When the United States was Founded at the End of the Eighteenth Century GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

When the United States was founded at the end of the eighteenth century, it was a small and weak country, made up mostly of poor farmers. Foreign policy, reflecting this domestic condition, stressed “no entangling alliances.”The State Department then had a staff of less than half a dozen persons, whose total salary was $6,600 (of which $3,500 went to the Secretary of State), and a diplomatic service budget (July, 1790) of $40,000. Militarily, too, the country was insignificant. The first United States army, soon after the American Revolution, was made up of one captain (John Doughty) and 80 men. Clearly, the United States did not consider itself a real power and was not taken seriously by the rest of the world.

It was not until immense changes took place inside the United States that the country began to play an important role in foreign affairs. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States had ceased to be a predominantly agricultural nation and had become an industrial one. Its population had grown to more than 30 times its original number. George Washington was president of 3,000,000 Americans; Theodore Roosevelt, of 100,000,000.

“When the United States was Founded at the End of the Eighteenth Century” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Nominees must have a firm understanding of English GMAT reading comprehension. There are 2 comprehension questions in this GMAT Reading Comprehension section. GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are conducted to examine candidates' skills to decipher, interpret, and utilize knowledge or ideas. Candidates can actively prepare by answering GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. A country today cannot expect to play an important part in world affairs unless it

1. has wealth
2. has a large population
3. is strong internally

(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III

2. The writer seems to think that a major factor in making the United States a world power was

(A) industrialization
(B) the passing of time
(C) a change in government policies
(D) the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
(E) the avoidance of entangling alliances

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Samples

• The phrase “alternative stable state” in ecology refers to the tendency of many ecosystems GMAT Reading Comprehension
• If early twentieth-century geologists and geo-physicists had heeded the fundamental axiom of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Species interdependence in nature confers many benefits on the species involved GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Polychlorinated biphenyls are heavy, syrupy hydrocarbons that were first synthesized in the 1880s GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Mercury is only present in small amounts in marine ecosystems, yet it still presents a potential danger to fish eaters GMAT Reading Comprehension
• About a century ago, the Swedish physical scientist Arrhenius proposed a law of classical chemistry GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Much of the research on hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD has focused on the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Musicologists concerned with the “London Pianoforte school,” the group of composers GMAT Reading Comprehension
• While space looks empty, it is in fact filled with matter GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The science of color management developed in response to a very specific need GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Despite its 1989 designation as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act GMAT Reading Comprehension
• During the process of embryonic development, cells become progressively restricted GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Most computers are digital, meaning they display information in discrete intervals GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Recent advances in non-invasive human neuroimaging have provided researchers in the emerging field of social brain science GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Many United States Companies Believe that the Rising Cost of Employees' Health Care Benefits GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Dendrochronology, The Study of Tree-Ring Records to Glean Information About the Past GMAT Reading Comprehension
• What kinds of property rights apply to Algonquian family hunting territories GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Although the Industrial Union Organizations that Emerged GMAT Reading Comprehension
• According to P. F. Drucker, the management philosophy GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The United States Hospital Industry is an Unusual Market GMAT Reading Comprehension