Preconceived notions of the world, especially that of the so-called Th

Question

Preconceived notions of the world, especially that of the so-called Third World, have colored our perceptions enough to blind us to its true state, illustrated by decades of reliable statistics. The currently prevalent and popular juxtaposition of the struggling Third World and the flourishing First World is consistent with the state of the world in the mid - twentieth century, not the world in which we currently reside. For example, while the richest 20% of the world’s population earn 74% of the total income and the poorest 20% earn 2%, the majority of the world’s population belongs to a “middle-class”, earning 24% of the total income. Most countries, with the exception of those African countries devastated by AIDS, share a relatively high life expectancy and low fertility rate. Child mortality rates in many Asian and South American nations are on par with those of the “developed world”; in fact, the country with the lowest child mortality rate in 2007 was Singapore. Unfortunately, most people’s ignorance of these facts and others like them stems from a lack of access to understandable data. Although the data are available, access to statistics is often costly and, even when free access is granted, statistics are presented in a dull fashion, which repels all but the most dedicated.

With which of the following statements about life expectancy would the author of the passage most likely agree?

(A) Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate.
(B) Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country.
(C) Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state.
(D) Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries.
(E) Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise.

With which of the following statements about life expectancy would the author of the passage most likely agree?

(A) Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate.
(B) Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country.
(C) Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state.
(D) Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries.
(E) Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise.

v12345 · Answer

(A) Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate..  Incorrect  as not stated inversely related
(B) Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country..  Incorrect  as not stated
(C) Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state..  Correct 
(D) Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries...  Incorrect  as not stated again
(E) Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise...  Incorrect  as not stated

Hence, OA is (C).

Bunuel · Answer

___________________________
Those are two different questions.

LamboWalker · Answer

Prethinking - Well firstly this is the biggest CR question I've ever encountered! But what an amazing argument by the author. Looking at the question, the author starts talking about life expectancy, mortality rates and all these quantitative measures certainly to refer to the overall development of the country. This question is very much like an RC question where you need to understand the author's tone and the purpose of each sentence to get the overall big picture.

(A)  Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate.  Although these two are stated together in one sentence, the author definitely doesn't state they are inversely proportional. Eliminate.
(B)  Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country.  From what I gathered from the passage, the author seems strongly against the whole idea of dividing the world based on historical measurements so this option can't be the answer.
(C)  Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state.  Now this certainly matches my prethinking, the author only starts comparing life expectancies because he believes this measurement can allow us to judge effectively the development of a country.
(D)  Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries.  No indication of this at all.
(E)  Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise.  Again, nothing like this stated at all.

Answer  C

sivatx2 · Answer

(A) Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate. 
  Author may not agree with this as there is no where in the passage a relationship between the two has been established. They may also be 2 separate independent events/factors. Eliminate.

(B) Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country. 
  The passage is about problem with preconceived notion on Third world countries without data interpretation. Author does not say this statement anywhere. Eliminate.

( C) Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state.  
  Life expectancy is one of the factor discussed clearly in the arguments. Though Singapore is a 'First World' country, the data that life expectancy is low states that with respect to this indicator they are behind. Also, some African countries with most AIDS cases, have low expectancy and countries in Asia & South America have surprisingly better life expectancy. There are other factors like fertility rates (discussed minimally) and economic situations the author considered. All these factors influences a country's "true state". This will agree the most with the author, and hence the answer choice is C.   
 
 (D) Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries. 
  Author never stated life expectancy is high in most countries(false information). He only brought the discrepancy between the actual data when compared to the economy well-being of various countries. Also, he never speaks or predicts on the life expectancy, that it will not remain same. Eliminate.

(E) Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise.
 
  The relationship between low fertility rates and life expectancy is discussed. They may be 2 completely independent & separate events. Or it may be related. Since it is not discussed by the author, eliminate.

thelonghalloween · Answer

IMO Option C
 
Above statement clearly uses life expectancy as some sort of indicator of country's health.  Only option C says this.  To confirm, no other options seem correct/ relevant

BTW, it took me nearly 70 seconds to read the argument, and 94 seconds to solve overall. Any tips is reading/ analyzing this faster

100mitra · Answer

Correct Answer Option C

With which of the following statements about life expectancy would the author of the passage most likely agree?

(A) Life expectancy is inversely proportional to fertility rate.
- Comparison between Life expectancy and Fertility rate -  wrong

(B) Having a high life expectancy should be a requirement for common consideration as a "First World" country.
- Gives information to be 1st World country requirements -  wrong

(C) Life expectancy is an indicator of a country's overall state.
- correct comparison between Life expectancy and country current situation -   correct

(D) Although life expectancy is currently high in most countries, it will not remain so in those countries commonly referred to as "Third World" countries.
- gives more information about third world countries assumption to be -  Wrong

(E) Low fertility rates cause life expectancy to rise.
- same as option A -  Wrong

Posted from my mobile device

100mitra · Answer

Hope it will be helpful, it usually works for me.

1. In Passage,
Try to find correlation, there are some of defined pattern as mentioned below :
*- cause and effect - alomst 60%
*- some social moral story
*- business approach, to be beneficial or not
*- a study conducted by some and their strengthen or weaken result

In Answer Choice
If are able to get the correlation from passage, typically answer option would be mentioned below as,
*- strength the argument
*- weaken the argument
*- out of scope to distract
*- so close the actual answer, but will be wrong
*- one of facts from passage, in different words, would be premise or conclusion in different words.
- correlation would be wrongly compared than actual

Elimination can be made easy, by
*- 1st notice strong words, this are mostly indicators for elimination
*- relationship between X and Y, which is required
*- and most simple, ask What and why this option is given, it will help to understand correlation

Posted from my mobile device

100mitra · Answer

Hope it will be helpful, it usually works for me.

1. In Passage,
Try to find correlation, there are some of defined pattern as mentioned below :
*- cause and effect - alomst 60%
*- some social moral story
*- business approach, to be beneficial or not
*- a study conducted by some and their strengthen or weaken result

In Answer Choice
If are able to get the correlation from passage, typically answer option would be mentioned below as,
*- strength the argument
*- weaken the argument
*- out of scope to distract
*- so close the actual answer, but will be wrong
*- one of facts from passage, in different words, would be premise or conclusion in different words.
- correlation would be wrongly compared than actual

Elimination can be made easy, by
*- 1st notice strong words, this are mostly indicators for elimination
*- relationship between X and Y, which is required
*- and most simple, ask What and why this option is given, it will help to understand correlation

Posted from my mobile device

Preconceived notions of the world, especially that of the so-called Th

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Preconceived notions of the world, especially that of the so-called Th

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