PrepTest 120, Section 1, Question 13
All societies recognize certain rules to be so(65 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Aall societies overrate(13 more words not shown)
- Ball societies have(9 more words not shown)
- Call societies recognize(12 more words not shown)
- Da properly functioning(10 more words not shown)
- Esocieties have no(9 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
“It would be bad for me” isn't enough to excuse a duty. That's what the long second sentence is saying. Imagine a parent saying that providing for a child requires exhausting work. If providing that care is one of the person's duties, the personal cost alone doesn't remove the obligation. The passage gives keeping agreements and restricting violence as other examples of the kinds of rules societies treat as especially important.
What we’re looking for
Every society has duties in this sense. That doesn't mean every society has exactly the same duties, and it doesn't mean every person is obligated by every duty. It means that, for people who are obligated, harm to their own interests isn't by itself an excuse. To complete the argument, put those ideas together: all societies recognize duties that can take priority over a person's self-interest. I'd expect the answer to connect the universal recognition of duties with that possible personal sacrifice.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't told that societies exaggerate the benefits of their rules. The passage explains what they regard as fundamental; it doesn't compare that judgment with the rules' actual worth. Calling the benefits overrated adds a criticism the author hasn't supported.
- B
A rule being costly to follow doesn't make it impossible to follow. Someone may be able to keep an agreement even when doing so is personally disadvantageous. The passage concerns what can excuse an obligation, not whether anyone can fulfill it.
- CCorrect
If societies recognize that self-interest doesn't excuse failing to perform a duty, they recognize the possibility that the two can clash. A person may want to protect their own interests while their duty demands something costly. C connects the two ideas without claiming that every duty always requires a sacrifice.
- D
The passage does mention a properly functioning society, but it doesn't rank duties against one another. We have a comparison between duty and self-interest, not between keeping agreements and restricting violence or between any other pair of duties.
- E
This challenges society's right to expect compliance. The passage doesn't make that moral judgment. It tells us that societies treat some obligations as too important to be excused merely because they conflict with someone's interests. We can't turn that description into a conclusion denying society the right to expect duties to be performed.
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