Main Point Questions - - Question 19

Maria:  Calling any state totalitarian is misleading: it implies total state control of all aspects of life. The real...

Anthony-Sivash August 11, 2019

Answer choices A and B

Can someone please explain why B cant be the right answer?

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Irina August 11, 2019

@Anthony-Sivash,

Let's look at the structure of M's argument:

P- premise, IC- intermediate conclusion, MC- main conclusion

P: Any system of control is inefficient.
IC: Therefore, Its degree of control is partial.
IC: The real world contains no political entity exercising total control.
P: Totalitarian implies total control of all aspects of life.
MC: Therefore, calling any state totalitarian is misleading.


(A) is a paraphrase of the main conclusion that calling any state totalitarian would be misleading. The rest of the answer choices are either premises or intermediary conclusions used in support of the main conclusion. (B) expresses a premise that defines what it means for a state to be totalitarian - "it implies total state control of all aspects of life."

Does this make sense?

Let me know if you have any further questions.