Section 2: Reading Comprehension (50 points)
In this section you will find after each of the passages a number of questions or unfinished statements about the passage, each with 4 (A, B, C and D) choices to complete the statement. You must choose the one which you think fits best. Then blacken the corresponding letter as required on your Machine-scoring ANSWER SHEET. The time for this section is 70 minutes.
Questions 51 -60 are based on the following passage.
Social control refers to social processes, planned or unplanned, by which people are taught, persuaded, or forced to conform to norms. In every society, some
punishments or negative sanctions are established for deviant behavior. Without deviant behavior there would not be need for social control and without social control
there would not be a way of recognizing the boundary between the acceptable and the unacceptable. Social control may be either formal or informal. Informal mechanisms include expressions of disapproval by significant others and withholding of positive rewards for disapproved behavior. Most people internalize norms in the course of socialization.
This is any group’s most powerful protection against deviance, in that the individual’s own conscience operates as an agent of social control. When informal sanctions fail, formal agents of social control may be called upon. In contemporary society, such formal agents and agencies include psychiatry and other mental health professions;
mental hospitals; police and courts of law; prisons; and social welfare agencies. All these formal agents function to limit, correct, and control violation of norms. Conflict theorists would also point out that social control agents and systems tend, in any society, to serve the interests of powerful groups and to enforce the norms most
beneficial to those who make the rules and who, therefore, define unacceptable behavior.
Social control, whether formal or informal, has a dual function. First, it punishes the wrongdoer and reaffirms the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Second, and less recognized, it regulates the manner in which deviants are treated.
51. Social control refers to processes by which .
A. norms are developed
B. norms are enforced
C. people are educated and trained
D. people are rewarded and punished
52. Every society has its own .
A. planned systems B. controlled norms
C. recognized boundary D. established sanctions
53. Informal mechanisms of social control include the following except .
A. a high level of interest in ensuring conformity
B. expression of disapproval by significant others
C. withholding of positive rewards for the deviants
D. people’s internalization of norms in socialization
54. The most powerful protection against deviance is .
A. negative sanctions B. severe punishments
C. the individual’s conscience D. unrestrained suppression
55. Formal agents of social control include the following except .
A. police stations B. mental hospitals
C. welfare agencies D. vocational schools
56. The purpose of formal agents is .
A. to make beneficial rules B. to preserve social orders
C. to control violation of norms D. to define acceptable behavior
57. Which statement about social control agents is not true?
A. They tend to serve the interest of those who enforce the norms.
B. They tend to serve the interest of those who receive a benefit.
C. They tend to serve the interest of those who make the rules.
D. They tend to serve the interest of those who are powerful.
58. According to conflict theorists, social control agents and systems
are .
A. liberal B. partial
C. neutral D. overall
59. In the third paragraph, “a dual function” refers to .
A. formal and inform B. rewards and penalties
C. approval and disapproval D. clarification and regulation
60. The perspective from which the author discusses social control is .
A. biological B. sociological
C. psychological D. anthropological
