It can most reasonably be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with which one of the following state...

Ravi on May 6, 2019

@Shiyi-Zhang,

Happy to help.

The question asks, "It can most reasonably be inferred from the
passage that the author would agree with which one of the following
statements?"

(C) says, "A new method for predicting and mediating international
conflict has emerged from a synthesis of the fields of economics and
psychology."

The author does discuss how the new research has big implications for
scholars of international conflict and crisis (lines 41-42). However,
the author never mentions that the new research can serve as a type of
model to help predict and mediate international conflicts.
Additionally, the author never says the new research was the result of
a synthesis of the fields of economics and psychology. Thus, (C) is
out.

(B) says, "Government decision makers subjectively evaluate the
acceptability of risks involving national assets in much the same way
that they would evaluate risks involving personal assets."

When the author mentions both the previous theory as well as the new
theory, she mentions how individuals make decisions that involve risk.
The author illustrates the old theory by citing a study that looked at
how individuals would respond to a situation in which there was a 50%
probability that they would lose $100 (lines 24-40). To illustrate the
new theory, the author states that risk-taking is more common for
"those who believe that they will lose what they already possess"
(lines 12-14). In the final paragraph, the author states that the new
theory is quite salient for scholars of international conflict and
crisis, and that the desire to recoup lost possessions can result in
states taking big risks (lines 41-49). From this, we know that the
author is using research about how individuals make decisions that
deal with risk to support her conclusion that a state would make
decisions in a very similar manner. We know then that the author has
to believe that the decision makers of government make their decisions
involving risk to national assets in a very similar manner to how
individuals would make decisions involving risk to their personal
belongings. The government decision makers would probably look at risk
involving national assets in a very similar manner to the way in which
they would approach risk involving their own personal assets. This
leads us to (B), which is the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!