Columnist: Some people argue that

Answer choices

1. A

   Compatible7% picked this

   Commanding a branch of the military requires greater knowledge than running

   We don't have anything in this paragraph that suggests that running bank requires at least as much knowledge as commanding a branch of the military. The concept of how much knowledge is required is actually out of scope.

   7%
2. B

   Compatible4% picked this

   Politicians do an adequate job of appointing the top military officials entrusted with

   This fits well with the author's point of view. She is saying, "The government is fine when it comes to appointing people to run the military, so they'd potentially be fine when it comes to appointing people to run a failing bank that's been taken over.

   4%
3. C

   Compatible5% picked this

   Politicians are not capable of managing a bank’s

   The author seems to implicitly agree with "some people" that we would have reason to be concerned about the government taking over a failing bank if it meant that they had to handle the day-to-day operations. She is saying, "The reason it's cool for the government to take over failing banks is that they won't have to manage day-to-day; they only have to appoint new management, which they're qualified to do."

   5%
4. D

   Correct83% picked this

   Banks that are owned by the government cannot be

   Why this is right

   This sounds like an assumption of "some people" in the 1st sentence, and the author provides reasons to reject that assumption. The author points out by analogy that we entrust the government to well-manage the military, which is at least as great a responsibility. Even though the government doesn't have experience managing the military or managing financial institutions, the government is capable of being entrusted with the job of appointing people who are capable of well-managing a bank (or the military). So it would be fine for the government to take over (claim ownership over) a failing private bank, because the government would just need to select the bank's senior management, who would then be capable of seeing that the bank is well-managed. To reject this answer, we just have to support the idea that "a bank owned by the government could be well-managed.

   Skill tested: Must be False · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   83%
5. E

   Unmentioned2% picked this

   The government should not take over private-sector banks that are

   This passage was only about whether it's okay for the government to take over a failing private bank. It never gets into financially sound banks. To reject this answer, we would need the paragraph to be supporting the idea that "the government should take over financially sound private-sector banks."

   2%