PrepTest 152, Section 3, Question 15
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)
Which one of the following(20 more words not shown)
- Asympathy with the(16 more words not shown)
- Bintellectual acceptance, coupled(10 more words not shown)
- Cforceful rejection, both(16 more words not shown)
- Dstudied neutrality, with(15 more words not shown)
- Esympathy with the(9 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Separate A's reason from its recommendation. The reason is that behavior may be largely or entirely determined by biology and environment. The recommendation is to remove blame from criminal justice. B can take the first idea seriously while doubting that the second can be put into practice.
What we’re looking for
B says criminal behavior may be biology rather than choice, but the public seems unwilling to incorporate that idea into the law. The research and the rehabilitation backlash make that practical concern concrete.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Sympathy with the premises doesn't require B to declare the absence of free will a settled fact. B entertains that account of behavior and then questions whether the proposed reform can work. People continue blaming despite scientific arguments, and the public has resisted a rehabilitation-centered approach before. The feasibility concern accurately captures that response.
- B
B doesn't frame the problem as fear that widespread intellectual acceptance of A's argument will have harmful consequences. The obstacle is that even accepting a biological account may not remove the urge to blame. This describes a different reaction to acceptance spreading.
- C
B doesn't forcefully reject the scientific premises. It allows that criminal behavior may be biological rather than chosen, then raises practical and social concerns about eliminating blame.
- D
B is not neutral about the recommendation. It expresses “considerable doubt” that scientific evidence can remove blame and argues that reform should respect the social needs blaming serves. Those are substantive objections, not a suspension of judgment.
- E
This puts the sympathy in the wrong place. B doesn't endorse removing blame and then question the logic connecting it to the premises. Its concern is whether that policy is workable and what social needs it might overlook.
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