PrepTest 114, Section 3, Question 10
Intellectual authority is defined as the authority of(434 more words not shown)
That some arguments " never(15 more words not shown)
- Afail to gain(2 more words not shown)
- Bfail to challenge(2 more words not shown)
- Cfail to conform(5 more words not shown)
- Dfail to convince(5 more words not shown)
- Efail to gain(4 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
These arguments have good reasons behind them, but the institutions haven't accepted them. That's the contrast surrounding “never receive institutional imprimatur.” Even if imprimatur is unfamiliar, the next sentence helps: a reasonable argument can go unrecognized because it challenges institutional beliefs. We're looking for institutional acceptance, not a judgment that the reasoning is bad.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Failing to gain institutional consensus means failing to gain the institutional acceptance we're predicting. The paragraph itself contrasts “intellectual authority and institutional consensus”: an argument can have the first without receiving the second.
- B
An argument can challenge institutional beliefs and still be rejected. The next sentence describes exactly that situation. A lack of acceptance doesn't mean a lack of challenge.
- C
This phrase isn't about following earlier judicial decisions. Precedent is a later legal example; here we're discussing whether institutions accept arguments.
- D
The phrase concerns institutional endorsement, not whether an argument convinces through its reasoning. The surrounding sentence calls these arguments well reasoned and separates that merit from institutional acceptance. D loses the institutional part of the distinction.
- E
This would mean the arguments gain acceptance through coercion, but not otherwise. We aren't told that coercion gets these arguments accepted. We're told they don't receive institutional approval.
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