Explanation
Gabriella and Ivan are having a discussion about the cause of the country's economic slowdown. Our task is to find where they disagree.
A. Neither Gabriella nor Ivan suggests that the economic slowdown itself caused people to spend less; Gabriella attributes the slowdown to the government's action of raising interest rates.
B. Gabriella does not address the connection between the country's economy and other countries. Ivan does, but he does not disagree that they are tied; rather, he uses this connection to support his argument.
C. Gabriella suggests that raising interest rates caused a decrease in borrowing, but Ivan does not dispute this point directly; he disputes the cause of the economic slowdown.
D. (Correct Response) Gabriella argues that raising interest rates caused the country's economy to slow down, while Ivan disagrees with this analysis and attributes the slowdown to the global economy's performance.
E. Both Gabriella and Ivan seem to acknowledge that the global economy has slowed, but their disagreement is over the causation of the country's economic slowdown.