PrepTest 110, Section 1, Question 4
Most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do(449 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AA political phenomenon(32 more words not shown)
- BA political phenomenon(30 more words not shown)
- CA political phenomenon(29 more words not shown)
- DA political phenomenon(25 more words not shown)
- EA political phenomenon(25 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
First comes the behavior to explain: rulers introduce reforms when social changes threaten their absolute control. Then come three kinds of change. The ending explains how authoritarian rule generates those pressures and returns to why rulers respond. Match that sequence.
Working the answers
- A
The first part fits, but we never rank the three categories by importance. Nor does the ending consider and reject alternative causes. Those later claims spoil an otherwise promising beginning.
- BCorrect
The political phenomenon is the rulers' reforming behavior. Its causes are divided into changes in values, economic interests, and independent resources and organization. An explication is a detailed explanation; that's what the descriptions and examples provide.
The ending then develops the causal connection: authoritarian rule generates these pressures, even success can accelerate them, and calculating rulers respond with reforms. That maps the whole sequence.
- C
No cause is preferred over the others. The writer presents all three as contributing forces. Possible causes isn't the decisive problem; the supposed preference is.
- D
We aren't comparing four similar political events. The three categories explain pressures behind the opening behavior. This turns causes of the phenomenon into separate phenomena being compared with it.
- E
Changing similarities to differences doesn't fix that mistake. The structure is an explanation through causes, not a comparison among four events.
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