When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of

Question

When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of the nation’s political opposition had died of a mysterious illness in prison, few seasoned observers of the regime were surprised. As the police captain in an old movie remarked when asked about the condition of a prisoner, “We’re trying to decide whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.”

The statements above invite which of the following conclusions?

(A) The opposition leader was probably killed trying to escape from prison.
(B) The opposition leader may not be dead at all.
(C) It is unlikely that the head of the regime knows the true cause of the opposition leader’s death.
(D) The opposition leader probably killed himself.
(E) The regime very likely was responsible for the death of the opposition leader.

TommyWallach · Accepted Answer

Hey All,

Just wanted to weigh in briefly on this one. You guys sure have hearts of gold to not be able to guess the darkness at the center of this one. Indeed, as shasidharancsp says, what's going on here is that the prisoner was killed by the opposition party (a possibility pretty heavily suggested in the section leading up to the quote). The police chief says "We're trying to decide whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape." Think about it. How could those two possibilities exist at once? It's a prison. The police chief needs to tell the press something, so they're trying to decide between the two lies. In reality, they killed him.

As for C, this DOES NOT imply that the police chief doesn't know what happened at all. He's being facetious. I know how you've all been taught to be highly literal in how you read these, but also pay attention to the way the question itself is worded "The statements above invite which of the following conclusions?". See how they're pointing you towards what's hidden underneath here?

The correct answer is E.

Hope that helps!

bassiseema · Answer

When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of the nation’s political opposition had died of a mysterious illness in prison, few seasoned observers of the regime were surprised. As the police captain in an old movie remarked when asked about the condition of a prisoner, “We’re trying to decide whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.”
The statements above invite which of the following conclusions?
(A) The opposition leader was probably killed trying to escape from prison.
(B) The opposition leader may not be dead at all.
(C) It is unlikely that the head of the regime knows the true cause of the opposition leader’s death.
(D) The opposition leader probably killed himself.
(E) The regime very likely was responsible for the death of the opposition leader.

-Note that opposition leader DIED of mysterious illness and police captain when asked abt the CONDITION of the prisoner- We are TRYING to DECIDE whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape- So it is clear that the prisoner is dead and also he died in custody. How he dies is not disclosed. SO I will go with E.

But also looking at the answer choice D and E. D is "probably" and E is "very likely" so going by the logic of less strong words D could win the argument.

OA please...

Jivana · Answer

Another one for  E .

In the 2nd sentence where the Author is using the analogy of an old police captain...he's implying that the police know exactly what happened, there is a cover-up and they are trying to figure out how to spin it for public consumption.

I think C might be a trap, as nowhere does it refers to the 'head of the regime' in the original stem.

bassiseema · Answer

-Note that opposition leader DIED of mysterious illness and police captain when asked abt the CONDITION of the prisoner- We are TRYING to DECIDE whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape- So it is clear that the prisoner is dead and also he died in custody. How he dies is not disclosed. SO I will go with E.

But also looking at the answer choice D and E. D is "probably" and E is "very likely" so going by the logic of less strong words D could win the argument.

OA please...

NOT C Because- C talks about "HEAD of the Regime"- and the argument mentions "the government of a nation"

BarneyStinson · Answer

As the police captain in an old movie remarked..., What is the author trying to depict by using this kind of an analogy? How does it connect with the first statement about a leader of the nation's political opposition had dies of mysterious illness in prison? Can some verbal experts throw more light on this kind of verbiage?

shalva · Answer

Police captain is mentioned in order to draw parallels between him and the "government of the nation". At least that's how I understand this stimulus.

This analogy implies that the government is responsible for the death of the opposition leader (as police captain is for the death of prisoner)

(E)

theYogi · Answer

I am debating between C & E and will go with E even though it looks far-fetched but C talks about  head of the regime  which is never mentioned in the passage

I believe answer is E...OA?

shasidharancsp · Answer

My logic goes this way.

Firstly the analogy of the police captain is provided to show an example how a regime or a ruling party will answer if asked about the condition of a prisoner in its captivity who may or may not have died at that point of time. The police captain tries to disguise the reason for the death and tries not to take the blame for the death by throwing reasons in which the prisoner is solely responsible for his own death. This is the key. In the same way, the Governement of a nation has announced that the opposition leader died due to mysterious illness,taking no blame for his death. Hence the argument states that 'few seasoned observers of the regime were surprised" - Implying that most of the observers of the regime were not surprised and they know what would have happened to the opposition leader.

Hence the answer is 'E'.

stoneshwar · Answer

Here's why E makes sense:

1. "few seasoned observers of the regime were surprised."
The questions says "few", not "a few". This means NOBODY was surprised, i.e. all regime observers knew  that the regime killed the guy.  what killed the guy. (struck out portion has assumption)

2. “We’re trying to decide whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.”
This means they are trying to manufacture a cause of death, not trying to identify it.

Krabhay · Answer

a. Making a note of the statement of the police captain, Reason for the death of prisoner is unclear.
b. Both the police and the government confirmed the prisoner to be dead and moreover, there is no clue given that the prisoner is still alive.
c. Head of the regime is never mentioned in the passage. So, could not be a conclusion.
d. . Making a note of the statement of the police captain, Reason for the death of prisoner is unclear.
e. This could be a conclusion as the passage mentions that “few seasoned observers were surprised” and not “a few”, which means a handful of people were surprised and others were not surprised as they knew what had happened.
Hence, e is the answer.

AKY13 · Answer

E is too extreme to be answer. It has strong language such as "very likely".

PrashantK0099 · Answer

What is this source 1000 series. Does real GMAT produces such question ?

Hrley · Answer

I guess this a good question for GMAT practice in terms of practicing ur reasoning skills. But the subject matter is too messed up for an official GMAT question lol.

When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of

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When the government of a nation announced recently that a leader of

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