PrepTest 137, Section 1, Question 20
Can a sovereign have unlimited legal power?(461 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AThe paradox of(15 more words not shown)
- BAbstract theoretical paradoxes(8 more words not shown)
- CThe paradox of(15 more words not shown)
- DContrary to what(20 more words not shown)
- EThe supposition that(11 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the central point: unlimited legal power can make a government's promises less credible, and a constitutional arrangement doesn't necessarily remove that problem. The Crown's improved borrowing illustrates the benefit of restraint, but the ending says the unlimited power has moved to Parliament.
What we’re looking for
Look for an answer that includes that final qualification. Stopping at the Crown's success would miss the author's response to the scholars' account.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This captures both the practical problem and the limit of constitutional solutions. It doesn't name England, but the English example supports this broader point: improving the Crown's position doesn't necessarily solve sovereign omnipotence throughout the government.
- B
The author discusses one particular paradox, not a general pattern involving theoretical paradoxes of many kinds. This also leaves out the qualification about constitutional arrangements.
- C
The Crown's practical difficulty improved after the revolution. That is part of the history, but the author goes on to argue that the underlying problem survives elsewhere. C stops before that central qualification.
- D
This places the continuing problem in the wrong location. The author accepts that restraining the Crown improved its position; the criticism is that the problem was relocated to Parliament. D blurs the difference between helping the monarch and solving the problem for the government as a whole.
- E
This describes the opening theoretical puzzle. It leaves out the practical difficulty and the discussion of whether constitutional changes solve it.
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