PrepTest 121 - Section 2 - Passage 1 - Question 2

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Social scientists have traditionally defined multipolar international systems as consisting of three or more nations, each of roughly equal military and economic strength. ███

Mulitpolar systems · Three or more nations of equal strength

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Characteristics of multipolar · Shifting, temporary alliances promote stability

Small confrontations prevent any one nation from dominating ("hegemony")

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Example of multipolar · Concert of Europe

100 years of peace under miltipolar regime

Bipolar systems · Only two nations of equal strength

Smaller nations ally with the big two

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Characteristics of bipolar · Frequent, large-scale conflict, one side wins in the end

No third power to balance out conflict and provide stability

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Examples of bipolar · Athens vs Sparta, USA vs USSR

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Author's criticism · A new view is needed

Based on political changes after Cold War, author calls into question the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems

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Premise · Multipolar system in present-day Europe threatens stability

Traditional view says multipolar systems should be stable; author gives counterexample of unstable multipolar system

Premise · Second example of multipolar system undermining stability

Author again counters traditional view of stable multipolar systems using historical example where Europe's multipolar system led to World War I and later World War II

Premise · Bipolar system improved stability

Historical example of bipolar system that promoted peace and stability. Author's main point becomes clearer: the traditional view is wrong because history shows that multipolar systems can cause instability and bipolar systems can cause stability.

Passage Style

Critique or debate

Which one of the following ██████████ ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████

Question Type

Purpose of paragraph

Structure

In the final paragraph, the author gives an example of a multipolar system in Europe that created instability and conflict, and a bipolar system that promoted peace. The purpose of this is to reinforce her argument from P3 that the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems should be reassessed.

The weaknesses of ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████████████ ████████ ████████

The author doesn’t discuss weaknesses of both types of systems. She discusses a multipolar system that created instability, but she also discusses a bipolar system that promoted peace. Also, the function of this paragraph is to reinforce her argument from P3.

A prediction is ████ █████████ ████████ ████████ █████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ████████

In P3, the author suggests that the current multipolar system in Europe might threaten security in the future. But in P4, she discusses a multipolar system in Europe that created instability in the past. She does this to reinforce her argument that the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems should be reassessed.

A new argument ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ █████████ █████████ █ ███ ███████ ███████

The author does give an example of a bipolar system that promoted peace, but she never argues that Europe should embrace a new bipolar system. Her overall argument isn’t about European stability; it’s about the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems. The European multipolar system in P4 is just an example to reinforce her main point.

19%

Twentieth-century European history ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████

In the final paragraph, the author gives an example of a multipolar system in twentieth-century Europe that created instability and conflict. The purpose of this is to expand on the argument in P3 that the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems should be reassessed.

70%

The typical characteristics ██ ███ █████ ███████ ██ █ ███████ ██████ ███ █████████

In the final paragraph, the author gives an example of a bipolar system that promoted peace, but she doesn’t review the characteristics of both members of this particular system. Even if she did, the function of the paragraph is to reinforce her argument that the traditional view of multipolar and bipolar systems should be reassessed.

PrepTest 121 - Section 2 - Passage 1 - Question 2

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