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- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#24679
Complete Question Explanation
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (E)
The stimulus in this question presents two sets of facts:
(1) Most people in the US view small and large businesses as relatively similar in a few regards: neither
is particularly efficient or dynamic, although both provide fairly priced goods and services;
(2) Most people also hold a slight difference of opinion when it comes to small and large businesses: small
businesses are generally seen as a force for good in society, whereas big business is viewed more negatively
(socially responsible only when things are going well economically)
This may seem paradoxical at first—"how can someone think a business offers fairly priced goods and services and, at least in the case of large business, still be socially irresponsible (during unprosperous times)?" Or "how can most people see two business types as similar based on their pricing but potentially different in terms of their social impact?"—but it doesn't have to be. All it takes is a definition of "social responsibility" that isn't entirely dependent on prices! If you can see them as separate then it's easy to use other, non-price criteria to judge social responsibility, and that's apparently what some people do (again, for big business anyway).
So when we're asked to prove something from these two truths about people, we need to first be careful not to assume too much or go beyond the premises provided, and second we need to recognize the overlap between the groups and what that must mean about how at least some of them view being socially responsible.
Let's take the answers one at a time and apply that methodology:
(A) We have no idea from the stimulus how much thought people give to the value of business to society. All we're told is that most people have an opinion on it (small business a force for good; big business not always socially responsible)
(B) Not only can we not know what it would take to change the public's perception of big business, but given that the public views small business favorably and small business and big business are seen as similarly efficient, efficiency doesn't seem to be a factor in favorability ratings.
I'd caution you too about being overly flexible with the language in Must Be True answer choices: the second sentence isn't necessarily about how "favorably" small and big businesses are viewed, but only about their respective/perceived social roles (good vs only-occasionally responsible). Don't let these Shell Game type maneuvers trick you! Here of course we can't know if "force for good" or "not socially responsible" are equivalent to "favorable" since "favorable" only appears in answers wrong for other reasons as well, but that potential mismatch would certainly be enough for me to only pick these answers as a last resort.
(C) Like (B), we can't know what it would take to change people's minds! Further, we have no reason to think that small businesses becoming more dynamic (in the public's view) would damage the perception people have of them. (Note too "favorable" again)
(D) Another answer choice that attempts to change the specifics of the premises and then draw a conclusion. You can't do that. There's just no way to know what people would think under circumstances entirely different than those provided, so when we see answers like (B), (C), and (D) introduce alternative scenarios and then make absolute predictions we've left the realm of what can be known for sure.
Specifically for (D) if people felt differently about big business and the value they provide (again, "value" isn't necessarily the same as "fairly priced goods and services" so this is more Shell Game trickery), then we're immediately talking about things that are, well, different than what we're told. Meaning we can't know the applicability of anything else we've been told, because it exists in a world other than the one now described in (D). That's an immediate disqualifier for a Must Be True answer.
(E) This is the correct answer, and it follows closely from the prephrase mentioned above: people clearly use criteria other than just efficiency or the fairness of pricing when measuring a business's social goodness. How do we know? Because most people view small and large business as the same in the first regard (efficiency and pricing), and yet view them at times quite differently in the second regard (social responsibility). For people to arrive at different judgments about the two business types they must have something else, something that extends beyond, just providing fairly priced goods and services. And that's what (E) gives us.
Primarily though I see this as an exercise in elimination, where the four wrong answers are definitively incorrect for the reasons given here, and can be confidently removed as such. This is my expectation for the majority (perhaps entirety) of LR questions this late in the section, where correct answers are typically well-disguised or complexly-worded and thus elusive at times...but wrong answers are still wrong for consistent, recognizable reasons and can be thrown out quickly if you're looking for them!
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (E)
The stimulus in this question presents two sets of facts:
(1) Most people in the US view small and large businesses as relatively similar in a few regards: neither is particularly efficient or dynamic, although both provide fairly priced goods and services; (2) Most people also hold a slight difference of opinion when it comes to small and large businesses: small businesses are generally seen as a force for good in society, whereas big business is viewed more negatively (socially responsible only when things are going well economically)This may seem paradoxical at first—"how can someone think a business offers fairly priced goods and services and, at least in the case of large business, still be socially irresponsible (during unprosperous times)?" Or "how can most people see two business types as similar based on their pricing but potentially different in terms of their social impact?"—but it doesn't have to be. All it takes is a definition of "social responsibility" that isn't entirely dependent on prices! If you can see them as separate then it's easy to use other, non-price criteria to judge social responsibility, and that's apparently what some people do (again, for big business anyway).
So when we're asked to prove something from these two truths about people, we need to first be careful not to assume too much or go beyond the premises provided, and second we need to recognize the overlap between the groups and what that must mean about how at least some of them view being socially responsible.
Let's take the answers one at a time and apply that methodology:
(A) We have no idea from the stimulus how much thought people give to the value of business to society. All we're told is that most people have an opinion on it (small business a force for good; big business not always socially responsible)
(B) Not only can we not know what it would take to change the public's perception of big business, but given that the public views small business favorably and small business and big business are seen as similarly efficient, efficiency doesn't seem to be a factor in favorability ratings.
I'd caution you too about being overly flexible with the language in Must Be True answer choices: the second sentence isn't necessarily about how "favorably" small and big businesses are viewed, but only about their respective/perceived social roles (good vs only-occasionally responsible). Don't let these Shell Game type maneuvers trick you! Here of course we can't know if "force for good" or "not socially responsible" are equivalent to "favorable" since "favorable" only appears in answers wrong for other reasons as well, but that potential mismatch would certainly be enough for me to only pick these answers as a last resort.
(C) Like (B), we can't know what it would take to change people's minds! Further, we have no reason to think that small businesses becoming more dynamic (in the public's view) would damage the perception people have of them. (Note too "favorable" again)
(D) Another answer choice that attempts to change the specifics of the premises and then draw a conclusion. You can't do that. There's just no way to know what people would think under circumstances entirely different than those provided, so when we see answers like (B), (C), and (D) introduce alternative scenarios and then make absolute predictions we've left the realm of what can be known for sure.
Specifically for (D) if people felt differently about big business and the value they provide (again, "value" isn't necessarily the same as "fairly priced goods and services" so this is more Shell Game trickery), then we're immediately talking about things that are, well, different than what we're told. Meaning we can't know the applicability of anything else we've been told, because it exists in a world other than the one now described in (D). That's an immediate disqualifier for a Must Be True answer.
(E) This is the correct answer, and it follows closely from the prephrase mentioned above: people clearly use criteria other than just efficiency or the fairness of pricing when measuring a business's social goodness. How do we know? Because most people view small and large business as the same in the first regard (efficiency and pricing), and yet view them at times quite differently in the second regard (social responsibility). For people to arrive at different judgments about the two business types they must have something else, something that extends beyond, just providing fairly priced goods and services. And that's what (E) gives us.
Primarily though I see this as an exercise in elimination, where the four wrong answers are definitively incorrect for the reasons given here, and can be confidently removed as such. This is my expectation for the majority (perhaps entirety) of LR questions this late in the section, where correct answers are typically well-disguised or complexly-worded and thus elusive at times...but wrong answers are still wrong for consistent, recognizable reasons and can be thrown out quickly if you're looking for them!
