GMAT VERBAL WEEK 1

Scientists long believed that two nerve clusters in the human hypothalamus, called suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCNs), were what controlled our circadian rhythms. Those rhythms are the biological cycles that recur approximately every 24 hours in synchronization with the cycle of sunlight and darkness caused by Earth's rotation. Studies have demonstrated that in some animals, the SCNs control daily fluctuations in blood pressure, body temperature, activity level, and alertness, as well as the nighttime release of the sleep-promoting agent melatonin. Furthermore, cells in the human retina dedicated to transmitting information about light levels to the SCNs have recently been discovered.

Four critical genes governing circadian cycles have been found to be active in every tissue, however, not just the SCNs, of flies, mice, and humans. In addition, when laboratory rats that usually ate at will were fed only once a day, peak activity of a clock gene in their livers shifted by 12 hours, whereas the same clock gene in the SCNs remained synchronized with light cycles. While scientists do not dispute the role of the SCNs in controlling core functions such as the regulation of body temperature and blood pressure, scientists now believe that circadian clocks in other organs and tissues may respond to external cues other than light-including temperature changes-that recur regularly every 24 hours.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

• challenge recent findings that appear to contradict earlier findings

• present two sides of an ongoing scientific debate

• report answers to several questions that have long puzzled researchers

• discuss evidence that has caused a longstanding belief to be revised

• attempt to explain a commonly misunderstood biological phenomenon

Scientists long believed that two nerve clusters in the human hypothalamus, called suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCNs), were what controlled our circadian rhythms. Those rhythms are the biological cycles that recur approximately every 24 hours in synchronization with the cycle of sunlight and darkness caused by Earth's rotation. Studies have demonstrated that in some animals, the SCNs control daily fluctuations in blood pressure, body temperature, activity level, and alertness, as well as the nighttime release of the sleep-promoting agent melatonin. Furthermore, cells in the human retina dedicated to transmitting information about light levels to the SCNs have recently been discovered.

Four critical genes governing circadian cycles have been found to be active in every tissue, however, not just the SCNs, of flies, mice, and humans. In addition, when laboratory rats that usually ate at will were fed only once a day, peak activity of a clock gene in their livers shifted by 12 hours, whereas the same clock gene in the SCNs remained synchronized with light cycles. While scientists do not dispute the role of the SCNs in controlling core functions such as the regulation of body temperature and blood pressure, scientists now believe that circadian clocks in other organs and tissues may respond to external cues other than light-including temperature changes-that recur regularly every 24 hours.

The author of the passage would probably agree with which of the following statements about the SCNs?

• The SCNs are found in other organs and tissues of the body besides the hypothalamus.

• The SCNs play a critical but not exclusive role in regulating circadian rhythms.

• The SCNs control clock genes in a number of tissues and organs throughout the body.

• The SCNs are a less significant factor in regulating blood pressure than scientists once believed.

• The SCNs are less strongly affected by changes in light levels than they are by other external cues.

In their study of whether offering a guarantee of service quality will encourage customers to visit a particular restaurant, Tucci and Talaga have found that the effect of such guarantees is mixed. For higher-priced restaurants, there is some evidence that offering a guarantee increases the likelihood of customer selection, probably reflecting the greater financial commitment involved in choosing an expensive restaurant. For lower-priced restaurants, where one expects less assiduous service, Tucci and Talaga found that a guarantee could actually have a negative effect: a potential customer might think that a restaurant offering a guarantee is worried about its service. Moreover, since customers understand a restaurant's product and know what to anticipate in terms of service, they are empowered to question its quality. This is not generally true in the case of skilled activities such as electrical work, where, consequently, a guarantee might have greater customer appeal. For restaurants generally, the main benefit of a service guarantee probably lies not so much in customer appeal as in managing and motivating staff.

Staff members would know what service standards are expected of them and also know that the success of the business relies on their adhering to those standards. Additionally, guarantees provide some basis for defining the skills needed for successful service in areas traditionally regarded as unskilled, such as waiting tables.

It can be inferred that the author of the passage would agree with which of the following statements about the appeal of service guarantees to customers?

• Such guarantees are likely to be somewhat more appealing to customers of restaurants than to customers of other businesses.

• Such guarantees are likely to be more appealing to customers who know what to anticipate in terms of service.

• Such guarantees are likely to have less appeal in situations where customers are knowledgeable about a business's product or service.

• In situations where a high level of financial commitment is involved, a service guarantee is not likely to be very appealing.

• In situations where customers expect a high level of customer service, a service guarantee is likely to make customers think that a business is worried about its service.

In their study of whether offering a guarantee of service quality will encourage customers to visit a particular restaurant, Tucci and Talaga have found that the effect of such guarantees is mixed. For higher-priced restaurants, there is some evidence that offering a guarantee increases the likelihood of customer selection, probably reflecting the greater financial commitment involved in choosing an expensive restaurant. For lower-priced restaurants, where one expects less assiduous service, Tucci and Talaga found that a guarantee could actually have a negative effect: a potential customer might think that a restaurant offering a guarantee is worried about its service. Moreover, since customers understand a restaurant's product and know what to anticipate in terms of service, they are empowered to question its quality. This is not generally true in the case of skilled activities such as electrical work, where, consequently, a guarantee might have greater customer appeal. For restaurants generally, the main benefit of a service guarantee probably lies not so much in customer appeal as in managing and motivating staff.

Staff members would know what service standards are expected of them and also know that the success of the business relies on their adhering to those standards. Additionally, guarantees provide some basis for defining the skills needed for successful service in areas traditionally regarded as unskilled, such as waiting tables

According to the passage, Tucci and Talaga found that service guarantees, when offered by lower-priced restaurants, can have which of the following effects?

• Customers' developing unreasonably high expectations regarding service

• Customers' avoiding such restaurants because they fear that the service guarantee may not be fully honored

• Customers' interpreting the service guarantee as a sign that management is not confident about the quality of its service

• A restaurant's becoming concerned that its service will not be assiduous enough to satisfy customer

• A restaurant's becoming concerned that customers will be more emboldened to question the quality of the service they receive

One proposal for preserving rain forests is to promote the adoption of new agricultural technologies, such as improved plant varieties and use of chemical herbicides, which would increase productivity and slow deforestation by reducing demand for new cropland. Studies have shown that farmers in developing countries who have achieved certain levels of education, wealth, and security of land tenure are more likely to adopt such technologies. But these studies have focused on villages with limited land that are tied to a market economy rather than on the relatively isolated, selfsufficient communities with ample land characteristic of rain-forest regions.

A recent study of the Tawahka people of the Honduran rain forest found that farmers with some formal education were more likely to adopt improved plant varieties but less likely to use chemical herbicides and that those who spoke Spanish (the language of the market economy) were more likely to adopt both technologies. Nonland wealth was also associated with more adoption of both technologies, but availability of uncultivated land reduced the incentive to employ the productivity enhancing technologies. Researchers also measured land-tenure security: in Tawahka society, kinship ties are a more important indicator of this than are legal property rights, so researchers measured it by a household's duration of residence in its village. They found that longer residence correlated with more adoption of improved plant varieties but less adoption of chemical herbicides.

The passage suggests that in the study mentioned the method for gathering information about security of land tenure reflects which of the following pairs of assumptions about Tawahka society?

• The security of a household's land tenure depends on the strength of that household's kinship ties, and the duration of a household's residence in its village is an indication of the strength of that household's kinship ties.

• The ample availability of land makes security of land tenure unimportant, and the lack of a need for secure land tenure has made the concept of legal property rights unnecessary.

• The strength of a household's kinship ties is a more reliable indicator of that household's receptivity to new agricultural technologies than is its quantity of nonland wealth, and the duration of a household's residence in its village is a more reliable indicator of that household's security of land tenure than is the strength of its kinship ties.

• Security of land tenure based on kinship ties tends to make farmers more receptive to the use of improved plant varieties, and security of land tenure based on long duration of residence in a village tends to make farmers more receptive to the use of chemical herbicides.

• A household is more likely to be receptive to the

  concept of land tenure based on legal property rights if it has easy access to uncultivated land, and a household is more likely to uphold the tradition of land tenure based on kinship ties if it possesses a significant degree of nonland wealth.

One proposal for preserving rain forests is to promote the adoption of new agricultural technologies, such as improved plant varieties and use of chemical herbicides, which would increase productivity and slow deforestation by reducing demand for new cropland. Studies have shown that farmers in developing countries who have achieved certain levels of education, wealth, and security of land tenure are more likely to adopt such technologies. But these studies have focused on villages with limited land that are tied to a market economy rather than on the relatively isolated, selfsufficient communities with ample land characteristic of rain-forest regions.

A recent study of the Tawahka people of the Honduran rain forest found that farmers with some formal education were more likely to adopt improved plant varieties but less likely to use chemical herbicides and that those who spoke Spanish (the language of the market economy) were more likely to adopt both technologies. Nonland wealth was also associated with more adoption of both technologies, but availability of uncultivated land reduced the incentive to employ the productivityenhancing technologies. Researchers also measured land-tenure security: in Tawahka society, kinship ties are a more important indicator of this than are legal property rights, so researchers measured it by a household's duration of residence in its village. They found that longer residence correlated with more adoption of improved plant varieties but less adoption of chemical herbicides.

According to the passage, the proposal mentioned is aimed at preserving rain forests by encouraging farmers in rain-forest regions to do each of the following EXCEPT

• adopt new agricultural technologies

• grow improved plant varieties

• decrease their use of chemical herbicides

• increase their productivity

• reduce their need to clear new land for cultivation

The argument for "monetizirig"-or putting a monetary value on-ecosystem functions may be stated thus: Concern about the depletion of natural resources is widespread, but this concern, in the absence of an economic argument for conservation, has not translated into significant conservational progress. Some critics blame this impasse on environmentalists, whom they believe fail to address the economic issues of environmental degradation.

Conservation can appear unprofitable when compared with the economic returns derived from converting natural assets (pristine coastlines, for example) into explicitly commercial ones (such as resort hotels). But according to David Pearce, that illusion stems from the fact that "services" provided by ecological systems are not traded on the commodities market, and thus have no readily quantifiable value. To remedy this, says Pearce, one has to show that all ecosystems have economic value-indeed, that all ecological services are economic services. Tourists visiting wildlife preserves, for example, create jobs and generate income for national economies; undisturbed forests and wetlands regulate water runoff and act as water-purifying systems, saving millions of dollars worth of damage to property and to marine ecosystems. In Gretchen Daily's view, monetization, while unpopular with many environmentalists, reflects the dominant role that economic considerations play in human behavior, and the expression of economic value in a common currency helps inform environmental decision-making processes.

Information in the passage suggests that David Pearce would most readily endorse which of the following statements concerning monetization?

• Monetization represents a strategy that is attractive to both environmentalists and their critics.

• Monetization is an untested strategy, but it is increasingly being embraced by environmentalists.

• Monetization should at present be restricted to ecological services and should only gradually be extended to such commercial endeavors as tourism and recreation.

• Monetization can serve as a means of representing persuasively the value of environmental conservation.

• Monetization should inform environmental decision-making processes only if it is accepted by environmentalist groups.

The argument for "monetizirig"-or putting a monetary value on-ecosystem functions may be stated thus: Concern about the depletion of natural resources is widespread, but this concern, in the absence of an economic argument for conservation, has not translated into significant conservational progress. Some critics blame this impasse on environmentalists, whom they believe fail to address the economic issues of environmental degradation.

Conservation can appear unprofitable when compared with the economic returns derived from converting natural assets (pristine coastlines, for example) into explicitly commercial ones (such as resort hotels). But according to David Pearce, that illusion stems from the fact that "services" provided by ecological systems are not traded on the commodities market, and thus have no readily quantifiable value. To remedy this, says Pearce, one has to show that all ecosystems have economic value-indeed, that all ecological services are economic services. Tourists visiting wildlife preserves, for example, create jobs and generate income for national economies; undisturbed forests and wetlands regulate water runoff and act as water-purifying systems, saving millions of dollars worth of damage to property and to marine ecosystems. In Gretchen Daily's view, monetization, while unpopular with many environmentalists, reflects the dominant role that economic considerations play in human behavior, and the expression of economic value in a common currency helps inform environmental decision-making processes.

According to the passage, Daily sees monetization as an indication of which of the following?

• The centrality of economic interests to people's actions

• The reluctance of the critics of environmentalism to acknowledge the importance of conservation

• The inability of financial interests and ecological interests to reach a common ideological ground

• The inevitability of environmental degradation

• The inevitability of the growth of ecological services in the future

Much research has been devoted to investigating what motivates consumers to try new products. Previous consumer research suggests that both the price of a new product and the way it is advertised affect consumers' perceptions of the product's performance risk (the possibility that the product will not function as consumers expect and/or will not provide the desired benefits). Some of this research has concluded that a relatively high price will reduce a consumer's perception of the performance risk associated with purchasing a particular product, while other studies have reported that price has little or no effect on perceived performance risk. These conflicting findings may simply be due to the nature of product advertisements: a recent study indicates that the presentation of an advertised message has a marked effect on the relationship between price and perceived performance risk.

Researchers have identified consumers' perception of the credibility of the source of an advertised message-i.e., the manufacturer-as another factor affecting perceived performance risk: one study found that the greater the source credibility, the lower the consumer's perception of the risk of purchasing an advertised new product. However, past research suggests that the relationship between source credibility and perceived performance risk may be more complex: source credibility may interact with price in a subtle way to affect consumers' judgments of the performance risk associated with an advertised product.

According to the passage, the studies referred to in reported which of the following about the effect of price on consumers' perception of the performance risk associated with a new product?

• Although most consumers regard price as an important factor, their perception of the performance risk associated with a new product is ultimately determined by the manufacturer's reputation.

• Price interacts with the presentation of an advertised message to affect perceived performance risk.

• Price does not significantly affect consumers' perception of the performance risk associated with a new product.

• Consumers tend to regard price as more important than the manufacturer's credibility when they are buying from that manufacturer for the first time.

• Consumers are generally less concerned about a new product's performance risk when that product is relatively expensive.

Much research has been devoted to investigating what motivates consumers to try new products. Previous consumer research suggests that both the price of a new product and the way it is advertised affect consumers' perceptions of the product's performance risk (the possibility that the product will not function as consumers expect and/or will not provide the desired benefits). Some of this research has concluded that a relatively high price will reduce a consumer's perception of the performance risk associated with purchasing a particular product, while other studies have reported that price has little or no effect on perceived performance risk. These conflicting findings may simply be due to the nature of product advertisements: a recent study indicates that the presentation of an advertised message has a marked effect on the relationship between price and perceived performance risk.

Researchers have identified consumers' perception of the credibility of the source of an advertised message-i.e., the manufacturer-as another factor affecting perceived performance risk: one study found that the greater the source credibility, the lower the consumer's perception of the risk of purchasing an advertised new product. However, past research suggests that the relationship between source credibility and perceived performance risk may be more complex: source credibility may interact with price in a subtle way to affect consumers' judgments of the performance risk associated with an advertised product.

The passage is primarily concerned with

• challenging the implications of previous research into why consumers try new products

• suggesting new marketing strategies for attracting consumers to new products

• reconciling two different views about the effect of price on consumers' willingness to try new products

• describing a new approach to researching why consumers try new products

• discussing certain findings regarding why consumers try new products