Economic growth accelerates

Answer choices

1. A

   Unknown Comparison1% picked this

   Businesses supplying new technologies are more likely to prosper in times of accelerated technological change

   The paragraph never makes any comparison to other businesses, so we have no ammunition for saying businesses that don't supply new tech are less likely to prosper. We're also told that suppliers of new technologies can fail in times of accelerated technological change, so we have some counter evidence to this answer.

   1%
2. B

   Correct92% picked this

   Businesses that supply new technologies may not always benefit from

   Why this is right

   This is saying there might be a business that supplies new technology that does not benefit from economic growth. This is rewarding us for finding that causal chain we found! When there's economic growth, it accelerates the demand for new tech. And an acceleration of new tech can cause suppliers of new tech to fail. So a supplier of new tech can fail as a result of economic growth. Thus, businesses that supply new tech may not always benefit from economic growth.

   Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   92%
3. C

   Reverse Causality1% picked this

   The development of new technologies may accelerate economic growth

   We can't support this sort of causal relationship. We were only told that economic growth can accelerate the development of new technologies.

   1%
4. D

   Too Strong: most likely1% picked this

   Businesses that adopt new technologies are most likely to prosper in a period of

   This is too extreme, based on the facts we were given. We have no idea when businesses that adopt new technologies are most likely to prosper. We're even told in the final sentence that buyers of new technology can fail as a results of accelerated technological change, which is an effect of economic growth.

   1%
5. E

   Too Strong5% picked this

   Economic growth increases business

   The final sentence alerts us that economic growth can cause some business failures. But this answer is stated in a way that's claiming "overall, there are more business failures during a time of economic growth then during a time of economic stagnation or contraction". Not only is that not supportable by the text, it goes against common sense. Economic expansions generally mean that businesses are doing better, while economic recessions usually mean that businesses are doing worse.

   5%