In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of

Question

In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the United States economy. But what is meant by "services"? Some economists define a service as something that is produced and consumed simultaneously, for example, a haircut. The broader, classical definition is that a service is an intangible something that cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities can store energy, and computer programmers save information electronically. Thus, the classical definition is hard to sustain.

The United States government's definition is more practical: services are the residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry. Under this definition, services includes activities as diverse as engineering and driving a bus. However, besides lacking a strong conceptual framework, this definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and service occupations. It categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform. Thus, the many  service workers employed by manufacturers  bookkeepers or janitors, for example-would fall under the industrial rather than the services category. Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition and suggest that, although practical for government purposes, it does not accurately reflect the composition of the current United States economy.   1 
 26. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) discussing research data underlying several definitions
(B) arguing for the adoption of a particular definition
(C) exploring definitions of a concept
(D) comparing the advantages of several definitions
(E) clarifying some ambiguous definitions

2 
 27. In comparing the United States government's definition of services with the classical definition, the author suggests that the classical definition is

(A) more pragmatic
(B) more difficult to apply
(C) less ambiguous
(D) more widely used
(E) more arbitrary

3 
 28. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States?

(A) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.
(B) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.
(C) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.
(D) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in service industries.
(E) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.

4 
 29. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government's definition of services?

(A) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
(B) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
(D) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service industries.
(E) It mis-classifies many workers who are employed in service industries.

5 
 30. The author refers to "service workers employed by manufacturers" ( Highlighted ) primarily in order to point out

(A) a type of worker not covered by the United States government's system of classifying occupations
(B) a flaw in the United States government's definition of services
(C) a factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the United States
(D) a type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather than on the basis of the company's final product
(E) the diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers

somesh86 · Accepted Answer

26. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with 
(A) discussing research data underlying several definitions  --> Out of scope, no research data mentioned in the passage 
(B) arguing for the adoption of a particular definition  --> Author does not support or propose any definition but merely points out flaws 
(C) exploring definitions of a concept   --> Correct. Author merely explores the definitions and analyzes them.  
(D) comparing the advantages of several definitions  --> There are no advantages mentioned in the passage to compare 
(E) clarifying some ambiguous definitions  --> No clarifications provided in the passage but merely flaws are pointed out.

27. In comparing the United States government's definition of services with the classical definition, the author suggests that the classical definition is
(A) more pragmatic  --> 2nd para line 1 the author says US govt. definition is more practical hence implying classical def is less practical. 
(B) more difficult to apply   --> Correct. 2nd para line 1 the author says US govt. definition is more practical hence implying classical def is less practical.  
(C) less ambiguous  --> At the end of 2nd para the author proves how ambiguous the classical definition is. 
(D) more widely used  --> Out of scope. No mention of extent of usage in the passage. 
(E) more arbitrary  --> 2nd para last line clearly mentions arbitrariness of 2nd def but no mention on the comparison of this aspect in the passage.

28. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States?
(A) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.   --> Correct. 2nd para last 2 lines lead to this conclusion.  
(B) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.  --> Out of scope, no mention of how things were before 1988 especialy in agri sector in US. 
(C) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.  --> This is a vague assumption. We do not know if the percentages were equal or service was less. The passage just mentions that in 1988 services went up to be more than manufacturing. 
(D) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in service industries.  --> Can't say this for sure as there are no certain facts confirming this. 
(E) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.  --> Can't say this for sure as there are no certain facts confirming this.

29. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government's definition of services?
(A) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.  --> Not mentioned anywhere in the passage. 
(B) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.  --> Not mentioned anywhere in the passage. 
(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.   --> Correct. 2nd para 3rd last line says this directly.  
(D) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service industries.  --> Out of scope - diversity of occupations is not our problem. 
(E) It mis-classifies many workers who are employed in service industries.  --> Opposite is true.

30. The author refers to "service workers employed by manufacturers" (line 15) primarily in order to point out
(A) a type of worker not covered by the United States government's system of classifying occupations  --> Completely incorrect as the everything other than manufacturing and agri is covered in services category. 
(B) a flaw in the United States government's definition of services   --> Correct. 2nd para last 2 lines clearly point to this  .
(C) a factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the United States  --> Out of scope. 
(D) a type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather than on the basis of the company's final product  --> Opposite is true. 
(E) the diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers  --> Out of scope. We arenot bothered about the diversity of the workers.

AjiteshArun · Answer

The author starts by introducing the first definition, and then points out that it is not a good one. Then the author introduces the second definition and proceeds to list out the issues with that second definition as well.

Option E:  clarifying some ambiguous definitions .

The problem with this is the word  clarifying . To  clarify  something means to  make it clearer . The author is not looking to (a) make the definitions  easier to understand  or (b)  remove the ambiguities  in the two definitions. The author is looking to tell us what the  weaknesses  of those definitions are.

mbaiseasy · Answer

26. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

It is clear that the author discusses both the advantages and disadvantages of two definitions. Anything less would not be the answer. Hence, A is too passive for this passage.

(A) Incorrect.
(B) the author is not arguing for anyone particular definition. Incorrect.
(C) Correct.
(D) not just advantages but also disadvantages... Anything less is incorrect.
(E) this is not about ambiguity but both advantages and disadvantages. Incorrect.

27. In comparing the United States government's definition
of services with the classical definition, the author
suggests that the classical definition is
(A) classical is less pragmatic than government definition
(B) more difficult to apply - " more hard to sustain" Correct.
(C) nothing was more ambiguous than the other... The issue is more of scope and not ambiguity....
(D) widely used.... Not mentioned....
(E) not mentioned.,,,

28. The passage suggests which of the following about
service workers in the United States?
(A) Correct. Some service workers fall under industry using the government definition. Hence, there will be an underestimation.
(B) and (C) and (D) mention exact statistical comparison which we don't know about....
(E) What falls under classical is irrelevant to the definition of the government... The issue is some workers not being counted based on the gov definition,, Incorrect...

29. The author of the passage mentions which of the
following as one disadvantage of the United States
government's definition of services?

(B) It is actually broader than classical
(C) It is based on the final product produced rather
than on the type of work performed. correct.
(D) Not the disadvantage....
(E) It misclassifies many workers who are employed
in service industries. * this is tempting but those that were not classified as service workers fall in the industry not those in the industry were misclassified. This will tend to confuse especially given the time constraint during the test.... But we do not know whether service industries workers were misclassified....

30. The author refers to "service workers employed by
manufacturers" (line 23) primarily in order to point out

(B) a flaw in the United States government's
definition of services

RanjanSury · Answer

Dear experts,

My problem is with question no. 27.

Can we assume that practicality of a particular definition and difficulty of applying a particular definition are correlated ??

Moreover, the passage says that the classical definition is hard to sustain. Does this mean that it is more difficult to apply this definition ??

How do we go about tacking such a question ? What's the idea or logic here ?

Thanks
Ranjan

GMATNinja · Answer

Yes, the passage says that the US gov's definition is more practical, where practical means "of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas." So the more practical something is, the easier it is to apply.

"Sustain" in this context means "to keep up" or "maintain". The classical definition is hard to maintain because it is inaccurate in many instances. In other words, it is difficult to consistently apply the classical definition in practice. This definition might work in some cases, but it will fail in many cases.

For example, the passage implies that electric utilities and computer programming should be classified as "services", but according to the classical definition, they would not qualify as services. So the classical definition fails. Again, this implies that the classical definition is hard to maintain and impractical.

teaserbae · Answer

AjiteshArun   GMATNinjaTwo 
Can you please clarify Q1 why E is wrong and

Javierbc · Answer

Question 27:

Why C is incorrect?
In the text:

Such ambiguities  reveal the arbitrariness of this definition (USA definitinion)

Why cannot we deduce, that the clasical definition is less ambiguos?

Thanks.
Javier.

GMATNinja · Answer

You are correct that the passage specifically states that the government's definition is ambiguous in many cases. However, can we say with certainty that the classical definition is  less  ambiguous?

The passage simply does not support that claim. At the end of the second paragraph, the author states that the classical definition is "hard to sustain" because it potentially misclassifies services such as electric utilities and computer programming. This both implies that the classical definition is impractical and, in some cases, ambiguous. Because both definitions are ambiguous and the author never offers a direct comparison of the two on this point, we cannot say that the classical definition is less ambiguous than the government's definition.

A comparison of the practicality of the two definitions is much more clear: the first sentence of the second paragraph states that "the United States government's definition is more practical." From this, we can say that the classical definition is more difficult to apply (see  this  post for more information). (B) is the correct choice for question #27.

I hope that helps!

Hoozan · Answer

GMATNinja   mikemcgarry  Please could you help me with the following question.

29. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government's definition of services?

(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
As mentioned in the passage -  It categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform.

But why is option (E) incorrect?

(E) It mis-classifies many workers who are employed in service industries.

As mentioned in the passage - 
1)  this definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and service occupations.  
2)  the many service workers employed by manufacturers bookkeepers or janitors, for example-would fall under the industrial rather than the services category

While option C is the direct answer I'd like to know why option (E) is incorrect. As  GMATNinja  says, In RC do not search for the correct answer choice, but look for four incorrect ones.

ChiranjeevSingh · Answer

Option E would be correct if it said "It mis-classifies many workers who are employed in industrial sector". The example you have quoted doesn't talk about people who are employed in the service sector; these people are employed in the industrial sector.

GMATNinja · Answer

The relevant piece of the passage says the US government's definition of services:
   "categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform," AND that 
 under this definition "many service workers employed by manufacturers bookkeepers or janitors, for example-would fall under the industrial rather than the services category"

So the passage does say that the government's definition misclassifies some workers, but here's the important bit: all the workers mentioned in the passage that are being misclassified are  service workers  but, since they work for companies in the  industrial category , they are categorized as  industrial workers .

Here's answer choice (E):
 
This may be true but the passage only talks about people in service occupations who work for manufacturers -- these workers get misclassified into the industrial category. Answer choice (E) implies the  opposite  issue -- that somehow, there are workers counted in the service category who should be classified in some other way.

From the information in the passage, we can't tell if workers in service industries are being misclassified, so (E) cannot be the answer to question 29.

I hope that helps!

mSKR · Answer

Hi GMATNinja AjiteshArun Classical definition --> some issues Government definition--> less issues than classical It is given government definition was arbitrary Why can't we conclude that classical definition is more arbitrary. Arbitrary means something that is applied can be argued based on fundamentals on which the definition is based. classical definition was more hard to apply because it was more arbitrary Please help to get rid of option E. More difficult to apply --> it doesn't mean it is difficult to apply, maybe it is easy to apply but end result may be wrong. It seems classical definition was more easy to apply because logic was simple: Apply XYZ if Z . How is it hard to apply? I think it is easy to apply but because results would be wrong because it was more arbitrary. So I rejected C. ( Another such reference: It is easy to do hard question . It doesn't mean the answer is correct. Maybe for hard questions just guess blindly then it more easy to do hard question unless it is mentioned that " it is difficult to get hard questions correct".) It seems this question is more of a meaning based . But I am still confused between C and E:( Please share what am I doing wrong.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  mSKR ,

1.  The author  never  calls the classical definition arbitrary . Keep in mind that  arbitrary  means something that is done  randomly , without any reason. There may be issues with the classical definition, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is arbitrary.

2. On the other hand, as you pointed out,  the author  definitely  calls the United States government's definition arbitrary  ("such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition").

I wouldn't want to find any fault here other than the linking of "issues" to "arbitrary".

srishR · Answer

egmat   GMATNinja  team! Could you please help with Question number 29!

Option E seems right to me 
Option C is a feature of the "services" but not necessarily a disadvantage in itself.

Kindly guide Thanks in advance

MBAB123 · Answer

Hey srishR , I'm no expert but see if this helps

- 1. Option E talks about misclassification in the service sector , however, the example quoted within the passage is of a misclassification within the industrial sector . Although, I understand that a vice-versa misclassification is highly likely, it has not been explicitly stated in the passage. 2. Here is option C - " It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed" The it in bold here does not refer to the services themselves, but rather to the definition of the services. It's the definition that is based on the final product rather than on the type of work performed.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of

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In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of

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