Because the market system enables entrepreneurs and investors who deve

Question

Because the market system enables entrepreneurs
and investors who develop new technology to reap
financial rewards from their risk of capital, it may seem
that the primary result of this activity is that some
  (5)   people who have spare capital accumulate more. But in
spite of the fact that the profits derived from various
technological developments have accrued to relatively
few people, the developments themselves have served
overall as a remarkable democratizing force. In fact,
  (10)   under the regime of the market, the gap in benefits
accruing to different groups of people has been
narrowed in the long term.

This tendency can be seen in various well-known
technological developments. For example, before the
  (15)   printing press was introduced centuries ago, few
people had access to written materials, much less to scribes
and private secretaries to produce and transcribe
documents. Since printed materials have become
widely available, however, people without special
  (20)   position or resources—and in numbers once thought
impossible—can take literacy and the use of printed
texts for granted. With the distribution of books and
periodicals in public libraries, this process has been
extended to the point where people in general can have
  (25)   essentially equal access to a vast range of texts that
would once have been available only to a very few. A
more recent technological development extends this
process beyond printed documents. A child in school
with access to a personal computer and modem—
  (30)   which is becoming fairly common in technologically
advanced societies—has computing power and
database access equal to that of the best-connected
scientists and engineers at top-level labs of just fifteen
years ago, a time when relatively few people had
  (35)   personal access to any computing power. Or consider
the uses of technology for leisure. In previous centuries
only a few people with abundant resources had the
ability and time to hire professional entertainment, and
to have contact through travel and written
  (40)   communication—both of which were prohibitively
expensive—with distant people. But now broadcast
technology is widely available, and so almost anyone
can have an entertainment cornucopia unimagined in
earlier times. Similarly, the development of
  (45)   inexpensive mail distribution and telephone
connections and, more recently, the establishment of
the even more efficient medium of electronic mail have
greatly extended the power of distant communication.

This kind of gradual diffusion of benefits across
  (50)   society is not an accident of these particular
technological developments, but rather the result of a
general tendency of the market system. Entrepreneurs
and investors often are unable to maximize financial
success without expanding their market, and this
  (55)   involves structuring their prices to the consumers so
as to make their technologies genuinely accessible to an
ever-larger share of the population. In other words,
because market competition drives prices down, it
tends to diffuse access to new technology across
  (60)   society as a result.    1 
 1. Which one of the following does the passage identify as being a result of a technological development?

(A) burgeoning scientific research
(B) educational uses of broadcasting
(C) widespread exchange of political ideas
(D) faster means of travel
(E) increased access to databases

2 
 2. As used in the passage, the word “democratizing” (line 9) most nearly means equalizing which one of the following?

(A) distribution of tangible and intangible goods
(B) opportunity to create new technology
(C) accumulation of financial assets in investments
(D) participation in the regulation of society through either public or private institutions
(E) generally acknowledged social status in a community

3 
 3. Which one of the following most accurately represents the primary function of the reference to maximization of financial success (lines 52–54)?

(A) It forms part of the author’s summary of the benefits that have resulted from the technological developments described in the preceding paragraph.
(B) It serves as the author’s logical conclusion from data presented in the preceding paragraph regarding the social consequences of technological development.
(C) It forms part of a speculative hypothesis that the author presents for its interest in relation to the main topic rather than as part of an argument.
(D) It serves as part of a causal explanation that reinforces the thesis in the first paragraph regarding the benefits of technological development.
(E) It forms part of the author’s concession that certain factors complicate the argument presented in the first two paragraphs.

4 
 4. It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) The profits derived from computer technology have accrued to fewer people than have the profits derived from any other technological development.
(B) Often the desire of some people for profits motivates changes that are beneficial for large numbers of other people.
(C) National boundaries are rarely barriers to the democratizing spread of technology.
(D) Typically, investment in technology is riskier than many other sorts of investment.
(E) Greater geographical mobility of populations has contributed to the profits of entrepreneurs and investors in technology.

5 
 5. From the passage it can be most reasonably inferred that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) The democratizing influence of technology generally contributes to technological obsolescence.
(B) Wholly unregulated economies are probably the fastest in producing an equalization of social status.
(C) Expanded access to printed texts across a population has historically led to an increase in literacy in that population.
(D) The invention of the telephone has had a greater democratizing influence on society than has the invention of the printing press.
(E) Near equality of financial assets among people is a realistic goal for market economies.

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 42   
 Difficulty Level:   650

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 297 Date: 28-Jul-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

kantapong · Answer

Passage Summary:
P1: Developing new tech = democratizing force
 Gap in benefit narrowed in LT
P2: Examples: books, computers, broadcast, mail
P3: Diffusion of benefits is due to market system
 Need to expand mkt -> reduce price

Q1 example of result of developing new tech
(A) burgeoning scientific research (not discussed)
(B) educational uses of broadcasting (yes, but not educational broadcasting)
(C) widespread exchange of political ideas (yes, but not political ideas)
(D) faster means of travel (we have not talked about planes or cars)
(E) increased access to databases (YES: a child with database ...)
Ans: E

Q2: Democratizing (force)
Despite the fact that profits accrued to few people, it is democratizing force (= spread benefit to general public)
Closest choice is distribution = A

Q3: Role of 52-54 market system is mechanism of democratizing force ( = how it works)
(A) It forms part of the author’s summary of the benefits that have resulted from the technological developments described in the preceding paragraph. (not benefits, it is mechanism)
(B) It serves as the author’s logical conclusion from data presented in the preceding paragraph regarding the social consequences of technological development. (not conclusion, it is premise)
(C) It forms part of a speculative hypothesis that the author presents for its interest in relation to the main topic rather than as part of an argument. (this choice says it is related but not supporting the argument: wrong, it supports)
(D) It serves as part of a causal explanation that reinforces the thesis in the first paragraph regarding the benefits of technological development. (YES, mechanism)
(E) It forms part of the author’s concession that certain factors complicate the argument presented in the first two paragraphs. (not concession, it is the same direction)
Ans: D

Q4 Agree
(A) The profits derived from computer technology have accrued to fewer people than have the profits derived from any other technological development. (unsupported comparison)
(B) Often the desire of some people for profits motivates changes that are beneficial for large numbers of other people. (YES, the main point)
(C) National boundaries are rarely barriers to the democratizing spread of technology. (national boundaries not discussed)
(D) Typically, investment in technology is riskier than many other sorts of investment. (riskiness not discussed)
(E) Greater geographical mobility of populations has contributed to the profits of entrepreneurs and investors in technology. (geographical mobility not discussed)
Ans: B

Q5 Agree
(A) The democratizing influence of technology generally contributes to technological obsolescence. (obsolescence = old not discussed)
(B) Wholly unregulated economies are probably the fastest in producing an equalization of social status. (unregulated economy not discussed)
(C) Expanded access to printed texts across a population has historically led to an increase in literacy in that population. (YES, before books can be accessed by few people, now people take literacy for granted)
(D) The invention of the telephone has had a greater democratizing influence on society than has the invention of the printing press. (unsupported comparison)
(E) Near equality of financial assets among people is a realistic goal for market economies. (realistic goal not mentioned)
Ans: C

AKSHARAAS · Answer

1. Which one of the following does the passage identify as being a result of a technological development?

(A) burgeoning scientific research -  not mentioned in the passage 
(B) educational uses of broadcasting -  the passage does mention that more children have access to data available to scientists and engineers at top-level labs of just fifteen years ago, a time when relatively few people had personal access to any computing power, but this does not mean that this data is educational or that technology is being used for broadcasting 
(C) widespread exchange of political ideas -  no mention of political ideas 
(D) faster means of travel -  it says that broadcast media is available to everyone and email and telephones have become more advanced, but there is no mention of making the actual means of travel faster  
(E) increased access to databases -  mentioned in line 28 to 35

AbbyJ · Answer

Can someone please help me with answer to second question. I narrowed it down to A and C. I eliminated A as there was no reference of goods but C talked about accumulation of financial assets , which I thought referred to profits. And thus selected C. Any tips on where I went wrong in my process please

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carcass · Answer

But in spite of the fact that the profits derived from various
technological developments have accrued to relatively
few people, the developments themselves have served
overall as a remarkable democratizing force. In fact,
(10) under the regime of the market,  the gap in benefits
accruing to different groups of people has been
narrowed in the long term.

The best is to read some sentences before the word and some sentences after
The line above in bold means that the gap between rich and poor narrowed (just an example to give you an idea). So, the technologies served as equalizers EVEN though ONLy few people benefit directly from the same technologies in the first instance.

(A) distribution of tangible and intangible goods

The equalizer we discussed before.

(B) opportunity to create new technology

not the point. technology is only the proxy to assess who had benefits or less

(C) accumulation of financial assets in investments

Out of scope

(D) participation in the regulation of society through either public or private institutions

No institutions are menttioned

(E) generally acknowledged social status in a community

out of scope. we did not mention if a person is a doctor and one is a clerk

alax123 · Answer

Sajjad1994  can you please share the OA for Q3? Thanks in advance

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. Which one of the following most accurately represents the primary function of the reference to maximization of financial success (lines 52–54)?

Difficulty Level:   650-700

Explanation

The detail in question is part of the  “why” : Why does the author say that we all benefit big time from new technology? Only  (D)  refers to the causal nature of  paragraph 3  in the passage as a whole, and only  (D)  properly ascribes  “maximization of financial success”  as a principal motivator in the entrepreneurs’ behavior that leads to all those benefits in the end.

(A)  Fails to see that the benefits summary comes in the previous paragraph.

(B)  It’s stretching things to call  paragraph 2  a presentation of  “data,”  and in any case the author’s conclusion is about the widespread benefits of technology that in part stem from entrepreneurs’ desire to maximize their financial success.

(C) “Speculative hypothesis”  is jargon, the kind often seen in wrong answers. In any case, the moneyed interests’ desire to maximize their profits is concrete, not speculative. And as we’ve just said, the phrase in question is indeed “part of an argument”—it’s part of the author’s evidence.

(E)  What  “concession” ? And for that matter, what  “argument…in the first two paragraphs” ? The argument is largely composed of conclusion in  paragraph 1 , and evidence in  paragraph 3.

Answer: D

Because the market system enables entrepreneurs and investors who deve

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