A politician can neither be reelected nor avoid censure by

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer choice is (A) The argument begins with a statement that contains two necessary conditions: SS = involved in any serious scandal, sub-P = politician, R = reelected, C = censure, SSP —>~R and ~C. This conditional relationship is introduced by the “if” in the middle of the sentence, but the statement also features a “neither/nor” construction. In this case, the neither/nor indicates that the two named events both cannot occur if a politician is involved in a serious scandal, hence the “and” in the necessary condition. The argument continues by stating that several prominent politicians have been involved in a serious scandal. This assertion begins a Repeat form argument by indicating that the sufficient condition has occurred: SSP. Given this occurrence, the author now concludes that one of the two necessary conditions—“not reelected”—will happen. Because this is true based on the premises, this is a valid conclusion. Some readers object that because the author does not mention censure, the conclusion is incomplete and therefore incorrect. This point has no merit. Any GMAT author can choose what he or she wishes to address, and in this case the author has made a conclusion that follows from the premises. No false or incorrect statement has been made. The author is not compelled to address every single consequence of a given set of premises. However, as soon as the Must Be True questions stem appears, you should immediately search for an answer that addresses the censure issue. Based on the premises, we know that the prominent politicians will also be censured and answer choice (A) indicates that fact.

Answer choice (A): This correct answer is a result of the Repeat argument form enacted in the stimulus.

Answer choice (B): This answer is a Mistaken Negation of part of the conditional statement in the first sentence.

Answer choice (C): This answer is a Mistaken Reversal of part of the conditional statement in the first sentence.

Answer choice (D): This issue is not addressed in the stimulus.

Answer choice (E): While this answer is possibly true because the stimulus limits the discussion to “politicians known to be involved in any serious scandals,” there is no evidence to prove that some politicians avoid detection and censure. Thus, this answer is incorrect.