Agricultural progress provided the stimulus necessary to set

Question

Agricultural progress provided the stimulus necessary to set off economic expansion in medieval France. As long as those who worked the land were barely able to ensure their own subsistence and that of their landlords, all other activities had to be minimal, but when food surpluses increased, it became possible to release more people for governmental, commercial, religious and cultural pursuits.
However, not all the funds from the agricultural surplus were actually available for commercial investment. Much of the surplus, in the form of food increases, probably went to raise the subsistence level; an additional amount, in the form of currency gained from the sale of food, went into the royal treasury to be used in waging war. Although Louis VII of France levied a less crushing tax burden on his subjects than did England’s Henry II, Louis VII did spend great sums on an unsuccessful crusade, and his vassals—both lay and ecclesiastic—took over spending where their sovereign stopped. Surplus funds were claimed both by the Church and by feudal landholders, whereupon cathedrals and castles mushroomed throughout France.
The simultaneous progress of cathedral building and, for instance, vineyard expansion in Bordeaux illustrates the very real competition for available capital between the Church and commercial interests; the former produced inestimable moral and artistic riches, but the latter had a stronger immediate impact upon gross national product. Moreover, though all wars by definition are defensive, the frequent crossings of armies that lived off the land and impartially burned all the huts and barns on their path consumed considerable resources.
Since demands on the agricultural surplus would have varied from year to year, we cannot precisely calculate their impact on the commercial growth of medieval France. But we must bear that impact in mind when estimating the assets that were likely to have been available for investment. No doubt castle and cathedral building was not totally barren of profit (for the builders, that is), and it produced intangible dividends of material and moral satisfaction for the community. Even wars handed back a fragment of what they took, at least to a few. Still, we cannot place on the same plane a primarily destructive activity and a constructive one, nor expect the same results from a new bell tower as from a new water mill. Above all, medieval France had little room for investment over and above the preservation of life. Granted that war cost much less than it does today, that the Church rendered all sorts of educational and recreational services that were unobtainable elsewhere, and that government was far less demanding than is the modern state—nevertheless, for medieval men and women, supporting commercial development required considerable economic sacrifice.
1. According to the passage, agricultural revenues in excess of the amount needed for subsistence were used by medieval kings to
(A) patronize the arts
(B) sponsor public recreation
(C) wage war
(D) build cathedrals
(E) fund public education
2. According to the passage, which of the following was an important source of revenue in medieval France?
(A) Cheese
(B) Wine
(C) Wool
(D) Olive oil
(E) Veal
3. The passage suggests that which of the following would have reduced the assets immediately available for commercial investment in medieval France?
I. Renovation of a large cathedral
II. A sharp increase in the birth rate
III. An invasion of France by Henry II
(A) III only
(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III
4. It can be inferred from the passage that more people could enter government and the Church in medieval France because
(A) the number of individual landholdings in heavily agricultural areas was beginning to increase
(B) an increase in the volume of international trade had brought an increase in the population of cities
(C) a decrease in warfare had allowed the king to decrease the size of the army
(D) food producers could grow more food than they and their families needed to survive
(E) landlords were prospering and thus were demanding a smaller percentage of tenants’ annual yields
5. The author implies that the reason we cannot expect the same results from a new bell tower as from a new water mill is that
(A) bell towers yield an intangible dividend
(B) bell towers provide material satisfaction
(C) water mills cost more to build than bell towers
(D) water mills divert funds from commerce
(E) water mills might well be destroyed by war
6. The author of the passage most probably bases his central argument on which of the following theoretical assumptions often made by economists?
(A) Different people should be taxed in proportion to the benefit they can expect to receive from public activity.
(B) Perfect competition exists only in the case where no farmer, merchant, or laborer controls a large enough share of the total market to influence market price.
(C) A population wealthy enough to cut back its rate of consumption can funnel the resulting savings into the creation of capital.
(D) A full-employment economy must always, to produce one good, give up producing another good.
(E) There is a universal tendency for population, unless checked by food supply, to increase in a geometric progression.
7. The author suggests that commercial expansion in medieval France “required considerable economic sacrifice” (lines 59-60) primarily for which of the following reasons?
(A) Cathedrals cost more to build and rebuild than did castles.
(B) The numerous wars fought during the period left the royal treasury bankrupt.
(C) Louis VII levied a more crushing tax burden on his subjects than did Henry II.
(D) Although much of the available surplus had been diverted into vineyard expansion, the vineyards had not yet begun to produce.
(E) Although more food was being produced, the subsistence level was not very far above the minimum required to sustain life.
8. The passage implies that which of the following yielded the lowest dividend to medieval men and women relative to its cost?
(A) Warfare
(B) Vineyard expansion
(C) Water mill construction
(D) Castle building
(E) Cathedral building
9. Which of the following statements best expresses the central idea of the passage?
(A) Commercial growth in medieval France may be accurately computed by calculating the number of castles and cathedrals built during the period.
(B) Competition between the Church and the feudal aristocracy for funds created by agricultural surplus demonstrably slowed the economic growth of medieval France.
(C) Despite such burdens as war and capital expansion by landholders, commerce in medieval France expanded steadily as the agricultural surplus increased.
(D) Funds actually available for commerce in medieval France varied with the demands placed on the agricultural surplus.
(E) The simultaneous progress of vineyard expansion and building in medieval France gives evidence of a rapidly expanding economy.

Got almost all the questions wrong..

.. Please explain the answers .
OA will follow

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.. Please explain the answers . OA will follow

ImJun · Answer

C
B
C or A not sure
D
D
D
A
B
that's what I got
please post the OA
B

rohitgoel15 · Answer

OA's are:
1. C 2. B 3. E 4. D 5. A
6. C 7. E 8. A 9. D

Anonymous · Answer

I disagree with the OA for Question 3.

I think the answer is C

The passage mentions these factors as detracting from the funds available for commercial investment:
 - waging war
 - cathedral building (from which we can assume that funding for cathedral renovation comes from the same source as funding for cathedral building. I doubt that a real GMAT question would require the reader to make this leap, small as it is. It's possible that the church staff perform small renovations in their spare time, causing no impact to funding available for commercial investment)

Nowhere does the passage make any reference to a correlation between birth rate and reduction of assets available for commercial investment. While it makes logical sense that a sharp increase in the birthrate would reduce the agricultural surplus and thereby reduce the assets available for commercial investment, real GMAT questions do not require readers to make such assumptions. In fact, wrong answers in real GMAT questions often come from such assumptions. The MGMAT Reading Comprehension book makes it very clear that introducing outside information is a very bad idea. The GMAT tests your ability to understand the passage, not your ability to connect it with whatever else you may know about the topic.

Sridhar123 · Answer

Got 7 out of 9 correct. But I took 14 minutes to answer all the questions!

Where did u get this RC from?

sameerdrana · Answer

I agree with Beavisman... because that is the question I got wrong! 8-)

1.c 2.b 3.c 4.c 5.a 6.c 7.e 8.a 9.d Hard to see why birth rates, not mentioned directly/indirectly in the passage, is a valid answer choice.

mailnavin1 · Answer

taking it from a gmat perspective 4/5 (the first 5 q's)

mailnavin1 · Answer

Rohit, 
I am not good at RC(verbal for that matter), but let me try.

Agricultural progress provided the stimulus necessary to set off economic expansion in medieval France.  As long as those who worked the land were barely able to ensure their own subsistence and that of their landlords, all other activities had to be minimal, but when food surpluses increased, it became possible to release more people for governmental, commercial, religious and cultural pursuits. However, not all the funds from the agricultural surplus were actually available for commercial investment. Much of the surplus, in the form of food increases, probably went to raise the subsistence level; an additional amount, in the form of currency gained from the sale of food,   went into the royal treasury to be used in waging war  . Although Louis VII of France levied a less crushing tax burden on his subjects than did England’s Henry II, Louis VII did spend great sums on an unsuccessful crusade, and his vassals—both lay and ecclesiastic—took over spending where their sovereign stopped. Surplus funds were claimed both by the Church and by feudal landholders, whereupon cathedrals and castles mushroomed throughout France.
The simultaneous progress of cathedral building and, for instance,  vineyard expansion  in Bordeaux illustrates the very real competition for available capital between the Church and commercial interests; the former produced inestimable moral and artistic riches,  but the latter had a stronger immediate impact upon gross national product . Moreover, though all wars by definition are defensive, the frequent crossings of armies that lived off the land and impartially burned all the huts and barns on their path consumed considerable resources.
Since demands on the agricultural surplus would have varied from year to year, we cannot precisely calculate their impact on the commercial growth of medieval France. But we must bear that impact in mind when estimating the assets that were likely to have been available for investment.  No doubt castle and cathedral building was not totally barren of profit (for the builders, that is), and it produced intangible dividends of material and moral satisfaction for the community . Even wars handed back a fragment of what they took, at least to a few. Still, we cannot place on the same plane a primarily destructive activity and a constructive one, nor  expect the same results from a new bell tower as from a new water mill . Above all, medieval France had little room for investment over and above the preservation of life. Granted that war cost much less than it does today, that the Church rendered all sorts of educational and recreational services that were unobtainable elsewhere, and that government was far less demanding than is the modern state—nevertheless, for medieval men and women, supporting commercial development required considerable economic sacrifice.
1. According to the passage, agricultural revenues in excess of the amount needed for subsistence were used by medieval kings to
(A) patronize the arts
(B) sponsor public recreation
(C)  wage war  clearly stated in the passage
(D) build cathedrals
(E) fund public education
2. According to the passage, which of the following was an important source of revenue in medieval France?
(A) Cheese
(B)  Wine  - The one highlighted with the same clor
(C) Wool
(D) Olive oil
(E) Veal
3. The passage suggests that which of the following would have reduced the assets immediately available for commercial investment in medieval France?
I. Renovation of a large cathedral
II. A sharp increase in the birth rate
III. An invasion of France by Henry II
(A) III only
(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III
4. It can be inferred from the passage that more people could enter government and the Church in medieval France because
(A) the number of individual landholdings in heavily agricultural areas was beginning to increase
(B) an increase in the volume of international trade had brought an increase in the population of cities
(C) a decrease in warfare had allowed the king to decrease the size of the army
(D)  food producers could grow more food than they and their families needed to survive (E) landlords were prospering and thus were demanding a smaller percentage of tenants’ annual yields
5. The author implies that the reason we cannot expect the same results from a new bell tower as from a new water mill is that
(A)  bell towers yield an intangible dividend 
(B) bell towers provide material satisfaction
(C) water mills cost more to build than bell towers
(D) water mills divert funds from commerce
(E) water mills might well be destroyed by war

sixsigma1978 · Answer

3. (E) is correct. Look carefully at the last paragraph

"But we must bear that impact in mind when estimating the assets that were likely to have been available for investment."
This goes on to describe :
1) No doubt castle and cathedral building was not totally barren of profit - building castles has an impact (reduces assets)
2) Even wars handed back a fragment of what they took, at least to a few - Despite its cost, it gave back, albeit a little
3) Above all, medieval France had little room for investment over and above the preservation of life - No place for additional people. Had birth rate risen, this would have had a big impact. But there was no room, but it definitely is not unaccounted for!!!

This seems like a really odd one though - usually GMAT RC inferences don't expect you to go above and beyond what's asked in a passage!!!

gmatfighter12 · Answer

I am so proud of myself, only got one wrong in 10.xx mins total.

alman888 · Answer

Good catch!

I agree with you though. Most of the inference questions don't refer to such an oblique sentence; that is, the key word(s) in the answer choice is somewhere in the passage where it's a direct quote or a synonym.

Question 3 is the only question I got wrong but given the explanation, it is pretty clear that the OA is correct.

Would love to know the source of this passage.

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Agricultural progress provided the stimulus necessary to set

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