Stemming from public outcry following the publication of Upton Sinclai

Question

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Passage # 11, Date: 06-Apr-2020
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Stemming from public outcry following the publication of Upton Sinclair’s  The Jungle , the US Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required food and drug companies to include a list of any of a number of known harmful ingredients contained within their products for consumers’ benefit and to not list these ingredients if they were not present. Although Theodore Roosevelt supported the bill and other measures to improve consumer safety, he was skeptical of the benefits of investigative journalism, particularly since  The Jungle ’s  strong pro-socialist message to workers could incite violence. For similar reasons, Roosevelt had previously refused to release a separate government report on working conditions in the meat industry for fear of inciting social and economic upheaval, including the possibility of wide-spread strikes and even riots in protest of the meat industry’s practices.

More surprising supporters of the bill were leading food companies like Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company. Industry leaders had already embraced reform and had much higher standards for purity within their products than even the new laws would require, so company executives correctly assumed that greater regulation would simply drive competitors out of business and lead customers to their products. However, meat industry executives continued to oppose the bill until Roosevelt reversed his earlier decision to withhold information from the public about conditions within the factories. The release of this information led to a public outcry that forced the meat packing industry to abandon attempts to pressure members of the House of Representatives to block the bill, leading to the bill’s eventual passage in late 1906.    1  
 1. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly justify Theodore Roosevelt’s concerns surrounding the release of the report on the meat packing industry?

A. The release of a document detailing worker safety violations in Colorado mines led to armed conflict between workers and police
B. Consumer safety bills had been introduced to the House previously but had failed to garner support.
C. Socialist pamphlets often led to extensive workers’ strikes even outside the industry they targeted.
D. Ensuring consumer safety did not counter the ill effects of investigative journalism.
E. The report could drive companies out of business, getting rid of competition between the industry.

2  
 2. It can be inferred that Sinclair was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to

A. Force lawmakers to investigate factory practices
B. Encourage socialist leanings among workers.
 C. Avoid social unrest and worker discontent.
 D. Justify greater regulation of the meatpacking industry.
 E. Encourage workers to strike and boycott certain companies.

3  
 3. The passage suggests that Theodore Roosevelt and the executives from Heinz differed in which of the following ways?

A. The executives were mainly concerned with decreasing competition, while Roosevelt was primarily concerned with worker safety.
B. The executives wanted to take advantage of the strain the new laws would place on competitors, while Roosevelt looked to better protect consumers.
C. Roosevelt wanted to prevent economic and social upheaval, while the executives wanted to benefit from purer products on the market.
D. Roosevelt was heavily influenced by the meat packing industry, while the executives wished to avoid influence from other industries.
E. Roosevelt supported the Pure Food and Drug Act while the executives worked to defeat it in the House of Representatives.

4  
 4. Which of the following can be inferred about Theodore Roosevelt?

A. He believed it was more important to prevent civil unrest than to ensure consumer safety.
B. He did not want the working class to be exposed to any socialist ideas.
C. He was not unwilling to change his positions on some issues.
 D. He was surprised that Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company supported the Pure Food and Drug Act.
E. He reluctantly supported the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

AnirudhaS · Accepted Answer

Answers are in  bold .

1. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly justify Theodore Roosevelt’s concerns surrounding the release of the report on the meat packing industry?
 A. The release of a document detailing worker safety violations in Colorado mines led to armed conflict between workers and police 
B. Consumer safety bills had been introduced to the House previously but had failed to garner support.
C. Socialist pamphlets often led to extensive workers’ strikes even outside the industry they targeted.
D. Ensuring consumer safety did not counter the ill effects of investigative journalism.
E. The report could drive companies out of business, getting rid of competition between the industry.

Explanation of question 1:  
This is a "if true" question. For such questions we take for granted that each of the stated options are true. Now when the options are true, would that reason out what Roosvelt's actions? Lets find out. Roosevelt was concerned because he feared violence (stemming from the pro-socialist views). If this already happened in the Colorado mines once then clearly it can happen again. This is why he was scared to release the report.
B - Well it failed to gather support, so what? Nothing much. Roosevelt can go again next session, but why would he be scared? Out.
C - This is tempting choice. However, there is not much of a connection between socialist pamphlets and release of a report. Out.
D - It might not counter the ill effects of journalism. But is this ground for Roosevelt being scared? 
E - Ok, so driving companies out of business is bad. But think from Roosevelt's perspective - he wanted to protect consumers. I wouldnt say he did not give a toss about other companies, but that cannot be inferred from the given passage.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. It can be inferred that Sinclair was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to
A. Force lawmakers to investigate factory practices
 B. Encourage socialist leanings among workers. 
C. Avoid social unrest and worker discontent.
D. Justify greater regulation of the meatpacking industry.
E. Encourage workers to strike and boycott certain companies.

Explanation of question 2:  
This is pretty straightforward. if we read the text "The Jungle ’s strong pro-socialist message to workers". His book had a socialist message. That is why the question has the word "in part". 
C - Well in fact due to his socialist teachings, there might have been social unrest. However, the passage has no reference to the fact he wanted to avoid unrest.
D - he did not bother about regulations.
E- I know Sinclair is the bad guy here, but this is far too extreme.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. The passage suggests that Theodore Roosevelt and the executives from Heinz differed in which of the following ways?
A. The executives were mainly concerned with decreasing competition, while Roosevelt was primarily concerned with worker safety.
 B. The executives wanted to take advantage of the strain the new laws would place on competitors, while Roosevelt looked to better protect consumers. 
C. Roosevelt wanted to prevent economic and social upheaval, while the executives wanted to benefit from purer products on the market.
D. Roosevelt was heavily influenced by the meat packing industry, while the executives wished to avoid influence from other industries.
E. Roosevelt supported the Pure Food and Drug Act while the executives worked to defeat it in the House of Representatives.

Explanation of question 3:  
These questions are always best, if we make a summary in our head before looking at the options. (this works for me)
What did Roosevelt want? He just wanted to protect the consumers.
What did Heinz want? In one word  money . Less competition = more money. More regulations = less competition. 
Choice B fits perfectly!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Which of the following can be inferred about Theodore Roosevelt?
A. He believed it was more important to prevent civil unrest than to ensure consumer safety.
B. He did not want the working class to be exposed to any socialist ideas.
 C. He was not unwilling to change his positions on some issues. 
D. He was surprised that Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company supported the Pure Food and Drug Act.
E. He reluctantly supported the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Explanation of question 4:  
For this question we do not know what the answer choices might look like. It can be a variety of stuff inferred about Roosevelt. So we must go through all options and use POE to get to our answer.
A - Nope, consumer safety was paramount for him. Out.
B - This is partly true. But what he actually want was NO VIOLENCE. Socialist ideas COULD incite violence or it may not - there is an uncertainty here. So we will keep this in for now, but it is not a very strong choice.
C - He did change his position, and released the report. Okay this is a much stronger choice. Definitely the best answer till now.
D - He was not surprised. The author was surprised!
E - reluctantly? No.
C is our answer.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. The passage suggests that Theodore Roosevelt and the executives from Heinz differed in which of the following ways?

Difficulty Level:   750

Explanation

This specific question asks you to find and contrast two pieces of information about different individuals mentioned in the text. Notice that Roosevelt is mentioned in multiple places in the passage while the Heinz executives are only mentioned in one paragraph, so one strategy here is to look to eliminate based on the information given about the executives at Heinz before looking at the information given about Roosevelt.

Heinz executives are mentioned in the  second paragraph  as  “surprising”  supporters of the bill. This piece of information means that you can eliminate  (E) , which implies that the executives were in opposition to the bill.

The  second paragraph  also states that Heinz executives assumed that the bill would drive competing businesses out of business. This fits with the information given in  (A) and (B) , which both mention decreased competition. It does not, however, fit with the information given in  (C) . Executives wanted to benefit from how the regulations would affect their competitors – there is no indication that they benefitted from purer products being available in the marketplace. Additionally, there is no mention of the executives’ views on the influence of other industries, eliminating  (D) .

To choose between  (A) and (B) , examine the differences between the two:  (A)  states that Roosevelt wanted to protect workers, while  (B)  states that Roosevelt wanted to protect consumers.  Paragraph 1  directly states that Roosevelt suppressed a report on worker safety within the meat packing industry, implying that he was not primarily concerned with worker safety.  Eliminate (A).

Answer  choice (A) , however, is directly supported by the  first paragraph , which states that Roosevelt  “supported… measures to improve consumer safety.”  It can be reasonably inferred that Roosevelt looked for ways to protect consumers.

Answer choice (B) is correct.

Hope it helps

debjit1990 · Answer

Answers according to me:
1.a
2.b
3.b
4.b

ArtVandaley · Answer

A tough one. My take is AECC. Will share detailed explanation if correct.

SiffyB · Answer

1. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly justify Theodore Roosevelt’s concerns surrounding the release of the report on the meat packing industry?
 
 This is a tricky question. We have to find a choice that can clearly justify why Roosevelt was reluctant to release the report on meat packing industry. He feared widespread riots and social and economic upheaval. He did support the Pure Food and Drug Act but knew that consumer safety wouldn't be able to cover for harsh working conditions for the workers. The jungle was an example of investigative journalism. The choice that clearly presents our stance is (D).

A. The release of a document detailing worker safety violations in Colorado mines led to armed conflict between workers and police -  Out of scope (we are not concerned about the condition of workers in mines but the condition of workers in meat packing industry. 
B. Consumer safety bills had been introduced to the House previously but had failed to garner support. -  Irrelevant in this context. 
C. Socialist pamphlets often led to extensive workers’ strikes even outside the industry they targeted. -  We are not concerned about the effects of socialist pamphlets. Out of scope. 
  D. Ensuring consumer safety did not counter the ill effects of investigative journalism. - This is the correct choice. 
 E. The report could drive companies out of business, getting rid of competition between the industry. -  This is not one of Roosevelt's concerns.

2. It can be inferred that Sinclair was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to

Sinclair wrote the Jungle. In the first paragraph of the passage, we come across the line- "...the Jungle ’s strong pro-socialist message to workers could incite violence."
This means that one of the reasons of motivation was to spread the socialist message to workers. This is clearly established in choice (B).

A. Force lawmakers to investigate factory practices -  not mentioned in the passage 
  B. Encourage socialist leanings among workers.   
C. Avoid social unrest and worker discontent. -  not mentioned in the passage 
D. Justify greater regulation of the meatpacking industry.  This was not a motive behind Jungle. 
E. Encourage workers to strike and boycott certain companies.  not mentioned in the passage

3. The passage suggests that Theodore Roosevelt and the executives from Heinz differed in which of the following ways?

According to the passage, we know that executives from Heinz supported this Pure Food and Drug acts because they were already upholding their products to a standard as high as was required in the bill, so they saw the Act as a boon which would cut down competition. On the other hand, what we know about Roosevelt is that he supported consumer safety as is evident in his support for the Pure Food and Drug Act. Also, he was afraid that releasing report on the conditions prevailing in the meat packing industry would lead to social and economic upheaval and may also induce strikes and riots. Let us review the choices to see which one fits the bill.

A. The executives were mainly concerned with decreasing competition, while Roosevelt was primarily concerned with worker safety. -  Yes, the executives were concerned about decreasing competition but Roosevelt was not "primarily" concerned about worker safety. Had he been concerned about their safety, he wouldn't have withheld the reports outlining their working conditions. 
B. The executives wanted to take advantage of the strain the new laws would place on competitors, while Roosevelt looked to better protect consumers. -  The executives wanted to take advantage of the strain the new laws would place on competitors, however, while Roosevelt supported consumer safety, it is not true that he looked to better consumer protection. 
  C. Roosevelt wanted to prevent economic and social upheaval, while the executives wanted to benefit from purer products on the market.  
D. Roosevelt was heavily influenced by the meat packing industry, while the executives wished to avoid influence from other industries. -  Roosevelt was not heavily influenced by the meat packing industry. Also, the nothing from the passage suggests that executives wished to avoid influence from other industries. 
E. Roosevelt supported the Pure Food and Drug Act while the executives worked to defeat it in the House of Representatives. -  The executives were not against the Act and therefore wouldn't want to defeat it in the House of Representatives.

4. Which of the following can be inferred about Theodore Roosevelt?

This is an inference question. We'll have to go through each choice one by one and determine which choice is correct and also disregard the other choices on solid ground.

A. He believed it was more important to prevent civil unrest than to ensure consumer safety. -  No such comparison has been made in the passage. He never had to choose between the two. 
B. He did not want the working class to be exposed to any socialist ideas. -  He was not against this. Of course he feared that the report might create strikes or riots but it would be too far to assume that he did not want the workers to be exposed to "any" socialist ideas. 
  C. He was not unwilling to change his positions on some issues. - This is true as suggested by the reversal of his decision to not release report of the working conditions of workers of the meat packing industry.  
D. He was surprised that Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company supported the Pure Food and Drug Act. -  The passage states that executives of Heinz and Old Taylor Whisky supporting the Act was surprising but does not state that Roosevelt was surprised by it. 
E. He reluctantly supported the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. -  He supported the act, but not reluctantly.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OAs of this RC has been posted now, if anyone have any question kindly let me know.

1. A (650-Level)
2. B (700-Level)
3. B (750-Level)
4. C (750-Level)

Great work  AnirudhaS  you nailed it.

prototypevenom · Answer

In question 3 choice c vs B

BlueBook · Answer

How come for question 4 A) is not the answer and in the passage it is written that  'For similar reasons, Roosevelt had previously refused to release a separate government report on working conditions in the meat industry for fear of inciting social and economic upheaval, including the possibility of wide-spread strikes and even riots in protest of the meat industry’s practices' ?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Dear BlueBook You have opportunity to read reasoning from three different minds, one from AnirudhaS second from abcdddddd and third is the official explanation i am posting in this post, let me know which one make sense to you more than others. Explanation by AnirudhaS https://gmatclub.com/forum/stemming-fro ... l#p2490011 Explanation by abcdddddd https://gmatclub.com/forum/stemming-fro ... l#p2490209 Official Explanation 4. Which of the following can be inferred about Theodore Roosevelt? Difficulty Level: 750 Explanation In any Inference question, your mission is to find the answer that must be true - that can be proven based on the passage - and to eliminate choices that do not quite hold up to that standard. Here correct answer (C) has direct proof in the passage, as the second paragraph includes the line "Roosevelt reversed his earlier decision..." This proves that Roosevelt was not unwilling to change his position, so (C) must be true and is therefore correct. Among the other choices: Choice (A) may be tempting, as paragraph 1 discusses Roosevelt's refusal to release a report - which may have helped to ensure or promote consumer safety - in an effort to prevent civil unrest. However, does this guarantee that he believed civil unrest was more important than consumer safety? For one, this is a case of generalization - you only have this one instance in which he prioritized unrest over safety, but don't know his whole track record (maybe this is the outlier?). Or it could be the case of degree: if he believed that the report would cause drastic civil unrest while only marginally impacting safety, he may still have believed safety is more important than unrest, but in this case weighted the likelihoods differently. (A) is therefore not necessarily true. (B) falls victim to a classic case of Inference verbiage - the word "any" in "any socialist ideas" simply goes too far. You have evidence that Roosevelt was concerned about a "strong pro-socialist message" but that doesn't mean he was against the discussion of all socialist ideas. (D) is also incorrect: you have evidence that the author finds these companies' support surprising, but you don't have any information about how Roosevelt felt. And choice (E) also lacks evidence: in paragraph 1 you're told that he supported the bill but was skeptical of investigative journalism. This doesn't at all mean that he was reluctant to support the bill. Answer: C Hope it helps

BlueBook · Answer

I went through the other posts but was not convinced enough. Your reasoning has convinced me more due to its detail and preciseness. I have seen the gap. I guess something that we can all take home is that in an inference question (just like in assumption questions in CR), the  inference must be true.

Kritisood · Answer

explanation for question 1

1. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly justify Theodore Roosevelt’s concerns surrounding the release of the report on the meat packing industry?

A. The release of a document detailing worker safety violations in Colorado mines led to armed conflict between workers and police
B. Consumer safety bills had been introduced to the House previously but had failed to garner support.
C. Socialist pamphlets often led to extensive workers’ strikes even outside the industry they targeted.
D. Ensuring consumer safety did not counter the ill effects of investigative journalism.
E. The report could drive companies out of business, getting rid of competition between the industry.

Here A is correct because the para messages more than once that RT supported the bill  but  was concerned that the Jungle’s strong pro-socialist message to workers could incite violence. Answer choice A gives basis to this kind of a thought process.
The next popular answer choice is B. B is incorrect for two reasons: 
first, it says "Socialist pamphlets   often   led to extensive workers’ strikes" how often? very often? not so often? often enough to put consumer safety on the backbench? we don't know. 
second, because it says "extensive workers’ strikes even   outside the industry they targeted  ." the underlined potion is kind off irrelevant to the passage as a whole.

A strikes the question right in the heart.

Kritisood · Answer

Explanation for question 2
 
2. It can be inferred that Sinclair was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to
 What is the basis for this answer choice to be correct? can we use such a strong term as "force" without evidence that directly supports it? NO. Hence, incorrect.

Yes, this can very well be inferred. The para explicitly mentions "he was skeptical of the benefits of investigative journalism, particularly since   The Jungle ’s strong pro-socialist message   to workers could incite violence."

C. Avoid social unrest and worker discontent. irrelevant completely
D. Justify greater regulation of the meatpacking industry. irrelevant completely
E. Encourage workers to strike and boycott certain companies. irrelevant completely and too extreme.

Learning: inference questions don't usually support extreme answer choices.

anushavalecha · Answer

For Q1, option A states that violence was post release of report of violation in mines. How is it related to meat packing industry?
And why is option C rejected?

Jashan25 · Answer

All 4 correct.
Time taken - 9 mins.

Here is my take on this passage -

Stemming from public outcry following the publication of Upton Sinclair’s  The Jungle , the US Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required food and drug companies to include a list of any of a number of known harmful ingredients contained within their products for consumers’ benefit and to not list these ingredients if they were not present. Although Theodore Roosevelt supported the bill and other measures to improve consumer safety,  he was skeptical of the benefits of investigative journalism, particularly since  The Jungle ’s  strong pro-socialist message to workers could incite violence . For similar reasons, Roosevelt had previously refused to release a separate government report on working conditions in the meat industry for fear of inciting social and economic upheaval, including the possibility of wide-spread strikes and even riots in protest of the meat industry’s practices.

More surprising supporters of the bill were leading food companies like Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company. Industry leaders had already embraced reform and had much higher standards for purity within their products than even the new laws would require, so company executives correctly assumed that greater regulation would simply drive competitors out of business and lead customers to their products. However, meat industry executives continued to oppose the bill until Roosevelt reversed his earlier decision to withhold information from the public about conditions within the factories. The release of this information led to a public outcry that forced the meat packing industry to abandon attempts to pressure members of the House of Representatives to block the bill, leading to the bill’s eventual passage in late 1906.

1. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly justify Theodore Roosevelt’s concerns surrounding the release of the report on the meat packing industry?

A. The release of a document detailing worker safety violations in Colorado mines led to armed conflict between workers and police

In the first paragraph the author is clearly concerned about the violent conflict that may arise. All other options does not touch upon this point.

B. Consumer safety bills had been introduced to the House previously but had failed to garner support.
C. Socialist pamphlets often led to extensive workers’ strikes even outside the industry they targeted.

Had there been no option A I would have chosen this out of all the remaining choices as this talks of the Socialist impact that The Jungle can have on workers but again this option does not talks of the concerns related to violent protests that may arise hence I will stick to option A.

D. Ensuring consumer safety did not counter the ill effects of investigative journalism.
E. The report could drive companies out of business, getting rid of competition between the industry.

2. It can be inferred that Sinclair was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to

A. Force lawmakers to investigate factory practices
B. Encourage socialist leanings among workers.

As this is and inference question we need to choose an answer that holds true in all possible situations, an answer that is not too extreme or specific. This choice captures the requirement. "The Jungle ’s  strong pro-socialist message to workers could incite violence" Here, it is clear that at least the author is convinced that Sinclair had a socialist message to masses, hence option B.

C. Avoid social unrest and worker discontent.
D. Justify greater regulation of the meatpacking industry.
E. Encourage workers to strike and boycott certain companies.

3. The passage suggests that Theodore Roosevelt and the executives from Heinz differed in which of the following ways?

A. The executives were mainly concerned with decreasing competition, while Roosevelt was primarily concerned with worker safety.
B. The executives wanted to take advantage of the strain the new laws would place on competitors, while Roosevelt looked to better protect consumers.

This line in second para - "so company executives correctly assumed that greater regulation would simply drive competitors out of business and lead customers to their product" Clarifies that Heinz and other corporate were interested in moving the competition out of market.

This line in first para - " Although Theodore Roosevelt supported the bill and other measures to improve consumer safety" indicates that Roosevelt was interested in customer safety.

For the above reasons option B seems to be suitable choice.

C. Roosevelt wanted to prevent economic and social upheaval, while the executives wanted to benefit from purer products on the market.
D. Roosevelt was heavily influenced by the meat packing industry, while the executives wished to avoid influence from other industries.
E. Roosevelt supported the Pure Food and Drug Act while the executives worked to defeat it in the House of Representatives.

4. Which of the following can be inferred about Theodore Roosevelt?

A. He believed it was more important to prevent civil unrest than to ensure consumer safety.
B. He did not want the working class to be exposed to any socialist ideas.
C. He was not unwilling to change his positions on some issues.

As initially he was withholding the information regarding worker safety in meat industry but later he decided to support the bill and release the info. This suggests that he clearly changed his stand on the issue hence we can safely infer the he was "NOT" unwilling to change his position on certain issues.

D. He was surprised that Heinz and the Old Taylor Whiskey Company supported the Pure Food and Drug Act.
E. He reluctantly supported the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

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