#27 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (E).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice.

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[ToddVanV]

I chose C. Can you explain how, and why E is the correct answer?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Todd,

The problem with answer choice C is that it's too strong and definitive for what the passage gives us, and it also isn't something the author would be likely to agree with. The passage doesn't support the claim that encouraging export production does (period) lead to decreased domestic spending, it only suggests that it might do that ("Another reason the environmentalists give for their claims is that domestic spending can fall when a nation shifts money toward repayment of its debt."). And the sentence I quoted there is the "environmentalists" view of things, but the author is pretty skeptical of the environmentalists in this passage ("the evidence for the environmentalists' claims is weak") and wouldn't be likely to agree with them fully.

Answer choice E comes from the last sentence of the passage, where the author says that "a case could be made that at least some of the fiscal discipline or economic restructuring imposed by debt may rein in potentially harmful spending." That's the author suggesting that cutting some spending (even domestically, which are the kinds of expenses discussed in the last paragraph) could be beneficial.