PrepTest 136, Section 3, Question 23
Most people acknowledge that not all governments have(453 more words not shown)
By attributing to commentators the(25 more words not shown)
- Athe implications conflict(5 more words not shown)
- Bthere is little(8 more words not shown)
- Ccommon sense indicates(8 more words not shown)
- Dthe implications appear(6 more words not shown)
- Eeach of the(6 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Whose description is counterintuitive? The commentators think the theory leads to claims that clash with ordinary beliefs: that every government is morally equal and that people may act without moral restraint. The word describes their reaction to those alleged implications.
What we’re looking for
That is different from the author's later conclusion that the implications don't follow. It is also different from finding a logical contradiction inside either claim. Something can run against common beliefs without being logically impossible.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Conflict with commonly held beliefs captures counterintuitive in this context. For example, saying that a rights-respecting government is no better morally than an oppressive one clashes with the ordinary distinction the second paragraph discusses.
- B
Counterintuitive doesn't mean unsupported by empirical evidence. This substitutes a judgment about evidence for the clash with ordinary expectations.
- C
This shifts to whether the theory really has those implications. That's what the author goes on to dispute; it isn't what the commentators mean by calling the implications counterintuitive.
- D
The commentators aren't saying the two implications contradict each other. The claim that all governments are equal and the claim that people lack moral restraints could be held together.
- E
Nor must either claim contain an internal contradiction. All governments being morally equal is a conceivable situation, even if it conflicts with ordinary beliefs about actual governments. The issue here is that conflict, not a proof of logical inconsistency.
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