Optimistic Behavior Quiz: Sunshine's Impact on Earnings Forecasts

5 Questions

A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. USING DATA SPANNING FROM 1994 TO 2010 FOR A SET OF US COMPANIES, THE TEAM COMPARED OVER 29,000 ANNUAL EARNINGS FORECASTS TO THE ACTUAL EARNINGS LATER REPORTED BY THOSE COMPANIES. The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an earnings forecast, the more the manager's forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

To explain part of the methodology used in the team's study

Some bird species don't raise their own chicks. Instead, adult females lay their eggs in other nests, next to another bird species' own eggs. FEMALE CUCKOOS HAVE BEEN SEEN QUICKLY LAYING EGGS IN THE NESTS OF OTHER BIRD SPECIES WHEN THOSE BIRDS ARE OUT LOOKING FOR FOOD. After the eggs hatch, the noncuckoo parents will typically raise the cuckoo chicks as if they were their own offspring, even if the cuckoos look very different from the other chicks.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

It offers detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text

Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in a supernova. THEY ARE MUCH LESS CONFIDENT, HOWEVER, ABOUT WHEN THIS WILL HAPPEN, SINCE THAT DEPENDS ON INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BETELGEUSE THAT ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse's internal characteristics to allow its evolutionary state to be firmly fixed. Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?

It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not

The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees were introduced to North America, far from any B.terrenus. BUT EVOLUTIONARY LINKS BETWEEN PREDATORS AND THIER PREY CAN PERSIST ACROOS CENTURES AND CONTINENTS. Around 2001, B.terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America near where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees had been attacked by the beetles. Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?

It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion the mimosa treees and B. terrenues

Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall. Moisture from winter fog sustains plants once they're growing, But the soil's tough crust makes it hard for seeds to germinate in the first place. Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: THEY CHURN THE SOIL, EXPOSING BURIED SEEDS TO MOISTURE AND NUTRIENTS. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that mounds of soil dug up by birds were far more fertile and supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed areas. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

It explains how certain birds promoted seed germination in Atacama Desert soil

Study Notes

Sunshine and Optimistic Behavior

A study suggests that exposure to sunshine during workdays can lead to overly optimistic behavior.
The study compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to actual earnings reported by US companies from 1994 to 2010.
Managers who were exposed to more sunshine in the two weeks before submitting earnings forecasts tended to be overly optimistic in their forecasts.

Cuckoo Birds

Some bird species, like cuckoos, lay their eggs in other birds' nests.
Female cuckoos quickly lay eggs in other birds' nests when the host birds are away searching for food.
The host birds will raise the cuckoo chicks as their own, even if they look very different.

Betelgeuse Star

Astronomers are confident that Betelgeuse will eventually consume all its helium and explode in a supernova.
However, they are less confident about when this will happen due to unknown internal characteristics of the star.
Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues investigated using acoustic waves to determine internal stellar states but found it unsuitable.

Mimosa Trees and Beetles

Mimosa trees originated in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on their seeds.
Mimosa trees were introduced to North America in 1785, away from B. terrenus.
Evolutionary links between predators and prey can persist across centuries and continents, leading to the beetles being introduced to North America near the monitored mimosa trees in 2001.
Within a year, 93% of the trees were attacked by the beetles.

Atacama Desert Plant Life

Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has rich plant life despite minimal rainfall.
Moisture from winter fog sustains plants, but the soil's tough crust hinders seed germination.
Local birds that dig nests in the ground help by churning the soil, exposing buried seeds to moisture and nutrients.
Soil in areas dug up by birds was found to be more fertile and supported more seedlings than undisturbed areas.

This quiz assesses the reader's ability to identify the function of a specific sentence within a text discussing a study linking exposure to sunshine during workdays with overly optimistic behavior in earnings forecasts. The reader is prompted to choose the option that best describes the role of the underlined sentence in the context of the entire passage.