PT134.S4.P1.Q6

PrepTest 134 - Section 4 - Passage 1 - Question 6

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P1

Determining the most effective way to deter deliberate crimes, such as fraud, as opposed to impulsive crimes, such as . ██████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ███████ █████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ███

Problem · Most effective way to deter deliberate crimes
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One side's position · Crimes a product of societal norms and institutions
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That side's solution · Change attitudes, improve economic opportunity, rehabilitate
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Other side's position · Crimes a product of individual choice
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Other side's solution · More penalties
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Author's solution · The two positions above are complementary, not opposed
P2

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Explain author's solution · Principle of utility maximization
Decision to commit a crime is an economic decision that weighs the likely benefits ("utilities") of different actions
P3

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Application of principle · to problem of crime deterrence
A person commits a crime when that person believes the benefits outweigh the risks
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Elaborate on author's solution · Combine penalties with improved economic opportunity
More penalties increase the risks of committing a crime. Improved economic opportunity decreases the benefits of committing a crime (as compared to law-abiding activities).
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
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6.

The passage suggests that the ██████ █████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ███████

a

The rate at █████ █████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ████████ ███████████ ███ ██████ █████████ ███ ████████

Supported as something the author would agree with. Stronger punishments lower the expected utility from criminal activity, and so based on the UM principle, people would be less likely to engage in such activity.

2%
b

The rate at █████ █████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████████ ████ ███ ██████

Supported as something the author would agree with. Rehabilitation efforts are one of the measures proposed by the “societal norms” side of the debate. The author says that these kinds of measures increase the expected utility from lawful activity. So if these measures are ended, there will be less expected utility from lawful activity, and people would be more likely to engage in criminal activity instead.

9%
c

The rate of ██████████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ██████████

Anti-supported as something the author would agree with. She says that crimes occur when the expected utility of criminal activity is outweighs than the expected utility of lawful activity. If the expected utility of lawful activity decreases, then the utility of criminal activity is likely to win out in more cases, meaning the crime rate would increase.

73%
d

The rate of ██████████ ██████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████████ ████████████ ██████████

Supported as something the author would agree with. Access to economic institutions increases the expected utility of lawful activity. If access decreases, the expected utility of lawful activity will decrease, and the utility of criminal activity will win out in more cases. So the crime rate would increase.

5%
e

The rate of ██████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████████████

Supported as something the author would agree with. If the level of enforcement goes up, then the expected utility of criminal activity goes down, and so people are less likely to engage in such activity. This means that as enforcement goes up, the rate of crimes goes down—or in other words, that the crime rate varies inversely (i.e., in the opposite direction) with the level of enforcement.

10%

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