PrepTest 157, Section 3, Question 21
Orator: Moral excellence can be achieved only by(39 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AA morally virtuous(8 more words not shown)
- BMost people who(6 more words not shown)
- CSomeone who has(12 more words not shown)
- DSomeone who is(9 more words not shown)
- EEvery morally virtuous(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Even a morally virtuous person can struggle with temptation. Being good doesn't mean never feeling drawn toward something wrong.
The orator gives us requirements, so keep their direction straight. To achieve moral excellence, you must repeatedly overcome inclinations to do wrong. That doesn't say every person who resists a temptation has achieved excellence. It tells us something an excellent person must have done.
The second requirement concerns becoming morally virtuous: that requires achieving moral excellence. Don't assume “virtuous” and “excellent” mean the same thing, or arrange them according to how impressive the words sound. Follow the relationship we're given. A virtuous person must have achieved excellence, which means that person must have overcome wrongful inclinations repeatedly.
What we’re looking for
For what follows logically, my first thought is that even morally virtuous people can have a hard time overcoming these inclinations. Now check each choice against what the orator actually established. A claim about a requirement doesn't automatically tell us that meeting it is enough, or that a person can never fail in the future.
Working the answers
- A
Overcoming temptations doesn't make someone incapable of doing wrong. The passage even emphasizes that resisting them can be difficult. It gives no guarantee of perfect behavior in every future situation, much less an inability to act wrongly.
- B
We know virtuous people must achieve moral excellence. We don't know what proportion of people who achieve excellence become virtuous. It could be a small proportion or a large one. “Most” adds a quantity the statements don't establish.
- C
Simply having no inclination to do wrong doesn't demonstrate repeated success at overcoming such inclinations. If someone had never experienced any temptation, that person couldn't have overcome it. If the answer only describes the person's present state, we still lack the history needed to establish moral excellence. Either way, the claimed achievement doesn't follow.
- D
This makes virtue a requirement for excellence, but the passage gives us the requirement in the other direction: excellence is required for becoming virtuous. Someone could achieve excellence before becoming virtuous. We can't declare that someone lacking virtue is incapable of the achievement that could lead toward it.
- ECorrect
A morally virtuous person must have achieved moral excellence. Achieving excellence requires repeatedly overcoming inclinations to do wrong. You cannot overcome an inclination you have never had. Therefore, every virtuous person must have had at least one such inclination. The answer links the requirements without adding a claim about never doing wrong or about how many excellent people become virtuous.
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