PrepTest 105, Section 3, Question 9
Many of us can conceive of penalties that(441 more words not shown)
According to the passage, the(9 more words not shown)
- Adoes not employ(5 more words not shown)
- Ballows for disproportionately(2 more words not shown)
- Cconflicts with our(3 more words not shown)
- Dimplies that punishment(4 more words not shown)
- Earises from intuition(3 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Why punish someone if it helps nobody? That's the objection in paragraph 2. The second rationale says a punishment can be deserved because of the crime's severity, whether or not society benefits. Some people have trouble accepting that justification.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The stated concern is how punishment can be justified when society gains nothing from it (paragraph 2). Leaving benefit out of the justification is what makes this rationale controversial.
- B
The risk of disproportionately harsh punishment is raised against the first rationale. The second requires the penalty to fit the crime.
- C
The second rationale is presented as a way to support our intuitions about proportionate punishment, not as controversial because it conflicts with them.
- D
Not requiring deterrence as a justification doesn't mean denying that punishment can deter crime. No such denial appears here.
- E
The writer doesn't identify an intuition-versus-logic dispute as the reason for the controversy. We have a specific stated objection: punishment without benefit seems like mere retribution.
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