Logical reasoning PrepTest 142 · Section 4 · Question 12

Incorrect. The PM states that the satisfaction of the nation's people and people of other nations are equivalently important, so this answer would justify not satisfying the needs of the nation's own people.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of worthiness, just importance, so this answer is out of scope. Even if we ignore this term shift, the PM's people are no more worthy than other nations' people, so this answer would justify not giving them priority.

Incorrect. Since the PM states that it's objectively more important to satisfy the needs of her nation's people and the people of other nations, this answer would justify prioritizing both equally, which cuts against the conclusion.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Claim 1 Ð This nation's government should prioritize serving the needs of its own people
Claim 2 Ð The needs of this nation's people are objectively equally important to the needs of the people of other nations

Answer Anticipation:
A rare Paradox (Principle) question! Here, there's still a paradox in the stimulus; we should still identify what that paradox is; and we should still anticipate what could resolve it. However, here, we should expect the answer to be a generalization or conditional rule. So not so different from a normal Paradox question!

The stem asks us to reconcile two claims, so we should start by clearly defining those claims (as we did in the Summary) and then figuring out why they seemingly contradict each other. Here, the contradiction comes from the importance of two things vs. the prioritization of them. The premise sets up the two needs as equally important; the conclusion establishes that one should be prioritized over the other.

In order to reconcile this, we need a rule by which we can justify prioritizing something over another thing that's equally important. We're still in a Paradox question, so comparisons are still important—especially when so much of the logic rests on it. The only other factor we have that we can compare is the countries—the PM wants to prioritize those who are from the nation and not those who live in another nation. Therefore, the rule justifying this government prioritizing its own people will likely link the fact that they're in-nation to the justification to prioritize them.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects the premise about the comparative importance of the needs of the people of different nations, and it establishes that each nation should take care of its own people when their importance is equal. That justifies the PM's conclusion that she should focus on her own people's needs, so this resolves the paradox.

Key Takeaway:
While certain secondary question types are more common with Principle questions, any question type on the exam can have a Principle variation. Don't forget your approach to the base question type, and change up that approach (slightly) to deal with the principle!

Incorrect. There's no discussion of the government being the exclusive provider of needs, so this answer is out of scope.