Logical Reasoning

PT4 · S1 · Q5 Economic considerations color every aspect

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Economic considerations color every aspect of international dealings, and nations are just like individuals in that the lender sets the terms of its dealings with the borrower.

Conclusion (that is why)

A nation that owes money to another nation cannot be a world leader.

Evidence

Nations are like individuals: the lender sets the terms of its dealings with the borrower.

Evaluate

The evidence tells us that borrower nations .

The conclusion is trying to claim that borrower nations, "can't be world leaders".

It seems like this is setting us up for a Missing Link answer that takes us from what we know about borrower nations to what is being claimed in the conclusion about borrower nations.

Goal

Let's look for something like, .

5.

The reasoning in the passage assumes which one of the following?

  1. A nation that does not

    Bad Assumption

    The conclusion is about nations that are borrowing money from some other nation (they owe money to some other nation). This is about nations who don't lend to any other nation. Are those the same? No, you can both borrow and lend. If we negated this and said that "nations that don't lend CAN be world leaders", that wouldn't hurt the author's argument. She could agree and be like, "Totally. Non-lenders can be world leaders. But borrowers can't be."

    3% picked this

  2. A nation that can set

    Too Strong

    We wanted to hear, "if you don't set the terms of dealings, then you can't be a world leader". This is the illegal negation of that "if you DO set the terms, then you WILL be a world leader". Consider the argument, "Ben plays in the NBA. Thus, he's athletic." This is assuming, "If you play in the NBA, then you're athletic" but it's not assuming "if you don't play in the NBA, then you're not athletic".

    7% picked this

  3. Correct

    A nation that has the

    Why this is right

    This is our predicted missing link. The argument established that a debtor nation has its terms set by the lender nation. To get to the conclusion that a debtor nation cannot be a world leader, we need to hear that "if a nation that has the terms of its dealings set by another nation, then it cannot be a world leader."

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

    86% picked this

  4. A nation that is a

    Bad Assumption

    If you borrow money from someone, then you owe them money. The author's conclusion is saying that if a nation owes money, then it can't be a world leader, so the conclusion is committed to the idea that ANY nation that borrows from another nation can't be a world leader. This answer contradicts the conclusion.

    3% picked this

  5. A nation that has no

    Bad Assumption

    The thing we know about debtor nations is that "the terms of their dealings with the lender nation were set by the lender". We were never told that debtor nations "have no dealings with any other nation". Similar to (A), if we negated this and said "nations that have no dealings with other nations CAN be world leaders", it doesn't hurt the author. She could be like, "Totally! But debtor nations can't be world leaders."

    1% picked this

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