A tough passage - spinning !!!!

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A tough passage - spinning !!!!

by AIM GMAT » Tue Apr 05, 2011 1:06 am
MAKE A TIMED EFFORT , lET ME KNOW WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ABOUT THE PASSAGE . OA in some time.

The recurring theme of equality in the United States has flared into a
fervent moral issue at crucial stages: the Revolutionary and Jacksonian
periods, the Civil War, the populist and progressive eras, the New Deal,
and the 1960s and 1980s. The legitimacy of American society is
challenged by some set of people unhappy with the degree of equality.
New claims are laid, new understandings are reached, and new policies
for political or economic equality are instituted. Yet the equality issue
endures outside these moments of fervour. Ideologies in favour of
extending equality are arrayed against others that would limit its scope;
advocates of social justice confront defenders of liberty.

In the moments of egalitarian ascendancy, libertarians are on the
defensive. In the moments of retrenchment, egalitarians cling to previous
gains. And in either period the enemy is likely to be the "•special
interests"– that have too much power. In egalitarian times, these are the
moneyed interests. In times of retrenchment, these are labour or big
government and its beneficiaries.

The moments of creedal passion, in Samuel Huntington's words, have
usually been outbursts of egalitarianism. In part, the passion springs
from the self-interest of those who would benefit from a more equal
distribution of goods or political influence. But the passion also springs
from ideology and values, including deep religious justifications for
equality.

The passion accompanying the discovery or rediscovery that ideals do
not match reality is particularly intense when the ideal is as deeply felt as
is equality. Yet there can be passion on the non-egalitarian side as well.
The self-interested passion to protect an established position may be
even more powerful than the passion to redress inequality, though its
expression may be more muted.

Devotion to inequality may also be based on ideals, such as liberty,
individualism, and the free market, which are no less ancient and
venerable. Like the ideals of equality, these alternative ideals serve as
yardsticks for measuring whether society has moved away from its true
principles.

Yet the spirit of reform during Reconstruction dissipated in the face of
spent political struggles, sluggish social institutions, and outright
mendacity. Society's entrepreneurial energy was channelled into
economic activity, and the courts failed to endorse many of the
reformers' grandest visions. The egalitarian thrust of the Populists around
the turn of the century inspired an anti-egalitarian counterthrust over the
next two decades.

Americans do not have an ideology that assigns clear priority to one
value over any other. At every historical juncture where equality was an
issue, its proponents failed to do all that they had set out to do. Swings
in the equality of social conditions are restrained not just by institutional
obstacles but by fundamental conflicts of values that are a traditional
element of American politics. Faith in the individualistic work ethic andin the legitimacy of unequal wealth retard progression to the
egalitarian left. As for conservatism, the indelible tenet of political
equality firmly restrains the right and confirms a commitment to the
disadvantaged. In seeking equal opportunity over equal result, Americans
forego a ceiling, not a floor.

1. Suppose there is a government plan to raise taxes to pay for more social
programs for the disadvantaged. If the information that the author presents
in the passage about libertarians is correct, how would libertarians be
expected to react this plan?
A. They would support the plan because they think that the government
should help the disadvantaged.
B. They would condemn the plan because they do not think that the
government should use its power to redistribute wealth.
C. They would neither support nor condemn the plan because it does not
address political values.
D. They would call on the government to let private welfare agencies
look after the disadvantaged.
E. The would partly support and partly condemn the plan

2. The existence of which of the following would most strongly challenge the
author's view about the American public's ideology?
A. A study that demonstrates that Americans have always favoured
equality above all other political values
B. A book that asserts that Americans have always believed in the
economic principle of unequal wealth
C. An article that suggests that Americans are willing to support the
taxation of the rich in order to assist the poor
D. A lecture that shows that Americans have grown increasingly tolerant
of minority political views since the turn of the century
E. a report stating that Americans value capitalism over everything else

3. According to the passage, none of the following statements are true EXCEPT:
A. the political upheaval of the Civil War increased the popularity of
progressive ideals among the American public.
B. eras of egalitarian reform in American history have been followed by
eras of retrenchment.
C. those who endorse non-egalitarian ideals have generally been less
committed to their position than those who endorse egalitarian ideals.
D. special interests have always had too much political power within the
American government.
E. very soon a third group of people is likely to emerge which will be
opposed to both egalitarians and libertarians
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AIM GMAT

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by rohu27 » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:41 am
1)e 2)a 3)b
honestly i could not make out much frm the passage, managed the questions somehow looking for keywords.
total 9 mins.
is it LSAT?

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by AIM GMAT » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:54 am
rohu27 wrote:1)e 2)a 3)b
honestly i could not make out much frm the passage, managed the questions somehow looking for keywords.
total 9 mins.
is it LSAT?
Good going rohu27 , OA is BAB

It took me 10 mins , only first right , i got carried away with understanding what is egalitarian and libertarians .Tough for me .
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by rohu27 » Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:18 am
real tough one.i still dnt knw wht egalitarian and libertarians means anyways :D
out of all now, the last thng we want to do for gmat is go thru barrons ;)
scary passage but.

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by AIM GMAT » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:03 am
rohu27 wrote:real tough one.i still dnt knw wht egalitarian and libertarians means anyways :D
out of all now, the last thng we want to do for gmat is go thru barrons ;)
scary passage but.
Thanks rohu for sharing the opinion :) . My accuracy on tough one is on lower side 2/3 at max , never 100% . So there is scope for improvement . Any suggestion for approach to be changed according to passage or to keep constant approach ?
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by rohu27 » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:54 am
AIM GMAT wrote:
rohu27 wrote:real tough one.i still dnt knw wht egalitarian and libertarians means anyways :D
out of all now, the last thng we want to do for gmat is go thru barrons ;)
scary passage but.
Thanks rohu for sharing the opinion :) . My accuracy on tough one is on lower side 2/3 at max , never 100% . So there is scope for improvement . Any suggestion for approach to be changed according
to passage or to keep constant approach ?
IMO most of the tough ones you will not understand exactly wht they are talking abt anyhow(unless may be the topic is related to your work or someting) so i would say instead of trying to understand wht the passage is saying, look for keywords. like in this if a Q asks about libertarians you shud be able to locate back to the para without trouble and then look for an answer. try nd get wht the passage is talking abt and may be how the remaining passages are framed around tht main point (like in this some passages give the drawbacks of rhetorics nd all).
you will have to go back to passages for answers, so no point wasting much time on the passage reading. but i will want to read the passage once(just to have an idea of keywords, markers) as i dnt feel confdent answering questions just by skimming.
im yet to try the technique(read 1st last paras nd 1st and last lines of other paras) will try thm out on some hard passages nd see how it goes.

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:00 am
Guys .. I am scared of this passage.

Source please.
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Pranay

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by AIM GMAT » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:44 am
The source is RC99 .
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AIM GMAT