Reading Comprehension

PT109 · S2 · P1 · Q4 Per-Capita GNP

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Many political economists believe that the soundest indicator of the economic health of a nation is the nation’s gross national product (GNP) per capita—a figure reached by dividing the total value of the goods produced yearly in a nation by its population and taken to be a measure of the welfare of the nation’s residents.

Topic / Purpose

Measuring economic health / Problem-Solution

Main Point

Human indicators are a better metric than is GNP to measure the welfare of a nation's residents.

Passage Map

P1 - Intro of GNP as one method. Author's thesis that human indicators is better method. P2 - Brief defense of GNP by its proponents, followed by author's reasons that GNP is not a great metric. P3 - Real world examples of countries going with human indicators instead.

Other Commentary

This passage's big picture can be surmised in the first two sentences. We hear the classic 1-2-punch of "many (other) people believe ____ " followed by the Author's Pivot, with a But / Yet / However / Recently.

We could have also construed this passage with other frameworks: Answer a Question - How should we measure economic health? Human indicators. Present a Debate - People are debating how to measure economic health, and our author is on the side of "human indicators".

4.

Which one of the following scenarios, if true, would most clearly be a counterexample to the views expressed in the last paragraph of the passage?

  1. The decision by a nation

    Compatible

    These nations in the last paragraph would not be surprised by slower GNP growth. The last sentence allows for the idea that GNP might stagnate or go down.

    5% picked this

  2. Correct

    The decision by a nation

    Why this is right

    This answer goes against the "unless" conditional: ~shift away from → well being will be endangered GNP Counterexamples to conditionals always take the form of "the trigger happens, but the outcome doesn't". So here that would mean, a country doesn't shift away from GNP (~shift away) but it's well being is not endangered. That's exactly what this answer provides: an example of a country that doesn't shift away from GNP (in fact it focuses on GNP) and it's well being was not endangered (in fact, it significantly improved, as measured by human indicators). This also echoes a line from the economists at the beginning of the 2nd paragraph, who said that improving GNP would improve human indicators. They are implicitly on the other side of the debate from the nations in the last paragraph.

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    57% picked this

  3. The decision by a nation

    Compatible

    These nations focusing on human indicators don't care what happens to GNP; they allow for the idea that it might go up, be stable, or go down.

    10% picked this

  4. The decision by a nation

    Compatible

    These nations focusing on human indicators don't care what happens to GNP; they allow for the idea that it might go up, be stable, or go down.

    9% picked this

  5. The decision by a nation

    Compatible

    This seems to fit the "unless" statement in the final sentence. The nations in this answer did not shift away from GNP, and their human indicators did not improve. Since the last paragraph is of the view that if you don't shift away from GNP, you'll endanger you're well being, this answer would not surprise them.

    18% picked this

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