As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapo

Question

As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapon in the propaganda war against our foes, I am distressed by reports of “disinformation” campaigns by American intelligence agents in Western Europe. In a disinformation campaign, untruths are disseminated through gullible local journalists in order to damage the interests of our enemies and protect our own. Those who defend this practice say that lying is necessary to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns aimed at damaging America’s political interests. These apologists contend that one must fight fire with fire. I would point out to the apologists that the fire department finds water more effective.

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

(A) A circular definition of "disinformation"
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war
(C) An analogy between truth and water
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

(A) A circular definition of “disinformation
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war
(C) An analogy between truth and water
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

sambitspm · Accepted Answer

As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapon in the propaganda war against our foes, I am distressed by reports of “disinformation” campaigns by American intelligence agents in Western Europe. In a disinformation campaign, untruths are disseminated through gullible local journalists in order to damage the interests of our enemies and protect our own. Those who defend this practice say that lying is necessary to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns aimed at damaging America’s political interests. These apologists contend that one must fight fire with fire. I would point out to the apologists that the fire department finds water more effective.

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

(A) A circular definition of "disinformation"
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war
(C) An analogy between truth and water
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

Premise: Truth is the strongest weapon.
Premise: The campaign of disinformation is a bad practice and should be discarded.
Lastly the author gives analogy between fire and water, how fire department uses water against a deadly element - fire.

You can easily eliminate the options D, E.

Now coming to A, there is no circular definition of disinformation. Disinformation is used as a concept to make arguments.
There is no mention of the ineffectiveness of lying in a propaganda war. It is suggested not to use it, but whether it is ineffective, is not mentioned in the premises. So B is out.

Answer C

(A) A circular definition of “disinformation
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war 
 (C) An analogy between truth and water 
( D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

B is not must be true as lying has never been stated in the stem as ineffective. The stem only mentions lying as less effective in comparison to truth (water).

longway25 · Answer

The last sentence clearly expresses analogy. The "lying" in the previous statement is introduced to bring about a contrast pointing out the author's view that lying is not the best option. Truth and falsity are binary. It's clear that the analogy is between truth and water.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

tera bhai beta bht tez bht tez .... btw if my explanation does not make sense to you... im sorry , im not an expert

LeopardLiu · Answer

This question is fantastic. Haha. I enjoyed very bit of it. Thanks to GAMTCLUB.

bronaugust · Answer

Let us first understand what the question actually requires you to do. The question stem says, 'The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?' Clearly, the conclusion is already part of the argument. You are to figure out the hidden premise or the assumption of the author. Now that you know you are dealing with an assumption question, you may work the argument by figuring out the conclusion and the premise.

CONCLUSION:   I would point out to the apologists that the fire department finds water more effective.

PREMISE:   In a disinformation campaign, untruths are disseminated through gullible local journalists in order to damage the interests of our enemies and protect our own. Those who defend this practice say that lying is necessary to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns aimed at damaging America’s political interests. These apologists contend that one must fight fire with fire.

In an assumption question, the right answer must bridge the gap between the conclusion and the premise. The premise talks of apologists who content one must fight fire with fire. Fire, clearly, means the practice of lying. However, the conclusion speaks of fire department and water. One can assume that water, on account of being found more effective by the fire department than fire itself, is somehow connected with the premise, for the author arrives at his conclusion based on the stated premise. Now, let us looking for a link that acts as an unstated premise in the given answer options. You shall eliminate answer options that are either out of scope or way too extreme to be correct.

(A) A circular definition of  "disinformation" -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  The argument has nothing to do with the circular definition of the word "disinformation"  -    ELIMINATE   
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war -   OUT OF SCOPE   - The author's conclusion speaks of fire department, which, as per the author, finds water more effective, meaning there is no example of the ineffectiveness of lying upon which the argument is based  -    ELIMINATE   
(C) An analogy between truth and water -   BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN THE CONCLUSION AND THE PREMISE   -  'Water' must have been used to mean 'truth', for if that was not the case, it is logically impossible to derive such a conclusion from the stated premise  -    KEEP   
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  Not worried about any appeal  -    ELIMINATE   
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe -   OUT OF SCOPE   -  Not worried about any attack on the character of American intelligence agents  -    ELIMINATE

Hence, C is the right answer!

PhlpSrks · Answer

One excellent trick in CR , (works perfectly for this) is reading the question bottom-up.

Start by reading the alternatives, then read the last 2 senteces (which generally contain author's conclusion).

In this question, by doing that it's perceivable that the author is making  an analogy .

The only alternative that   fits this scope is C  .

Obviously, double-check and read the full statement just to be sure.

SomeOneUnique · Answer

As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapon in the propaganda war against our foes, I am distressed by reports of “disinformation” campaigns by American intelligence agents in Western Europe. In a disinformation campaign, untruths are disseminated through gullible local journalists in order to damage the interests of our enemies and protect our own. Those who defend this practice say that lying is necessary to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns aimed at damaging America’s political interests. These apologists contend that one must fight fire with fire. I would point out to the apologists that the fire department finds water more effective.

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

(A) A circular definition of "disinformation"
(B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war
(C) An analogy between truth and water
(D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department
(E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

The author of the passage above bases his conclusion on which of the following?

(A) A circular definition of “disinformation 
 (B) An example of the ineffectiveness of lying as a weapon in the propaganda war 
 (C) An analogy between truth and water 
 (D) An appeal to the authority of the fire department 
 (E) An attack on the character of American intelligence agents in Western Europe

This is a politically intense argument. Taking that information into account, I straightaway picked option C because C is a politically stable argument.

As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapo

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

As one who has always believed that truth is our nation’s surest weapo

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards