Living in a rational society
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Living in a rational society
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[post_date] => 2025-01-01 11:18:42
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[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-4)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
The rationalizing of society can be conceptualized as the pursuit of efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control through technology. But rational systems inevitably spawn a series of irrationalities that result in the compromising and perhaps even the undermining of their rationality.
Fast-food restaurants, which epitomize the rational model, proffer the fastest means of getting from a hungry state to a sated one, without surprises, at low cost, in a carnival-like setting suggesting that fun awaits the consumer at each visit. The wholesomeness of the food seems an insignificant consideration. Whereas in the past, working people were prepared to spend up to an hour preparing dinner, they now are impatient if a meal is not on the table within ten minutes. (For their part, some fast-food restaurants have developed chairs that become uncomfortable after about twenty minutes, to ensure that diners do not stay long.)
Fast-food restaurants have preferentially recruited adolescent help, at least until recently, because this age group adjusts more easily than adults do to surrendering their autonomy to machines, rules, and procedures. Few skills are required on the job, so workers are asked to use only a minute portion of their abilities. This policy is irrational from the standpoint of the organization, since it could obtain much more from its employees for the money (however negligible) it pays them. These minimal skill demands are also irrational from the perspective of the employees, who are not allowed to think or to respond creatively to the demands of the work.
These restrictions lead to high levels of resentment, job dissatisfaction, alienation, absenteeism, and turnover among workers in fast-food franchises. In fact, these businesses have the highest turnover rate of any industry in the U.S. The entire workforce of the fast-food industry turns over three times in a year. Although the simple, repetitive nature of the work makes it easy to replace those who leave, the organization would clearly benefit from keeping employees longer. The costs of hiring and training are magnified when the turnover rate is extraordinarily high.
The application of the rational model to the house-building process in the 1950s and ’60s led to suburban communities consisting of nearly identical structures. Indeed, it was possible to wander into the residence of someone else and not to realize immediately that one was not at home. The more expensive developments were superficially more diversified, but their interior layouts assumed residents who were indistinguishable in their requirements.
Furthermore, the planned communities themselves look very similar. Established trees are bulldozed to facilitate construction. In their place, a number of saplings, held up by posts and wire, are planted. Streets are laid out in symmetrical grid patterns. With such uniformity, suburbanites may well enter the wrong subdivision or become lost in their own.
Many of Steven Spielberg’s films are set in such suburbs. Spielberg’s strategy is to lure the viewer into this highly repetitive world and then to have a completely unexpected event occur. For example, the film Poltergeist takes place in a conventional suburban household in which evil spirits ultimately disrupt the sameness. (The spirits first manifest themselves through another key element of the homogeneous society—the television set.) The great success of Spielberg’s films may be traceable to a longing for some unpredictability, even if it is bizarre and menacing, in increasingly routinized lives.
Adapted from G. Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society. ©1993 by Pine Forge Press.
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[question] => The author’s argument suggests that the primary motive of employers who make humans work with machines is to:
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question, which means that it wants you to understand the central theme or idea and be able to figure out what specific words or phrases mean within that context.
In paragraph 2, the author uses the fast-food industry to exemplify an organization using the rational model “to proffer the fastest means of getting from a hungry state to a sated one, without surprises, at low cost… The wholesomeness of the food seems an insignificant consideration.” This suggests that the author believes quality of the product is not an important motivation (option A). Although the author mentions the motivation of offering a low-cost product, there is no discussion about reducing wages and benefits as part of the model (option B). There is also no discussion of the need to stay with the times (option C). The opening sentence reads, “The rationalizing of society can be conceptualized as the pursuit of efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control through technology.” (Paragraph 1) In this sentence, the author mentions both the pursuit of “predictability” and “control through technology”. In the second paragraph, the author cites the desire to avoid surprises for the consumer. In the third paragraph, the author cites employer preference to hire employees that are comfortable with “surrendering their autonomy to machines, rules and procedures”. This is consistent with the claim that the employer has uniformity of procedures as a goal (option D).
Thus, option D is correct.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. improve the quality of their products.
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[each_answer] => B. reduce the cost of wages and benefits.
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[each_answer] => C. avoid seeming to be behind the times.
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[each_answer] => D. increase the uniformity of procedures.
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[1] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3873426850
[question] => A common thread in the discussion of fast food and the discussion of suburban housing is that people today:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question, which means that it wants you to examine relationships among paragraphs to identify the central themes and ideas.
Although the passage cites job dissatisfaction, resentment, and turnover in the fast food industry, and a “a longing for some unpredictability” with respect to suburban housing, there is no assertion that individuals are resisting regimentation of life, nor that they are increasingly resistant (option A), rather the passage describes a general acquiescence to the rational model. The only sentence about consumer preference in relation to fast food states that consumers are “impatient if a meal is not on the table within ten minutes”. There is no discussion of consumers expecting their needs to be met at the lowest possible cost either with respect to fast food or suburban housing (option B). There is no discussion of whether people can discriminate quality (option D). The passage describes adolescent employees in the fast food industry as being more willing to surrender “their autonomy to machines, rules, and procedures,” (paragraph 3) and to work in jobs where they are “not allowed to think or to respond creatively to the demands of the work.” (paragraph 3) From an employer’s standpoint, “the simple, repetitive nature of the work makes it easy to replace those who leave.” (paragraph 4) In terms of suburban housing, people live in “nearly identical structures,” (paragraph 5) get easily lost in one another’s homes, and long for movies that offer unpredictability in “increasingly routinized lives.” (paragraph 7) These descriptions detail a number of ways in which people allow themselves to be treated as interchangeable (option C).
Thus, option C is correct.
)
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[each_answer] => A. are increasingly resistant to the regimentation of life.
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[each_answer] => B. expect their needs to be met at the lowest possible cost.
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[each_answer] => C. allow themselves to be treated as interchangeable.
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[each_answer] => D. are unable to discriminate among products that differ in quality.
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[2] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => Information in the passage suggests that a rationalized travel agency would emphasize:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
The passage describes that industries using a rational model attempt to provide a large number of consumers with a standard set of experiences. In the fast-food industry, the author mentions both the pursuit of “predictability” and the desire to avoid surprises for the consumer. Consumers expect meals within ten minutes and tolerate chairs that accommodate them comfortably for 20 minutes. In the suburban housing industry, consumers buy homes that are indistinguishable from one another, and live in planned suburban communities that look similar to one another. Extending this to the rationalized travel agency, we would expect a similar degree of planning and standardization for large groups of consumers. Planned tours at popular destinations and accommodation in large hotels (which presumably offer a standard set of floor plans and amenities) characterizes this approach. Use of customized itineraries implies the opposite of the rational model because it offers individual variation (option B). There is no discussion of using employee background, including prior experiences or lack of prior experiences, as a part of personnel decisions according to the rational model (option C). Finally, the rational model implies minimizing creativity and thinking for employees, and does not discuss different practices for senior-level employees such as managers (option D).
Thus, option A is correct.
)
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[each_answer] => A. planned tours to popular attractions with accommodations at large hotels.
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[each_answer] => B. computerized systems to provide low-cost customized itineraries.
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[each_answer] => C. personnel trained to make reservations but with little experience as travelers.
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[each_answer] => D. procedures that encourage problem-solving initiatives by managers.
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[quiz_unique_key] => 2261298308
[question] => Suppose that the employee responses to working conditions in fast-food franchises (paragraph 4) also apply to entry-level assembly line workers. In light of this information, the author’s main point in mentioning these responses is:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
The passage uses the fast-food industry as an example of how employees are often unhappy with jobs that force them to follow strict routines and prevent them from thinking or responding creatively to the demands of their work. This job dissatisfaction, in turn, leads to high employee turnover. If this pattern is also seen in another context such as entry-level assembly line workers, then the author’s main point would be strengthened. An additional example to illustrate the author’s main point would strengthen, not weaken, the argument (options A and B). The author does not discuss low wages as a source of dissatisfaction (option D). The author’s main point is about employee dissatisfaction related to being forced to use only a standard set of routines and the resultant turnover problem for the employer (option C).
Thus, option C is correct.
)
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[each_answer] => A. weakened, since the fast-food industry is not unique in suppressing creativity.
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[each_answer] => B. weakened, since the monotony of work is not necessarily related to employee dissatisfaction.
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[each_answer] => C. strengthened, since predictability and employee turnover are associated in another context.
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[each_answer] => D. strengthened, since low wages and job dissatisfaction are associated in another context.
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[559736|1] => D
[559736|2] => C
[559736|3] => A
[559736|4] => C
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