PrepTest 122, Section 4, Question 22
Economist: Some people argue that when large countries(50 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- AA country has(21 more words not shown)
- BIncreasing the number(13 more words not shown)
- CAll countries that(15 more words not shown)
- DThere is strong(14 more words not shown)
- ELarge countries tend(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A smaller country may know it needs its neighbors. Does that stop it from putting tariffs on their goods?
Picture a large country dividing into several smaller ones. Trade that once crossed internal borders might now cross national borders, where the new governments could impose tariffs. That's the concern the economist is answering. The response is that small countries don't consider themselves economically self-sufficient.
But a belief about needing trade isn't yet a policy about allowing it freely. A government could think it depends on other countries and still impose a tariff. The economist needs a connection between that belief and what governments actually do.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. I'd look for a rule ensuring that countries which don't view themselves as self-sufficient won't impose trade barriers. Then dividing a large country into small ones wouldn't create the feared new barriers.
Working the answers
- A
A country's right to divide doesn't tell us the economic result of dividing. It might have that right even if the division created tariffs. The conclusion concerns whether barriers increase, not whether division is permitted.
- B
A stronger world economy doesn't necessarily mean fewer trade barriers. Division could have some other economic benefit large enough to outweigh the cost of additional tariffs. B would tell us the overall result without proving the economist's particular claim that barriers don't increase.
- CCorrect
Under this rule, any country imposing a trade barrier must think it is economically self-sufficient. But the small countries described in the passage don't think that. They therefore cannot belong to the group imposing barriers under C's rule. The feared tariffs from those new small countries are ruled out, which supplies the missing connection. Notice that the rule concerns what countries believe, matching the premise; we don't have to establish whether they actually are self-sufficient.
- D
This supports the concern about the effects of trade barriers, but doesn't tell us whether dividing a country creates more of them. We can accept that tariffs harm the economy and still need to determine whether the new small countries would impose tariffs. D leaves the conclusion's central question unanswered.
- E
Actual economic self-sufficiency is different from a country's view of itself. E also never links either one with a decision about tariffs. A general comparison of large and small countries therefore doesn't establish that the division will leave barriers to trade unchanged.
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