Reading Comprehension

Citing the fact that the real gross
domestic product (GDP) per capita was
higher in 1997 than ever before, some
journalists have argued that the United
States economy performed ideally in
1997. However, the real GDP is almost
always higher than ever before; it falls
only during recessions. One point
these journalists overlooked is that in
1997, as in the twenty-four years imme-
diately preceding it, the real GDP per
capita grew nearly one-half percent a
year more slowly than it had on aver-
age between 1873 and 1973. Were the
1997 economy as robust as claimed,
the growth rate of real GDP per capita
in 1997 would have surpassed the
average growth rate of real GDP per
capita between 1873 and 1973 because
over fifty percent of the population
worked for wages in 1997 whereas
only forty percent worked for wages
between 1873 and 1973. If the growth
rate of labor productivity (output per
hour of goods and services) in 1997
had equaled its average growth rate
between 1873 and 1973 of more than
two percent, then, given the proportion-
ately larger workforce that existed in
1997, real GDP per capita in 1997 would
have been higher than it actually was,
since output is a major factor in GDP.
However, because labor productivity
grew by only one percent in 1997, real
GDP per capita grew more slowly in
1997 than it had on average between
1873 and 1973.


According to the passage, which of the following is true of the average rate at which real GDP per capita grew in the twenty-four years immediately before 1997?

A.It was less than it had been between 1873 and 1973 because only forty percent of the population worked for wages between 1873 and 1973.

B.It was less than it had been between 1873 and 1973 because labor productivity grew less between 1973 and 1997 than it had between 1873 and 1973.

C.It was less than it had been between 1873 and 1973 as a result of an increase in the percentage of the population earning wages during these years.

D.It was less than the average rate at which real GDP per capita grew between 1873 and 1973.

E.It was less than the rate at which real GDP per capita grew in 1997.

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It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is the reason that the author faults the journalists referred to in line 4?

A.They believe that the real GDP per capita in 1997 was higher than the real GDP per capita had ever been before.

B.They argue that the rate at which real GDP per capita grew in 1997 was faster than the average rate at which it had grown between 1873 and 1973.

C.They overestimate the effect of labor productivity on the real GDP per capita in 1997.

D.They overestimate the amount by which real GDP per capita in 1997 surpassed real GDP per capita in earlier years.

E.They fail to consider the real GDP per capita in 1997 within an appropriate historical context.