One analyst predicts that Hong Kong can retain its capitalist ways aft

IMO B. OA?

I vote for B since

Capitalist HK -- useful to CN since Capitalist HK is prosperous and HK is prosperous since it is a capitalist economy.

Also stimulus talks of the merger of HK with CN in 1997 and so if HK can remain prosperous by virtue of being either being a socialistic or capitalist will be allowed to remain so.

Hence option B.

IMO B

A. WRONG. HK has to abandon its capitalist setup if it is not useful to China anymore. It is nowhere mentioned in the argument that China will release HK if it fails.
B. CORRECT. China would allow HK to exercise capitalism after 1997 if HK was already doing that
C & E WRONG. Out of scope info
D WRONG. It is not implied from the argument that HK will continue to prosper in future

If the predictions above are correct, which of the following further predictions can logically be derived from them?


(A) If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer remain part of mainland China.

Passage does not say whether Hong Kong will be a part of China or not if the earlier one fails to stay prosperous. It only mentions if HonG Kong's capitalist ways suits to China, it will let Hong Kong to continue with those ways.

(B) If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.

This can be inferred because if HK does not retain its capitalist ways until 1997, HK may not remain useful for China and may not let HK to continue with its capitalist ways.

(C) If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.

Can't be inferred. World economic crisis not mentioned.

(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997

Irrelevant.

(E) The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions placed on them by the government of mainland China.

Irrelevant.

Hi, I am not sure why D is incorrect. Can I get some explanation for that please?

jaykpatel21 I am using condition technique i.e. necessary and sufficient condition.

Retain -> useful
useful -> prosperous
prosperous -> retain

With this map , if Honkong is not prosperous then it is not useful
if not useful then wont be retain so I chose A. Can you help me to understand why B is correct?

For A,
It is written that HK won't be the part of China which cannot be inferred. The passage talks about retaining its capitalist ways.
For B,
This can be inferred because if Hong kong does not retain its capitalist ways until 1997, Hong kong may not remain useful for China and may not let Honk Kong to continue with its capitalist ways.
B is correct

Posted from my mobile device

To add to what jay said, the passage is talking about the usefulness of “Capitalistic Hong Kong”, and not “Hong Kong” itself.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinjaTwo GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

Isn't the issue at hand whether Hong Kong will retain its capitalist system after 1997 or not ? There is nothing to suggest that Hong Kong's economic system prior to 1997 is any issue.

I know how B makes sense but D also follows like this.

1. Hong Kong retains its capitalist system till 1997 (since question stem doesn't challenge this)
2. Hong Kong remains profitable till 1997 because it has capitalist system till 1997.
3. Hong Kong gets to keep capitalist system after 1997 (when it becomes part of mainland China) because it remains profitable.
4. Hong Kong will be prosperous (because the loop of profitability and capitalism stays in place).

The highlighted part is a problem. The question stem doesn't challenge it but it doesn't predict it either. So we do not know whether HK will retain its capitalist system till 1997. So we cannot logically derive that it will be prosperous after 1997.

The stem says, 'retain its capitalist ways' which clearly means that HK will be capitalist up until it becomes part of mainland China. It is the 'retention' that is at issue here.

The passage states a circular reference actually

1. if HK is useful to china -> HK remains capitalist

2. If HK is prosperous -> HK is useful to china

3. if HK remains capitalist -> HK is prosperous

replace 2 and 3:

1. if HK is useful to china -> HK remains capitalist if A then B
3. if HK remains capitalist -> HK is prosperous if B then C
2. If HK is prosperous -> HK is useful to china if C then A

this is a circular reference.

Now, that was just some useful point of view to learn I guess.

What can we infer from above logical statements?

1- acc to Modus Tollens, we can expect to have if NOT B then NOT A, or any similar statement in all three
2- because it is a circular reference we can expect to have if A then C. or if B then A, or even if C then C.

Rule 1: Find the conclusion, (which we do not have yet)

Rule 2: Eliminate 4 answers


(A) If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer remain part of mainland China.
first half goes well "If NOT C then" second half is irrelevant not among A,B or C. eliminate

(B) If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.
if C , then C. seems promising, lets keep it.


(C) If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.

clearly irrelevant information. nothing about crisis or its effect on HK. eliminate


(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997

This is tricky. it will hold true if we know HK is already in the loop. what if it is outside of it? HK must be useful to China (we do not know that) and must have remained capitalist (we do not know that either) so that we can infer that HK will be prosperous. eliminate

(E) The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions placed on them by the government of mainland China.

no info about HK citizens. eliminate.


Only answer remaining : B

My reading says the exact opposite

RE: B -
Whether HK is capitalist or not UP UNTIL 1997 has nothing to do with what happens to HK once it gets incorporated into China. We don't know whether HK will be capitalist (and hence remain prosperous or not)...Why would it necessarily follow that HK will be allowed to do so? Suppose it's no longer capitalist in which case its no longer prosperous and hence no longer useful...then China WOULD NOT allow HK to remain capitalist...

D -
If the prediction holds true then it is CERTAINLY the case that HK is prosperous after 1997.

I am not quite sure why responses are saying D is irrelevant.

Am I missing something here?

Hong Kong can retain its capitalist ways ,<---- is useful to China < ------- Hong Kong is prosperous;< ------ Hong Kong can retain its capitalist way

For B: If Hk retains capitalist ways it will be useful to china..it will be useful to china ( why they can allow it to remain as it )if HK is prosperous. Hk can be prosperous if HK retains capitalist ways.

It means as far as HK retains capitalists way , it will continue to remain same till HK is prosperous.


(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997
it is single statement without any dependency as in B.
It can be YES or NO, it won't impact conclusion.
hence D can not be answer

D can be quickly eliminated.

We're told that one analyst predicts HK can retain its capitalist ways after 1997 if it meets the criteria. Can we infer that HK will be prosperous after 1997? The answer is no. We're only told what has happened up to 1997.

A is wrong because we're told:

IF (useful to China) --> THEN (retain its capitalist ways)

We can't say IF NOT (useful to China) --) NOT (retain its capitalist ways)

We can only infer with certainty choice B: If HK retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.

(A) If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer remain part of mainland China.
it might be given an opportunity to fight it's way back we never know

(B) If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to do so afterward.
Yes definitely since the passage never has any implication on the restriction that would be imposed this is definitely a possibility

(C) If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was never stated as a full proof from any crisis which opens up wide range of possibilities therefore out

(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997
Future is indeterministic therefore out

(E) The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions placed on them by the government of mainland China.
How China behaves has been always beenand will be unpredictable therefore out

Therefore IMO B

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