Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized for You
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Track Your Progress
every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance
Practice Pays
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:
More and more TTP students are earning 100th percentile scores on the GMAT Focus Edition. The Target Test Prep course represents a quantum leap forward in your preparation, a radical reinterpretation of the way you should study.
Grab 20% off any Target Test Prep GMAT Focus plan during our Flash Sale. Just enter the coupon code FLASH20 at checkout to save up to $320. The offer ends soon.
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment
Join us in a comprehensive talk about the F1 Student Visa process with, Travis Feuerbacher, former U.S. Visa Officers and licensed U.S. immigration attorney having expertise working for the U.S. Department of State....
Idealistic economists of the late nineteenth and early
[#permalink]
15 May 2010, 11:27
Idealistic economists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries modeled their conceptions of economic theory on theoretical physics, rather than mathematics. Because theoretical physics usually extends the results of real-world observations, these idealists derived their theories through the extension of real-world economic observations, which occasionally led to bold claims that violated the axioms of mathematics; mathematical rules had not yet been able to account for a wide range of physical phenomena. Consider, for example, the work of James Clerk Maxwell, who, in the middle of the 19th century, described the electromagnetic field, a physical phenomena, by means of eight mathematical equations. The attempt to mathematically interpret the physical world immediately caused controversy; critics raised a number of questions unable to be answered through the application of mathematic formulas, which often seemed to hold true only in an abstract, perfectly consistent, universe.
As a result, more realistic economists of the time were caught between two models, unable to completely concede to the logical rigor underlying mathematical theories that do not always predict real-world results, but increasingly unwilling to join with the idealists to base their theories on observations when the extension of such observations violated mathematical models. However, from the middle of the twentieth century onward, as the mathematical equations used to predict real-world events have increasingly included variables that account for previously-unaccounted for factors, economists have been able to incorporate mathematics more fluidly into their work, forming the contemporary construction of economic theory. Building on the work of their predecessors, modern economists, a diverse group tied together by the study of a subject both tested by differences in methodologies and tried by differences in ideologies, are able to incorporate complex mathematics into their theories with more confidence.
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of mathematical formulas that attempt to interpret the physical world?
(A) They have not always been able to predict real-world results. (B) The attempt to apply them to the analysis of the electromagnetic field caused controversy. (C) Such formulas, throughout history, have become more fluidly incorporated into theories of economics. your answer (D) They are not violated by the theoretical extensions of real-world observations. correct (E) They have increasingly included variables that account for previously unaccounted for factors.
My answer was C but the explanation says :
Choice C: From the middle of the twentieth century onward...economists have been able to incorporate mathematics more fluidly into their work.
Now my question is .....in C we use "throughout history" whereas in passage we use "middle of twentieth century onward" ......so middle of twentieth century is not exactly throughout history ...it is pretty recent when we talk about "throughout history" .....can someone help ?
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Re: Idealistic economists of the late nineteenth and early
[#permalink]
15 May 2010, 20:37
dimitri92 wrote:
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of mathematical formulas that attempt to interpret the physical world? (A) They have not always been able to predict real-world results. (B) The attempt to apply them to the analysis of the electromagnetic field caused controversy. (C) Such formulas, throughout history, have become more fluidly incorporated into theories of economics. your answer (D) They are not violated by the theoretical extensions of real-world observations. correct (E) They have increasingly included variables that account for previously unaccounted for factors.
My answer was C but the explanation says :
Choice C: From the middle of the twentieth century onward...economists have been able to incorporate mathematics more fluidly into their work. Now my question is .....in C we use "throughout history" whereas in passage we use "middle of twentieth century onward" ......so middle of twentieth century is not exactly throughout history ...it is pretty recent when we talk about "throughout history" .....can someone help ?
Atleast some part of C is correct, so it can't be the answer. A,B,E are all true as per passage so it has to be D. In any case, the second sentence of first paragraph "Because theoretical physics usually extends the results of real-world observations, these idealists derived their theories through the extension of real-world economic observations, which occasionally led to bold claims that violated the axioms of mathematics; mathematical rules had not yet been able to account for a wide range of physical phenomena" clearly says D cannot be correct. Hence it is D.
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
gmatclubot
Re: Idealistic economists of the late nineteenth and early [#permalink]