Lesson: Reading Comprehension Basic - 24t01

The RC Question: Inference

Choose an answer for the following Inference question. Designate each of the four you don't choose as one or a combination of the five common wrong answer types: Au Contraire, Outside the Scope, Distortion, Extreme, and Faulty Use of Detail.

The passage provides support for which of the following statements?

	The conventional elements of society are the most important building blocks of a democratic system.
	A country's ability to support democratic institutions is not solely determined by the extent of its government's previous intrusion into society.
	People in democratic societies are happier than people in non-democratic societies.
	Those wishing to build a democratic society should not concern themselves with political parties and market mechanisms.
	It will be easier to lay the foundation for a democratic society in formerly socialist Eastern European countries than it will be to do so in non-communist authoritarian Asian countries.

The Denial Test described in the Hint points us squarely to choice (2). If the sole determinant of democratic potential is how oppressive a country's government has been in the past, then the prospects for democracy in the Asian countries in question should be better than those of the Eastern European nations. But we're explicitly told that's not the case: Even though the Asian governments are less intrusive than their Eastern European counterparts, they're still no better off when it comes to building democratic societies; they are "no more hospitable" to the growth of democratic infrastructure. So there must be something else at work besides a government's intrusiveness.

How did you do characterizing the wrong choices?

(1): Extreme. Sure the conventional elements are cited as important, but the "most" important aspects of democracy? This value judgment is supported nowhere in the text.

(3): Outside The Scope. Happiness is never mentioned or implied by the author.

(4): Distortion. The author begins by asserting that those who want to foster democracy need to go "beyond concern with political parties, electoral laws, and market mechanisms." That's not to say that attention to these aspects is unnecessary; the author is merely concerned that other kinds of institutions aren't overlooked.

(5): Au Contraire. According to the author, the challenge of building democratic institutions is "most acute" in the Eastern European nations. The Asian nations will have a tough time, too (that "no more hospitable" stuff), but once the author states that the problem is most acute in Europe, there's no way choice (5) can be made to work.

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