This question asks you to identify the stated purpose of the author’s suggestion that any institution holding 20 percent or more of a corporation’s stock be required to give the public one day’s notice of the intent to sell that stock.
The best answer is C. The purpose of the requirement that institutions holding 20 percent or more of a company’s stock be required to give advance public notice of the sale of that stock is stated: to prevent insititutions from “trading shares at the propitious moment” and to encourage them to concentrate on increasing a company’s productivity.
Choice A is incorrect. The suggested requirement that an institution give advance notice of its intent to sell a significant amount of stock tends to discourage institutional stockholders from selling stock they believe will decrease in value since, according to the passage, such an announcement would cause the stock’s value to plummet.
Choice B is also incorrect. The author argues that insititutional stockholders should be “encouraged to take a more active role in the operations of the companies in which they invest”. The advance notice requirement discussed is proposed by the author as a means of fostering, not discouraging, institutional stockholders’ participation in the operation of the companies they invest in.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The passage does not discuss ownership of company stock by that company’s employees.