Which of the following does the author present as a risk of the meritocratic ideal?
A meritocratic society rewards talent and effort rather than birth. Few would object to the aim. But the ideal has a darker side. If success is thought to be earned, then failure begins to look deserved, and those at the bottom are told that they have only themselves to blame. Those at the top, convinced that they earned their position, may feel little obligation to others. The idea also ignores how much of what is called talent is the product of luck: a stable home, a good school, a mother who read aloud. None of this is a reason to abandon the principle of reward for effort. It is a reason to hold it humbly, and to remember that the lottery of birth shapes who gets the chance to compete.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. That failure begins to look deserved and the successful feel little obligation to others
- Step 1: The passage says that if success is thought earned, failure looks deserved, and the successful may feel little obligation.
- Step 2: The only choice consistent with this is "That failure begins to look deserved and the successful feel little obligation to others".
Answer
That failure begins to look deserved and the successful feel little obligation to others.
Why not the others: No claims are made about effort, wasted talent, competition in education or birth mattering more.
Practise more Social mobility.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed LNAT mock tests.