Explanation
In this question, as in any such question, we will not
attempt to read the author's mind, but rather choose the statement that is
directly supported by the author's statements and maybe even required by the
author's statements. We can discard (A); while the author may not consider the
current level of globalization the highest level, he definitely doesn't
consider it low. On to (B). This statement seems quite defensible at first, but
there is a problem: we are told that cheaper transport had a greater impact in
the first and third phases, but it appears to have been trumped by policy in
the second phase, and therefore does not have a greater effect throughout the three phases. So (B) is
out. Choice (C) makes a statement that may sound arbitrary, but we might find
that it's required by the argument. Indeed, right in the first sentence, the
author says that "international barriers to trade fell most steeply, as can be
seen in the case of price convergence in commodities" (lines 4-6). For this
statement to be true, the statement in choice (C) must be true. Choice (C) will be our answer. Choice (D) is
inaccurate, because the UK's ratio changed by 13 points and the United States'
by 12. Choice (E) makes a claim that is implausible and not supported by the
passage; the fact that commodities gaps were closed again and that barriers
fell again doesn't mean that globalization, which has not been defined to be
limited to those factors, didn't have other lasting effects.
The correct answer is (C).
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