#6 - In the first phase of the Industrial Revolution

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)

In this stimulus, the author discusses the reaction of industry to new technologies. In the early part of the Industrial Revolution, machines were more financially attractive because they worked more quickly than humans, allowing a relatively small number of skilled workers to replace a larger number of unskilled workers. In modern times, managers are still looking for efficiency, now looking for ways to replace skilled workers with a smaller number of unskilled workers.

The stimulus is followed by a question stem that asks which proposition is illustrated by this discussion. The recurring theme in this stimulus involves management’s ongoing search for greater financial efficiency through various changes in technology, and the way that skilled and unskilled labor can be used.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The discussion in the stimulus involves the use of technological advances in the search of greater efficiency by means of reduced labor costs. Early on, this meant the shift from more unskilled to fewer unskilled. In more modern times, this means looking to shift from skilled workers to fewer unskilled workers.

Answer choice (B): The author of the stimulus provides no such recommendations. In fact, the stimulus specifically points out that management wishes to utilize less skilled labor in the future, so this cannot be the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (C): This broad statement is not supported by the stimulus. The author merely states in general terms that management is looking for opportunities to replace skilled workers with unskilled. This does not support the argument that skilled workers have no advantage over unskilled, so this answer choice should be eliminated from consideration.

Answer choice (D): The point of the stimulus is not to assert that as many jobs are created as eliminated. Rather, the point is that technology has been used to reduce costs associated with needed labor.

Answer choice (E): Technological innovations have played a role across various industries, and while the author begins the discussion with a reference to the Industrial Revolution, this was not meant to suggest that such innovations were limited to heavy industry.

[angie23]

I have trouble understanding why certain answer choices are correct in these questions and I hope someone would explain the reasoning behind the correct and incorrect answers:

6) I wasn't sure that A) was correct because you couldn't tell that the managers are are economically motivated when they are looking for tech that would replace highly paid skilled workers. That was why I chose C (which is wrong), since it made more sense and covers most of the stimulus.


Thank you!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi angie23,

Thanks for your question.

Answer choice (A) is indeed tricky, because reducing labor costs is not explicitly mentioned as a motive behind employers' decision to take advantage of the new technologies. However, we can infer that it is: machines became widely used because they were "economically attractive." In other words, they allowed employers to get more for less. Similarly, today managers are looking to replace highly paid skilled workers with a smaller number of less-skilled workers. Clearly, the motivation behind this quest is to reduce labor costs, because managers would be replacing a lot of expensive workers with a smaller number of less expensive ones. The principle outlined in answer choice (A) is therefore reasonably supported by the examples provided.

With respect to answer choice (C), we cannot prove that highly skilled workers no longer have an advantage over less-skilled workers. The former still have an advantage, given the information in the first part of the stimulus. Maybe not for long, but notice how the last sentence in the stimulus states a mere intent, not an actual fact. We have no evidence that managers will actually discover the technology that will allow them to replace these workers. Thus, answer choice (C) is impossible to prove.

Let me know if this clears things up!