This question asks you to determine the main task that the passage is designed to accomplish.
The best answer is B. The passage identifies a problem (shareholder’ and manager’ failure to enhance companies’ long-term productivity) in the first paragraph, most pointedly in the last sentence of that paragraph. In the second paragraph, the author recommends certain actions as a means of solving that problem.
Choice A is not correct. The author of the passage identifies a problem in the first paragraph, but the author does not compare two different approaches to that problem. Rather, in the second paragraph, the author proposes a single, unified approach to solving the problem.
Choice C is incorrect. The author does not defend an established method of institutional shareholding in the United States and recommends a different method in the second paragraph.
Choice D is also incorrect. The author describes a situation in the first paragraph but does not provide data or draw any conclusions from data.