WinWinMBA wrote:
For a trade embargo against a particular country to succeed, a high degree of both international accord and ability to prevent goods from entering or leaving that country must be sustained. A total blockade of Patria's ports is necessary to an embargo, but such an action would be likely to cause international discord over the embargo.
The claims above, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions?
(A) The balance of opinion is likely to favor Patria in the event of a blockade.
(B) As long as international opinion is unanimously against Patria, a trade embargo is likely to succeed.
(C) A naval blockade of Patria's ports would ensure that no goods enter or leave Patria.
(D) Any trade embargo against Patria would be likely to fail at some time.
(E) For a blockade of Patria's ports to be successful, international opinion must be unanimous.
embargo (noun) = to officially stop trading with another country
accord (noun) = a formal agreement between two organizations, countries, etc
discord (noun) = the state of not agreeing or sharing opinions
unanimous (adjective) = if a decision or opinion is
unanimous, it is agreed or shared by everyone in a group
Situation The success of a trade embargo requires both international accord and the ability to enforce the embargo. In the case of Patria, an embargo would require a total blockade of the ports, but the blockade itself would likely lead to international discord.
blockade (noun) = the situation in which a country or place is surrounded by soldiers or ships to stop people or goods from going in or out
Reasoning What conclusion can be drawn from this information? A conclusion must be based only on the information provided. Since the given information discusses the general conditions for a successful trade embargo and the conditions specific to the possible embargo in Patria, the
conclusion should be about
the likelihood of success for a trade embargo against Patria. Since international accord is necessary for the success of an embargo but the blockade required in this case would create international discord, the contradictions of this paradoxical situation make any embargo unlikely to succeed.
Step 1: Identify the QuestionInferenceStep 2: Deconstruct the ArgumentTE success:
1. most / all agree, AND
2. block most or all goods
P: if block → disagreement
Step 3: Pause and State the GoalOn
Inference questions, the goal is to find an answer that can be proven true using
ONLY the facts stated in the argument.
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right(A) Although international discord would likely result from a blockade, no information allows a conclusion to be drawn about the balance of opinion.
(B) This conclusion is not justified because a successful embargo requires both international accord and the ability to enforce the embargo.
(C) This statement simply defines the purpose of a blockade; it is not a conclusion from the information given.
(D) Correct. This statement properly identifies a conclusion supported by the claims.
(E) The necessary condition for success is a high degree of international accord, not unanimity, so this conclusion cannot be justified.