#4 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[chiickenx]

Hi, I am having trouble understanding why (E) MBT. The question asked was "what MBT of administrative contracts designated by the French government agency?" I can see that the other four answer choices are clearly wrong, and I chose (E) during the practice test because it was explicitly stated in lines 36-39. However, this is an "alternative". Given as such, it is unclear to my why all administrative contracts must have terms that distinguish it from private civil contracts.

To further elaborate, I have diagrammed it as follows:
Administrative contracts → designated by specific statute OR contain terms that distinguish it from private civil contracts.

Given as such, it could be the case that administrative contracts do not have to have terms that distinguish it from private civil contracts (i.e., Administrative contracts → designated by specific statue AND not contain terms that distinguish it from private civil contracts).

Thank you!

[Brook Miscoski]

chiickenx,

The trick here is that the question asks about a contract that is designated by a French agency. Thus, we're not concerned about the statutory administrative contract, we're concerned about the special designation discussed starting in line 36. If the agency (not the statute) designates the contract as administrative, it must contain those terms.

[ikim10]

Hello, I am confused as to why E is the correct answer.

I originally chose A, then chose B during my blind review.

The reason I didn't choose E was for the same reason I didn't choose C. The passage implies that there are 2 ways under French law for a contract to become an administrative contract: 1) ratified by a statute ("Some contracts are designated as administrative by specific statute") or 2) including terms not found in private civil contracts ("Alternatively, the contracting government agency can itself designate a contract as administrative by including certain terms not found in private civil contracts. ").

This to me meant that some administrative contracts could have been made so by either 1, or 2, or both. But it does not guarantee that ALL French administrative contracts must include language not found in private civil contracts.

Can the reasoning for E be explained, and how it differs for the reasoning as to why C is incorrect?

[Luke Haqq]

Hi ikim10!

This question asks for what is true "of a contract that is designated by a French government agency as an administrative contract."

Given that language, we're therefore dealing with option 2) in the summary you provided. So the question isn't asking about "ALL French administrative contracts" but rather only a subset--those designated by a French government agency as an administrative contract.

That subset is discussed starting at line 36. That sentence explains that the French government can designate a contract as administrative "by including certain terms not found in private civil contracts." This is the same as what is found in answer choice (E). That subset of contracts "contains terms that distinguish it from a private civil contract."

Answer choice (C) is mentioning a different type of administrative contract, not the type designated by the French government as such. Instead, answer choice (C) seems to be referring to a type mentioned earlier in the paragraph.

[Darya3018]

Hello,

When I answered this question, I chose B. I missed the word "designated" in the question, which I think made me overlook E. I'm still a bit confused on how I could rule out option B completely.

I thought the "guarantees" mentioned in option B were referring to how the French government had to compensate contractors for any increased burden. Option B also says that these "guarantees" are not normally found in private civil contracts. Is that portion of the answer what makes it wrong? I guess that the passage never outright says that the guarantees aren't found in private civil contracts, but I'm not too sure.

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Darya,

Good analysis and good question!

I thought the "guarantees" mentioned in option B were referring to how the French government had to compensate contractors for any increased burden. Option B also says that these "guarantees" are not normally found in private civil contracts. Is that portion of the answer what makes it wrong? I guess that the passage never outright says that the guarantees aren't found in private civil contracts, but I'm not too sure.

You are correct that the concept of "guarantees" disqualifies answer choice (B). We have no knowledge of whether such guarantees are present in private contracts.

With respect to your first statement about the guarantees referring to the requirement that the French government compensate contractors for any increased burden: that is an assumption that we cannot make based on the information in the passage.

Further, this compensation requirement exists not in the contract itself but in French law (line 40).

Mostly I'm just echoing your already good analysis. Well done.