Some environmentalists claim that the higher the international debt a nation carries, the more likely it is that the quality of life in that nation will suffer. █████ █████████████████ █████ ████ ██ █ ███████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ █ ██████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████████ █████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████████ █████████ ███
Environmentalists Conclusion ·Increased debt correlates with low quality of life
Because paying off debt will deplete natural resources; increase pollution; hamper domestic spending
Repaying debt can lead to diverting resources to produce export goods rather than domestic goods. This leads to more environmental damage. E.g., razing forests.
Reduction in domestic spending may be good for quality of life. E.g., abandoning plans to build new dams or roads could improve environment.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
24.
Which one of the following ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ █████████ ████ █████ █████ █ ████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████████
Question Type
Stated
What does the passage state is something that could avert a negative impact on the environment from the pressures of debt repayment? The answer is likely to be found in the second paragraph, where the author brings up potential ways that cutting domestic spending could stop implementation of harmful programs.
a
reintroducing traditional farming ███████
The author never states this is a potential way to avert a negative impact on the environment.
4%
b
opening up land ███ ███ █████
The author never states this is a potential way to avert a negative impact on the environment.
19%
c
curtailing road construction
(C) is stated at the end of P2 as a potential way that negative environmental effects could be averted – “[nations that cut domestic spending] might abandon plans to build new … roads.” This example of abandoning plans to build new roads demonstrates how cutting domestic spending could stop implementation of programs that have a negative impact on the environment.
59%
d
decreasing spending on ██████████
The author never states this is a potential way to avert a negative impact on the environment.
11%
e
raising prices on ███████
The author never states this is a potential way to avert a negative impact on the environment.
6%
Difficulty
61% of people who answer get this correct
This is a difficult question.
It is slightly harder than the average question in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%149
157
75%165
Analysis
Stated
Stated
Stems asking us to identify an idea that appears explicitly in the passage (as opposed to ideas that are merely implied).
Critique or debate passages contain multiple points of view on a particular subject. Sometimes the author takes sides and participates in the critique or debate, other times the author merely reports the debate.
