For years, U.S. employers have counted on a steady flow of l

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For years, U.S. employers have counted on a steady flow of labor from Mexico willing to accept low-skilled, low paying jobs. These workers, many of whom leave economically depressed villages in the Mexican interior, are often more than willing to work for wages well below both the U.S. minimum wage and the poverty line. However, thanks to a dramatic demographic shift currently taking place in Mexico, the seemingly inexhaustible supply of workers migrating from Mexico to the United States might one day greatly diminish if not cease.

Predictions of such a drastic decrease in the number of Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal, are driven by Mexico’s rapidly diminishing population growth. As a result of a decades-long family planning campaign, most Mexicans are having far fewer children than was the norm a generation ago. The campaign, organized around the slogan that “the small family lives better,” saw the Mexican government establish family-planning clinics and offer free contraception. For nearly three decades, the government’s message concerning population hasn’t wavered. In fact, the Mexican Senate recently voted to extend public school sex education programs to kindergarten.

The result of Mexico’s efforts to stem population growth is nothing short of stunning. In 1968, the average Mexican woman had just fewer than seven children; today, the figure is slightly more than two. For two primary reasons, Mexico’s new demographics could greatly impact the number of Mexicans seeking work in the U.S. First, smaller families by their nature limit the pool of potential migrants. Second, the slowing of Mexico’s population growth has fostered hope that Mexico will develop a healthy middle class of people content to make their livelihoods in their home country.

Though the former of these factors is all but assured, the growth of a healthy middle class is far from a foregone conclusion. The critical challenge for Mexico is what it does with the next 20 years. Mexico must invest in education, job training, and infrastructure, as well as a social-security system to protect its aging population. If Mexico is willing to step forward and meet this challenge, America may one day wake up to find that, like cheap gasoline, cheap Mexican labor has become a thing of the past.

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Q1 The passage does NOT indicate which of the following concerning Mexico’s current demographics?

a Due to the government’s family planning campaign, Mexico’s population is currently diminishing.
b On average, Mexican women are having approximately one-third the number of children that they had in 1968.
c Many Mexicans still migrate to the United States in search of work.
d As a result of declining birth rates, Mexico’s population is aging.
e A healthy middle class in Mexico has not yet fully developed.
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Q2 Which of the following can be inferred about U.S. employers of Mexican immigrants?

a Most of these employers pay Mexican immigrants less money than they pay American citizens.
b Some of these employers violate wage laws.
c Many of these employers work in the agricultural industry.
d Without Mexican immigrants, some of these employers would be forced to close their businesses.
e The majority of these employers show no concern for the welfare of their workers.
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Q3 One function of the final paragraph of the passage is to

a relate why the number of Mexican immigrants seeking work in the United States is certain to decline.
b detail the successes of Mexico’s family planning campaign.
c explain why the number of Mexican immigrants seeking work in the United States may not dramatically decrease.
d specify the types of infrastructure in which Mexico must invest.
e notify American employers that they will soon need to find alternative sources of labor.
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Hey guys - I know RC questions are a bit initial investment, but this ones worth it. Its from MGMAT test. I got exactly 0/3 correct. Two questions are 700-800 level and one 600-700. Try and time yourself to no longer than 6 minutes for the whole thing (reading + answering the three questions). Good luck. I have the full OA and OE handy which I'll post later.

ps. Don't quote the whole passage in your responses as it would fill up the thread in no time.
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pmenon · Answer

i am getting D, A and D

sondenso · Answer

Honestly, I waste 10 minutes for 3 questions.
1B
2A
3E

Reasoning:

P1: The author claims: a dramatic   demographic shift   currently taking place in Mexico   decreases   migrants- from- Mexico- to- US workers

P2: Predict the first reason for the decline:   Mexico’s rapidly diminishing population growth

P3: Predict the second reason for the decline:  The result of Mexico’s efforts to stem population growth is nothing short of stunning

P4: warning: American employers will soon need to find alternative sources of labor.  If Mexico is willing to step forward and meet this challenge, America may one day wake up to find that, like cheap gasoline, cheap Mexican labor has become a thing of the past.]

1.

rpmodi · Answer

I spent 7 minutes

and answer

1) D
2) A
3) D

bsd_lover · Answer

Guys none of you have got a single one correct. 0/3. DAD was my answer sequence too.

jotan · Answer

A, A, D

pmenon · Answer

Try 2 ... how about A,B,C ?

rw6183 · Answer

E E A

billyjeans · Answer

all kinds of answers here, here are mine: B B A ? Thanks

rpmodi · Answer

OMG , that is BAD !! :-)

i will try to revise my answer soon and see if second best shot works ....

buffdaddy · Answer

i picked

e) - "not fully developed" means its slightly developed. So this raised alarm bells since the passage says its undeveloped
b) - since workers work for less than minimum wage, the employers of these workers are violating laws. A is doubious since we can't disprove that fellow american workers could also be working under these violations.
c) - paragraph 2 says that if mexico is to stop the immigrant flow it needs smaller families (which it is achieveing) and a developed middleclass. Para 3 points out that this richer middle class is a HUGE challenge and hence one can infer that the immigrant flow might not be curbed.

took me 5:44. hopefully i got one,maybe two right, since the answer choices were tough

bsd_lover · Answer

OA is ABC

+1 to pmenon for cracking a real toughie.

I have the official OEs and will post them if enough people are interested in it.

getafixdruid · Answer

grrrr
I ended up with DDC

The last question was a real teaser. The choices were each literally begging to be chosen :p

getafixdruid · Answer

I really do not understand how B is the answer to the 2nd question.

Is this sentence the reason :  "These workers, many of whom leave economically depressed villages in the Mexican interior, are often more than willing to work for wages well below both the U.S. minimum wage and the poverty line."

The above sentence  does not  imply that US employers are paying below the minimum wage or poverty line. It only states that poor Mexicans are  willing  to work for those wages.

smginnis · Answer

Here is how I attacked question # 2

Q2 Which of the following can be inferred about U.S. employers of Mexican immigrants?

a  Most  of these employers pay Mexican immigrants less money than they pay American citizens. ( Wrong, the paragraph never implicates an amount) 
b Some of these employers violate wage laws.
c  Many  of these employers work in the agricultural industry.  (B is wrong for the same reason A is) 
d Without Mexican immigrants, some of these employers would be forced to close their businesses.  Never mentioned 
e The majority of these employers show no concern for the welfare of their workers.  Employee treatment also never mentioned

By process of elimination B is left, and it makes sense. I think you're simply over analyzing the problem.

I'm baffled by 3C. In my eyes, that answer makes the least sense.

bsd_lover · Answer

I think OEs are in order here.

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The best way to answer a question that asks for information NOT indicated in the passage is to quickly skim through the passage and eliminate any answer choice that IS indicated in the passage.

(A) CORRECT. The passage states several times that Mexico’s population growth is diminishing due to the country’s declining birth rate. However, the passage never suggests that Mexico’s population itself is diminishing.

(B) The third paragraph states that, on average, a Mexican woman had just fewer than seven children in 1968. Today the average number of children born to a Mexican woman is slightly more than two, or approximately one-third of the 1968 figure.

(C) The first paragraph states that U.S. employers are still counting on a steady flow of labor from Mexico. To reinforce this contention, the final sentence of the first paragraph says this flow might “one day” diminish, indicating that at present it is continuing.

(D) The final paragraph states that Mexico’s population is aging. This aging of the population naturally results from the declining number of babies born in Mexico. As fewer babies are born, the average age of the population gradually increases.

(E) The third and final paragraphs indicate that a healthy middle class in Mexico is a hope and a goal but that it is far from a foregone conclusion.

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The correct answer to an inference question must be directly supported by evidence from the text. The passage states that U.S. employers of Mexican immigrants often provide low-skilled, low-paying jobs to individuals who "are often more than willing to work for wages well below both the U.S. minimum wage and the poverty line."

(A) No information is provided concerning the amount of money paid to American citizens. It is possible that there are many Americans who also work for wages well below both the U.S. minimum wage and the poverty line.

(B) CORRECT. If some of these immigrant workers are accepting wages “well below the U.S. minimum wage,” their American employers must be violating wage laws (i.e. paying wages below what the U.S. minimum wage requires).

(C) Nothing in the passage suggests the particular industry of these employers. This answer is outside the scope of the argument, and assumes knowledge from sources other than the passage.

(D) The passage does not suggest that, without labor from Mexico, these employers will be forced to close. This answer is both too predictive and outside the scope of the argument.

(E) The passage suggests nothing about how these employers either regard or treat their workers. Moreover, indication that these employers show “no concern” is too extreme to be inferred from the passage.
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The final paragraph primarily explains why the development of a healthy middle class, an important factor in limiting the desire of many Mexicans to migrate to the United States, is not a foregone conclusion.

(A) The final paragraph actually explains why a dramatic reduction of Mexican immigration to the United States is still an uncertainty.

(B) Mexico’s family planning campaign was not mentioned in the final paragraph.

(C) CORRECT. The final paragraph explains that Mexico must take specific actions to foster the development of a healthy middle class. Without a healthy middle class, the author believes that large numbers of Mexicans will continue to seek work in the United States.

(D) Though the author does mention that Mexico must invest in infrastructure, no mention is made of the types of infrastructure this investment should benefit.

(E) Though the final paragraph reinforces that Mexican immigration to the United States and thus Mexican labor might one day dramatically decline, this answer choice goes too far by stating that this "will" definitely happen. Further, is too great a leap to assume that the purpose of the paragraph is to explicitly put American employers on notice. Nothing in the paragraph, or the passage, suggests this intention.

For years, U.S. employers have counted on a steady flow of l

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