PrepTest 136 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 10

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Passage A.

Defendant's perspective · Challenges fingerprint evidence in trial

Fingerprint ID theory hasn't been adequately tested.

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Defendant's support · No established error rates, no objective standards

No standards for number of "points of identification" required for positive ID based on fingerprints.

Author's response · Fingerprint IDs are reliable

More testing and standards would help, but the method has stood the test of time.

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Concession / response · Different agencies have different requirements, but there's still a consistent approach

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Main point · The trial court was allowed to admit the fingerprint evidence

"The trial court below..." means that Passage A's author was an appellate court reviewing the trial court decision.

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Critique of fingerprint evidence · No consensus on what's enough for a positive ID

Some examiners use "point-counting" method, but there's no fixed requirement about how many points must match. Others use more holistic approach.

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Additional critique · Don't know answers to key questions about reliability

What's likelihood that two people will have the same number of identifying characteristics in their prints? What's likelihood that partial or smudged prints from two people match?

Additional critique · Inadequate study of error rate

How often do examiners mistakenly find a match? One test showed a 34 percent error rate.

Passage Style

10.

It can be inferred that ███ ██████ ██ ███████ █ ██

Question Type

Implied

This is an Inference question about the identify of author A. Remember that author A’s main point is that the trial court was allowed to admit fingerprint evidence. We also see the author writing from the perspective of “this court.”

a judge presiding ████ ██ ██████ ██ █ ████████ ██████████

We see that the author is writing from the perspective of “this court.” Also, the main point is that the trial court was allowed to admit fingerprint evidence, so we can presume that the author is someone with authority over the trial court.

75%

a defense attorney ███████ ██ ██████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ██████████

A prosecutor wouldn’t be writing from the perspective of a court or referencing the trial court below. Additionally, the perspective of the defendant is introduced in the first two paragraphs, then countered in P3 and P4, so this passage is arguing for the perspective of the defense. Also, the main point is that the trial court was allowed to admit fingerprint evidence; the author isn’t arguing an appeal of a criminal conviction.

a prosecutor arguing ███ ███ ███████████ ██ █ ██████ ███████

A prosecutor wouldn’t be writing from the perspective of a court or referencing the trial court below. Also, we don’t get anything that is from the perspective of the prosecution, and the passage is arguing about the use of fingerprint evidence, not arguing for a guilty verdict.

14%

a professor of ███ █████████ ██ █ ████████ ███ █████

A professor wouldn’t be writing from the perspective of a court, and a professor wouldn’t have the authority to determine that a trial court was within its right to do something.

an academic presenting █ █████ ██ █ █████ ██ █████ ████████

An academic wouldn’t be writing from the perspective of a court, and an academic wouldn’t have the authority to determine that a trial court was within its right to do something.

PrepTest 136 - Section 1 - Passage 2 - Question 10

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