PrepTest 134, Section 1, Question 3
Political scientist: Efforts to create a more egalitarian(56 more words not shown)
The political scientist's argument proceeds(1 more words not shown)
- Aundermining a view(11 more words not shown)
- Brebutting an objection(12 more words not shown)
- Cattacking a view(12 more words not shown)
- Dclaiming that whatever(16 more words not shown)
- Eundermining an apparent(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Equality of what? Equal rights under the law doesn't mean everyone has to live the same life.
That's why the critics' objection makes me pause. They picture equality as forcing people into a common mold. But giving people the same legal protections is different from requiring everyone to earn the same income or pursue the same interests. Before accepting the criticism, we'd need to know which kind of equality is being proposed.
The political scientist pushes back on exactly that assumption. The critics think greater equality requires bland uniformity. The response is that people can pursue interests that complement one another, producing greater equality and prosperity while increasing diversity. On that account, equality doesn't require making everyone identical.
What we’re looking for
The argument is abstract; it doesn't give us a specific policy to evaluate. Still, we can identify its method. The question asks how the political scientist argues, so I'd predict: the author answers the critics by challenging their understanding of what equality requires. Match that description to the argument, even if an answer uses different words.
Working the answers
- A
The author does reject a view, but not by saying that accepting the critics' view would cause bad results. That would sound like, “If everyone believed these critics, society would become worse.” Instead, the author challenges the critics' claim that equality requires uniformity. The desirable results mentioned concern pursuing equality, not the undesirable consequences of accepting the criticism.
- BCorrect
The objection is that pursuing equality would force everyone into a common mold. Its underlying assumption is that equality requires uniformity. The author attacks that assumption by saying greater equality can actually enhance diversity. “Rebutting an objection” just means answering the criticism, and this answer identifies how the author does it.
- C
Nobody accuses the critics of being selfish or trying to protect their own wealth. The argument addresses what they believe about equality, not why they personally want that belief accepted. Don't substitute an imagined motive for the reasoning we were given.
- D
This would involve reasoning that because a group has a property, each individual member must have it too. For example, a claim about Americans as a group wouldn't establish Bob's height just because Bob is American. No such move appears here: the author disputes a connection between equality and uniformity.
- E
An apparent counterexample would be a particular case that seems to disprove a general rule. The author would then explain why that case doesn't really disprove it. We don't have that sequence. We have the critics' assumption and a direct challenge to it, with no individual case being explained away.
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