Question
CORE
SKILL
(1) British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour declared in the years preceding World War I that "Anglo-German
interests-broadly speaking-were identical." (2) Germany chose to capitalize on this by making
overtures of a formal alliance on several occasions. Britain, which maintained a policy that eschewed
formal alliances in favor of less binding ententes, consistently refused Germany's offer for a formal
alliance but offered an entente. (3) The Kaiser of Germany declined to accept any agreement short of a
full-scale alliance, and began to make increasingly belligerent gestures to pressure Britain into
complying. (4) In 1912, British Admiralty's Lord Haldane made a statement of Britain's official position and
agreed to remain conditionally neutral in any upcoming war, so long as Germany did not start the war. (5)
Germany rejected that phrasing, demanding "that the English pledge neutrality 'should was be forced
upon Germany," to which the English, in turn, refused to agree. (6) "As convinced as ever that he could
intimidate England into a formal alliance, the Kaiser boasted: 'I have shown the English that when they
touch our armaments, they bite our granite. (7) This...will induce them in due course to resume
negotiations, it is to be hoped in a more modest tone and more fortunate result.?"
What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) Even though Britain has maintained its foreign policy by not entering into an alliance with Germany, Germany is
continuing to increase its pressure on Britain.
(B) Even though England has agreed to enter into an alliance with Germany, England is now refusing to finalize the
alliance because Germany is pressuring them to do it too quickly.
(C) Britain has made it clear to Germany that they only want to enter into an entente because they prefer the less binding
foreign policy.
(D) Germany is considering attacking Britain because of the Britian's refusal to enter into a formal alliance.
Answer
The main idea of the passage is that Germany is pressuring Britain to enter into a formal alliance, but Britain is maintaining its policy of not entering into formal alliances and instead offering an entente. Germany is becoming increasingly belligerent in its attempts to pressure Britain.