PrepTest 138, Section 4, Question 25
A law is successful primarily because the behavior(56 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(6 more words not shown)
- AAs with manners(9 more words not shown)
- BAs with manners,(14 more words not shown)
- CAs with manners,(10 more words not shown)
- DAs with manners,(10 more words not shown)
- EAs with manners,(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Think about saying 'thank you.' You may do it without calculating a penalty for staying silent. The response has become familiar enough that failing to say it feels out of place. That's the kind of explanation the author gives for manners.
The author then applies the same explanation to obeying laws: people comply chiefly because the prescribed behavior has become customary. I can question how far that explanation goes. Someone might act from habit and also care about penalties or moral duties. Those motives needn't be mutually exclusive.
What we’re looking for
But the question asks which comparison the argument uses, so we don't have to settle that objection. On both sides of the comparison—manners and laws—the author identifies custom as the main reason for compliance.
Working the answers
- A
Differences between societies aren't discussed. The argument compares manners with laws as two kinds of behavior governed by custom. It doesn't compare the laws or manners of one society with those of another.
- B
Adopting a law and obeying a law are different actions. B says custom should guide a society's decision to enact a rule. The passage instead says custom explains why people follow a rule once it exists. A statement about compliance doesn't establish a recommendation for lawmakers.
- CCorrect
The comparison concerns what mainly accounts for compliance. People observe manners because contrary behavior has become unfamiliar or unthinkable; the author says people obey laws for the same sort of customary reason. C captures that shared explanation.
- D
The author says ethical requirements aren't what primarily motivate the obedience being explained. That doesn't mean the behavior isn't ethically required. A person could do something that is morally required while acting mainly from habit. D changes a claim about why people act into a claim about the moral status of the behavior.
- E
A penalty can exist without being a person's main reason for complying. The author contrasts custom with punishment as an explanation of behavior, not laws with penalties against laws without them. E turns 'not obeyed because of penalties' into 'no strict penalties exist,' which the passage doesn't establish.
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