PrepTest 147, Section 4, Question 7
Trade negotiator: Increasing economic prosperity in a country(33 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AEvery country should(15 more words not shown)
- BBoth economic prosperity(13 more words not shown)
- CThe primary reason(14 more words not shown)
- DA country should(15 more words not shown)
- EIt is wrong(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why must country A protect country B's prosperity? The negotiator gives us a reason prosperity matters: it tends to bring political freedom. But a benefit to people in country B doesn't, by itself, establish a duty governing country A's trade policies.
What we’re looking for
A leader might say, 'My responsibility is to my own country's residents.' To answer that objection, the argument needs a principle about what countries owe people elsewhere. It also relies on treating political freedom as something worth protecting. We may agree with those values, but agreement isn't a substitute for the link the argument needs. We're asked for a principle supporting the recommendation. I'd look for a rule connecting the risk to another country's political freedom with a duty to avoid the policies creating that risk.
Working the answers
- A
Adopting some helpful policies doesn't require avoiding every harmful policy. Country A could support political freedom abroad through one program while adopting a trade policy that damages country B's prosperity. A's limited duty to do some good doesn't establish the particular prohibition the negotiator proposes.
- B
This supports the idea that prosperity and freedom benefit people. It doesn't tell country A how it must treat people in country B. Even accepting those benefits, the leader could still say, 'That doesn't establish my country's obligation.' We need a rule about conduct, not only a description of desirable outcomes.
- C
Why a country seeks prosperity doesn't settle what another country may do to interfere with it. Political freedom could be the primary motive, a secondary motive, or no part of the government's motive. The missing link concerns one country's duties toward another, not the reason the other country wants prosperity.
- DCorrect
This supplies a duty to avoid actions that might hinder political freedom elsewhere. On the negotiator's account, growing prosperity tends to bring freedom, so a trade policy that seriously obstructs that growth risks interfering with that benefit. D gives the argument a reason to reject such a policy.
The connection doesn't require us to claim that prosperity always produces freedom. The premise says 'tends,' and the principle addresses actions that 'might' hinder it. That is the risk the recommendation is concerned with.
- E
This protects the country's own inhabitants. The conclusion instead concerns a country's trade policies harming prosperity in another country. A policy could benefit residents at home while harming people abroad. E would leave the very case we need to address unresolved.
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