While days of the chain gang are long gone, the effects of meaningful

Question

While days of the chain gang are long gone, the effects of meaningful labor during imprisonment demonstrate marked benefits to both the prisoner and society. Some of these benefits take the forms of reduced recidivism, increased job skills and employability, and improved quality of life. In fact, corporations have hired jails to have their inmates perform work from manufacturing to telemarketing. However, some critics argue that prisoners who work are little more than bonded slaves, earning nothing for their labor and forced to do work that may be beyond their physical or mental capacity. Others are more concerned about the economic factors of cheap, noncompetitive labor or issues involved in giving inmates responsibility for critical components of products or providing them with lists of addresses and telephone numbers.    1 
The author would most likely agree with which of the following sentences?

(A) Working may offset deleterious psychological conditions to which prisoners are exposed.
(B) Too many lawsuits filed against jails involve prisoners being forced to perform work they are not physically equipped to handle.
(C) Telemarketing corporations are the main entities that stand to profit from inmates working for free or at low cost.
(D) People in jail lack the mental skill needed to perform more challenging work.
(E) Adjusting the current model of inmate labor to have prisoners work for money or reduced sentences would improve the penal system.

SwethaReddyL · Answer

how is the answer A and not E, could you please explain... @KarishmaB @Bunuel @Gmatninja

bb · Answer

Hi. Not loving the passage and the answer choices.

However, E) is outside of the scope of the text. The author doesn’t really go with suggest that the penal system should be improved especially with the concept of reduced sentences.

I actually picked D) but I can see that I cited with the critics rather than the author so that’s also not correct.

I have rejected A) because I assumed quality of life would be outside of the prison but it could be read both ways and I think that’s what the explanation hinges on. It’s a very nuanced question plus I did not know the definition of the word deleterious. 😬 so I tend not to pick choices with the words I don’t know.

Carcass · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION QUESTION #1

A

This question asks you to evaluate possible explanations and compare them to your understanding of the information in the passage. Choice (A) follows from that portion of the passage in which the author tells you that prisoners see "quality of life" improvements as the result of working. Choice (B) falls completely outside the scope of the passage. The author says nothing about lawsuits challenging prison work programs. Choice (C) distorts the passage. Telemarketing is one of the jobs prisoners perform, but so is manufacturing (and maybe others). Nothing suggests that telemarketing firms have the most to gain from using prison labor. Choice (D) is cited as a concern of some critics, but nothing suggests that the author agrees with them. Nor can you determine whether the author would agree with choice (E). The suggestion in (E) might address the concerns of some critics, but again, you don't know that the author shares those concerns.

helium23 · Answer

The basic reasoning for A over E is the fact that the question asks about what the  "author"  would agree to. Author only says part of the passage, the rest is about the critics' opinions.

Author - 
While days of the chain gang are long gone, the effects of meaningful labor during imprisonment demonstrate marked benefits to both the prisoner and society. Some of these benefits take the forms of reduced recidivism, increased job skills and employability, and improved quality of life. In fact, corporations have hired jails to have their inmates perform work from manufacturing to telemarketing.

Critics - However, some critics argue that prisoners who work are little more than bonded slaves, earning nothing for their labor and forced to do work that may be beyond their physical or mental capacity. Others are more concerned about the economic factors of cheap, noncompetitive labor or issues involved in giving inmates responsibility for critical components of products or providing them with lists of addresses and telephone numbers.

Since the question is to agree with the author's opinion, only option A fits correctly with the author's opinion.

Answer - A

Carcass · Answer

Outside the realm of the official RC passages, I have always believed that Kaplan wins over Manhattan in my experience.

Only RC though

While days of the chain gang are long gone, the effects of meaningful

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

While days of the chain gang are long gone, the effects of meaningful

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