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Difficulty: HardChaining Conditional Statements

According to the newly established International Agricultural Export Protocol, if a shipment of crops contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs), it must be certified by the International Biosafety Board. The Board issues such certifications only if the crops' originating farm has passed a rigorous ecological impact assessment. A farm cannot pass this assessment unless its country of origin is a participating member of the Global Trade Pact. Furthermore, participating in the Global Trade Pact guarantees that a country adheres to strict tariff standardization.

Which one of the following logically follows from the statements above?

  1. A
    Passing a rigorous ecological impact assessment is sufficient to ensure that a shipment of crops receives certification from the International Biosafety Board.
  2. B
    If a shipment of crops does not contain genetically modified organisms, its country of origin is not required to be a participating member of the Global Trade Pact.
  3. C
    If a country adheres to strict tariff standardization, farms within that country will successfully pass the rigorous ecological impact assessment.
  4. If a shipment of crops contains genetically modified organisms, the country of origin for those crops adheres to strict tariff standardization.Answer
  5. E
    Most countries that adhere to strict tariff standardization are participating members of the Global Trade Pact.

Answer

If a shipment of crops contains genetically modified organisms, the country of origin for those crops adheres to strict tariff standardization.
The stimulus provides a series of linked conditional statements. Translating them reveals a continuous chain: GMO -> Certification -> EIA -> Trade Pact -> Tariff Standardization. By the transitive property of formal logic, if the first condition (GMO) is met, the final condition (Tariff Standardization) must logically follow. Therefore, if a shipment contains GMOs, its country of origin must adhere to strict tariff standardization.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Diagram the first conditional relationship regarding genetically modified organisms.
GMO -> Certified by Biosafety Board (CB)
The word 'if' introduces a sufficient condition, and 'must be' indicates the necessary condition.
2
Diagram the second conditional relationship regarding the Biosafety Board.
CB -> Passed Ecological Impact Assessment (EIA)
The phrase 'only if' introduces a necessary condition.
3
Diagram the third conditional relationship regarding the ecological impact assessment.
EIA -> Trade Pact Member (TP)
The phrase 'cannot... unless' means 'if not TP, then not EIA' (~TP -> ~EIA), which contraposes to EIA -> TP.
4
Diagram the fourth conditional relationship regarding the Global Trade Pact.
TP -> Tariff Standardization (TS)
The word 'guarantees' introduces a sufficient condition.
5
Combine the individual conditional statements into a single transitive chain.
GMO -> CB -> EIA -> TP -> TS
The necessary condition of each premise matches the sufficient condition of the subsequent premise.
6
Evaluate the answer choices based on the established formal logic chain.
The correct answer properly deduces GMO -> TS.
Any condition on the left side of a valid chain guarantees all conditions to its right.

Key Concept

Chaining Conditional Statements
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Chaining Conditional Statements

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