Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest

Question

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest renaissance among United States firms, even though projects undertaken by two or more corporations under a collaborative agreement are less profitable than projects undertaken by a single corporation. The advantage of transnational cooperation is that such joint international projects may allow United States firms to win foreign contracts that they would not otherwise be able to win.

Which of the following is information provided by the passage?

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a single corporation to handle.

(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading to high-quality performance.

(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms.

(D) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations are not profitable enough to be worth undertaking.

(E) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations benefit only those who commission the projects.

ChrisLele · Accepted Answer

To say that transnational cooperation is experiencing a modest Renaissance means two things:

1. At some point in the distant past transnational cooperation was very common. A modest Renaissance
implies that transnational cooperation is starting to become common again but not as common
as it was in the distant past.

2. In the recent past, transnational cooperation was not common. Now it is experience a modest
Renaissance meaning it is becoming more common.

Putting these two piece of information together we get (C):

"Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms."

As for (A), remember the question is asking us for "information provided in the passage." Nowhere does the passage describe projects that are too big to handle.

(A) is tempting because it describes something that is true in the real world (i.e. some projects are too big for one company to handle), and is commonsensical. Indeed the answer choice may accord with your own experience.

However, the answer must be based solely on the information based in the passage.

Hope that helps :-D

IgnitedMind · Answer

IMO... C

A - never says too big, just less profitable
B - statement says nothing of performance
C - winner winner chicken dinner
D - they ARE profitable... just less so and are still better than the $0 theyd get otherwise
E- if a comapny turns a proft, dont you think theys benefit?

N-e-ways, C is right bc for there to be a renaissance there had to be a period of prosperity, followed by decline and now it is up again.

get it?

dina98 · Answer

how does renaissance mean 'more common or less common'?

Ivan91 · Answer

Imagine the history of the world. During the Roman Empire you have prosperity, lavishness, architecture, art. You have lots of its. Then come the Christians, **** everything up, nothing happens for 1000 words. You have nothing Then comes the Renaissance, when you once again have literature, architecture, kind of Humans rights.. So, to apply it in this case, since it is stated you have a "renaissance" of transnational business, it means you had plenty of it at some point, none of ot later, and now you notice a new "awakening" of that business". So, at some point, you had more of it and at some point you had less of it, Hence C

Skywalker18 · Answer

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest renaissance among United States firms, even though projects undertaken by two or more corporations under a collaborative agreement are less profitable than projects undertaken by a single corporation. The advantage of transnational cooperation is that such joint international projects may allow United States firms to win foreign contracts that they would not otherwise be able to win.

Type - Inference
- Transnational cooperation is experiencing a rebirth even thought they are less profitable
- May allow US firms to win foreign contracts that they would not have otherwise won.

Which of the following is information provided by the passage?

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a single corporation to handle. Out of scope 
(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading to high-quality performance. There is no mention about high quality performance
(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms. Correct - experiencing a modest renaissance
(D) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations are not profitable enough to be worth undertaking. Incorrect - this goes a little too far . Such projects may not be as profitable as when undertaken by a single cooperation . 
(E) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations benefit only those who commission the projects. Out of scope

Answer C

guillemgc · Answer

How could a thing be "both more common and less common" at the same time?

Either more common or less common doesn't sound better?

I got confused here with that.

Thank you in advance.

imyuva · Answer

Could anyone explain the argument? I couldn't understand what is modest renaissance and how two or more corporations linked with less profitability?

Thanks in advance.

GMATNinja · Answer

A "renaissance", in this context, is a "revival" or "rebirth", and here "modest" means "limited in size, amount, or scope." For example, if I said that soccer is experiencing a modest renaissance in the United States, it would mean that soccer is becoming somewhat more popular and/or successful. It would not mean that soccer has suddenly exploded and become as popular as American football.

Similarly, in this passage, transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a "limited revival" among US firms, even though such cooperation usually results in lower profits. The advantage of the cooperation is that it will help US firms win more foreign contracts in the future (contracts that those firms would not have won if they had not cooperated on joint international projects). In other words, cooperating on a project might not be as profitable as doing it on your own, but it will help you win more foreign contracts.

Also, to respond to a much earlier question:
 
... the key is the use of the present perfect in choice (C): "Transnational cooperation  has  in the past  been  both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms." The action began in the past and is still occurring in the present, which means that there could have been changes over time.

For example, "In the past three years, the British Pound has been worth both more than $1.4 USD and less than $1.4 USD." The price of a British Pound has changed over the course of the past three years. Sometimes it was less than $1.4 USD; sometimes it was more than $1.4 USD.

In choice (C), we are comparing past levels of cooperation to current levels of cooperation. At times, there was less cooperation than there is now; other times, there was more cooperation than there is now.

I hope that helps! For more timely responses, feel free to use the  request verbal experts' reply  button.

getvishalsingh · Answer

Can someone explain why Option E is wrong? I understand that C is correct.

GMATNinja · Answer

The question asks which answer choice is "information provided by the passage."

Here's (E):
 
The word "only" stands out. Does the passage tell us that the ONLY people who benefit from transnational cooperation are those who commission the project?

Nope, that goes way too far. First of all, the cooperative projects might not be as profitable as solo projects, but they could still be beneficial to the corporations involved. Maybe these corporations still make a ton of money, even if it's less than they make on solo projects.

We also have no idea who  else  might benefit from cooperative projects. For example, perhaps the end-users get a much higher quality product from these kinds of deals.

There simply isn't enough information in the passage to say that the ONLY people who benefit are those who commissioned the project. That's why you can eliminate (E).

I hope that helps!

Nagsahu · Answer

Can someone explain why Option D is wrong? Most of the explanations focus on "not profitable" part, but the choice actually clearly states "not profitable enough". Isn't this same as saying less profitable?

I am not comfortable eliminating option D for simply stating "not profitable". Is there any other reason why D does not work?

I am not comfortable eliminating option D for simply stating " not profitable ". Is there any other reason why D does not work?

GMATNinja · Answer

You're correct that the passage tells us that joint projects are "less profitable." But is that what (D) is saying?

If a project is "less profitable," is that the exact same thing as "not profitable enough to be worth undertaking?"

Not really. "Less profitable" simply means that the profits for joint projects are less than solo projects. But it's a big leap from "less profitable" to "not worth undertaking." In other words, just because a joint project is less profitable than a solo project doesn't mean it's not worth undertaking. In fact, the passage argues that certain joint projects  are  worth undertaking. Because even if they are less profitable, they provide other benefits that make them worth undertaking (i.e. the opportunity to win foreign contracts).

For that reason, (D) is incorrect.

I hope that helps!

Raman109 · Answer

Option Elimination - Option C's language is a bit off, so a better strategy may be eliminating the wrong ones. As this is an inference question, please let's stick to the passage and no outside information.

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a single corporation to handle. - Not mentioned. Distortion.

(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading to high-quality performance. - "High-quality performance" is not mentioned. Out of scope.

(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms. - "Renaissance" means revival. Revival of something that was on high once and then fell. So now it's reviving. If we don't know the meaning of "renaissance," let's stick to eliminating the wrong ones. On GMAT, the wrong is 100% wrong and not 99.99 or whatever, so if you can confidently eliminate the wrong, you have your answer. A bit of caution: If you do not know something or if something is not sounding right, it may be our lack of knowledge and not that the option is wrong. So don't just cross by listening to your ear. Use logic, use meaning.

(D) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations are not profitable enough to be worth undertaking. - "not profitable" not mentioned. Out of scope.

(E) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations benefit only those who commission the projects. - "benefit only those" not mentioned. Distortion.

egmat · Answer

Let's think about this systematically. When a question asks "which of the following is information provided by the passage," you're looking for facts that are  directly stated , not conclusions you can draw.

Here's how to approach this:

Step 1: Identify the key facts in the passage 
The passage tells us three main things:
- US firms are experiencing a "modest renaissance" in transnational cooperation
- Collaborative projects are less profitable than solo projects 
- Joint projects help US firms win foreign contracts they couldn't get alone

Step 2: Focus on the critical word - "renaissance" 
Here's what you need to see: The word "renaissance" is your key. Notice how the passage says cooperation is experiencing a  renaissance  among US firms. What does renaissance mean? It means a revival or renewed interest in something that  previously existed .

Step 3: Connect the meaning to the answer choices 
If there's a renaissance happening now, this means:
- Cooperation was common in the past (original period)
- Then it declined (became less common) 
- Now it's experiencing renewed interest (more common again)

Step 4: Eliminate and confirm 
Looking at the choices, only (C) captures this timeline: "Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms." This directly matches what "renaissance" tells us about the historical pattern.

The other choices either aren't mentioned in the passage (like project size or resource pooling) or contradict what's stated (like choice D suggesting projects aren't worth undertaking).

The answer is C.

You can check out the  step-by-step solution on Neuron by e-GMAT  to master the systematic approach for identifying explicit vs. implicit information in RC passages. You can also explore other GMAT official questions with detailed solutions on Neuron for structured practice  here .

agrasan · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB   MartyMurray

I am not sure how (C) is the answer here, does this question expect us to know the exact meaning of word  "renaissance" ?
I got this meaning from Cambridge dictionary:  a new growth or activity or interest in something.

guddo · Answer

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest renaissance among United States firms, even though projects undertaken by two or more corporations under a collaborative agreement are less profitable than projects undertaken by a single corporation. The advantage of transnational cooperation is that such joint international projects may allow United States firms to win foreign contracts that they would not otherwise be able to win. 
 
Which of the following is information provided by the passage?

The passage says cooperation is having a modest renaissance, joint projects are less profitable than solo projects, and the advantage is that they may help US firms win foreign contracts they otherwise could not.

(A) Transnational cooperation involves projects too big for a single corporation to handle.

Not stated. The passage gives a different reason: winning contracts.

(B) Transnational cooperation results in a pooling of resources leading to high-quality performance.

Not stated.

(C) Transnational cooperation has in the past been both more common and less common than it is now among United States firms.

“Renaissance” implies it used to be more common than it is now and then declined, which means it was less common more recently than it is now.  So the passage does provide this.   A revival requires an earlier period of greater prevalence and an intervening decline.

(D) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations are not profitable enough to be worth undertaking.

The passage says they are less profitable than solo projects, but it also says firms still do them because they may win contracts otherwise unattainable. So it does not say they are not worth it.

(E) Joint projects between United States and foreign corporations benefit only those who commission the projects.

Not stated.

Answer: (C)

MartyMurray · Answer

Yes, getting this question correct requires knowing the exact meaning of "renaissance," which means "rebirth" and is synonymous with "resurgence."

That said, this question is from the past, when the GMAT used less commonly known words. Since then, the GMAT has been made more appropriate for international test-takers for whom English is not their first language. So, knowing words like "renaissance" is no longer necessary for GMAT success.

sriramsundaram91 · Answer

purely Vocabulary based question - renaissance means re-birth which means transnational cooperation has existed in the past, also passage is stating that transnational cooperation is experiencing a modest re-birth i.e. it is back, therefore (C), you can do a re-birth only if you were born previously and die previously - C seals the deal 100%

Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest

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Transnational cooperation among corporations is experiencing a modest

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