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phoenix2194
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 14 Jul 2022, 06:50
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45% (medium)

Question Stats:

69% (01:54) correct 31% (02:22) wrong based on 498 sessions

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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from dictatorship contain no material incriminating the country’s most notorious dictator in certain crimes that political observers believed him to have instigated. In fact, the archives contain documents implicating others in these crimes. Therefore, even though this dictator was probably guilty of many other crimes, the political observers’ belief that he was also guilty of these crimes is almost certainly wrong.

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

(A) presumes, without providing justification, that rulers should not be held responsible for unjust actions carried out by their subordinates

(B) fails to justify its presumption about the reliability of the archives as a source of information regarding the dictator’s criminal involvement

(C) fails to take into account that there might be other documents exonerating those persons that the archives did implicate

(D) fails to consider the possibility that dictators cannot commit their crimes without the help of many other people

(E) fails to consider the possibility that the political observers might have wished to make the dictator appear worse than he really was
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B
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EtaCarnia
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 26 Jul 2022, 23:14
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Hi,

What's wrong with option D.?
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ReetArora
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 14 Jun 2025, 21:52
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chose option B, but how would you eliminate option D?
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 22 Jul 2025, 11:02
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ReetArora
chose option B, but how would you eliminate option D?
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(D) focuses on the mechanics of crime (how dictators need helpers), but the argument's conclusion is not about how crimes were committed — it's about who was responsible based on what’s missing in the archives.

The core flaw is this: The argument assumes that if the archives don’t contain incriminating evidence, then the dictator must not have done it.

Hence, (B) “fails to justify its presumption about the reliability of the archives as a source of information regarding the dictator’s criminal involvement”

This was just my interpretation!
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 23 Jul 2025, 00:29
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Premise: The archives of a country freed from dictatorship contain no material against the notorious dictator regarding some notorious crimes that political advisors believed he had done
Premise: Those archives do contain documents implicating others in these crimes
Conclusion: Since there are no archives regarding the dictator's relations to those crimes, he cannot be guilty of those crimes.

With some pre-thinking, it's easy to see what makes this conclusion vulnerable. It's the fact that the documents might not be reliable in the first place. Nevertheless, let's go through the options. We have to find out what this argument is most vulnerable to.
A) There is no mention about subordinates in this argument
C) This does not bridge the assumption gap as the conclusion is not regarding "those persons" but the dictator
D) This does not bridge the gap since we are not talking about how crimes are done, but about the fact that- having no archive means the dictator isn't guilty.
E) This is irrelevant as it doesn't have anything to do with the lack of archives against the dictator.

Why B is correct? Because if the archives are not reliable sources of information against the dictator's crimes, the whole argument falls apart.

Cheers
phoenix2194
The governmental archives of a country recently freed from dictatorship contain no material incriminating the country’s most notorious dictator in certain crimes that political observers believed him to have instigated. In fact, the archives contain documents implicating others in these crimes. Therefore, even though this dictator was probably guilty of many other crimes, the political observers’ belief that he was also guilty of these crimes is almost certainly wrong.

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

(A) presumes, without providing justification, that rulers should not be held responsible for unjust actions carried out by their subordinates

(B) fails to justify its presumption about the reliability of the archives as a source of information regarding the dictator’s criminal involvement

(C) fails to take into account that there might be other documents exonerating those persons that the archives did implicate

(D) fails to consider the possibility that dictators cannot commit their crimes without the help of many other people

(E) fails to consider the possibility that the political observers might have wished to make the dictator appear worse than he really was
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The governmental archives of a country recently freed from 22 Apr 2026, 05:31
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phoenix2194
The governmental archives of a country recently freed from dictatorship contain no material incriminating the country’s most notorious dictator in certain crimes that political observers believed him to have instigated. In fact, the archives contain documents implicating others in these crimes. Therefore, even though this dictator was probably guilty of many other crimes, the political observers’ belief that he was also guilty of these crimes is almost certainly wrong.

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

(A) presumes, without providing justification, that rulers should not be held responsible for unjust actions carried out by their subordinates

(B) fails to justify its presumption about the reliability of the archives as a source of information regarding the dictator’s criminal involvement

(C) fails to take into account that there might be other documents exonerating those persons that the archives did implicate

(D) fails to consider the possibility that dictators cannot commit their crimes without the help of many other people

(E) fails to consider the possibility that the political observers might have wished to make the dictator appear worse than he really was
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(A) Incorrect
The argument is not about whether rulers should be held responsible for the actions of subordinates. It is focused purely on whether the dictator committed certain crimes based on archival evidence. Responsibility vs. subordinates is irrelevant here.

(C) Incorrect
This option shifts focus to whether others implicated in the archives might be innocent. Even if true, it does not weaken the conclusion about the dictator’s guilt or innocence regarding those specific crimes.

(D) Incorrect
The argument does not deny that others may have been involved in the crimes. A dictator requiring help does not contradict the claim that the archives do not implicate him. This point does not address the reasoning flaw.

(E) Incorrect
The possible bias or intentions of political observers is not the issue. The argument’s conclusion is based on archival evidence, not on evaluating the observers’ motives. Therefore, this does not weaken the logic used.

Answer:

(B) The argument concludes that the political observers are almost certainly wrong solely because the government archives do not contain evidence incriminating the dictator and instead implicate others. However, this reasoning assumes - without justification - that the archives are a reliable and complete source of information about the dictator’s involvement in those crimes.

Since the country has only recently been freed from dictatorship, it is entirely possible that the archives are incomplete, altered, or biased. By failing to question the reliability of these archives, the argument rests on an unsupported assumption. Hence, the argument is most vulnerable on the grounds described in (B).
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