Question

Age has a curvilinear relationship with the exploitation of opportunity. Initially, age will increase the likelihood that a person will exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity because people gather much of the knowledge necessary to exploit opportunities over the course of their lives, and because age provides credibility in transmitting that information to others. However, as people become older, their willingness to bear risks declines, their opportunity costs rise, and they become less receptive to new information.

• A. As a result, people transmit more information rather than experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
• B. As a result, people are reluctant to experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
• C. As a result, only people with lower opportunity costs exploit opportunity when they reach an advanced age.
• D. As a result, people become reluctant to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities when they reach an advanced age.
• E. As a result, people depend on credibility rather than on novelty as they reach an advanced age.

Hint:

In causal relationship questions, focus on summarising the exact outcome implied by the given reasons, without adding unnecessary specifics or tangents.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

The passage outlines a pattern: age initially increases entrepreneurial activity due to knowledge and credibility but later decreases it due to reduced risk appetite, higher opportunity costs, and lower receptivity to new information. The best completion should capture the decline in willingness to engage in entrepreneurship with age. - Option (1) focuses only on transmitting information, missing the entrepreneurial element.
- Option (2) mentions reluctance to experiment but doesn’t explicitly tie it to entrepreneurship.
- Option (3) overcomplicates by narrowing to “lower opportunity costs,” which is too specific.
- Option (4) directly summarises the consequence: reluctance to exploit opportunities in advanced age — matching the cause-and-effect structure.
- Option (5) mentions credibility vs. novelty, which is peripheral to the main conclusion.
Thus: \[ \boxed{\text{Option (4)}} \]