PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 27
In the absence of international statutes prohibiting nations(426 more words not shown)
The author states that there(13 more words not shown)
- Athe extent to(13 more words not shown)
- Bthe proportion of(25 more words not shown)
- Cthe relative success(13 more words not shown)
- Dthe extent to(14 more words not shown)
- Ethe extent to(17 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Find the admission about missing research before checking the answers. In the second paragraph, the author says that systematic empirical studies are lacking, then describes experience showing pollution crossing borders with little effort to remedy it.
What we’re looking for
The missing studies would examine what nations actually do: how closely their conduct matches the professed environmental principles. The author has observations of noncompliance, but not the systematic investigation described in the question.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This asks about the extent to which national actions conform to the principles. That is exactly the behavior-versus-standard comparison under discussion when the author acknowledges the research gap.
- B
The author identifies treaties and negotiations as the principal means of resolving disputes. But the missing studies concern national compliance with principles, not the proportion of disputes resolved through each method.
- C
Comparing the success rates of remedies would ask which response works better. The research gap here concerns how far nations' actions conform to their professed principles.
- D
The relevant distinction is between conduct and supposed customary norms, not between conduct and obligations in negotiated agreements. Treaties enter later as the direction the author recommends studying.
- E
This concerns what scholars agree about. The missing empirical studies concern what nations actually do. Those are different subjects of investigation.
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