Question

Which of the following best completes the passage below?
“Government” does not exist as an independent entity defining policy. Instead there exists a group of democratically elected pragmatists sensitive to the electorate, who establish policies that will result in their own re-election. Therefore, if public policy is hostile to, say, environmental concerns, it is not because of governmental perversity but because elected officials believe that ___.

• A. environmentalists would be extremely difficult to satisfy with any policy, however environmentally sound
• B. environmental concerns are being accommodated as well as public funds permit
• C. the public is overly anxious about environmental deterioration
• D. the majority of voters vote for certain politicians because of those politicians’ idiosyncratic positions on policy issues
• E. the majority of voters do not strongly wish for a different policy

Answer 1

The correct option is E the majority of voters do not strongly wish for a different policy

A and E are the most relevant to the argument. We can choose E because of the argument put forward in the preceding sentence "who establish policies that will result in their own re-election". Thus if a policy is hostile to a certain group then it means that the majority does not wish for the policy , as if it were the case that the majority wishes for the a favourable policy then it would have been implemented.