PrepTest 117, Section 2, Question 16
Sociologist: Some economists hold that unregulated markets should(58 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AVoters think of(11 more words not shown)
- BUnregulated markets are(4 more words not shown)
- CWhere there is(7 more words not shown)
- DPrivate consumers are(6 more words not shown)
- EOpposition to unregulated(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Can I favor democratic voting and still want rules for businesses? I don't see an automatic conflict.
The economists described at the start think unregulated markets should accompany democracy because people can 'vote with their money.' In plain language, their purchases express their choices. I can see why someone would connect those two kinds of freedom, but expressing preferences while shopping isn't obviously identical to choosing how society should be governed.
The sociologist makes that distinction by contrasting 'What do I want?' with 'What do we want?' I have a question about the word 'always': don't some voters think about their own interests? Still, the argument's direction is clear. The sociologist thinks the difference between shopping and voting allows someone to support both democracy and market regulation.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for that conclusion, not whether every part of the reasoning convinces us. The position to find is that the two forms of support can coexist. We shouldn't turn 'you can support both' into a claim that democracy requires regulation, or that one economic policy is always best.
Working the answers
- A
This describes the public-citizen side of the sociologist's contrast. Voters are presented as considering a community's wants rather than only their own. That is part of the support for the conclusion about combining democracy with regulation, not the conclusion itself.
- B
Incompatible means the two cannot go together. The sociologist hasn't said that democracy and unregulated markets cannot coexist. The conclusion only allows supporters of democracy to support regulation as well. Permitting that combination doesn't require ruling out the other one.
- C
This is the view attributed to the economists at the beginning. They say democracy should be accompanied by unregulated markets. The sociologist responds that this view overlooks a distinction and concludes that supporting regulation can be consistent with supporting democracy. C gives us the view being answered rather than the author's response.
- D
This gives the private-consumer side of the contrast: the marketplace question concerns what the individual wants. Like A, it's used to support the conclusion by distinguishing shopping from voting. It leaves out the point the sociologist draws from that distinction.
- ECorrect
Opposing unregulated markets is consistent with supporting democracy. That restates the claim that someone can favor market regulation and also favor democratic government. E preserves the modest 'can' in the conclusion. It doesn't claim that every supporter of democracy must oppose unregulated markets or that every regulated market is democratic.
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