In the decades following World War II, American business had undispute

Hi Experts,

Please throw some light on the answer of question 3: I am not able to understand the answer.

What is it w/ 4B? Why is that considered wrong?!

regards

Topic & Scope

- American business lags behind the competition because management has alienated workers, concentrated on high tech products, and neglected long-range planning.

Mapping the Passage

¶1 outlines the decline of American business
¶s2 and 3 list reasons that analysts have given for the decline and introduce the author‘s own theory for American business problems: incompetent management.
¶4 lists management‘s problems with labour.
¶5 explains the problem with America's fixation on high-tech products.
¶6 uses mergers to show that corporations lack long-range planning.
Strategy Points: Some passages will consist of a “laundry list” of recommendations, criticisms, or facts, with very little competing opinion. Work efficiently through the passage to identify the main ideas, knowing that much of the time will be spent on the questions.

Answers and Explanations OE

1)

A quick scan of the answer choices shows that you have to compare the workers of the two nations on two criteria: contentedness and efficiency. Search for a part of
the passage that touches on this. ¶3 is the only one that cites Japan, and mentions that analysts consider American workers less productive and less content. (C) it is.
(A): Opposite. They‘re neither.
(B): Opposite. Latter, but not former.
(C): The Correct answer
(D): Opposite. Former, but not latter.
(E): The passage doesn‘t mention these anywhere

2)

An inference question; make sure that you‘re clear on the main points of the author‘s argument. Remember that the author will agree with four, but will disagree with the correct answer. The three wrong answers could be easily eliminated, leading to (B). However, you can also reason that since management has suffered by cutting labour costs, cost-cutting doesn‘t always result in lowered prices.
(A): Opposite. The author does believe this (¶6).
(B): The correct answer
(C): Opposite. The author only briefly mentions that "a few analysts even censured American consumers for their unpatriotic purchases of foreign goods" but then says that the real blame "lies with corporate management" (¶3). Therefore the author agrees.
(D): Opposite. This is the focus of ¶s2 and 3
(E): Opposite. This is mentioned in lines 41-42

3)

Paraphrase the author‘s argument about high technology: it‘s better to start out with low-tech, get experience, and then ramp up to high-tech. Search the answer choices for something that would contradict this. (B) clearly does; if the processes are completely different, why start with low-tech.
(A): Out of Scope. While this is quite possibly true, it wouldn‘t affect the author‘s chain of reasoning.
(B): The Correct Answer
(C): Out of Scope. Again, though it might be true, it doesn‘t harm the author‘s argument.
(D): Opposite. This strengthens the idea that starting out low-tech makes the hightech business easier.
(E): Out of scope

4)

We‘re looking for a business action that would presumably fix one or more of the problems that the author sees in American business. While (C) offers no detailed prescriptions; we know that the author believes foreign models of management to be superior. If American business followed their lead, the author would probably
give his support.
(A): Opposite. The author attacks this strategy in ¶6.
(B): Distortion. The author does argue that businesses should stop trying to minimize wages, but says nothing about wage fairness between groups of workers, only wage fairness as a whole. In fact, the author would probably say that more money should be funnelled to lower-skilled workers making low-tech products.
(C): The correct answer
(D): Out of Scope. There‘s nothing to suggest that the author would agree with this strategy, especially given the fact that he considers the American business model rotten at the core. Simple advertising won‘t cut it.
(E): Out of scope

Hello,

Please go through this segment of the passage, you'll get the answer why option B is wrong.
""Management has been quick to blame the costs of workers‘ wages for driving up prices, making American goods uncompetitive. As a result of attempts to minimize the cost of wages, American corporations have had trouble recruiting and retaining skilled workers.""

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