Odd Sentence Out Practice | Topper Cracker

Odd Sentence Out 10 / 54

The following five sentences, labeled 1 to 5, relate to a single topic. Four of these sentences can be arranged to form a logical paragraph. Identify the sentence that does not fit with the others and enter its number as your answer.

1. David Ricardo's seminal contribution posits that nations can derive mutual benefit from international trade even if one country holds an absolute advantage in all goods, provided there exist differences in relative productivity.
2. This foundational principle dictates that countries should specialize in producing goods for which they incur a lower opportunity cost relative to their trading partners, rather than absolute production costs.
3. Despite the theoretical benefits of free trade suggested by comparative advantage, governments frequently implement protectionist policies to safeguard nascent domestic industries or to address concerns regarding national security.
4. Such specialization and subsequent exchange facilitate an expansion of global output beyond what autarky would permit for individual economies.
5. Consequently, both participating economies are enabled to consume a wider array of goods, or a greater quantity of current goods, exceeding their individual production possibility frontiers.

Correct Answer: 3
Identification of the Theme: The core argument explains the fundamental theory of Ricardian comparative advantage, detailing its mechanism and the aggregate benefits it yields for trading nations.
Logical Sequence of the Coherent Paragraph: 1-2-4-5.
Sentence 1: Introduces David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage, stating that mutual gains from trade arise from differences in relative productivity, even with absolute advantage disparity.
Sentence 2: Elaborates on the mechanism of comparative advantage, stipulating that specialization should be based on relatively lower opportunity costs.
Sentence 4: Describes the immediate aggregate outcome of such specialization and trade: an expansion of total global output.
Sentence 5: Explains the ultimate benefit for trading partners: the ability to consume beyond their individual production capabilities.
Why Sentence 3 is the Odd One Out: While Sentence 3 discusses international trade, its focus shifts from the theoretical explanation and aggregate benefits of comparative advantage to the practical policy decisions of governments, specifically the implementation of protectionism. It introduces a contrasting real-world phenomenon (protectionist policies) that runs counter to the free trade principles espoused by the core theory discussed in the other sentences, thus deviating from the descriptive explanation of comparative advantage itself.

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