Self-study
passage 4
P1
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
Environmentalists Premise 1 ·
Exports promotion hypothesis
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.
Environmentalists Premise 2 ·
Domestic spending can fall
Repaying debt can lead to less domestic spending; reduced funds for public services; elimination of subsidies that reduce pollution.
P2
███ ███ ████████ ███ ███ ██████████████████ ██████ ██ █████ ███
Main Point ·
Enviromentalists’ evidence is weak
Careful... author didn't say environmentalists' conclusion is false, just that their reasoning is weak.
Premise 1 ·
Critiques Environmentalists Premise 1
Studies don’t provide convincing evidence supporting the export promotion hypothesis.
Premise 2 ·
Critiques Environmentalists Premise 2
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 ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ █████████ ████ █████ █████ █ ████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████████
a
reintroducing traditional farming ███████
b
opening up land ███ ███ █████
c
curtailing road construction
d
decreasing spending on ██████████
e
raising prices on ███████