MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 19: Answer and Explanation

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Test Information

Question: 19

3. Which of the following, when taken in conjunction with the information presented by the passage, would best explain the author's use of "not coincidentally" (paragraph 6)?

  • A. The ascendance of neoliberalism in democratic politics is largely responsible for the rise in inequality.
  • B. The capitalists began coordinating their efforts immediately after recognizing unions were losing their power.
  • C. A majority of citizens decided to relinquish membership in the working class and become capitalists instead.
  • D. The democratically elected politicians financed by neoliberal organizations enacted anti-labor policies.

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

While (A) (The ascendance of neoliberalism in democratic politics is largely responsible for the rise in inequality) mimics the language of the passage, even echoing the author's thesis, it fails to account for the use of this particular phrase. It is too general to account for the specific phenomenon referenced in P6. Eliminate it.

Choice (B) seems a bit more promising, because it connects the activities of the two classes. However, The capitalists began coordinating their efforts immediately after recognizing unions were losing their power gets the timing backwards. The author says that the capitalist coordination came first, and then the decline of the unions, so (B) is also wrong.

It may seem like (C) (A majority of citizens decided to relinquish membership in the working class and become capitalists instead) provides a possible explanation, but it fails for a number of reasons. The very first line of the passage notes the huge discrepancy in numbers between the wealthy class of owners and the poor class of laborers. Though the author mentions that deliberate decisions are important in P2, these are the decisions of political leaders and other elites, not the decisions of the majority of people—it's not clear from the passage that laborers have the power simply to switch roles from employee to employer. Even if some employees could become employers (for instance, entrepreneurs and the self-employed), it seems highly unlikely that a majority of citizens could do so. Finally, this choice does not take care to distinguish between membership in organized labor unions and membership in the class of laborers (employees). The previous paragraph discussed a decline in union membership, not a decline in membership in the working class. Thus, choice (C) clashes with the passage too much to be a plausible answer.

The Plan was to check all four answers, so (D) should also be evaluated, though we now expect it's correct. The statement The democratically elected politicians financed by neoliberal organizations enacted anti-labor policies would indeed provide the necessary explanation, one that is consistent with the discussion in the passage. The quote from the Powell Memorandum even mentions financing as a means of attaining political power, a number of neoliberal politicians are noted in P3, and P4 cites the actions of democratic officials who promote the polarization of wealth (in other words, anti-labor policies), so the agreement between this choice and the passage is resounding.

Executing the Plan led to the elimination of the wrong options, revealing choice (D) as correct.

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