What would be required for successful direct protection of human right

Don't you think it's is useless to study material where you don't know for sure the correct answer? I mean what can you really learn from it. I think those kind of passages should be deleted after a while.

Spending time on stuff like this is a little frustrating.

Here are my answers and my reasoning:

1. According to various points made by the author of the passage, all of the following are ways in which the UN can exert influence over human rights EXCEPT:
B. by enforcing a UN command to cease any behaviour that does not adhere to UN standards.
This choice used too strong words and did not mention in the passage. 4 remaining answer choices were both mentioned in the passage.

2. The passage suggests that the author would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
C. International policies can be influenced by UN activities and proclamations.
"the entirety of UN human rights activity is to dispense or withhold a stamp of legitimacy on member states according to their human rights record." & "Other courts in the U.S. have also used United Nations instruments and activities as part of their decisions, and other states beyond the U.S. show some influence from UN instruments in their legal and administrative decisions."

3. The author mentions the case of Filartiga v. Peña Irala primarily in order to:
A. describe United Nations human rights activity that led to direct protection by an actor.
"directly change specific behaviour and must lead to direct protection by some actor. In a few situations this linkage can already be demonstrated. In the case of Filartiga v. Peña Irala in the United States"

4. Regardless of what the rest of the passage might be arguing, the author‘s principal concern in the first paragraph is most likely to:
C. explain the UN‘s function in the field of human rights by giving examples.
D. describe the major activity of the UN in the field of human rights
I'm confused between two choices, and I think D is the best choice since it covered nearly all of relevant factors.

Hi workout

please reformat the passage and add the Timers and OA's

The passage summary:
1) Question the role of UN in HR field
2) Provide two UN's potential roles in this field
3) Give real life examples that show the results the the two roles brought about

1. According to various points made by the author of the passage, all of the following are ways in which the UN can exert influence over human rights EXCEPT:
A. by persuading member states to change certain laws to avoid human rights violations. "to socialize or educate actors into changing their views and policies on human rights"
B. by enforcing a UN command to cease any behaviour that does not adhere to UN standards. The ability to enforce such a command? <...> No United Nations human rights body has such authority and power. - correct
C. by recognizing certain countries based on their human rights record. "to dispense or withhold a stamp of legitimacy on member states according to their human rights record."
D. by affecting the legal and political policies of member states. a federal court held torture to be prohibited by customary international law, using United Nations instruments and actions as part of its reasoning. ―Once a tort can be considered to be in violation of the law of nations, Sec. 1350 allows immediate access to a federal court.… It is now generally accepted by the United States and the vast majority of other member nations of the United Nations that gross violations of human rights are, as a matter of international law, a legitimate concern of the world community.
E. by providing a stamp of legitimacy to some member countries "to dispense or withhold a stamp of legitimacy on member states according to their human rights record."

2. The passage suggests that the author would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
A. The UN has done little to affect the protection and establishment of human rights. the last para proves otherwise
B. Human rights violations should be the primary concern of the UN. the author doesn't say that it's not either
C. International policies can be influenced by UN activities and proclamations. rather members states can be influenced
D. Future human rights court cases may turn to UN policies for assistance. the idea found in para 3
E. The UN needs to be given military powers

3. The author mentions the case of Filartiga v. Peña Irala primarily in order to:
A. describe United Nations human rights activity that led to direct protection by an actor. correct: the case basically illustrates that socialization and manipulation of legitimacy can change specific behaviour and lead to direct protection by some actor
B. demonstrate the dangers of the UN‘s concentration on long-term effects.
C. provide evidence that torture is prohibited by international law. the example of torturous case itself serves as evidence to a greater point
D. cite a case in which the UN withheld legitimacy from a target state. the other way around: the US availed itself of UN's instruments
E. cite a case wherein UN intervention proved futile

4. Regardless of what the rest of the passage might be arguing, the author‘s principal concern in the first paragraph is most likely to:
A. propose changes that would increase UN effectiveness in enforcing human rights. there are no propositions even mentioned in 1st para
B. indicate indirectly the shortfalls of UN human rights activity concerned with short-term change. I find this question a bit misleading because this answer choice combines some knowledge that one can find in para 2, i.e. that the UN's goals are long-term orientated. One can infer from para 1 that the UN is fairly powerless in exerting its power over members states. The question claims "regardless of what the rest of the passage might be arguing". So considering the para 1 in isolation, I couldn't come up with something that would address a short-term change
C. explain the UN‘s function in the field of human rights by giving examples. 1st para says that the UN has no authority to directly affect perpetrators of HR
D. describe the major activity of the UN in the field of human rights the opposite is true because the UN has none of the cited powers
E. to praise the policies of the United Nations

I found that this question has been discussed as second time but there was a very good answer by [b]baru (Pls give him the credit) and I'll repost his answers hoping it will help those that got a question wrong.[/b]

Topic and Scope: The author discusses the United Nations‘ current role in improving human rights and suggests a future course of action.

Mapping the Passage:

1 questions how human rights might be best protected and states that the United Nations has no such power currently.

2 states that the form this work takes is twofold: attempts to change views and policies, and to award or withhold approval based on nations‘ policies.

3 argues that the UN must work for short-term change and points out that UN policies influence national politics.



1) Predict by recalling what the author says the UN cannot do: paragraph 1 argues that the UN can‘t back up its commands with force. (B) says the same.

(A): Opposite. The author argues in paragraph 2 and 3 that the UN has done just this in its policies against torture, for example.

(B): The correct answer

(C): Opposite. This is one of the methods of effecting change mentioned in paragraph 2.

(D): Opposite. The author mentions this in paragraph 3, with torture again as an example.

(E): Opposite. This can be inferred from paragraph 2.


2) Predict by summarizing the author‘s general point: the UN needs to have a shortterm impact in order to effect long-term change. (D) follows from this and from the author‘s discussion of court cases that already do rely on the UN for human rights standards. If Filartiga did this in the past, it‘s reasonable to believe that future cases will do the same.

(A): Distortion. The author argues that the UN needs to do more, but argues throughout the passage that the UN has had an impact on human rights.

(B): Out of Scope. While the author thinks that human rights should be one concern of the UN, there‘s no comparison to other tasks that the UN undertakes, and so it can‘t be said that human rights should be the primary concern.

(C): Out of Scope. The author is only concerned with how the UN affects national politics, and especially national human rights issues. International politics is outside the scope of the court cases and situations mentioned.

(D): The correct answer

(E): Military powers‘ is extreme and out of scope


3) Start your prediction broadly: what is the purpose of the paragraph in which the court case is mentioned? To argue that the UN should effect short-term change. Double-check by scanning the relevant text to see if the case backs this up: it‘s an example of a short-term effect brought about directly by UN policies. (A) summarizes the point.

(A): The correct answer

(B): Opposite. This is a case in which the UN had a short-term effect.

(C): Faulty Use of Detail. While this is probably true based on the information in the passage, the author isn‘t trying to prove this point, but rather that the UN can effect change in the short term.

(D): Out of Scope. The UN isn‘t making a decision in the court case; a US court is. There‘s no mention of the UN withholding legitimacy.

(E): Incorrect, as described above.

4) Review your map for a quick prediction. The author presents rhetorical questions to show that the UN doesn‘t have many tools to enforce short-term change. (B) says the same.

(A): Out of Scope. Though the author touches on this later on in the passage, he‘s not yet concerned with discussing it in paragraph 1.

(B): The correct answer

(C): Out of Scope. This is the focus of paragraph 2 rather than paragraph 1.

(D): Distortion. Though the author does briefly describe the UN‘s function, most of the paragraph is concerned with describing what it doesn’t do.

(E): The author doesn‘t ‗praise‘ the UN anywhere in the first paragraph

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.