2025 CSAT — Q61

Locate. This asks for the central idea — the load-bearing thesis — so find what the passage asserts and to what extent. It opens with growth (“no democracy that has grown economically without corporate capitalism”) and closes with the democratic payoff (“additional revenues… welfare for the marginalized… a more level playing field”). The through-line couples economic growth and democratic benefit. That is the anchor.

Test — the thesis, not a detail; and check the fit. The key must say corporate capitalism is important for growth and for democracy, without inflating into “imperative / survival / mutual dependence.” (a) — “important for economic growth of a State and also for democracy” — matches both halves at the right strength.

Eliminate by anatomy. (b) makes a claim the passage never actually makes — “achieve its political objectives” is a goal the passage never names. (c) over-states the case — “no State can ensure its economic survival for long without” is an absolutist survival claim past the text’s “grown economically.” (d) also over-states — “mutual dependence for continued existence” asserts a symmetric existential dependence the passage doesn’t establish (it shows democracies need corporate capitalism to grow and that it funds welfare, not that each exists only via the other). Key: (a).

“There has been no democracy that has grown economically without corporate capitalism… A vibrant corporate capitalist base also leads to additional revenues for the State — which in turn, can be used for greater welfare for the marginalized and creating a more level playing field.” The message pairs economic growth with benefits to democracy (welfare, level playing field) — corporate capitalism is important both for growth and for democracy (a).

The passage argues corporate capitalism drives modernization, jobs, and competitiveness, and that its revenues fund “greater welfare for the marginalized and creating a more level playing field.” So it is presented as important both for economic growth and, through that welfare and fairness, for democracy.

(a) captures both at the passage’s actual strength. Answer: (a).

The real contest is (a) vs (d). (d) is tempting because the passage does link corporate capitalism and democracy — but it links them as “important for” (growth + welfare), not as “mutually dependent for continued existence,” which is a far stronger, symmetric claim. On a central-idea question, choose the option that matches the strength of the author’s link. (a) says “important… and also for democracy”; (d) escalates to existential co-dependence the text doesn’t support.