly slave girl growing up in a damp cellar in upstate New York would become one of the most remarkable women in American history? Her name then was Isabella (many slaves had no last names), and by the time she was fourteen she had seen both parents die of cold and hunger. She herself had been sold several times. By 1827, when New York freed its slaves, she had married and borne five children. The first hint of Isabella's fighting spirit came soon after wards, when her youngest son was illegally seized and sold. She marched to the courthouse and badgered officials until her son was returned to her. In 1843, inspired by religion, she changed her name to Sojourner (meaning "one who stays briefly") Truth, and, with only pennies in her purse, set out to preach against slavery. From New England to Minnesota she trekked, gaining a reputation for her plain but powerful and moving words. Incredibly, despite being black and female (only white males were expected to be public speakers), she drew thousands to town halls, tents, and churches to hear her powerful, deep-voiced pleas on equality for blacks-and for women. Often she had to face threatening hoodlums. Once she stood before armed bullies and sang a hymn to them. Awed by her courage and her commanding presence, they sheepishly retreated.
During the Civil War she cared for homeless ex-slaves in Washington. President Lincoln invited her to the White House to bestow praise on her. Later, she petitioned Congress to help former slaves get land in the West. Even in her old age, she forced the city of Washington to integrate its trolley cars so that black and white could ride together. Shortly before her death at eighty-six, she was asked what kept her going. "I think of the great things," replied Sojourner.
She preached against
A. smokingTwo mannequins -- 1 and 2 -- will be dressed for display in outfits chosen from ten articles of clothing. Each article is in exactly one of three colors: navy, red, or yellow. There are three hats -- one in each color; three jackets -- one in each
color; three skirts -- one in each color; and one red tie. Each mannequin wears exactly one of the hats, one of the jackets, and one of the skirts. Furthermore, their outfits must meet the following restrictions:
Neither mannequin wears all three colors.
Each mannequin wears a hat in a different color from the jacket it wears.
Mannequin 2 wears the navy skirt.
Mannequin 1 wears the tie.
If mannequin 1 wears the skirt that is the same color as the jacket that mannequin 2 wears, which one of the following must be true?
A. Mannequin 1 wears the yellow hat.All of the four door cars that I've repaired have always had 8 cylinders, so all four door cars must have 8 cylinder engines. What is the basis of this author's argument?
A. generalizationAmbiguity inspires interpretation. The saying "We are the measure of all things," for instance, has been interpreted by some people to imply that humans are centrally important in the universe, while others have interpreted it to mean simply that, since all knowledge is human knowledge, humans must rely on themselves to find the truth.
The claim that ambiguity inspires interpretation figures in the argument in which one of the following ways?
A. It is used to support the argument's conclusion.The organizer of a reading club will select at least five and at most six works from a group of nine works. The group consists of three French novels, three Russian novels, two French plays, and one Russian play. The organizer's selection of
works must conform to the following requirements:
No more than four French works are selected.
At least three but no more than four novels are selected.
At least as many French novels as Russian novels are selected.
If both French plays are selected, then the Russian play is not selected.
Which one of the following could be true about the organizer's selection of works?
A. No Russian novels are selected.Some planning committee members' those representing the construction industry -- have significant financial interests in the committee's decisions. No one who is on the planning committee lives in the suburbs, although many of them work there.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
A. No persons with significant financial interests in the planning committee's decisions are not in the construction industry.Nowadays, the certification exams become more and more important and required by more and more enterprises when applying for a job. But how to prepare for the exam effectively? How to prepare for the exam in a short time with less efforts? How to get a ideal result and how to find the most reliable resources? Here on Vcedump.com, you will find all the answers. Vcedump.com provide not only LSAC exam questions, answers and explanations but also complete assistance on your exam preparation and certification application. If you are confused on your LSAT-TEST exam preparations and LSAC certification application, do not hesitate to visit our Vcedump.com to find your solutions here.