PrepTest 148, Section 1, Question 3
Whether or not one can rightfully call a(41 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AThe object of(12 more words not shown)
- BVirtuous behavior is(3 more words not shown)
- CBehavior that emerges(8 more words not shown)
- DFaithfulness and resentment(6 more words not shown)
- EResentment should not(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Faithful to what? Being faithful to a partner or to helping people sounds different from faithfully maintaining a harmful habit. The fact that someone sticks with something isn't enough to tell us whether that persistence deserves praise.
The resentment example makes the point. A resentful person keeps holding on to hatred or animosity. That's a kind of faithfulness, but the author says it isn't praiseworthy and therefore isn't virtuous. What the person remains faithful to matters.
What we’re looking for
For the overall conclusion, follow what that example supports: whether faithfulness is a virtue depends partly on its object. 'Object' here means the thing the person is faithful to. The definition of virtue and the resentment example explain why we should accept that broader point.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This restates the point the example supports. 'Partially determines' matches 'depends in part,' and the object of faithfulness is what the person remains faithful to. The argument doesn't say that faithfulness is always good or always bad; what someone is faithful to helps determine whether it is virtuous.
- B
The author uses this definition to evaluate the example. If virtues must be praiseworthy and resentment isn't praiseworthy, resentment provides a kind of faithfulness that isn't a virtue. So the definition helps support the conclusion about the object of faithfulness. It isn't the broader point being established.
- C
This expands the resentment example into a rule about all behavior arising from hatred or animosity. The passage specifically discusses holding on to those feelings. Even setting that expansion aside, the argument uses the example to establish a broader point about what makes faithfulness virtuous, not a general classification of every action associated with hatred.
- D
The author expressly treats resentment as a kind of faithfulness. The point isn't simply that the two are different despite some similarities. The point is that faithfulness includes cases that don't deserve praise, so being faithful by itself doesn't establish virtue.
- E
Resentment is the example used to support the main point. Its lack of virtue shows why we must consider what a person is faithful to. Stopping at resentment leaves out that general conclusion, which is what A captures.
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