As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations, especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan. A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading blocs of nations, which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading system. Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Europe 1992, the move by the European Community (EC) to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states by the end of 1992. However, although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the EC’s markets, concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major consideration. This is in sharp contrast to the FTA; the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States protectionism. Nonetheless, although markedly different in origin and nature, both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world, as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading system.

The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to

As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations, especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan. A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading blocs of nations, which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading system. Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Europe 1992, the move by the European Community (EC) to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states by the end of 1992. However, although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the EC’s markets, concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major consideration. This is in sharp contrast to the FTA; the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States protectionism. Nonetheless, although markedly different in origin and nature, both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world, as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading system.

According to the passage, all of the following are elements of the shifting world economy EXCEPT

As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations, especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan. A significant factor in this shifting world economy is the trend toward regional trading blocs of nations, which has a potentially large effect on the evolution of the world trading system. Two examples of this trend are the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Europe 1992, the move by the European Community (EC) to dismantle impediments to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states by the end of 1992. However, although numerous political and economic factors were operative in launching the move to integrate the EC’s markets, concern about protectionism within the EC does not appear to have been a major consideration. This is in sharp contrast to the FTA; the overwhelming reason for that bilateral initiative was fear of increasing United States protectionism. Nonetheless, although markedly different in origin and nature, both regional developments are highly significant in that they will foster integration in the two largest and richest markets of the world, as well as provoke questions about the future direction of the world trading system.

The passage suggests which of the following about global corporations?

Antarctic seals dive to great depths and stay submerged for hours. They do not rely solely on oxygen held in their lungs, but also store extra oxygen in their blood. Indeed, some researchers hypothesize that for long dives these seals also store oxygenated blood in their spleens.

Each of the following, if true, provides some support for the researchers' hypothesis EXCEPT:

Five years ago, during the first North American outbreak of the cattle disease CXC, the death rate from the disease was 5 percent of all reported cases, whereas today the corresponding figure is over 18 percent. It is clear, therefore, that during these past 5 years, CXC has increased in virulence.

Which one of the following, if true, most substantially weakens the argument?

Some animals, such as dolphins, dogs, and African grey parrots, seem to exhibit cognitive functions typically associated with higher-order primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Some parrots, for example, have vocabularies of hundreds of words that they can string together in a comprehensible syntax. This clearly shows that humans and primates are not the only animals capable of using language to communicate. One parrot, named Alex, has been known to ask to be petted or kissed and will exhibit aggression if the gesture offered is not the specific one requested.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?

Data Sufficiency:
In a rectangular cuboid, each side of the solid has an integer length. What is its volume?
1. Areas of two faces of the solid are 4 sq. units and 20 sq. units respectively.
2. Areas of two faces of the solid are 4 sq. units and 5 sq. units respectively.

Data Sufficiency:
In a locality, 25% of the people do not like to watch sports; of those who do not like to watch sports, 66.7% do not like to travel either. Can the number of people who do not like to travel be 35?

1. 55 people like to travel and also like to watch sports
2. The number of people in the locality is 240

Data Sufficiency:
A committee consists of n women and k men. In addition, there are 4 alternates, 2 of whom are women. If one of the committee member selected at random is to be replaced by one of the alternates, also selected at random, what is the probability that the number of women on the committee will increase?  

1. n + k = 12
2. k/n = 1/3

Data Sufficiency:
Is one of X or Y a fraction?

1. X² Y³ = 8
2. X is rational.

Suppose N is an integer such that the sum of the digits of N is 2, and 10⁹ < N < 10¹⁰. How many values of N are possible?

How many integers N in the set of integers (1, 2, 3 … 100) are there such that N² + N³_­ is a perfect square?

Choose the correct option:
At 10 am, Bob started driving from his office at a constant speed. At 11:30 am, Chad started from the same place, in pursuit of Bob and overtook Bob at 1 pm and thereafter continued driving for 2 more hours. By what percentage should Chad reduce his speed so that Bob can catch up with him 8 hours after he overtook Bob?

The numbers 3, 11, 7, a, 15, 2, 13, 21 and 6 have a median value of 7. Which of the following cannot be a possible value of a?

The noise caused by airplanes during takeoff and landing imposes a large burden on people who live or work near airports. When airports operate late at night or early in the morning, the disturbance can disrupt normal sleeping patterns, even leading to severe sleep deprivation disorders. When the flight paths of airplanes lie too close to the ground, the resulting noise interferes with work performance in nearby businesses and the peaceful enjoyment of life by residents in the proximity. However, the operation of an airport, unlike a neighbor who simply plays music too loudly, provides a valuable benefit to the surrounding community, in the form of convenient transportation for both personal and economic purposes. Thus the only option is to establish standards for the reasonable operation of airports and fine those that violate the guidelines.

The bold phrase plays which of the following roles in the argument above?

Choose the correct option:
Three-digit numbers are formed using the digits 1 to 6 such that each digit is used only once. How many three-digit numbers are possible if the digits in the hundreds’ place is greater than the digit in the tens' place, which is again greater than the digit in the units’ place?

What least natural number should be multiplied to 840 to convert it into a perfect square?

Three vertices of a parallelogram, taken in order, are (a+b, a-b), (2a+b, 2a-b) and (a-b, a+b). What are the coordinates of the fourth vertex?

A salesman gets a fixed salary of Rs 5000 and a commission of 5% on sales above $10000 per month. If, instead, he got a fixed salary of  $6000 and a commission of 4% on sales above $8000, he would have had $1040 more salary at the end of the month. Which of the following can be his sales (in dollars)?

I. $9000
II. $12000
III. $14000

Choose the correct version of the underlined part of the sentence:

During his geography presentation, the student used a map to present direction sense, for not everyone in the audience was knowledgeable that winds are named according to the direction from which they come.

Choose the correct version of the underlined part of the sentence:

There is a growing demand among the people in the country for a public vote that allows voters to propose and pass laws, as well as to repeal them.

Choose the correct version of the underlined part of the sentence:

The auk, which nests on the rocky ledges of sea cliffs, lays an egg that is extremely pointed and so, if accidentally kicked, will roll in a circle rather than straight over the edge

Choose the correct version of the underlined part of the sentence:

Green arboreal lizards, also known as chameleons, have recently become important to biologists as an excellent animal for laboratory studies of the interaction between stimuli with hormonal changes.

Choose the correct version of the underlined part of the sentence:
The supply of oil being finite has become an economical consideration of the greatest magnitude for all countries of the world which rely on fossil fuels for industrialization.