Reading Comprehension

PT125 · S3 · P3 · Q20 Technological Developments and Markets

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Because the market system enables entrepreneurs and investors who develop new technology to reap financial rewards from their risk of capital, it may seem that the primary result of this activity is that some people who have spare capital accumulate more.

Topic

The democratizing effects of technology under the market system

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy

Main Point

Despite appearances that technological advancement primarily enriches a small group of investors or entrepreneurs, the overall effect of technology—enabled by the market system—is to make its benefits more broadly accessible, thus narrowing the gap between different social groups over time. (Most Valuable Sentences: last sentence of P1, )

P1: Introduction to the Perceived Problem and Author's Claim

It may seem like only wealthy investors profit from new technology, but actually, technological progress generally helps to narrow the gap between different social groups by spreading its benefits more widely.

P2: Examples of Technology Democratizing Access

The author gives several historical and modern examples: the printing press made reading accessible to the masses, computers now offer access and power once reserved for elite scientists, and technologies like broadcast media and electronic mail have made entertainment and communication universally available, not just for the rich.

P3: Explanation for This Phenomenon

This spread of benefits isn't random; it's a core tendency of the market system. For entrepreneurs to maximize their profits, they need to reach more people, so market competition drives prices down and makes new technologies accessible to more and more people.

20.

From the passage it can be most reasonably inferred that the author would agree with which one of the following statements?

The democratizing influence of technology
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: obsolescence Too Strong: generally The author thinks that the democratizing influence of technology generally contributes to us getting more and more bad-ass technology that expands our options or increases our convenience. It's certainly true that as we get the convenience of email, it might contribute to the obsolescence of snail mail. But this passage never talks about anything like that.
7% picked this
Wholly unregulated economies are probably
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: wholly unregulated Too Strong: the fastest The passage never talks about regulations (or social status) at all, so we would be totally speculating to say that this author thinks that unregulated economies are the fastest in producing equalization of social status.
5% picked this
Correct
Expanded access to printed texts
Why this is right
The end of the first paragraph is saying that technological developments have served overall as a democratizing force. This tendency can be seen in various technological developments ... such as the printing press and expanded access to printed materials. The author says that "since printed materials have become widely available, people without special position or resources can take literacy and the use of printed texts for granted." Does the author think that expanded access to printed texts led to an increase in literacy? Sure. She's saying that one of the examples of how new technology distributes benefits to the masses is when expanded access to printed materials distributed the benefit of literacy to the masses.
Skill tested: Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
80% picked this
The invention of the telephone
Unknown Comparison
The author rattles off a handful of examples in which new technology made someone rich but also diffused a cool benefit to the rest of society. But she never gets into comparing which invention had more benefit or more democratizing influence. We know that the phone "greatly extended the power of distant communication" and that the printing press led to more and more people having literacy and ultimately having access to printed knowledge within books. Again, the author never compares which of those had more democratizing influence, but if anything we'd probably think that widespread literacy (and the self-education it enables) is more transformative than is being able to call your uncle who lives in another state via the telephone.
5% picked this
Near equality of financial assets
Too Strong: near equality
The author never said anything like "a realistic goal for market economies is to have near equality of financial assets". The author is actually totally fine with wealth inequality. She is essentially saying that it's okay that some people get super rich of their inventions, because the rest of society benefits a lot from these inventions. She isn't saying we should all have roughly the same amount of financial wealth.
4% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free