Reading Comprehension

PT109 · S2 · P1 · Q7 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".

In the passage, the author's primary concern is to

delineate a new method of
Out of Scope: delineate new method
The author is endorsing human indicators as the better way to measure economic health. The author never offers advice about how countries should direct their domestic economic efforts. She doesn't delineate (enumerate specific steps) how countries should behave economically. She highlights a preferred method of measuring domestic economic efforts.
13% picked this
Correct
point out the weaknesses in
Why this is right
It's weird that this answer emphasizes "GNP is dumb" and fails to capture "Human indicators is better", but it's the best answer available. She did spend a good bit of time pointing out how GNP is not a great metric.
Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
83% picked this
explain the fact that some
Too Narrow
While this does happen, it's a smaller point than what (B) offers us. If the author could only leave you with once sentence, would it be (B) GNP is a flawed metric or (C) some nations have a high GNP but a low quality of life ? (C) is a premise that leads to (B), so (B) is the more important Conclusion.
3% picked this
demonstrate that unequal distribution of
Too Strong: inevitable
The author never makes the extreme claim that high GNP always results in uneven distribution of wealth.
1% picked this
argue that political economists alone
Too Strong: economists alone should decide
The author never quotes President Trump and says, "I alone can fix this". She probably assumes her point of view is adding to the collective wisdom of the field, but we don't have evidence that she believes that only her field should be handling economic decisions.
0% picked this

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