PrepTest 135, Section 2, Question 15
Economist: A country's rapid emergence from an economic(41 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- ANo new investment(13 more words not shown)
- BRecessions in countries(19 more words not shown)
- CIf the people(27 more words not shown)
- DPeople in countries(16 more words not shown)
- EA country's economic(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Where did collective goals come from?
The premises give us two requirements. A quick recovery from recession needs substantial new investment. Any new investment, in turn, needs people's confidence in the country's economic policies. So a quick recovery depends on confidence: without it, the required investment can't happen.
Then the economist says countries that put collective goals ahead of individuals' goals cannot recover quickly. Nothing in the premises has told us how that policy choice affects confidence or investment. People might have confidence in those countries' policies; the argument hasn't ruled that out.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to make the conclusion follow. Connect the kind of country in the conclusion to the missing requirement: putting collective goals first prevents the needed confidence, or prevents the investment itself. Merely making either one a little harder wouldn't establish the economist's strong claim that a quick recovery is impossible.
Working the answers
- A
This starts with a failure to recover quickly and infers no investment. We need to start with countries that prioritize collective goals and show why they cannot recover quickly. A doesn't connect that category of countries to confidence or investment, so the key gap remains.
- B
An unchanged level of support doesn't tell us whether people have confidence in the first place. Their support might stay high throughout a recession. A tendency not to change also wouldn't prove that these countries can never recover quickly. This doesn't remove the required confidence or investment.
- C
This offers a route to quick recovery for countries that prioritize individuals' goals. Our conclusion concerns countries that prioritize collective goals and says they cannot recover quickly. A success rule for the other group doesn't establish this group's inability to recover.
- DCorrect
People in countries that put collective goals first lack confidence in the economic policies. Now apply the requirements: without confidence, there can be no new investment; without substantial new investment, there can be no rapid recovery. The answer connects the specific countries to the chain the premises already supplied.
- E
What causes a country to enter a recession isn't the question. The argument concerns what it needs to emerge quickly from one. Even if economic policy were the most significant factor in causing recessions, we'd still lack a connection between collective goals and the requirements for recovery.
More Sufficient Assumption questions
- PrepTest 135, Section 1, Question 16Sufficient Assumption
- Logical Reasoning Drill Set 10, Question 1Sufficient Assumption
- Logical Reasoning Drill Set 12, Question 4Sufficient Assumption
- Logical Reasoning Drill Set 13, Question 1Sufficient Assumption
- Logical Reasoning Drill Set 3, Question 7Sufficient Assumption
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Sufficient Assumption questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.