PrepTest 123, Section 1, Question 25
Although philanthropy—the volunteering of private resources for humanitarian(426 more words not shown)
It can be inferred from(26 more words not shown)
- AVictorian philanthropists were(16 more words not shown)
- BVictorian philanthropists encouraged(22 more words not shown)
- CThough basically well-intentioned,(14 more words not shown)
- DBy raising the(17 more words not shown)
- EVictorian philanthropists see(14 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Whose view are we being asked for? The social-control theorist's, not the writer's final defense. In that theory, encouraging prudence, thrift, and temperance makes poor people more productive workers and helps keep the management class in control.
What we’re looking for
So I'd predict a self-serving motive: the donors use charity to benefit their class, rather than simply helping for the sake of helping.
Working the answers
- A
Status and economic rewards both appear, but we aren't told status matters more. Making workers more productive could benefit management economically, too; the theory doesn't rank those motives as this answer does.
- B
“Acquisitiveness” means wanting to acquire money or possessions. The stated goal is to create more productive workers, not to give workers the same desire to acquire wealth as management. Thrift and temperance are familiar words, but this changes the reason for promoting them.
- C
Problems beyond private charity's reach belong to the first criticism. The social-control account instead questions the donors' motives, so “basically well-intentioned” doesn't fit the view we're asked about.
- D
Promoting prudence, thrift, and temperance isn't the same as trying to improve someone's intellectual status. The theory says those habits would make workers more productive; it doesn't identify intellectual improvement as the donors' goal.
- ECorrect
The charity is the means; controlling the labor force and maintaining class dominance is the end. The theorist sees charitable giving as a tool for getting those benefits, not as the ultimate purpose. That translates the second paragraph's accusation into the answer's abstract language.
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