Final answer:
A meritocracy is theoretically a system where personal merit solely determines rewards, but in practice, no society is a pure meritocracy. Achievement and ascribed factors both influence social standing, and factors like social capital, education and connections are also important. False, a meritocracy is not a system that allocates rewards in many areas of merit (B).
Step-by-step explanation:
False, a meritocracy is not a system that allocates rewards in many areas of merit. Instead, it's an idealized system where rewards are based solely on personal merit, which typically refers to one's abilities, efforts, and performance. In reality, however, no society has ever been a true meritocracy because social standing often involves a mixture of achievement and ascribed factors, such as socioeconomic status at birth, race, and familial connections.
Moreover, stratification systems like class systems allow for some degree of social mobility based on achievement but are not purely meritocratic. While someone might ascend the social ladder due to hard work and skill, other factors like social capital, education, and the right connections often play critical roles in determining one's success, indicating that pure meritocracies don't exist in practice.