GMATPrep Reading Comp: Tackling a Tough Passage (part 3)
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In the first installment of this series, we deconstructed a challenging Reading Comprehension passage from the GMATPrep free exams. Pull up that page, as I’m not going to repeat the full text of the passage here. (And if you’re just starting here, go through parts 1 and 2 first before you read this one!)
At the end of the second installment, I posted the second problem for the passage. Let’s figure it out!
Here it is again:
“According to the passage, which of the following is true of comparable worth as a policy?
“(A) Comparable worth policy decisions in pay-inequity cases have often failed to satisfy the complainants.
“(B) Comparable worth policies have been applied to both public-sector and private-sector employee pay schedules.
“(C) Comparable worth as a policy has come to be widely criticized in the past decade.
“(D) Many employers have considered comparable worth as a policy but very few have actually adopted it.
“(E) Early implementations of comparable worth policies resulted in only transitory gains in pay equity.”
What’s the first step?
Right, figure out what kind of RC problem this is. The language according to the passage signals that this is a Specific Detail question. On SD questions, your task is to find something that is specifically stated in the passage and “spit it back” to them as an answer.
So move to step 2: find the proof. What information do you need from the passage and where is that info located? The question stem asks what is true of comparable worth as a policy. Where do they talk about that?
The whole passage, of course, is about this CW idea, so it might be good to start by reminding yourself of what this idea is. It’s a way to help close pay gaps and it works well even when you’re dealing with different jobs, unlike some other methods.
Where, in general, does the passage detail the whole CW idea as a policy? Glance at your notes if needed; that was in paragraph 1. Review the text:
“Comparable worth, as a standard applied to eliminate inequities in pay, insists that the values of certain tasks performed in dissimilar jobs can be compared. In the last decade, this approach has become a critical social policy issue, as large numbers of private-sector firms and industries as well as federal, state, and local governmental entities have adopted comparable worth policies or begun to consider doing so.”
Now, I just want to caution you about something. The rest of the passage gets more at how CW has actually worked in practice (versus what the underlying policy is) and how it compares to some other policies. It’s possible that you’ll need info from one of those paragraphs to answer the question, but don’t go searching everything now. That’s a mistake—they’re trying to suck you into spending too much time.
Most likely, what you need is in paragraph 1, because paragraph 1 is where they discuss the overall policy, and that’s what the question specifically asks.
In short: start with the most likely paragraph. If that doesn’t work, you can decide at that point whether to look in another paragraph or whether to guess and move on. But don’t try to review the entire passage now; just go for the most likely paragraph.
Okay, step 3: try to predict what you need in the answer. There are a few bigdetails in this paragraph. CW applies when you’re talking about dissimilar jobs. This approach has become a critical social policy issue. (In this sense, critical means important, not negative. It’s critical that you study hard!) Finally, lots of organizations have started using CW or are considering doing so.
Now, you can take your final step: look at those answers and find a match.
“(A) Comparable worth policy decisions in pay-inequity cases have often failed to satisfy the complainants.”
This choice doesn’t match anything in paragraph 1, but could it be somewhere else in the passage? Wait! Don’t go searching yet. First, ask yourself: how does this choice fit in with the overall main point?
The main point of the passage was that this CW thing worked well in cases where other methods failed. CW didn’t fail (at least, not according to this passage). So this choice doesn’t fit with the main idea. Eliminate it.
“(B) Comparable worth policies have been applied to both public-sector and private-sector employee pay schedules.”
What does public-sector mean? That’s a synonym for government, as private-sector is typically a synonym for for-profit companies (whether the companies are privately-held or publicly-held). They do expect you to be familiar with this type of language, but note that they also gave you a clue in paragraph 1:
“…as large numbers of private-sector firms and industries as well as federal, state, and local governmental entities…”
They use the word private-sector in the passage, and they contrast that with governmental entities, so you can infer that the private ones are non-governmental. And then when you see public-sector, you can infer that this is the opposite of private, so this is a synonym for those governmental entities.
In short, this choice says that CW has been used by companies and by government groups. Hey! That’s exactly what paragraph 1 did say. This is the correct answer.
Do run your eye over the other answers, just to be thorough.
“(C) Comparable worth as a policy has come to be widely criticized in the past decade.”
Again, this doesn’t match with the main idea, which generally praises CW. No good.
“(D) Many employers have considered comparable worth as a policy but very few have actually adopted it.”
We call this one a Direct Contradiction trap. The passage says the opposite: large numbers of employees have adopted it or are considering doing so.
These Direct Contradiction traps can be really tempting when you don’t take the time to re-read the passage. You remember reading something about that…what was it again? And then you might fall into the trap of thinking that the passage said the opposite of what it really said.
“(E) Early implementations of comparable worth policies resulted in only transitory gains in pay equity.”
Transitory means temporary or not-long-lasting. If you don’t know the word, then pay attention to the word only: it signals some kind of a negative. Only (blank) gains in pay equity isn’t a good thing.
Paragraph 1 said nothing about early implementations of CW. It is possible that CW didn’t work as well early on. And if you hadn’t already found a good answer, maybe you’d go look elsewhere in the passage for a discussion of the early implementation. But since you already know that (B) works and since the point of the passage was really that this CW thing has generally worked well at least in the longer-term, cross this one off.
The correct answer is (B).
I want to summarize the process here, because a consistent process is really what’s going to help you most on these questions.
First, identify the question. According to the passage signals a Specific Detail question.
Second, find the proof. Figure out what you need to re-read in the passage in order to answer the question. (Do NOT skip this step. Do NOT rely on your memory. This is an open-book test! Re-read the needed material.)
Third, read that text and use it to formulate your own answer to the question. Your wording, of course, won’t match the wording of the correct answer. That’s okay. You’re just trying to articulate to yourself the kinds of things you want the answer to say or address. Get that clear in your head (or even jot down a note or two) before you go to the final step.
Fourth, eliminate wrong answers and find a match! This is what I want to emphasize here: look at how much work comes before you get to look at the answers. Don’t jump straight to the answers. Figure out what’s going on with the question first!
All right, are you ready for the third problem in the set? Here you go!
“Which of the following best describes an application of the principles of comparable worth as they are described in the passage?
“(A) The current pay, rates of increase, and rates of promotion for female mechanics are compared with those of male mechanics.
“(B) The training, skills, and experience of computer programmers in one division of a corporation are compared to those of programmers making more money in another division.
“(C) The number of women holding top executive positions in a corporation is compared to the number of women available for promotion to those positions, and both tallies are matched to the tallies for men in the same corporation.
“(D) The skills, training, and job responsibilities of the clerks in the township tax assessor’s office are compared to those of the much better-paid township engineers.
“(E) The working conditions of female workers in a hazardous-materials environment are reviewed and their pay schedules compared to those of all workers in similar environments across the nation.”
In the next installment of this series, we’ll talk about how to work your way through the above problem. I’ll also give you another new problem from the set. ?
Key Takeaways for Specific Detail questions
(1) Follow the process. Don’t skip steps!
(2) Even though these are detail questions, you can still use the main idea / main point to help you eliminate answer choices. If something contradicts the main point, it’s probably incorrect (unless that question was worded in such a way as to contradict the main point: e.g., what would the author disagree with?).
(3) Reading Comp is an open-book test. The passage is always there while you’re answering questions. Don’t feel like you need to learn everything the first time you read it and don’t hesitate to go back to it whenever you need to do so.
* GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.
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