V05-15

Official Solution:


Which of the following best completes the passage below?

Economic sanctions that forbid trade with countries with dictatorial governments assume that the dictator will change policies unacceptable to the imposing nation when the citizens of the country against which the sanctions are imposed lose sufficient access to necessities such as food, water, and clothing. The reasoning of the imposing nation regarding the success of the sanctions is flawed because _________


A. citizens of the country against whom the sanctions are imposed are accustomed to being poor
B. the dictator has ideological reasons for maintaining national policy
C. the country imposing the sanctions relies on exports from the subject country
D. the dictator is not concerned by the inconvenience of his people
E. citizens of the country against whom the sanctions are imposed do not understand the leader’s policies


The question asks to find a flaw in the reasoning of the sanction-imposing nations - it does not ask to find whether or not the approach would be successful. The reasoning of the sanction imposing nation is as follows:

Premise: The people of the country lose sufficient access to necessities such as food, water, and clothing.

Conclusion: The dictator would change policies unacceptable to the imposing nation.

One underlying assumption in the reasoning of the imposing nation is that the dictator would be concerned by the inconvenience caused to his people who lose access to food, water and clothing, and because of his concern for his people, he would change the policies.

A. This option does not have relevance to the reasoning of the sanctioning country. The correct option must point out a flaw in the premise-to-conclusion link mentioned above. The people of the dictator’s nation might already be poor, but losing access to food, water and clothing cis an additional inconvenience which might influence the dictator to change the policies.

B. Although this option points out a reason why the sanction could be unsuccessful, this option does not address the connection between the premise and conclusion. As described earlier, the question asks to find a flaw in the reasoning of the sanction-imposing nations - it does not ask to find whether or not the approach would be successful. The dictator may have ideological reasons that might make the sanctions unsuccessful in changing his policies, but the reasoning of the sanctioning nations stated in the passage is not attacked by this option.

C. Although this option points out a reason why the sanction could be unsuccessful, this option does not address the connection between the premise and conclusion. As described earlier, the question asks to find a flaw in the reasoning of the sanction-imposing nations - it does not ask to find whether or not the approach would be successful. The economy of the imposing country might surfer because of the sanctioning, thereby giving a possibility that the sanction would be lifted, but the reasoning (premise-to-conclusion link) of the sanctioning nations stated in the passage is not attacked by this option.

D. CORRECT. This option correctly addresses the premise-to-conclusion link made in the passage. This option points to a flaw in one of the underlying assumptions in the reasoning. If the dictator is not concerned about the inconvenience of his people, he would not change the policies. The reasoning of the imposing nation would be flawed because a wrong assumption was made in the reasoning.

E. This option does not have relevance to the reasoning of the sanctioning country. The correct option must point out a flaw in the premise-to-conclusion link mentioned above. Whether the citizens of a country understand the dictator’s policy has nothing to do with the reasoning of the sanctioning country.


Answer: D