|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
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
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
20 Jun 2022, 21:00
Kudos
Bookmarks
Question 1
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
61% (02:22) correct
39%
(02:12) wrong
based on 425
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
77% (00:45) correct 23%
(00:52) wrong
based on 402
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
72% (00:27) correct 28%
(00:30) wrong
based on 342
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
51% (00:36) correct 49%
(00:35) wrong
based on 355
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Japan is making a comeback. After 15 years in a weak economic state, signs of life are finally beginning to show. Deflation is over; prices are no longer falling.
Japan is the second largest economy in the world and its recent growth is very good news. The rest of Asia and manufacturers in America will undoubtedly benefit. American consumers had been carrying the majority of the responsibility to keep the global economy moving. Now Tokyo appears to be engaging in real consumption: an indicator that renewal is upon the Japanese economy.
Japan’s economy barely grew at all in the 1990s. Deflation plagued the country for years with plummeting prices, which reduced wages and corporate income and made debt all the more heavy. Real estate prices fell for 14 years in a row, amounting to a decline of about 60% over that time. The Nikkei index of stock prices fell from an all-time high of 39,000 to below 8,000 before climbing back to about 17,000.
It was a bizarre time. Japan lowered interest rates again and again until they hit zero in 2001. Bond prices fell so low that by 2003, even 30-year government bonds yielded less than 1%. Economic historians were known for saying that the cost of borrowing money had never been so low — not in the financial transactions of ancient Greece or Rome or China, or anywhere else in recorded history. And even so, zero interest rates continued. Only now are Japan's bankers talking about the possibly of lifting rates by a quarter of a percent in the coming months.
This month, Japan's central bank finally put a stop to ‘quantitative reasoning,’ a 50-year old policy of pushing excess money into the financial system. Japan was able to do so because consumer prices have recently begun to rise, slowly but surely.
Japan’s population is aging and its public debt will continue to trouble the country in the long-term. But in the short term American politicians will almost certainly once again begin fussing about the miracle of the Japanese and complaining about Japan grabbing up U.S. properties.
Japan is the second largest economy in the world and its recent growth is very good news. The rest of Asia and manufacturers in America will undoubtedly benefit. American consumers had been carrying the majority of the responsibility to keep the global economy moving. Now Tokyo appears to be engaging in real consumption: an indicator that renewal is upon the Japanese economy.
Japan’s economy barely grew at all in the 1990s. Deflation plagued the country for years with plummeting prices, which reduced wages and corporate income and made debt all the more heavy. Real estate prices fell for 14 years in a row, amounting to a decline of about 60% over that time. The Nikkei index of stock prices fell from an all-time high of 39,000 to below 8,000 before climbing back to about 17,000.
It was a bizarre time. Japan lowered interest rates again and again until they hit zero in 2001. Bond prices fell so low that by 2003, even 30-year government bonds yielded less than 1%. Economic historians were known for saying that the cost of borrowing money had never been so low — not in the financial transactions of ancient Greece or Rome or China, or anywhere else in recorded history. And even so, zero interest rates continued. Only now are Japan's bankers talking about the possibly of lifting rates by a quarter of a percent in the coming months.
This month, Japan's central bank finally put a stop to ‘quantitative reasoning,’ a 50-year old policy of pushing excess money into the financial system. Japan was able to do so because consumer prices have recently begun to rise, slowly but surely.
Japan’s population is aging and its public debt will continue to trouble the country in the long-term. But in the short term American politicians will almost certainly once again begin fussing about the miracle of the Japanese and complaining about Japan grabbing up U.S. properties.
1. Which of the following best describes the effect Japan’s new economy has had on American manufacturers?
A. triumph
B. setback
C. fear
D. resentment
E. relief
A. triumph
B. setback
C. fear
D. resentment
E. relief
2. According to the passage, quantitative reasoning is no longer necessary because:
A. The central bank decided it was useless
B. The strategy no longer fit the times.
C. Excess money was causing inflation.
D. Prices increased enough to compensate for it
E. The policy stopped consumers from purchasing.
A. The central bank decided it was useless
B. The strategy no longer fit the times.
C. Excess money was causing inflation.
D. Prices increased enough to compensate for it
E. The policy stopped consumers from purchasing.
3. The author believes that Japan’s current financial state is:
A. doomed.
B. secure.
C. hopeful.
D. dangerous.
E. flourishing.
A. doomed.
B. secure.
C. hopeful.
D. dangerous.
E. flourishing.
4. The author’s writing style indicates that the passage is meant to
A. celebrate
B. criticize.
C. describe.
D. advocate.
E. compare.
A. celebrate
B. criticize.
C. describe.
D. advocate.
E. compare.
RC Butler 2022 - Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.
Passage # 247 Date: 21-Jun-2022
This question is a part of RC Butler 2022. Click here for Details
Passage # 247 Date: 21-Jun-2022
This question is a part of RC Butler 2022. Click here for Details
31 Jul 2022, 08:17
Kudos
Bookmarks
31 Jul 2022, 09:33
Kudos
Bookmarks
Ghostrider3147
Official Explanation
3. The author believes that Japan’s current financial state is:
Difficulty Level: 550-600
Explanation
In the first paragraph the author says ‘signs of life are finally beginning to show.’ The final paragraph tells us that Japan’s public debt makes its future uncertain, but for now American politicians see the country as a threat. Choice (C), “hopeful,” is the correct answer.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: 550-600
Explanation
In the first paragraph the author says ‘signs of life are finally beginning to show.’ The final paragraph tells us that Japan’s public debt makes its future uncertain, but for now American politicians see the country as a threat. Choice (C), “hopeful,” is the correct answer.
Answer: C
