criticize democracies_LSAT

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:13 am

It is even more important that we criticize democracies that have committed human rights violations than that we criticize dictatorships that have committed more violent human rights offenses. Human rights violations are always inexcusable, but those committed by governments that represent the will of the people are even more reprehensible than those committed by dictators. Further, our criticism is more likely to have an effect on the former than on the later.

Which one of the following is a proper inference from the passage?

(A) All governments commit same inexcusable and reprehensible acts.
(B) Some human rights violations are more reprehensible than other, more violent human rights violations.
(C) Criticism of human rights violations is certain to have no effect on a dictatorship.
(D) Human rights violations are more likely to occur in democracies than in dictatorship.
(E) Those who do represent the will of the people are less likely to be moved by criticism than are those who merely claim to represent the will of the people.

OA: Later

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:13 am

sk818020: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 214; Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:46 pm; Location: Houston, TX; Thanked: 37 times; GMAT Score:700

by sk818020 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:23 am

IMO B.
Not (A) because the passage does not give us any idication about what all governments do.

Not (C) because the passage does not say that criticism would have no affect on dictators. It say that it is more likely to have an affect on on governments that represent the will of the people.

Not (D) because nothing in the passage tells us whether the violations are more likely in one form of government. We're given no clues about amount of cases or porportions.

Not (E) because the passage doesn't tell us anything about people that claim to represent the will of the people.

B is correct because from the first sentence of the paragraph we can deduce that at least some dictators commit offenses that are more violent than those committed by democracies. Thus B is correct.

What is the OA?

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hardik.jadeja: Legendary Member; Posts: 535; Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:12 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 87 times; GMAT Score:730

by hardik.jadeja » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:33 pm

I agree. IMO B.

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uwhusky: Legendary Member; Posts: 1172; Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 74 times

by uwhusky » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:17 pm

For a second I thought I might like E, but it's a stretch to suggest that dictatorship represents "those who merely claim to represent the will of the people".

I also don't like B, because there isn't any reference to "Some human rights violations are more reprehensible than other". According to the passage, whether a violation is more reprehensible depends on who's committing it, not the violation itself: "but those committed by governments that represent the will of the people are even more reprehensible than those committed by dictators."

A is wrong to state "all" and "same".
C is wrong because the very last sentence of the passage says there is indeed some effect.
D is wrong because there isn't any information in the passage to make such comparison.

I don't like any of the answers.

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laxmanrr: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 16; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:18 am

by laxmanrr » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:51 pm

E looks wrong. It contradicts the argument completely.

The line Suggests, Democratic govt is less likely to be affected by criticism than dictatorship.

This is certainly not what the passage suggests.

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:57 pm

We can use the Kaplan denial test to prove that choice B must be true.

The second sentence of the passage tells us that human rights violations committed by democracies are more "reprehensible" than those committed by dictatorships. The first senence tells us that it is more important to criticize democracies that have committed human rights violations than it is to criticize dictatorhips that have committed more violent...offenses.

So, if choice B were false, then these two sentences would be falsified. However, in an inference question we must treat every sentence in the passage as necessarily true. Thus, choice B must be true.

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:27 pm

laxmanrr wrote:E looks wrong. It contradicts the argument completely.

The line Suggests, Democratic govt is less likely to be affected by criticism than dictatorship.

This is certainly not what the passage suggests.

Correct. At Kaplan, we call these wrong answer choices "180"s.

Choice E is also a distortion. Because the passage never drew or implied a distinction between those governments that DO represent the will of the people and those that CLAIM to represent the will of the people, we cannot possibly draw such an inference from the passage.

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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