During the 1920s, most advocates of scientifc management, Frederick Ta

Question

During the 1920s, most advocates of scientifc management, Frederick Taylor’s method for maximizing workers’ productivity by rigorously routinizing their jobs, opposed the five-day workweek. Although scientifc managers conceded that reducing hours might provide an incentive to workers, in practice they more ofen used pay differentials to encourage higher productivity. Those  reformers  who wished to embrace both scientifc management and reduced hours had to make a largely negative case, portraying the latter as an antidote to the rigors of the former.

In contrast to the scientifc managers, Henry Ford claimed that shorter hours led to greater productivity and profts. However, few employers matched either Ford’s vision or his specifc interest in mass marketing a product— automobiles —that required leisure for its use, and few unions succeeded in securing shorter hours through bargaining. At its 1928 convention, the American Federation of Labor (AFL)  boasted  of approximately 165,000 members working five-day, 40-hour weeks. But although this represented an increase of about 75,000 since 1926, about 70 percent of the total came from fve extremely well-organized building trades’ unions.    1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following?

A. The relative merits of two points of view regarding a controversy
B. The potential benefts to workers in the 1920s of a change in employers’ policies
C. The reasons for a labor-management disagreement during the 1920s
D. The status of a contested labor issue during the 1920s
E. The role of labor unions in bringing about a reform

2  
 2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions “automobiles” ( highlighted ) primarily to suggest that

A. Ford’s business produced greater profts than did businesses requiring a workweek longer than fve days
B. Ford, unlike most other employers, encouraged his employees to use the products they produced
C. Ford may have advocated shorter hours because of the particular nature of his business
D. unions were more likely to negotiate for shorter hours in some businesses than in others
E. automobile workers’ unions were more effective than other unions in securing a fve-day workweek

3  
 3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would probably agree with which of the following claims about the boast referred to in  Highlighted  text?

A. It is based on a mistaken estimation of the number of AFL workers who were allowed to work a fve-day, 40-hour week in 1928.
B. It could create a mistaken impression regarding the number of unions obtaining a fve-day, 40-hour week during the 1920s.
C. It exaggerates the extent of the increase between 1926 and 1928 in AFL members working a fve-day, 40-hour week.
D. It overestimates the bargaining prowess of the AFL building trades’ unions during the 1920s.
E. It is based on an overestimation of the number of union members in the AFL in 1928.

4  
 4. According   to the passage, the “reformers” ( Highlighted ) claimed that

A. neither scientifc management nor reduced hours would result in an improvement in the working conditions of most workers
B. the impact that the routinization of work had on workers could be mitigated by a reduction in the length of their workweek
C. there was an inherent tension between the principles of scientifc management and a commitment to reduced workweeks
D. scientifc managers were more likely than other managers to use pay differentials to encourage higher productivity
E. reducing the length of the workweek would increase productivity more effectively than would increases in pay

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The passage describes the opposition of most advocates of scientifc management to reducing work hours during the 1920s and then describes the positions taken by a few reformers and by Henry Ford to justify workweek reduction. It notes that most employers, however, did not agree with Ford and points to some supporting labor data.

OE

1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following?

The passage is primarily concerned with discussing the opposition to, and the advocacy and adoption of, 40-hour workweeks during the 1920s; therefore  Choice D  is the correct answer.

Because the passage lays out different viewpoints but does not consider their relative merits,  Choice A  is not correct. The passage does not discuss the beneft to workers of a 40-hour workweek or the opinion or role of labor unions on the issue, so  Choices B, C,  and  E  are incorrect.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions “automobiles” ( highlighted ) primarily to suggest that  
 
 Choice C  is the correct answer. The mention of  “automobiles”  is directly followed by the observation that it is a product whose use requires leisure. Thus it can be inferred that one factor leading Ford to advocate shorter hours is that workers with newfound leisure time would become consumers of his product.

There is no indication that Ford was unlike other employers in encouraging employees to consume their own products, so  Choice B  is incorrect.

Choice A  is incorrect because the passage does not say that Ford’s business was highly proftable.

Choices D  and  E  are incorrect because the mention of automobiles is not connected to the likelihood or success of different types of unions in securing shorter hours. 
 
  Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would probably agree with which of the following claims about the boast referred to in      Highlighted      text?

The sentence mentioning this boast is followed by an explanation that although the number of workers with 40-hour weeks increased signifcantly, most of this gain could be attributed to just a few unions. Since the author is seemingly correcting a misimpression—that this increase involved many unions— Choice B  is the correct answer.

Because the passage does not suggest that the statistics themselves are questionable,  Choices A  and  C  are incorrect.

Since the passage makes no mention of the total number of AFL members,  Choice E  cannot be correct.

Choice D  is incorrect because the boast makes no reference to the building trades’ unions. 
 
  Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

4. According   to the passage, the “reformers” ( Highlighted ) claimed that

The sentence in question states that the reformers had to portray reduced hours as  “an antidote”  to the rigors of scientifc management. Since an antidote can negate or reverse ill effects, Choice B, which states that the effects of scientifc management (previously described as  “rigorously routinizing”  jobs) can be mitigated by workweek reduction, is the correct choice.

Choice A  is incorrect because there is no evidence that the reformers made negative claims about the effect of changes on working conditions; similarly, since no mention is made of the reformers’ attitudes towards increases in pay,  Choice E  cannot be correct.

The passage states something similar to  Choice D , but this is not put into the mouths of the reformers, so that choice is incorrect.

Choice C  might seem appealing, since the debate on productivity is couched as one between scientifc management and workweek reduction. But the reformers are claiming that the two can be combined to increase production. Therefore  Choice C  is incorrect. 
 
  Answer: B

During the 1920s, most advocates of scientifc management, Frederick Ta

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