In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the
United States economy. But what is meant by "services"? Some economists
define a service as something that is produced and consumed simultaneously,
for example, a haircut. The broader, classical definition is that a service is an
intangible something that cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities
can store energy, and computer programmers save information electronically.
Thus, the classical definition is hard to sustain.
The United States government's definition is more practical: services are the
residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry.
Under this definition, services includes activities as diverse as engineering and
driving a bus. However, besides lacking a strong conceptual framework, this
definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and
service occupations. It categorizes workers based on their company's final
product rather than on the actual work the employees perform. Thus, the
many service workers employed by manufacturers—bookkeepers or janitors,
for example—would fall under the industrial rather than the services category.
Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition and suggest that,
although practical for government purposes, it does not accurately reflect the
composition of the current United States economy.
26. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) discussing research data underlying several definitions
(B) arguing for the adoption of a particular definition
(C) exploring definitions of a concept
(D) comparing the advantages of several definitions
(E) clarifying some ambiguous definitions
27. In comparing the United States government's definition of services with the
classical definition, the author suggests that the classical definition is
(A) more pragmatic
(B) more difficult to apply
(C) less ambiguous
(D) more widely used
(E) more arbitrary
28. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United
States?
(A) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition
of services used by the government.
(B) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.
(C) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of
workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.
(D) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in
service industries.
(E) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide
services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.
29. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of
the United States government's definition of services?
(A) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
(B) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the
passage.
(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work
performed.
(D) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service
industries.
(E) It misclassifies many workers who are employed in service industries
.
30. The author refers to "service workers employed by manufacturers" (line 23)
primarily in order to point out
(A) a type of worker not covered by the United States government's system
of classifying occupations
(B) a flaw in the United States government's definition of services
(C) a factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the
United States
(D) a type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather
than on the basis of the company's final product
(E) the diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers
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