Prior to the nineteenth century, both human and animal populations wer

Question

Prior to the nineteenth century, both human and animal populations were limited by the finite resources (such as food) to which they had access. When the enormous increases in prosperity ushered in by the Industrial Revolution essentially freed many Western nations from these constraints, scientists of the time expected a Malthusian explosion in population. However, an inverse relationship between prosperity and reproduction was soon noted; the average size of families fell. The trend continues to this day and has spread to recently industrialized portions of the world.

Early biologists tried to explain the transition to smaller families by drawing comparisons to the animal world. Animals that have many young tend to live in hostile, unpredictable environments. Since the odds against any given offspring’s survival are high, having many offspring increases the chance that at least one or two of them will survive. In contrast, animals that have fewer children but invest more resources in childrearing tend to live in stable, less hostile environments. While the young of these “high-investment” species enjoy the benefits of a relatively safe environment, they need to compete with animals whose young are equally unlikely to perish early in life. Therefore, the biologists observed, progeny that have acquired the skills they need to compete while sheltered by a family have an advantage over their less prepared competitors. By analogy, if people living in a prosperous environment produced only a few, pampered children, those children would out-compete the
progeny of parents who had stretched their resources too widely.

Critics of this theory argue that there are limitations in conflating animal and human behavior. They argue instead that changes in social attitudes are adequate to explain this phenomenon. To a family in a society that is tied to the land, a large number of children is a great boon. They increase family income by being put to work early, and usually some can be persuaded to care for their parents into old age. As a society becomes richer, and as physical labor becomes less important, education may extend into the early twenties, making children economically unattractive as they now consume family assets rather than produce them. Meanwhile, plans such as pensions and Social Security mitigate the need for children to care for their parents into their dotage.

1  
 D 
 Q1)The primary purpose of the passage is to 
A) criticize explanations of human behavior that are based solely on observations taken from the animal world.
B) show why the expected population explosion following the Industrial Revolution did not occur before the Industrial Revolution.
C) demonstrate how family size was influenced by both environmental restraints and social attitudes before and after the Industrial Revolution.
D) present two alternative theories that explain why family size tends to shrink with increased prosperity.
E) argue that studies based on social attitudes are more effective than models based on evolutionary advantages in accounting for demographic patterns.

2  
 C 
 Q2)According to the passage, which of the following is true of a Malthusian explosion in population?
 A)Its occurrence has been limited to those areas of the globe that have remained preindustrial.
B) It is inevitable in societies making the transition from an economy based on agriculture to one based on industry.
C)It was predicted by at least some who lived through the Industrial Revolution in the West.
D) Social scientists have only recently reached consensus on the question of why it fails to occur in recently industrialized countries.
E) It was avoided in Western society because the wealth created by industrialization allowed families to support children through extended periods of education.

3  
 A 
 Q3) The last paragraph performs which of the following functions in the passage?
 A)It presents an alternate explanation for the phenomenon described in the first paragraph.
B)It criticizes the explanation presented in the second paragraph.
C) It describes how social attitudes change as societies become richer.
D) It explains a phenomenon presented in the second paragraph.
E) It argues that changing social attitudes are sufficient to explain the phenomenon described in the first paragraph.

4  
 E 
 Q4)The passage mentions each of the following as a possible reason average family size might fall in recently industrialized nations EXCEPT:
 A) extended periods of education that make children a drain on family resources
B) well-fed, advantaged children who out-compete those in less advantaged families
C) improved social care of the elderly
D) changed social attitudes
E) increased demand for physical laborers in recently industrialized economies

5  
 E 
 Q5)The information in the passage suggests that which of the following animals would be most likely to have many young?
 A) A plant eater that lives in drought-susceptible grassland and is fiercely protective of its offspring.
B) An omnivore whose population is restricted to several small islands that are threatened by human encroachment.
C) A meat eater that has no natural predators but must migrate long distances to maintain its supply of food.
D) A scavenger that competes with few other species for territory and food.
E) A filter feeder that is prey for many creatures in the seasonal streams and lakes where it lives.

6  
 A 
 Q6)The author mentions a decrease in the importance of physical labor (line 28) in order to
 A) give an example of the factors that may lead to changes in social attitudes toward family size.
B) demonstrate why those who anticipated a Malthusian explosion in population in industrialized Europe were incorrect.
C) show how family structures adjust to meet the demands of a changing economy.
D) rebut the claims of those who argue that there are limitations in conflating human and animal behavior.
E) illustrate how larger families can increase family income.

Wonderwoman31 · Answer

Hi,

Could any one take a shot at this RC. I got 5 out of 6 wrong and I am in a shock after this.

Mick1005 · Answer

Agreed.
I found this RC quite tough. Passage was easy to comprehend but the questions are difficult. I got 3/6. Took 11 mins.

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Passage Map 
¶1: Population growth paradox: scientists’ expectations vs. reality
¶2: Early biologists’ explanation: family size depends on how resource-rich the environment is
¶3: Critics’ explanation: changes in social attitudes cause family size to decline
Topic: Family size/population growth
Scope: Why industrialized, prosperous nations have shrinking families
Purpose: Describe two different explanations for why families tend to decrease in size with increasing prosperity

Analysis of passage 
The first sentence announces the topic: population size.“However” signals a discrepancy between what scientists expected (a population explosion) and what really happened (a decrease in family size). We can expect the rest of the passage to present one or more explanations for this discrepancy.Here comes the first explanation, put forth by early biologists, who compare patterns of human reproduction to different animal species’ reproduction strategies.
The biologists argue that animals living in environments with few resources have many offspring, while animals living in richer environments have fewer, pampered offspring.The biologists claim that the number of offspring humans have also depends on how resource-rich their environment happens to be.The third paragraph introduces an opposing point of view. Critics of the early biologists argue that shrinking family size in the context of newfound prosperity has more to do with changes in social attitudes than with natural selection.The passage ends without introducing the author’s own perspective. We’re simply left with two competing explanations for the unexpected decline in family size after the Industrial Revolution, the biologists’ and the critics’.

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Official Answers and Explanations 
 Q1)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
This Global question asks us for the passage’s “primary purpose.”
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
A quick look at our notes on topic, scope, and purpose will suffice. There’s no need to go back to the passage itself to answer a Global question.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
Our notes say that the author’s purpose is to describe two different explanations for why families tend to decrease in size with increasing prosperity. In evaluating the choices, it will also help to recall that the author’s point of view in this passage is entirely neutral.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
In evaluating the choices for a “primary purpose” question, it is often useful to start with a scan of the initial verb. (D) starts with the verb “present,” which is perfectly neutral and very close to our
description of the author’s purpose, which we said is to “describe” two alternate explanations. This should be the choice we read first. When we do, we find that is a perfect match for our prediction. (D) is in fact the correct answer. (A) is incorrect because the author doesn’t “criticize” anything. (B) is incorrect because events that occurred “before the Industrial Revolution” are outside the scope
of the passage. (C) is incorrect because the author fails to “demonstrate” that either or both of the explanations described have any merit. (E) is incorrect because the author doesn’t “argue” for or
against anything. Choice (D) is correct.

Q2)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
“According to” signals that this is a Detail question. The correct answer will simply paraphrase a detail mentioned in the passage.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text 
The “Malthusian explosion in population” is mentioned in the first paragraph, where we really only learn two things about it: (1) It was “expected” by scientists at the time of the Industrial Revolution, and (2) it didn’t actually happen.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
For Detail questions, what we’ve found through our research amounts to our prediction. We need an answer choice that says either that a Malthusian population explosion was expected, or that it
did not actually occur, or both.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(C) matches our prediction and is the correct answer. (A) is incorrect because “preindustrial areas of the globe” are outside the scope of the passage. All we know is that there has not been a population
explosion in industrialized nations; what has happened elsewhere is not discussed in the passage. (B) is the opposite of what we need. The first paragraph of the passage states that a Malthusian
population explosion, though believed to be inevitable during or after the Industrial Revolution, did not actually occur. As for (D), the closest thing to “social scientists” mentioned in the passage
would be the “critics” of the early biologists. However, the passage does not state whether there is a “consensus” among these critics’ views or when such a “consensus” was arrived at. (D) is thus
outside the scope of the passage. Finally, (E) is a distortion. The population explosion was avoided, according to the passage, for one of the two possible reasons put forth by the “early biologists” and
their “critics,” respectively. While the critics’ explanation does include extended education as an economic liability that helps convince people in industrialized nations to have fewer children, the
author of the passage does not endorse the critics’ explanation as correct. Choice (C) is the correct answer.

Q3)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
This question asks us for the function of the final paragraph and is thus a Logic question. Logic questions are essentially code for “Why did the author bother to include this part of the passage?”
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
Because we are being asked for the function of the third paragraph in the passage as a whole, we should cast a quick glance at our Passage Map. The first paragraph introduces the curious fact that
family size has declined in industrialized nations, the second paragraph gives the early biologists’ explanation for this phenomenon, and the third paragraph presents the critics’ explanation.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
The author’s point of view in this passage is completely neutral; there is no endorsement of one or the other explanation for decreasing family size. The third paragraph, then, simply describes one
of two possible explanations.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(A) matches our prediction and is the correct answer. The “phenomenon described in the first paragraph” is the decline in family size in industrialized nations. (B) is incorrect because the
function of the third paragraph is simply to present another explanation. The author of the passage doesn’t “criticize” either explanation (though the critics do). (C) is incorrect because while the critics’ argument is precisely that social attitudes change as societies become wealthier, this is again not necessarily the author’s opinion. We must always keep the author’s perspective in mind
when answering Logic questions. (D) is incorrect because the “phenomenon” explained in the third paragraph was originally presented in the first paragraph, not the second. Finally, (E) is incorrect
for the same reason that (B) and (C) are incorrect: The idea that changing social attitudes are sufficient to explain decreasing family size in industrialized nations is not endorsed by the author. The third paragraph simply presents the critics’ argument; the author doesn’t evaluate that argument at all. Choice (A) is the correct answer.

Q4)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
This question asks for the one answer choice not specifically mentioned in the passage, so we have a Detail EXCEPT question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
We’ll need to look up each answer choice to rule out those that are mentioned in the passage. The question stem directs us to the second and third paragraphs, as those paragraphs contain the explanations for why family size tends to fall in industrialized nations.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
For Detail EXCEPT questions, we’ll have to look up the answer choices individually. We’re looking for that answer choice that is not mentioned in the passage.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(A) is incorrect because lengthy education that makes children a drain on family resources is mentioned in the third paragraph as part of the critics’ explanation. (B) is incorrect because advantaged
children out-competing disadvantaged ones comes up at the end of the second paragraph as part of the early biologists’ explanation. (C) is incorrect because improved social care of the elderly is mentioned during the critics’ explanation in the third paragraph. The “changed social attitudes” in (D) form the crux of the critics’ explanation, so (D) is incorrect. (E) must, by default, be the correct answer. Indeed, the second-to-last sentence in the third paragraph states that in industrialized societies, physical labor becomes less important, not more so. (E) states the opposite of what the passage says and is therefore correct.

Q5)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
The word “suggests” in the question stem signals an Inference question.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The question stem directs us to the early biologists’ comparison, in the second paragraph, of human family sizes to the reproductive patterns of animals living in different environments. We learn that
animals that have many young “tend to live in hostile, unpredictable environments,” while animals that have fewer young “tend to live in stable, less hostile environments” and “invest more resources
in childrearing.”
Step 4: Make a Prediction
The question asks for an animal that has many young. We can expect the correct answer to describe an animal that lives in a harsh environment. Moreover, while the passage does not explicitly say so,
we can infer that the animal with many young will provide minimal care for its offspring.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(E) matches our prediction and is the correct answer. An animal that lives in “seasonal streams and lakes” certainly lives in an unpredictable environment, since those bodies of water are prone
to drying up. Moreover, the presence of many predators certainly contributes to a very harsh environment. (A) might look tempting because a drought-susceptible grassland definitely qualifies as a
hostile and unpredictable environment, but we would not expect an animal that has many offspring to be “fiercely protective” of those offspring. (A) is thus a perfect example of a half-right/half-wrong answer choice. (B) is incorrect because while the islands are threatened by human encroachment, they may nevertheless constitute a stable, friendly natural environment. (C) is incorrect because even though the meat eater has to migrate in search of food, there is no suggestion that food is ever unavailable, and the lack of predators implies a non-hostile environment. (D) is incorrect because
little competition again suggests a non-hostile environment. Choice (E) is correct.

Q6)Step 2: Analyze the Question Stem
The phrase “in order to” indicates that this is a Logic question. Specifically, we are asked why the author mentions a decrease in the importance of physical labor.
Step 3: Research the Relevant Text
The question stem sends us to line 28, which is in the middle of the third paragraph. That paragraph begins with the critics’ argument, which is that “changes in social attitudes are adequate
to explain” shrinking family size in industrialized nations. The rest of the paragraph contains the critics’ evidence for their position.
Step 4: Make a Prediction
Physical labor’s diminishing importance is a social phenomenon that helps to bring about a change in social attitudes, so it is essentially a piece of evidence for the critics’ argument.
Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices
(A) matches our prediction and is the correct answer. (B) is a distortion. The critics’ argument counters that of the early biologists, not the argument of those scientists alive at the time of the
Industrial Revolution who predicted a Malthusian population explosion. (C) is another distortion. It’s family size that the critics contest must change to meet the demands of a changing economy,
not family “structures.” (D) falls outside the scope of the passage. The author doesn’t rebut any argument; the tone of the passage is perfectly neutral. Finally, (E) is another distortion. The critics
argue that large families can increase family income in preindustrial societies “tied to the land.” But a decrease in the importance of physical labor happens in industrial societies, not in preindustrial ones. Choice (A) is correct.

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Hey Hi, Ive posted the Official Answers and explanations 
Hope it helps

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

You can go the Official Answers and explanations 
Hope it helps

PrachiMaloo · Answer

can anyone explain questions 4,5 and 6?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

Q4) The passage mentions each of the following as a possible reason average family size might fall in recently industrialized nations EXCEPT:

Difficulty Level:   600

Step 1: Analyze the Question Stem

This question asks for the one answer choice not specifically mentioned in the passage, so we have a Detail EXCEPT question.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

We’ll need to look up each answer choice to rule out those that are mentioned in the passage. The question stem directs us to the second and third paragraphs, as those paragraphs contain the explanations for why family size tends to fall in industrialized nations.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

For Detail EXCEPT questions, we’ll have to look up the answer choices individually. We’re looking for that answer choice that is not mentioned in the passage.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(A)  is incorrect because lengthy education that makes children a drain on family resources is mentioned in the third paragraph as part of the critics’ explanation.

(B)  is incorrect because advantaged children out-competing disadvantaged ones come up at the end of the second paragraph as part of the early biologists’ explanation.

(C)  is incorrect because improved social care of the elderly is mentioned during the critics’ explanation in the third paragraph.

The  “changed social attitudes”  in (D) form the crux of the critics’ explanation, so  (D)  is incorrect.

(E)  must, by default, be the correct answer. Indeed, the second-to-last sentence in the third paragraph states that in industrialized societies, physical labor becomes less important, not more so.  (E)  states the opposite of what the passage says and is therefore correct.

Answer: E

Q5) The information in the passage suggests that which of the following animals would be most likely to have many young?

Difficulty Level:   700

Step 1: Analyze the Question Stem

The word  “suggests”  in the question stem signals an Inference question.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

The question stem directs us to the early biologists’ comparison, in the second paragraph, of human family sizes to the reproductive patterns of animals living in different environments. We learn that animals that have many young  “tend to live in hostile, unpredictable environments,”  while animals that have fewer young  “tend to live in stable, less hostile environments”  and  “invest more resources in childrearing.”

Step 3: Make a Prediction

The question asks for an animal that has many young. We can expect the correct answer to describe an animal that lives in a harsh environment. Moreover, while the passage does not explicitly say so, we can infer that the animal with many young will provide minimal care for its offspring.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(E)  matches our prediction and is the correct answer. An animal that lives in  “seasonal streams and lakes”  certainly lives in an unpredictable environment, since those bodies of water are prone to drying up. Moreover, the presence of many predators certainly contributes to a very harsh environment.

(A)  might look tempting because a drought-susceptible grassland definitely qualifies as a hostile and unpredictable environment, but we would not expect an animal that has many offspring to be  “fiercely protective”  of those offspring.  (A)  is thus a perfect example of a half-right/half-wrong answer choice.

(B)  is incorrect because while the islands are threatened by human encroachment, they may nevertheless constitute a stable, friendly natural environment.

(C)  is incorrect because even though the meat-eater has to migrate in search of food, there is no suggestion that food is ever unavailable, and the lack of predators implies a non-hostile environment.

(D)  is incorrect because little competition again suggests a non-hostile environment.

Choice (E) is correct.

Q6) The author mentions a decrease in the importance of physical labor (line 28) in order to

Difficulty Level:   650

Step 1: Analyze the Question Stem

The phrase  “in order to”  indicates that this is a Logic question. Specifically, we are asked why the author mentions a decrease in the importance of physical labor.

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

The question stem sends us to  line 28 , which is in the middle of the  third paragraph.  That paragraph begins with the critics’ argument, which is that  “changes in social attitudes are adequate to explain”  shrinking family size in industrialized nations. The rest of the paragraph contains the critics’ evidence for their position.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

Physical labor’s diminishing importance is a social phenomenon that helps to bring about a change in social attitudes, so it is essentially a piece of evidence for the critics’ argument.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(A)  matches our prediction and is the correct answer.

(B)  is a distortion. The critics’ argument counters that of the early biologists, not the argument of those scientists alive at the time of the Industrial Revolution who predicted a Malthusian population explosion.

(C)  is another distortion. It’s a family size that the critics contest must change to meet the demands of a changing economy, not family  “structures.”

(D)  falls outside the scope of the passage. The author doesn’t rebut any argument; the tone of the passage is perfectly neutral.

Finally,  (E)  is another distortion. The critics argue that large families can increase family income in preindustrial societies  “tied to the land.”  But a decrease in the importance of physical labor happens in industrial societies, not in preindustrial ones.

Choice (A) is correct.

Vedant94 · Answer

Got only one wrong just because I did not read the question properly

GoodDay22 · Answer

HI Sajjad1994,

Could you also share OE for question 3?

Thanks

carcass · Answer

No need the OE. If you look at the whole passage the first chunk outline a theory. The second explains this theory. The last one explain a possible alternate theory or reasons for that.

A)It presents an alternate explanation for the phenomenon described in the first paragraph. correct
B) It criticizes the explanation  presented in the second paragraph. tricky because the first words of the paragraph say "critics" but this is not its role
C) It describes how social attitudes change as societies become richer. no because we do know that
D) It explains a phenomenon presented in the second paragraph. no out of scope. it points out to the first one
E) It argues that changing social attitudes  are sufficient to explain  the phenomenon described in the first paragraph. the contrary. it explains why the theory could be wrong or going in another direction

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

Q3) The last paragraph performs which of the following functions in the passage?

Difficulty Level:   Hard

Explanation

Step 1: Analyze the Question Stem

This question asks us for the function of the final paragraph and is thus a Logic question. Logic questions are essentially coded for “ Why did the author bother to include this part of the passage?”

Step 2: Research the Relevant Text

Because we are being asked for the function of the third paragraph in the passage as a whole, we should cast a quick glance at our Passage Map. The first paragraph introduces the curious fact that family size has declined in industrialized nations, the second paragraph gives the early biologists’ explanation for this phenomenon, and the third paragraph presents the critics’ explanation.

Step 3: Make a Prediction

The author’s point of view in this passage is completely neutral; there is no endorsement of one or the other explanation for decreasing family size. The third paragraph, then, simply describes one of two possible explanations.

Step 4: Evaluate the Answer Choices

(A)  matches our prediction and is the correct answer. The  “phenomenon described in the first paragraph”  is the decline in family size in industrialized nations.

(B)  is incorrect because the function of the third paragraph is simply to present another explanation. The author of the passage doesn’t  “criticize”  either explanation (though the critics do).

(C)  is incorrect because while the critics’ argument is precisely that social attitudes change as societies become wealthier, this is again not necessarily the author’s opinion. We must always keep the author’s perspective in mind when answering Logic questions.

(D)  is incorrect because the “phenomenon” explained in the third paragraph was originally presented in the first paragraph, not the second.

Finally,  (E)  is incorrect for the same reason that  (B)  and  (C)  is incorrect: The idea that changing social attitudes are sufficient to explain decreasing family size in industrialized nations is not endorsed by the author. The  third paragraph  simply presents the critics’ argument; the author doesn’t evaluate that argument at all.

Choice (A) is the correct answer.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Prior to the nineteenth century, both human and animal populations wer

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Prior to the nineteenth century, both human and animal populations wer

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards