National character is not formally considered by social scientists in

Question

National character is not formally considered by  social scientists  in discussing economic and social development today. They believe that people differ and that these differences should be taken into account somehow, but they have as yet discovered no way to include such variables in their formal models of economic and social development. The difficulty lies in the nature of the data that supposedly define different national characters. Anthropologists and others are on much firmer ground when they attempt to describe the cultural norms for a small homogeneous tribe or village than when they undertake the formidable task of discovering the norms that exist in a complex modern nation-state composed of many disparate groups. The situation is further complicated by the nature of judgments about character, since such judgments are overly dependent on impressions and since, furthermore, impressions are usually stated in qualitative terms, it is impossible to make a reliable comparison between the national characters of two countries.    1 
 1. The author’s main point in the passage is that national character

(A) is too elusive to merit attention by anthropologists and other social scientists
(B) is of greater interest to social scientists today than it has been in the past
(C) is still too difficult to describe with the precision required by many social scientists
(D) has become increasingly irrelevant because of the complexity of modern life
(E) can be described more accurately by anthropologists than by other social scientists

2 
 2. Given the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true of modern nation-states?

(A) They are complex.
(B) They are heterogeneous.
(C) They are of interest to social scientists.
(D) They lack cultural norms.
(E) They differ from one another in terms of national character.

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the social scientists ( Highlighted ) would agree with which of the following statements?

I. It is extremely difficult to create models that account for both economic and social development.
II. Models of economic and social development would be improved by the inclusion of adequate descriptions of national character.
III. It is important to supplement formal models of economic and social development with qualitative impressions of national character.

(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and III only
(E) II and III only

4 
 4. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A problem is presented and reasons for its existence are supplied.
(B) A controversial view is presented and evidence for its validity is supplied.
(C) A hypothesis is presented and possible means of verifying it are suggested.
(D) A recent development is described and then analyzed.
(E) A dispute is summarized and one side defended.

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 133 Date: 05-Apr-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

ramlala · Answer

1. The author’s main point in the passage is that national character

(A) is too elusive to merit attention by anthropologists and other social scientists   Author says that it is too difficult to compare the national character by any means 
(B) is of greater interest to social scientists today than it has been in the past  Past of social schientists not mentioned anywhere 
(C) is still too difficult to describe with the precision required by many social scientists  This is mentioned in the start of the passage but can not say main point of the passage 
(D) has become increasingly irrelevant because of the complexity of modern life  no irrelevant 
(E) can be described more accurately by anthropologists than by other social scientists  anthropologists also find it difficult

4. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A problem is presented and reasons for its existence are supplied.   Author described a problem to compare national character and why it is not possible 
(B) A controversial view is presented and evidence for its validity is supplied.
(C) A hypothesis is presented and possible means of verifying it are suggested.
(D) A recent development is described and then analyzed.
(E) A dispute is summarized and one side defended.

kntombat · Answer

Sajjad1994 , could you share the OE for question 2 and 3 please?

Thank you.

Harshjha001 · Answer

Can someone please explain the answer for question 2 ?

bM22 · Answer

Hi  kntombat ,  Harshjha001 ,

Not the OE but let me know if this helps.

2. Given the information in the passage, which of the following  is NOT  true of modern nation-states?

(A) They are complex.
(B) They are heterogeneous.
(C) They are of interest to social scientists.
  (D) They lack cultural norms.  
(E) They differ from one another in terms of national character.

Explanation: Let's use the POE here. Other options are clearly mentioned in the passage and can be inferred from :

"National character is not formally considered by  social scientists  in discussing economic and social development today. They  believe that people differ and that these differences should be taken into account somehow, "
and 
"Anthropologists and others are on much firmer ground when they attempt to describe the cultural norms for a small homogeneous tribe or village than when they undertake the formidable task of  discovering the norms that exist in a complex modern nation-state composed of many disparate groups. " and "it is  impossible to make a reliable comparison between the national characters of two countries. ".

The highlighted part of the lines mentioned above clearly imply that all other options can be inferred from the passage, except D, thus D is our answer.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the social scientists (Highlighted) would agree with which of the following statements?

Incorrect, as it cannot be inferred from the passage. Social scientists  find it difficult to include national character  in formal models of economic and social development, but we can't infer if it is extremely difficult or not to create models that account for both economic and social development.

Correct, as we can infer from the passage that social scientists want to include national character in the models that account for both economic and social development, though they find it difficult to include such variables since there is no proper way to calculate it accurately. We can infer it from the lines: "Anthropologists and others are on much firmer ground when they attempt to describe the cultural norms for a small homogeneous tribe or village than when they undertake the formidable task of discovering the norms that exist in a complex modern nation-state composed of many disparate groups.", implying that if accurate descriptions of national character could be properly included, it would help to add national character to the models economic and social development.

Incorrect, as can be directly inferred from the passage: "The situation is further complicated by the nature of judgments about character, since such judgments are overly dependent on impressions and since, furthermore,  impressions are usually stated in qualitative terms, it is impossible to make a reliable comparison between the national characters of two countries. "

Since only II is correct, the correct answer would be B.

Hope This Helps.
Thanks.

Harsh9676 · Answer

HI  Sajjad1994 ,

What is the difficulty level of these questions. They seem to be direct and won't represent 700 level RC questions?

Thanks 
Harsh

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The following should be the difficulty level of these questions

Question #1: 600
Question #2: 650
Question #3: 700
Question #4: 550

Overall: 600-650

National character is not formally considered by social scientists in

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National character is not formally considered by social scientists in

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