PrepTest 133, Section 1, Question 13
A large company has been convicted of engaging(59 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AEven if the(22 more words not shown)
- BThe light shed(23 more words not shown)
- CThe penalty imposed(13 more words not shown)
- DThe company's trial(9 more words not shown)
- EThe penalty imposed(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A penalty can be too weak to change behavior. If a speeding ticket cost only $5, some drivers might simply treat it as the price of going fast. A company might react the same way to an ineffective penalty.
But the penalty wasn't the trial's only consequence.
The trial exposed useful information about the company's practices. Competitors became bolder, potential rivals were alerted, and the company had to restrain its unfair behavior. So the argument isn't contradicting itself by saying the company probably won't change and then saying it did change. It distinguishes what the penalty accomplishes from what the disclosure accomplishes.
What we’re looking for
For the overall conclusion, ask what that distinction supports. The trial was worthwhile despite the penalty's limited effect. The benefits of exposing the company are the reason to believe that judgment.
Working the answers
- A
The author doesn't explore what would have happened without a conviction. The trial might have supplied information in that situation too, but we'd be adding a hypothetical result the passage never states. The conclusion evaluates the trial that actually occurred.
- B
These are the benefits used to support the conclusion. Why was the trial worthwhile? Because exposing the information emboldened competitors, alerted potential rivals, and restrained the company. B answers that 'why' question; it doesn't state the overall judgment the evidence supports.
- C
This is a limitation the author acknowledges before explaining why the trial was still worthwhile. The passage doesn't end with 'the penalty won't help.' It goes on to argue that the trial produced another kind of benefit. Choosing C would leave out the point of that response.
- DCorrect
The trial was worthwhile. This captures the author's assessment of the whole proceeding, including the benefits of the information it revealed. The ineffective penalty is the concession; the useful disclosure is the support; the worthwhile trial is the conclusion.
- E
We might wonder whether a larger penalty would have worked better, but the author doesn't recommend one. The argument says that even with this penalty, the trial had value. E replaces that judgment with a new recommendation about punishment.
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