Q5 - Economic considerations color every aspect

[weiyichen1986]

Hey hey,

I did right on this one, but i spend quite a lot of time choosing between B and C....

Am i right to think B is wrong because it is too extreme, the conclusion is about nations who own the money can not be a leader, but that does not mean the other nation would be a leader, am i right? Thank you for correcting me.

[giladedelman]

Yes, you are quite right when you say "the conclusion is about nations who own the money can not be a leader, but that does not mean the other nation would be a leader." Indeed, as far as we're concerned, maybe none of them can be a world leader.

So we're concluding that a nation that owes money to another nation cannot be a world leader. But all we know from the premise about the debtor nation is that it doesn't get to set the terms of the deal -- it's the lender who gets to set the terms. So we need an assumption that says, "If you're not setting the terms of your loan, you can't be a world leader."

That's exactly what (C) says, which is why it's correct.

(A) is out because this doesn't tell us anything about the nation that owes money.

(B) also is irrelevant as we discussed; we care about the nation that borrows, not the one that lends.

(D) was tempting to me, but it's actually backwards. It's telling us that if the other nation doesn't set the terms, you can be a world leader -- but that doesn't mean you can't be a world leader if the other nation does set the terms.

(E) is incorrect because we're talking about a nation that does have dealings with other nations.

Does that answer your question?

[goriano]

(D) was tempting to me, but it's actually backwards. It's telling us that if the other nation doesn't set the terms, you can be a world leader -- but that doesn't mean you can't be a world leader if the other nation does set the terms.

Question on the interpretation of this answer choice: isn't it reverse? That is, IF you are a world leader, THEN you can borrow from another nation as long as that nation doesn't set the terms of the dealings.

[timmydoeslsat]

(D) was tempting to me, but it's actually backwards. It's telling us that if the other nation doesn't set the terms, you can be a world leader -- but that doesn't mean you can't be a world leader if the other nation does set the terms.

Question on the interpretation of this answer choice: isn't it reverse? That is, IF you are a world leader, THEN you can borrow from another nation as long as that nation doesn't set the terms of the dealings.

Nope, giladedelman is correct. As long as = introduces a sufficient condition.

The Heat will win the NBA championship as long as Lebron plays.

Lebron plays ---> Heat will win champ