PrepTest 129, Section 3, Question 19
Essayist: One of the drawbacks of extreme personal(64 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AOne should not(16 more words not shown)
- BOne should not(17 more words not shown)
- COne should support(13 more words not shown)
- DOne should not(15 more words not shown)
- EOne should not(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Freedom includes the possibility of making bad decisions. Let's accept the essayist's concern that some choices have destructive consequences and that those consequences can make people want a much more restrictive regime.
Does that settle whether we should support a system allowing extreme freedom? A political system can have drawbacks and still be preferable to the alternatives. The essayist has given reasons for concern, but has not supplied the standard that turns those concerns into a recommendation against the system.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for a principle that helps justify the reasoning. So, despite that objection, we need to help the essayist connect the evidence to the recommendation. A rule against supporting a system whose destructive consequences can make people favor totalitarian government would do that. It would treat the risk described in the passage as a reason to withhold support.
Working the answers
- A
“Inevitably” is stronger than the evidence, and “establishment” goes beyond a preference. The essayist says people may come to prefer a totalitarian regime. That does not mean such a regime will certainly be established. A's rule applies to a more definite outcome than the passage gives us.
- B
This concerns what we should expect, not which political system we should support. We could agree that not everyone will thrive and still support a system for its other advantages. B does not supply the missing reason to reject extreme freedom.
- C
Read the permission carefully: people must have the freedom to make wise choices. A system allowing extreme freedom can allow wise choices as well as unwise ones. C does not say a system must prevent bad choices, so it does not exclude the system the essayist rejects. Its restriction is on systems that deny the freedom to choose wisely.
- DCorrect
The principle directly links the described possibility to the recommendation. The essayist says extreme freedom can have destructive consequences that lead people to prefer totalitarian regimes. D says not to support any system with that feature. It does not demand certainty that totalitarian rule will actually occur.
- E
A system can allow freedom while recognizing that many people will use it badly. The passage calls an expectation of flourishing unrealistic, but does not say the political system is based on that expectation. E needs that additional fact before its rule against support applies.
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