With the elimination of the apartheid system, South Africa now confronts the transition to a rights-based legal system in a constitutional democracy. ███
Intro topic ·South Africa's transition to a rights-based legal system
Concern ·New system is less rule-bound, and more interpretative
A constitutional court will hear arguments on whether laws passed by p arliament are constitutional. This has never happened in South Africa before, so there is uncertainty.
Elaborate on concern ·May be difficult to foster rights-based culture
Society is multiracial, with a wide range of political beliefs. The constitution's bill of rights is described very generally, and there's no legal precedent to help determine its meaning.
Use of international law ·Can look to other countries' legal precedent, but need to be careful
Some scholars think that SA judges might blindly follow other countries' interpretations of their own constitutions. But, scholars are optimistic that SA judges will develop their own precedent over time.
Additional source of difficulty ·SA citizens suspicious of law
Law in SA has traditionally been tool of oppression, so citizens break and oppose laws.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
Analysis by Kevin_Lin
22.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████
Question Type
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Structure
The primary purpose of these lines is to describe the difference between the old legal system and the new one. Under the old legal system, parliament was the maker and arbiter of laws. Under the new system, a constitutional court can decide the constitutionality of parliament’s laws.
a
to describe the ████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████ █████ ████████ ███ ████████████
This ignores that the purpose is to describe a difference. The author doesn’t merely want to tell us about parliament’s role. She wants to tell us how the legal system has changed.
b
to argue for █████████ █████ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████
The author doesn’t make an argument in these lines. She simply describes the difference between the old legal system and the new one.
c
to contrast the █████████ ██ █████ ████████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ███████████ █████ ███ ███ ████████████
This is the best answer, because it’s the only one that involves describing a difference between the old legal system and the new one.
d
to criticize the ████████ ██ █ █████ ████ █████ █████████ ██ ██████████████ ███████
The author doesn’t criticize the creation of the constitutional court. We have no evidence the author this as a negative change.
The author doesn’t explain why a bill of rights was included. The author’s purpose is to explain how the old legal system is different from the new one. Reasons for the change aren’t discussed.
Difficulty
91% of people who answer get this correct
This is a slightly challenging question.
It is similar in difficulty to other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%126
137
75%147
Analysis
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea)
Stems that ask us to describe the purpose of a word, phrase, or idea given the context in which it appears. Answers often use abstract, structural language.
Structure
Structure
An umbrella tag marking questions that test our understanding of the passage's overall structure.
Law
Law
Passages with subject matter centered on law (jurisprudence, courts, legal systems, etc.)
Problem-analysis
Problem-analysis
Passages that present a particular problem and then discuss the implications of that problem. They also often explore one or more solutions to that problem (although they don’t have to).
Single position
Single position
Passages that develop one perspective on the central topic.
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
7%
153
b
1%
148
c
91%
160
d
1%
150
e
1%
149
Question history
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