lsat-1-1-23

meixiapeng

23. The function of government is to satisfy the genuine wants of the masses, and government cannot satisfy those wants unless it is informed about what those wants are. Freedom of speech ensures that such information will reach the ears of government officials. Therefore, freedom of speech is indispensable for a healthy state.
Which one of the following, if true, would NOT undermine the conclusion of the argument?
(A) People most often do not know what they genuinely want.
(B) Freedom of speech tends ultimately to undermine social order, and social order is a prerequisite for satisfying the wants of the masses.
(C) The proper function of government is not to satisfy wants, but to provide equality of opportunity.
(D) Freedom of speech is not sufficient for satisfying the wants of the masses: social order is necessary as well.
(E) Rulers already know what the people want

答案d .我觉得c好像undermine了前提,但是并没有undermind结论啊.言论自由言下之意是不是提供了平等的机会啊?那也同样得到结论.d因为言论自由影响了社会秩序,倒是觉得有undermine之意.

arundhati

D并没有undermine之意啊，题干说freedom of speech是healthy state的必要条件，而D说freedom of speech不是healthy state的充分条件。这句话并没有威胁到结论啊，不是充分条件并不等于不是必要条件啊。

关于C有同样的疑问，还请NN继续指点。

mindfree

So you mean undermining the premises would not undermine the conclusion? How about testing it with an example:

Dave likes Christine (premise). So he should ask her out (conclusion). But actually Dave likes Jenna, not Christine. How is the conclusion now?

dream1111

On C,

In the argument , we got  healthy state -->function of government-->satisfying wants-->informed well-->speech freedom

Conclusion: healthy state-->speech freedom.   C undermines one part of the reasoning link -- function of government --> satisfting wants.  

meixiapeng

yeah,u r righ.but i meant c can be deduced like this:speech freedom> provide equality of opportunity>function of government>healthy state.  so the conclusion doesnot be undermined if the above deduction is right.

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-7-22 12:13:00编辑过]

dream1111

There is no reason to assume such relationships as speech freedom> provide equality of opportunity or provide equality of opportunity>function of government only based on the information given by the argument.

These are just from your common sense .