LR Drill Set 3, Question 8
Manager: Bureaucratization is a problem only when it(34 more words not shown)
The definition of bureaucracy given(12 more words not shown)
- AIt acts as(9 more words not shown)
- BIt provides background(9 more words not shown)
- CIt serves as(7 more words not shown)
- DIt has the(6 more words not shown)
- EIt is designed(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A hierarchy of specialized offices tells us what bureaucracy is. It doesn't yet tell us whether a business should adopt it more strictly.
The manager's reasons for that recommendation come from the other claims: bureaucracy is the most efficient form of social organization, and its problems arise only when it isn't strict and complete. We may wonder how easy it is to implement such a system properly. Maybe achieving that strictness is much harder than the recommendation suggests. But the role question is narrower than evaluating the whole case.
What we’re looking for
We're asked about the definition inserted into the middle sentence. Remove just the words defining bureaucracy, and the manager can still say bureaucracy is the most efficient form yet devised and recommend implementing it more strictly. The definition helps a reader understand the subject. It isn't the piece of evidence doing the work of persuading businesses to act.
Working the answers
- A
Knowing that a bureaucracy consists of specialized offices doesn't guarantee that businesses should implement it. A description of an arrangement isn't automatically a recommendation. Even the surrounding efficiency claim would raise further questions about applying it; the definition alone certainly doesn't establish the conclusion.
- BCorrect
The definition supplies background about the kind of organization being discussed. The manager's reasoning can still proceed from the claims about efficiency and strict implementation without spelling out the meaning of “bureaucracy.” The definition clarifies the subject rather than providing a necessary step in that reasoning.
- C
The definition describes an organizational structure in neutral terms. It doesn't ask us to feel afraid, sympathetic, proud, or otherwise emotionally invested. We should identify what these actual words do, rather than assume that any definition is an attempt to sway feelings.
- D
A hierarchy of specialized offices doesn't contradict the recommendation to implement bureaucracy more strictly. The description is compatible with that recommendation. We might dislike such a structure, but our reaction wouldn't make the definition logically contradict what the manager concludes.
- E
No opposing claim about the meaning of bureaucracy is introduced. The definition isn't used to refute a rival account; it simply tells us how the term is being used. The manager's broader argument may respond to concerns about bureaucracy, but the selected definition itself does not show an opposing claim false.
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