FIT- J&C Form A

Name:________________________________________ Date:______________________

Directions:

This is a test of your ability to understand what you read. You will be asked to answer questions based on
the material contained in the written passages.

Begin by reading the passage carefully. The answer required could be derived by choosing from the
alternative which best completes the statement or answer the question. Answer the questions about one
passage before going to the next. You may look back at the passage while you answer the questions.
Work carefully, but rapidly. Respond to each question by writing the letter of your answer in the provided
answer sheet.

You will have 15 minutes to work on this test. There are four passages and sets of questions.

I. Any organization, once it becomes successful, is apt to lose its original drive and vision. Because
this is so, I’ve often suggested that we have a vice-president-in-charge-of revolution. He’d be one
man not responsible for any operations. He’d stand to one side, with whatever staff he needed, to
pick holes in whatever we were doing and remind us of our basic philosophy our fundamental
concepts. His job would be to stir up everything and everybody, to criticize and challenge
everything being done- objectives, methods, programs, results. He’d keep us so discontented
with the status quo there’d never be any doubt of our desire to seek new ways to meet people’s
needs. He’d keep us on the right track.

I believe that many people oppose a new idea because they don’t feel capable of jumping in and
handling it. They would rather oppose it and keep their little jobs down pat as they’ve got them
organized than try to tackle something that might throw them out of their routines – and possibly
out of their jobs. I would want my vice-president-in-charge-of-revolution to spend time throwing us
off balance, shaking us out of our coziness, making us feel a little insecure and uncertain.

1. A characteristics fault of organizations as described in the above passage is that they

tend to be
A. Vacillating
B. Static
C. Unmanageable
D. Visionary
E. Insecure

2. The vice-president-in-charge-of revolution is suggested to counter the tendency of

persons making up an organization to
A. Become overcritical
B. Feel insecure
C. Adopt untested ideas
D. Be bored with routine

3. The author suggests that many people will fight new ideas because they
A. Want to meet people’s present needs
B. Are unsure they can master new methods
C. Prefer routine to variety
D. Favor more fundamental concepts
E. Fear constructive criticism
 4. The danger to an organization with which this author is most concerned is
A. Failure to maintain proven methods
B. Increasing competence
C. Going off on tangents
D. Increasing discontent
E. Loss of ability to improve

5. The vice-president-in-charge-of revolution would be responsible for no operation

because he
A. Would be lacking in tact
B. Would be indirectly concerned with all operations
C. Would be inadequately trained in operations
D. Would not be willing to establish routines
E. Would be too changeable

6. A good title for this passage might be

A. The Successful Organization
B. The Need for More Vice-Presidents
C. The Undesirable Effects of Organizational Inertia
D. The Need for Continuous Development
E. Speeding up the Industrial Revolution

II. Things are happening much faster than we believe. Both scientists and laymen are conservative
when it comes to predicting the future; all trend curves are rising rapidly. Here are a few
examples:

1. Life expectancy is increasing, and this trend curve indicates that anyone born after A.D.
2000 lives forever barring accidents.
2. Population is rising rapidly, and early in the twenty-first century there isn’t going to be
room on the planet Earth for everybody. This curve shows no sign of leveling off, so we
cannot take the easy way out with starvation, birth control, or mass destruction, because
these things are apparently not in the cards when other trend curves are also considered.
3. The amount of knowledge that must be assimilated by our young people before they are
equipped to earn a livelihood is also increasing, along with the total accumulated
knowledge of the human race. This is more serious than the growing shortage of
classroom space and teachers, because there will always be a shortage of these two
items from now on. But the amount to learn continues to increase.

Things are going to happen much faster than we think, and they are going to have much wider
implications than we have considered. If we have enough courage to admit this to ourselves, we
should try to do a little engineering and planning in advance so that we can have some control
over making them happen the way we want them to.

1. In the view of the author the problem of teacher and classroom space shortages
probably
A. Lacks a factual basis
B. Is not great enough to justify concern
C. Is secondary to other problems
D. Is the more serious problem
E. Most requires serious consideration
 2. The author’s attitude toward the future seems to be basically one of
A. Incredibility
B. Detachment
C. Fear
D. Resignation
E. Concern

3. The author probably wrote this passage with the intention of

A. Eliminating complacency
B. Reassuring the public
C. Proposing a specific course of action
D. Making his own predictions
E. Getting support for science

4. The author thinks the population problem will be solved by

A. Increased food supplies
B. Decreasing birth rates
C. Nuclear war
D. Increased death rates
E. None of the above

5. The author probably regards the type of problems he raises as

A. Insoluble
B. Remote
C. Difficult
D. Unlikely
E. Academic

6. The author’s style might be characterized as

A. Provocative
B. Conventional
C. Humorous
D. Enthusiastic
E. Caustic

7. Of the following, which might serve as one means of solving the problems raised by
prediction 3 above
A. Training more teachers
B. Reducing educational requirements for jobs
C. Searching for more efficient teaching and learning techniques
D. Decreasing the emphasis on specialization in education
E. Building more schools

III. 1. Thumbing back through history, we find relatively

2. few periods when the major parties were closely
3. competitive, with elections alternating between one
4. and the other. The usual pattern has been that of a
5. dominant majority party, which stayed in office as
6. long as its elements held together, and a minority
7. party, which gained power only when the majority
8. coalition split.
9. For the minority party the immediate problem of
10. political strategy always revolves around one ques-
11. tion: Which element in the majority coalition can be
12. split off most readily? But what most politicians
13. overlook- and this is what makes American politics
14. so baffling- is that the same frictions which give life
15. to the minority party also serves as the great, unifying
16. force within the majority party. The common binding
17. attraction is the desire of each element to win
18. dominance in the party. When any one element
19. becomes disaffected, the power of the antagonistic
20. elements is automatically enhanced and so is their
21. attachment to the party. Precisely because the party
22. elements are so hostile to one another, the bolt of
23. one helps to unify the others . No third party, in brief,
24. is ever a complete liability. If it diverts votes, it also
25. adds votes in counterattraction.
26. If this theory is valid, it follows that the key to the
27. political warfare of any particular period will be found
28. in the conflict among the clashing elements in the
29. majority party. This conflict controls the movements
30. of the minority party as well as of the third parties
31. that may appear.

1. In making these statements, the author probably intended to

A. Eliminate third parties
B. Provide a basis for control of political activity
C. Contradict other writers
D. Account for observed political relationships
E. Change the predominant political pattern

2. Which of the following words might be used to describe the content of the passage?
A. Factual
B. Sarcastic
C. Opinionated
D. Speculative

3. The word bolt as used in line 22 is probably intended to mean

A. Sudden attack
B. Secure fastening ties
C. Act of breaking away
D. Argument
E. Main body

4. According to this author’s theory, the actions of a minority party might be described as
A. Dependent
B. Unpredictable
C. Determining
D. Imitative
E. Independent

5. The author’s style of writing might be described as

A. Controversial
B. Authoritarian
C. Expository
 D. Satirical
E. Critical

6. A good title for this article might be

A. Factions in Politics
B. The Nature of Political Parties
C. The Influence of Third Parties
D. The Nature of Political Minorities
E. The Determinants of Political Motion

7. The basic relationship among political factions as seen by the author, is one of
A. Continuous dependence
B. Stable attraction
C. Strategic coalition
D. Irreconcilable conflict
E. Continuous support

IV. 1. How do man’s scientific discoveries about his natural

2. environment influence the political system he invents to
3. assure his survival in close proximity to the others of the
4. human species who share his habitat? Atmospheric
5. scientists accept it as certain that cloud-top pictures and
6. infrared readings, taken by weather observer satellites of
7. Earth and radioed to interpreting machines and men on the
8. ground, will eventually enable worldwide forecasts of
9. weather at least one season of the year in advance. Farmers
10. in a given region will know in the winter, perhaps even as
11. early as autumn, whether the following spring will be good
12. or bad for planting.
13. What will farmers do with this unprecedented information?
14. The possibility is mildly suggested that the farmers “may
15. not be left to themselves” with their new knowledge.
16. Could any political system afford to let them alone?
17. As long as next season’s weather is an unknown, govern-
18. ments can treat it as turn of fate or act of God, take
19. refuge in fatalism, and stay in power on the strength of the
20. generosity and justice with which effects of misfortune or
21. disaster are mitigated afterward. But the ability to foresee
22. future events carries a certain responsibility to prepare for
23. those events. The mechanisms for socializing weather-
24. dependent enterprises would have to reach far beyond the
25. farmer into public utilities (especially water and water-
26. generated electric power), fuel fabrication an distribution,
27. recreation and tourism, transportation, storage facilities,
28. finance, insurance, marketing services, merchandising,
29. and advertising.

1. “Cloud-top pictures” in line 5 refers to pictures taken

A. At the top of the clouds
B. Directly below the clouds
C. Within the upper part of the cloud
D. From aircraft cruising altitudes
E. From many miles above the clouds
2. The effect of scientific discoveries on political activity is regarded as being one of
A. Adding responsibility
B. Simplifying government
C. Changing politicians
D. Decreasing government responsibility
E. Improving justice

3. The attitude of the author of this passage toward political groups appears to be best
characterized as
A. Confused
B. Sympathetic
C. Antagonistic
D. Realistic
E. Enthusiastic

4. The author of this passage seems to be of the opinion that political systems should be
characterized by
A. Justice
B. Avoidance of regulation
C. Responsibility
D. Generosity
E. Scientific inquiry

5. The best title for this article would be

A. Weather Forecasting and the Future
B. Politics and Weather Prediction
C. Scientific Discoveries and Politics
D. The Effect of Weather on Current Political Systems
E. The Atmospheric Scientist’s Role in Our Future Economy

6. Which of the following words can best characterize the type of problem with which the author
is concerned in this passage?
A. Social
B. Economic
C. Mechanical
D. Scientific
E. Atmospheric