GenChem - Question

[horcruxxx]

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I got the answer right but I don't understand the explanation regarding why HC is necessarily part of the slow step of the reaction. Any help appreciated! I screenshot the question and only relevant part of the passage... http://puu.sh/4nEab

This is from the Chem self-assessment, btw.

 

[anticarbon]

I am in the same situation - I got the question correct but had hard time understanding the answer explanation.

I thought about it this way... ln[M] is the concentration of 'unreacted' metal, so it is directly (but inversely) related to the [HC] concentration. If this graph is not linear, we can infer that [HC] is not in excess and therefore in rate-determining step, therefore slow-step.

Please correct me if I am wrong as I am not 100% sure about the answer.