PrepTest 114, Section 3, Question 14
Intellectual authority is defined as the authority of(434 more words not shown)
Based on the passage, the(18 more words not shown)
- AIt is the(14 more words not shown)
- BIt is a(16 more words not shown)
- CIt is a(15 more words not shown)
- DIt is often(15 more words not shown)
- EIt is an(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What does the writer think precedent contributes? Following a decision because a judge made it before is institutional authority. Examining whether the decision's reasons still hold up is a different step. That doesn't necessarily mean the writer hates precedent; we need to distinguish its role from the intellectual review described in the final paragraph.
Working the answers
- A
Precedent alone cannot supply purely intellectual authority when the writer calls it an unambiguous case of authority based on institutional power (paragraph 4).
- B
An earlier decision could be well reasoned and still apply. Following it therefore needn't conflict with intellectual authority every time. “Invariably” rules out that possibility without support.
- CCorrect
Precedent can be useful, but repeating an earlier result isn't enough to supply intellectual authority. Reconsideration adds the examination of reasons: was the decision badly reasoned, or have standards changed so it no longer applies? The final paragraph identifies that review as the intellectual component.
- D
This initially sounds plausible because following a bad precedent can leave a bad result in place. But “prevents” adds something different: precedent supposedly stops judges from reconsidering. The writer actually describes judges reconsidering, revising, and throwing out decisions. Precedent without that review lacks the intellectual check; precedent doesn't make the review impossible. That's why C is better.
- E
The writer never recommends abandoning precedent. An institutional role isn't automatically a reason to discard it; the conclusion recognizes institutional power alongside intellectual review.
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