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The previous three passages are good segues to the way the GRE thinks and phrases its questions. However, not all the passages are as accessible (easy) as these. Practice your chops on this challenging social sciences passage.

This passage is an excerpt from The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Sociology, edited by George Ritzer (Wiley-Blackwell).

 Ritzer (2009) has recently argued that the focus on either production or consumption has always been misplaced and that all acts always involve both. That is, all acts of production and consumption are fundamentally acts of prosumption. The assembly-line worker is always consuming all sorts of things (parts, energy, tools) in the process of production, and conversely the consumer in, for example, a fast food restaurant is always producing (garnishes for a sandwich, soft drinks from the self-serve dispenser, the disposal of debris derived from the meal). This suggests a dramatic reorientation of theorizing about the economy away from production or consumption and in the direction of prosumption.

 Prosumption is not only a historical reality, but it is becoming increasingly ubiquitous with the emergence on the internet of Web 2.0. Web 1.0 (e.g., AOL) typically involved sites that were created and managed by producers and used more or less passively by separable consumers. The latter not only did not produce the websites, but usually could not alter their content in any meaningful way. In contrast, Web 2.0 is defined by sites (e.g., Facebook, blogs) the contents of which are produced, wholly (blogs) or in part (Facebook), by the user. While everything about some 2.0 sites (a blog, for example) is likely produced by those who also consume them, on others (the Facebook page) the basic structure of the site is created by the producer, while all of the content comes from the consumer(s). Even though something of the distinction between producer and consumer remains in the latter case, it is clear that Web 2.0 is the paradigmatic domain of the prosumer. As the internet continues to evolve, we can expect to see more and more user-generated content and therefore an even greater role for the prosumer.

 Of course, this shift to prosumption does not mean that sociological theorists should ignore production (the production end of the prosumption continuum) or consumption (the consumption end of that continuum). On the production side, there is certainly no end of issues to concern the theorist. Among others, there is David Harvey’s (2005) interest in, and critique of, neoliberalism, as well as Hardt and Negri’s (2000) interest in the transformation of the capitalist and proletariat into Empire and Multitude in the global age.

19. What does Ritzer argue is the difference between production and consumption?

Production is creating, and consuming is using.

Production is recent, and consumption is historical.

Production is permanent, and consumption is temporary.

They are opposite sides of the same spectrum.

They are not different.

In the first paragraph, Ritzer declares that “all acts always involve both” and that “all acts of production and consumption are fundamentally part of presumption.” Therefore, to Ritzer, they’re part of the same spectrum. The correct choice is (D).

20. Unlike Web 1.0, Web 2.0 is specifically

Newer and therefore better

Fueled by content produced by the user

An asset to the neo-liberal market forces

A reflection of the distinction between the producer and the consumer

Designed for heavy reliance by the consumer

The second paragraph states that “Web 2.0 is defined by sites (e.g., Facebook, blogs) the contents of which are produced, wholly (blogs) or in part (Facebook), by the user,” making the correct answer Choice (B).

21. According to the passage, the emergence of Web 2.0 is an example of

Production

Consumption

Prosumption

Neo-liberalism

Social networking

The second paragraph of Passage 1 states that “prosumption […] is becoming increasingly ubiquitous with the emergence […] of Web 2.0.” The correct answer is Choice (C).

22. What is the primary purpose of the passage?

To explain the success of Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook

To describe the shift to prosumption and the accompanying emergence of Web 2.0

To portray the perspective of sociological theorists, such as Harvey, on neoliberalism

To depict the observation of sociological theorists, such as Hardt and Negri, on the transformation of the capitalist and proletariat into Empire and Multitude

To describe the inevitable path of the prosumer

The passage opens with the description of prosumption, then exemplifies it with Web 2.0, and then closes with the effects of prosumption. Though the passage mentions the topics of the other answer choices, none of these is the primary purpose of the passage, and the correct answer is Choice (B).