PrepTest 119, Section 4, Question 19
Anger in response to insults is unreasonable, for(40 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- AActions prompted by(6 more words not shown)
- BAnger is an(5 more words not shown)
- CAnger is an(11 more words not shown)
- DGratitude and pity(11 more words not shown)
- EPity is the(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Couldn't I feel grateful and angry at the same time?
The author divides insults into two cases. If the accusation is false, we should pity the person's ignorance. Someone calls me a liar when I've told the truth; perhaps that says more about their lack of understanding than about me. If the accusation is true, the author says we should appreciate the useful information and reflect on the fault.
Fine, but those responses haven't ruled out anger. I could recognize that criticism helps me and still be angry about how someone delivered it. Or I could pity someone's ignorance while also being angry with that person. Saying one response is appropriate doesn't automatically make every other response unreasonable.
What we’re looking for
To prove the conclusion, we need a rule excluding reasonable anger in both cases. Look for a connection from what should prompt pity or gratitude to what makes anger unreasonable. Covering only true insults or only false insults won't establish the conclusion about insults generally.
Working the answers
- A
This addresses actions prompted by ignorance, which covers the false-insult branch of the argument. But the author also discusses true insults, where the supposed response is gratitude for useful information. A doesn't show anger unreasonable in that second case, so it can't establish the whole conclusion.
- B
This covers the other half: true insults supplying useful information. It doesn't establish that anger is unreasonable when the insult is false and the appropriate response is pity. The author needs both branches covered.
- CCorrect
Anger is unreasonable in response to an action that should prompt either pity or gratitude. Every insult falls into one of the two cases the author describes: false and deserving pity, or true and deserving gratitude. C therefore rules out reasonable anger for both.
This doesn't claim people are psychologically incapable of feeling multiple emotions. It supplies the judgment the argument needs: whenever either of those responses is called for, anger is unreasonable.
- D
Saying gratitude and pity can be reasonable responses leaves room for anger to be reasonable as well. That's the very gap we identified. D also addresses some forms of behavior, while the conclusion covers anger in response to insults generally.
- E
This concerns reacting to people who have undesirable characteristics. The argument concerns reacting to an insulting assertion, including an assertion that falsely attributes an undesirable characteristic to someone. E doesn't supply a rule covering both kinds of insults or explain why anger toward the person making a true insult is unreasonable.
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