PrepTest 151, Section 1, Question 2
The United States Supreme Court’s 1948 ruling in(440 more words not shown)
An answer to which one(34 more words not shown)
- AWhat range of(8 more words not shown)
- BTo what agent(7 more words not shown)
- CWhat principle or(8 more words not shown)
- DIn what ways(8 more words not shown)
- EWhat motivations can(7 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Who is acting? That is the basic distinction between private action and state action here. The parties make the covenant; the court becomes involved when it enforces the covenant. We need a question that identifies the actor, rather than one that describes the action's effects or motives.
Working the answers
- A
The number or range of people affected does not tell us who acted. A private decision can affect many people, and a court can act in a dispute involving only a few. We still need to identify the responsible actor.
- BCorrect
“To what agent” means who performs the action; “ascribed” means attributed. In plain language, this asks whose action it is. That lets us distinguish what the private parties do from what the court, acting for the state, does.
- C
A principle governing an action is different from the identity of the person or institution performing it. The classification turns on whether the actor is the state, not merely on the rule that actor follows.
- D
This asks about consequences for other people. Those consequences may matter for other purposes, but they do not identify the actor. The relevant state involvement here is the court's enforcement.
- E
Someone's motive tells us why they acted, not whether they acted as a private person or as the state. Changing the court's motivation would not change the fact that it is a court taking the action.
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