EA Reading Comprehension 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Passage: 'The governance of multinational corporations presents unique challenges for regulators. When a company operates across dozens of jurisdictions, it can exploit differences in tax codes, environmental standards, and labor laws. International agreements aimed at harmonizing these rules have achieved limited success, as individual nations are reluctant to cede regulatory authority.' What problem does the passage identify?
- Multinational corporations pay excessive taxes compared to domestic companies
- Regulators lack the technical expertise to oversee large corporations
- Differences in national rules allow multinationals to avoid uniform oversight (Correct answer)
- International agreements have successfully eliminated regulatory inconsistencies
Correct answer: Differences in national rules allow multinationals to avoid uniform oversight
The passage describes how jurisdictional differences allow companies to exploit regulatory gaps, and notes international efforts to harmonize rules have had limited success.
Question 2: Passage: 'Cognitive load theory suggests that human working memory has a limited capacity. When instructional materials exceed this capacity, learning suffers. Educational designers therefore advocate for chunking information, using visual aids, and reducing extraneous content to optimize the learning experience.' Based on the passage, an instructor who presents too much information at once would most likely:
- Improve student engagement by keeping them continuously stimulated
- Overload working memory and impair student learning (Correct answer)
- Help students develop stronger memory capacity over time
- Have no measurable impact on overall student performance
Correct answer: Overload working memory and impair student learning
According to the passage, when instructional materials exceed working memory capacity, 'learning suffers' — presenting too much at once directly causes this outcome.
Question 3: Passage: 'The term disruptive innovation was popularized by Clayton Christensen to describe how smaller companies with fewer resources can challenge established businesses. Disruptive innovations often begin by targeting overlooked segments of a market, offering simpler or more affordable products before eventually displacing incumbent firms.' The word 'incumbent' as used in the passage most nearly means:
- Recently established and growing rapidly
- Currently holding an established dominant market position (Correct answer)
- Financially troubled and vulnerable to competition
- Technologically advanced beyond their competitors
Correct answer: Currently holding an established dominant market position
In business context, 'incumbent firms' refers to established companies currently holding dominant positions that disruptive innovators aim to eventually displace.
Question 4: Passage: 'Climate models predict with high confidence that average global temperatures will continue rising throughout the twenty-first century. The magnitude of warming depends critically on future greenhouse gas emissions, with the most severe projections requiring significant reductions in emissions to avoid. Adaptation strategies will be necessary regardless of mitigation efforts.' Which statement is best supported by the passage?
- Climate scientists are uncertain whether temperatures will rise in the coming century
- Emissions reductions alone will fully resolve the climate problem
- The severity of climate change depends significantly on future human choices about emissions (Correct answer)
- Adaptation is unnecessary if mitigation efforts are implemented successfully
Correct answer: The severity of climate change depends significantly on future human choices about emissions
The passage states that warming magnitude 'depends critically on future greenhouse gas emissions,' directly establishing that human choices will determine the severity of outcomes.
Question 5: Passage: 'Venture capital funding for technology startups reached record levels in the early 2020s, fueled by low interest rates and investor optimism. When interest rates rose sharply in 2022 and 2023, funding contracted significantly. Many startups that had grown accustomed to plentiful capital were forced to cut costs, raise revenue, or shut down.' The passage implies that the contraction in venture capital funding was primarily caused by:
- Poor financial performance by technology startups during this period
- Regulatory changes specifically targeting the technology investment sector
- Rising interest rates that altered the investment environment (Correct answer)
- Declining consumer demand for technology products and services
Correct answer: Rising interest rates that altered the investment environment
The passage uses 'when interest rates rose sharply' immediately before describing the funding contraction, establishing a direct causal link.
Question 6: Passage: 'Organizational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that characterize how members of an organization interact and work. Culture is often described as the way we do things here. Strong cultures can drive consistent performance and employee alignment, but they can also create rigidity that impedes adaptation to change.' The author presents organizational culture as:
- Always beneficial to organizational performance and cohesion
- A static phenomenon that remains unchanged regardless of external pressures
- Both a potential asset and a potential liability for organizations (Correct answer)
- Primarily a tool for controlling and standardizing employee behavior
Correct answer: Both a potential asset and a potential liability for organizations
The passage explicitly states culture 'can drive consistent performance' (an asset) 'but can also create rigidity' (a liability), presenting it as having dual potential.
Question 7: Passage: 'The placebo effect demonstrates that a patient's expectation of treatment can itself produce measurable physiological changes. In double-blind clinical trials, some patients receiving inert substances report significant symptom improvement. This phenomenon complicates drug approval processes, as new treatments must demonstrate efficacy beyond placebo effects.' Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?
- The placebo effect is too small to meaningfully affect clinical trial results
- Inert substances are sometimes more effective than genuine drug treatments
- New drugs must demonstrate benefits above what patient expectation alone produces (Correct answer)
- The placebo effect only works when patients know they are receiving a real treatment
Correct answer: New drugs must demonstrate benefits above what patient expectation alone produces
The passage states treatments must show efficacy 'beyond placebo effects,' meaning they must outperform improvements attributable to patient expectation alone.
EA Reading Comprehension 2
Passage: 'The governance of multinational corporations presents unique challenges for regulators.
When a company operates across dozens of jurisdictions, it can exploit differences in tax codes, environmental standards, and labor laws.
International agreements aimed at harmonizing these rules have achieved limited success, as individual nations are reluctant to cede regulatory authority.' What problem does the passage identify?