Critical Reasoning

Seven countries signed a treaty binding each of them to perform specified actions on a certain fixed date, with the actions of each conditional on simultaneous action taken by the other countries. Each country was also to notify the six other countries when it had completed its action.
The simultaneous-action provision of the treaty leaves open the possibility that
(A) the compliance date was subject to postponement, according to the terms of the treaty
(B) one of the countries might not be required to make any changes or take any steps in order to comply with the treaty, whereas all the other countries are so required
(C) each country might have a well-founded excuse, based on the provision, for its own lack of compliance
(D) the treaty specified that the signal for one of the countries to initiate action was notification by the other countries that they had completed action
(E) there was ambiguity with respect to the date after which all actions contemplated in the treaty are to be complete

OA C

NOTES:

- 7 countries sign treaty = actions on fixed date, conditional on simultaneous action
- Must notify other countries when action complete

PARADOX:

- how can it be "simultaneous" if the actions are conditional on notification?
- how will it even get started, since a country must wait for notification to conduct action?

QUESTION: What does the "simultaneous-action" allow for?

PREDICTION: The paradox -- unable to get started, not truly simultaneous

A. out of scope. postponement is never mentioned
B. incorrect. the treaty treats all countries equally.
C. CORRECT. This most closely matches the paradox. The country could say they were waiting for notification.
D. incorrect. the specification of the treaty itself does not relate to the paradox as closely as C
E. out of scope. the data is never mentioned