According to the passage, why were the central authorities unable to take…

Concept

In reading comprehension, the answer must follow the causal link explicitly stated in the passage rather than an outside assumption or a merely plausible alternative.

The immediate mechanism named by the author should be separated from background conditions and from causes the passage expressly excludes.

Application

The question asks why the authorities could not act during the famine. The passage states that information about what was happening never reached the centre of the totalitarian state. Without those reports, the central authorities could not know what action was needed or respond to the crisis. Thus, the passage directly identifies lack of information reaching the central authorities as the reason they were unable to act.

Contrast

• Intentional government policies makes deliberate intent central, whereas the passage expressly says the deaths were not intended.

• Unpredictable natural disasters introduces an environmental cause that the passage does not name.

• Foreign interventions introduces outside involvement that the passage does not discuss.

• Lack of information reaching the central authorities reproduces the passage’s stated communication failure and the reason action was impossible.

Cross-check

The causal chain is explicit: information did not get back to the centre, so the authorities could not take action. Hence the answer is lack of information reaching the central authorities.