Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2301:30 AM EDT
-02:30 AM EDT
Struggling with GMAT Verbal as a non-native speaker? Harsh improved his score from 595 to 695 in just 45 days—and scored a 99 %ile in Verbal (V88)! Learn how smart strategy, clarity, and guided prep helped him gain 100 points.
Apr 2308:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
Video explanations + diagnosis of 10 weakest areas + 150+ short videos + study plan!
Apr 2212:30 AM EDT
-01:30 AM EDT
At one point, she believed GMAT wasn’t for her. After scoring 595, self-doubt crept in and she questioned her potential. But instead of quitting, she made the right strategic changes. The result? A remarkable comeback to 695. Check out how Saakshi did it.
Apr 2610:00 AM EDT
-11:00 AM EDT
The Target Test Prep course represents a quantum leap forward in GMAT preparation, a radical reinterpretation of the way that students should study. Try before you buy with a 5-day, full-access trial of the course for FREE!
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
21 May 2008, 06:27
Kudos
Bookmarks
Q25 to Q28:
Jon Clark’s study of the effect of
the modernization of a telephone
exchange on exchange maintenance
Line work and workers is a solid contribution
(5) to a debate that encompasses two
lively issues in the history and sociol16
ogy of technology: technological
determinism and social constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the char-
(10) acteristics of a technology have a
decisive influence on job skills and
work organization. Put more strongly,
technology can be a primary determinant
of social and managerial organ-
(15) ization. Clark believes this possibility
has been obscured by the recent sociological
fashion, exemplified by
Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes
the way machinery reflects social
(20) choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate
to the manager’s desire to wrest control
of the labor process from the
workers. Technological change is
(25) construed as the outcome of negotiations
among interested parties who
seek to incorporate their own interests
into the design and configuration of the
machinery. This position represents
(30) the new mainstream called social constructivism.
The constructivists gain acceptance
by misrepresenting technological determinism:
technological determinists are
(35) supposed to believe, for example, that
machinery imposes appropriate forms
of order on society. The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to
view technology as existing outside
(40) society, capable of directly influencing
skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the
constructivists by both theoretical and
empirical arguments. Theoretically he
(45) defines “technology” in terms of relationships
between social and technical
variables. Attempts to reduce the
meaning of technology to cold, hard
metal are bound to fail, for machinery
(50) is just scrap unless it is organized
functionally and supported by appropriate
systems of operation and main17
tenance. At the empirical level Clark
shows how a change at the telephone
(55) exchange from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semielectronic
switching systems altered
work tasks, skills, training opportunities,
administration, and organization of
(60) workers. Some changes Clark attributes
to the particular way management
and labor unions negotiated the introduction
of the technology, whereas
others are seen as arising from the
(65) capabilities and nature of the technology
itself. Thus Clark helps answer
the question: “When is social choice
decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more
important?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q25:
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. advocate a more positive attitude toward technological change
B. discuss the implications for employees of the modernization of a telephone
exchange
C. consider a successful challenge to the constructivist view of technological change
D. challenge the position of advocates of technological determinism
E. suggest that the social causes of technological change should be studied in real
situations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q26:
The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following
would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?
A. Businesses would be more likely to modernize without considering the social
consequences of their actions.
B. There would be greater understanding of the role played by technology in
producing social change.
C. Businesses would be less likely to understand the attitudes of employees affected
by modernization.
D. Modernization would have occurred at a slower rate.
E. Technology would have played a greater part in determining the role of business
in society.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q27:
The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in lines 34-35 primarily
in order to
A. suggest that a contention made by constructivists regarding determinists is
inaccurate
B. define the generally accepted position of determinists regarding the
implementation of technology
C. engage in speculation about the motivations of determinists
D. lend support to a comment critical of the position of determinists
E. contrast the historical position of determinists with their position regarding the
exchange modernization
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q28:
Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is
supported by information in the passage?
A. The new technology reduced the role of managers in labor negotiations.
B. The modernization was implemented without the consent of the employees
directly affected by it.
C. The modernization had an impact that went significantly beyond maintenance
routines.
D. Some of the maintenance workers felt victimized by the new technology.
E. The modernization gave credence to the view of advocates of social
constructivism.
Jon Clark’s study of the effect of
the modernization of a telephone
exchange on exchange maintenance
Line work and workers is a solid contribution
(5) to a debate that encompasses two
lively issues in the history and sociol16
ogy of technology: technological
determinism and social constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the char-
(10) acteristics of a technology have a
decisive influence on job skills and
work organization. Put more strongly,
technology can be a primary determinant
of social and managerial organ-
(15) ization. Clark believes this possibility
has been obscured by the recent sociological
fashion, exemplified by
Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes
the way machinery reflects social
(20) choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate
to the manager’s desire to wrest control
of the labor process from the
workers. Technological change is
(25) construed as the outcome of negotiations
among interested parties who
seek to incorporate their own interests
into the design and configuration of the
machinery. This position represents
(30) the new mainstream called social constructivism.
The constructivists gain acceptance
by misrepresenting technological determinism:
technological determinists are
(35) supposed to believe, for example, that
machinery imposes appropriate forms
of order on society. The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to
view technology as existing outside
(40) society, capable of directly influencing
skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the
constructivists by both theoretical and
empirical arguments. Theoretically he
(45) defines “technology” in terms of relationships
between social and technical
variables. Attempts to reduce the
meaning of technology to cold, hard
metal are bound to fail, for machinery
(50) is just scrap unless it is organized
functionally and supported by appropriate
systems of operation and main17
tenance. At the empirical level Clark
shows how a change at the telephone
(55) exchange from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semielectronic
switching systems altered
work tasks, skills, training opportunities,
administration, and organization of
(60) workers. Some changes Clark attributes
to the particular way management
and labor unions negotiated the introduction
of the technology, whereas
others are seen as arising from the
(65) capabilities and nature of the technology
itself. Thus Clark helps answer
the question: “When is social choice
decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more
important?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q25:
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. advocate a more positive attitude toward technological change
B. discuss the implications for employees of the modernization of a telephone
exchange
C. consider a successful challenge to the constructivist view of technological change
D. challenge the position of advocates of technological determinism
E. suggest that the social causes of technological change should be studied in real
situations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q26:
The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following
would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?
A. Businesses would be more likely to modernize without considering the social
consequences of their actions.
B. There would be greater understanding of the role played by technology in
producing social change.
C. Businesses would be less likely to understand the attitudes of employees affected
by modernization.
D. Modernization would have occurred at a slower rate.
E. Technology would have played a greater part in determining the role of business
in society.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q27:
The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in lines 34-35 primarily
in order to
A. suggest that a contention made by constructivists regarding determinists is
inaccurate
B. define the generally accepted position of determinists regarding the
implementation of technology
C. engage in speculation about the motivations of determinists
D. lend support to a comment critical of the position of determinists
E. contrast the historical position of determinists with their position regarding the
exchange modernization
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q28:
Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is
supported by information in the passage?
A. The new technology reduced the role of managers in labor negotiations.
B. The modernization was implemented without the consent of the employees
directly affected by it.
C. The modernization had an impact that went significantly beyond maintenance
routines.
D. Some of the maintenance workers felt victimized by the new technology.
E. The modernization gave credence to the view of advocates of social
constructivism.
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Reading Comprehension (RC) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
