PrepTest 156, Section 3, Question 4
Two competing demands we make of the law(445 more words not shown)
The author's primary purpose in(21 more words not shown)
- Aemphasize the systemic(9 more words not shown)
- Bimply that, invariably,(11 more words not shown)
- Csuggest that the(11 more words not shown)
- Dstress that substantive(11 more words not shown)
- Eforeshadow the author's(10 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The author has just said that substantive justice requires fair and equitable results. Does that mean every party must receive the outcome they wanted? No—someone must lose. A losing party can still regard the result as legitimate, so fairness and personal satisfaction aren't the same standard.
Working the answers
- A
The statement clarifies what a fair outcome must provide. It doesn't explain the systemic conflict between formalism and substantive justice. Losing a case isn't itself evidence of that conflict.
- B
Losing doesn't necessarily mean considering the result unfair. A disappointed party could still recognize that the decision was justified. “Invariably” erases that distinction, which the surrounding sentences expressly preserve.
- C
The author isn't contrasting an adversarial system with a formalist one. Adversarial describes the opposing parties in a case; the formalist question concerns how rules are applied. The observation that someone loses doesn't identify a system free of formalism's flaws.
- DCorrect
Substantive justice doesn't promise an outcome favoring every participant. It promises a result that can be accepted as legitimate and justifiable, even by someone who would have preferred to win. The sentence limits what the demand for fairness requires.
- E
One side losing a case is different from the author choosing between two demands on the legal system. The sentence isn't foreshadowing a claim that only one legal approach can survive; it's clarifying what fairness means for participants in a case.
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