PrepTest 124, Section 2, Question 6
Some argue that laws are instituted at least(69 more words not shown)
The statements above, if true,(8 more words not shown)
- AThe manner in(17 more words not shown)
- BThe law has(15 more words not shown)
- CActions based on(15 more words not shown)
- DThe way a(19 more words not shown)
- EThe best way(21 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Couldn't laws do both?
Helping society function and encouraging a moral outlook aren't competing purposes that force us to pick just one. The author calls social order the primary function of law. That leaves room for a secondary moral aim, and the passage expressly allows for further moral aims.
Then we learn that courts sometimes make exceptions because of people's moral or religious beliefs. Think of a person asking to be excused from a legal requirement because it conflicts with a sincerely held belief. The passage says beliefs like that have sometimes mattered to how a law was applied.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what is most strongly supported. I don't have a single prediction tying every sentence together, and we don't need one. An answer can follow from just part of the passage. Let's test the choices against what we've actually been told.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
People's beliefs sometimes affect how laws are applied to them. The final sentence supplies the support: courts have on occasion used moral or religious beliefs as grounds for exceptions. We don't have to combine that fact with every earlier claim about the purpose of law. One clear supporting fact is enough.
- B
'Devoid of moral aims' means having no moral aims. But social order being the primary goal doesn't rule out morality as another goal. This answer starts with a supported function and adds an exclusion the passage never makes.
- C
'On occasion' tells us exceptions have happened. It doesn't establish that religious or morally motivated actions generally tend to receive protection. Courts might reject such requests far more often than they accept them. C turns occasional cases into a broader pattern we haven't been given.
- D
The author never says moral convictions should have no influence on society's legal order. Describing the law's primary function is different from banning every moral consideration from it. D adds a recommendation that the passage doesn't support.
- E
Why the best way? The passage describes a function of law, but it doesn't compare law with every other means of promoting cooperation. A shared culture, for example, might also help people cooperate. We haven't established which method works best.
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