Self-study
Passage A.
P1
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Trial court judges oppose independent research ·
They say it distorts the adversarial system and that judges aren't that good at research
P2
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Author's criticism ·
The judges' concerns don't justify an absolute ban on independent research by judges
Support 1 ·
Adversarial system doesn't handle specialized knowledge (like science) well
Independence research for specialized knowledge can help.
P3
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Support 2 ·
Trial structure reduces possibility of reaching bad research results
Independent research only supplements the parties' evidence.
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P4
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Author's perspective ·
Appellate courts should not do independent research
Trial court judges can do whatever they want. But appellate courts shouldn't do research.
P5
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Support ·
Appellate courts don't have important tools for figuring out what's true
Live testimony from experts can help judges understand scientific stuff, and cross-examination of those experts can help discover what's true. Appellate judges don't get these things, since they happen only at the trial level.
P6
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Support ·
Trial courts determine the facts; appellate courts shouldn't intrude on this
P7
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Support ·
Appellate courts who do research risk reaching bad results; they also shouldn't read stuff that wasn't presented to the trial court
Passage Style
23.
Which one of the following ███████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ███████ █ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ █ █████ ███ ██████
a
This is a reference to the knowledge of expert witnesses. We’re looking for a phrase that refers to judges and their inability to do proper research.
b
This phrase doesn’t express any concerns. It’s just an acknowledgement that trial judges sometimes question witnesses. We’re looking for a phrase that expresses the same concern raised by author A: that judges aren’t able to to do proper research and could end up with inaccurate results.
c
This is a reference to how in trials, expert witnesses have the opportunity to comment on research findings. The author’s raising the concern that in appellate courts, that opportunity doesn’t exist. But we’re looking for a phrase that refers to judges (not expert witnesses) and raises a different concern (judges’ inability to do proper research).
d
When author A uses the phrase “lack the wherewithal,” she’s expressing the concern that judges aren’t able to to do proper research and could end up with inaccurate results. (D) expresses the same concern; the author is critical of the kinds of results judges will turn up in their own independent research.
e
This phrase just clarifies what kinds of resources appellate judges shouldn’t be allowed to make use of. It doesn’t offer any commentary on how skilled judges are at actually performing independent research. We’re looking for a phrase that raises the concern that judges aren’t able to to do proper research and could end up with inaccurate results.