A citizens' group has proposed a law that would prevent their governm

Question

A citizens' group has proposed a law that would prevent their government representatives from buying and selling company stocks based on nonpublic information that those representatives obtained in their capacities as government officials that they could not have otherwise obtained. However, the law would not prevent them from making other stock transactions.

The citizens are working on the following draft of the law:

No government official is permitted to either purchase or sell any company's stock based on information that was   1   unless that information was   2   .

Select for 1 and for 2 the options that complete the draft statute in a manner that best captures the citizens' group's goals. Make only two selections, one in each column.

GMATinsight · Answer

Based on the highlighted content it's evident to make choices
1) acquired as part of their official duties
2) Already available to public

The suggestion is  "Read the information carefully and not-so-fast"  as the questions won't allow you to read them repetitively due to time constraints.

Bismuth83 · Answer

1. Let's analyze the main idea of the law. It's to prevent government representatives from purchasing/selling stocks using government information that isn't available to the public.

2. (1) is about what type of information. Based on the passage, this is government related information. So, the best fitting option would be "acquired as part of their official duties."

3. (2) is about when the government information is ok to use to purchase/sell stocks. Based on the passage, this is information that is public. So, the best fitting option would be "already available to the public."

4. Our answer would be:   1 - acquired as part of their official duties and 2 - already available to the public  .

egmat · Answer

Let's break this down step by step. The citizens' group wants a law that does  TWO  things:

1.  PROHIBITS stock trading based on information officials got THROUGH THEIR GOVERNMENT JOBS.
 2.  ALLOWS stock trading when the information is already PUBLIC (i.e., anyone could have known it).

Now let's read the draft: 'No government official is permitted to either purchase or sell any company's stock based on information that was  1 ] unless that information was  2 ].'

Notice the structure:  Blank  1  defines WHAT kind of information is restricted. Blank  2  defines the EXCEPTION — when trading IS allowed.

For Blank 1,  we need to describe how the information was obtained. The passage says 'nonpublic information that those representatives obtained in their capacities as government officials.' Which option matches this?  Option  6  — 'acquired as part of their official duties' — perfectly captures the source of the information.  Other options like 'specific to a certain company' or 'pertaining to pending legislation' are  too narrow and miss the key idea  that it's about HOW the info was obtained, not WHAT the info is about.

For Blank 2,  we need the exception. The passage says the law targets 'nonpublic information... that they could not have otherwise obtained.' The flip side is: if the information IS already public, trading should be fine.  Option  3  — 'already available to the public' — creates exactly this exception.  If everyone already knows the information, there's no unfair advantage.

Putting it together:  'No government official is permitted to either purchase or sell any company's stock based on information that was  acquired as part of their official duties  unless that information was  already available to the public .'

Key Insight:  This sentence does exactly what the citizens want — it blocks insider trading by officials while still allowing them to trade on publicly known information, just like any ordinary citizen could.

Answer: Blank 1 = Option 6 (acquired as part of their official duties), Blank 2 = Option 3 (already available to the public)

A citizens' group has proposed a law that would prevent their governm

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1	2
		of a trivial nature
		specific to a certain company
		already available to the public
		pertaining to pending legislation
		related to a private transaction
		acquired as part of their official duties

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A citizens' group has proposed a law that would prevent their governm