PrepTest 152, Section 3, Question 14
Passage A The legal system rests on the(480 more words not shown)
Passage A(261 more words not shown)
Passage B(227 more words not shown)
Both passages are primarily concerned(8 more words not shown)
- ADoes the public(10 more words not shown)
- BIs the existence(10 more words not shown)
- CDoes the legal(8 more words not shown)
- DShould the concept(8 more words not shown)
- EIs criminal behavior(5 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already identified two proposals about criminal justice. A wants to remove blame and focus on future behavior. B doubts that the urge to blame can simply be removed and says the system should respect the social needs behind it.
What we’re looking for
The shared question therefore concerns what to do with blame, given doubts about free will. We shouldn't stop at the scientific background when both authors go on to discuss how the law should respond.
Working the answers
- A
B describes the history of support for rehabilitation and the later backlash. A doesn't investigate public preferences between rehabilitation and retribution. This is part of B's support, not the shared central question.
- B
A examines how brain science constrains free will. B considers the implications if people lack free will rather than trying to settle the scientific compatibility question. Both move toward a policy issue beyond whether free will exists.
- C
A introduces the legal system's assumption of free choice, but its argument then asks how the system should change. B likewise focuses on the role of blame. Describing the assumption does not capture the policy dispute that follows.
- DCorrect
A expressly says blameworthiness should be removed from legal language and practice. B doubts that scientific evidence can remove blaming and urges respect for its underlying social functions. Those are competing answers to whether criminal justice should get rid of blame.
- E
A briefly suggests treating bad decision-making like a physical affliction. That comparison helps motivate its recommendation; it isn't the main question both authors address.
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