GMAT Reading Comprehension- Once Surrounded and Protected by Vast Wilderness, Many of the National Parks are Adversely Affected by Activities Outside their Boundaries.

Reading Passage Question

Once surrounded and protected by vast wilderness, many of the national parks are adversely affected by activities outside their boundaries. The National Park Organic Act established the national park system and empowered the Secretary of the Interior to manage activities within the parks. Conditions outside park boundaries are not subject to regulation by the Park Service unless they involve the direct use of park resources.

Several approaches to protecting the national parks from external degradation have been proposed, such as one focusing on enacting federal legislation granting the National Park Service broader powers over lands adjacent to the national parks. Legislation addressing external threats to the national parks twice passed the House of Representatives but died without action in the Senate. Also brought to the table as a possible remedy is giving the states bordering the parks a significant and meaningful role in developing federal park management policy.

Because the livelihood of many citizens is linked to the management of national parks, local politicians often encourage state involvement in federal planning. But, state legislatures have not always addressed the fundamental policy issues of whether states should protect park wildlife.

Timber harvesting, ranching and energy exploration compete with wildlife within the local ecosystem. Priorities among different land uses are not generally established by current legislation. Additionally, often no mechanism exists to coordinate planning by the state environmental regulatory agencies. These factors limit the impact of legislation aimed at protecting park wildlife and the larger park ecosystem.

Even if these deficiencies can be overcome, state participation must be consistent with existing federal legislation. States lack jurisdiction within national parks themselves, and therefore state solutions cannot reach activities inside the parks, thus limiting state action to the land adjacent to the national parks. Under the supremacy clause, federal laws and regulations supersede state action if state law conflicts with federal legislation, if Congress precludes local regulation, or if federal regulation is so pervasive that no room remains for state control. Assuming that federal regulations leave open the possibility of state control, state participation in policy making must be harmonized with existing federal legislation.

The residents of states bordering national parks are affected by park management policies. They in turn affect the success of those policies. This interrelationship must be considered in responding to the external threats problem. Local participation is necessary in deciding how to protect park wildlife. Local interests should not, however, dictate national policy, nor should they be used as a pretext to ignore the threats to park regions.

“Once surrounded and protected by vast wilderness, many of the national parks are adversely affected by activities outside their boundaries.”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question 1
What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage?

1. argue that rampant timber harvesting is degrading national parks
2. describe a plan of action to resolve an issue
3. discuss different approaches to dealing with a problem
4. suggest that local participation is necessary to solve the problem described
5. to assert that national parks are adversely affected by activities outside their boundaries

Question 2
The passage provides support for which of the following assertions?

1. The National Park Organic Act gave the Secretary of the Interior the right to overrule state government policy in lands adjacent to national parks.
2.  The federal government has been selling national park land to state governments in order to raise money for wildlife conservation.
3.  The actions of state governments have often failed to promote the interests of national park wildlife.
4.  Local politicians want the federal government to turn control of national parks over to state governments.
5.  Timber harvesting and energy exploration have not had any impact on national parks

Question 3
In the context of the passage, the phrase external degradation (lines 8-9) refers to which of the following:

1. threats to national parks arising from the House of Representative's willingness to address environmental issues.
2. threats to national parks arising from state government environmental policies.
3.  threats to national parks arising from local politicians‘ calls for greater state involvement in national park planning.
4.  threats to national parks arising from the National Park Organic Act.
5. threats to national parks arising from the lack of local support

Question 4
According to the passage, which of the following developments is most likely if environmental cooperation between the federal government and state governments does not improve?

1. further decline in the land area of national parks
2.  A further increase in federal ownership of land adjacent to national parks
3. A further growth in the powers of the National Park Service
4. A further loss of species in national parks
5. A further increase in timber harvesting activities

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