PT138.S1.P4.Q25 > Analytics

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Passage A.

Topic of passage A · Reasons to not prosecute

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Premise 1 · Laws are overinclusive

They end up accidentally forbidding some acts that weren't meant to be forbidden.

Premise 2 · Always enforcing overinclusive laws means harming the innocent

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Premise 3 · Instead, can choose to sometimes not prosecute ("discretionary nonenforcement")

Raise question · How law enforcement actually decides if/when to not prosecute

Does law enforcement actually prosecute for acts that weren't intended to be punished?

Author's perspective · Law enforcement mostly chooses not to prosecute acts that weren't intended to be punished

Punishing acts that weren't meant to be punished ("capricious enforcement") does occur, but it's not the norm because legislative oversight helps to counteract it.

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Problem · Overdue water bills

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Solution · Selectively punish only some residents

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Alternative solution · Lien

Overdue bills are collected later, when the property is sold

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Problem with alternative solution · Liens can't be used for unpaid water bills

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Author's solution · Expand the law to allow liens for unpaid water bills

Passage Style

25.

The role of the word █████████████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ██ ███████ ██

Question Type

Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea)

Structure

By “selectively” cutting off water, Passage B means that officials will choose only a few of the residences that are late-paying for the water cutoff. They could cut off water for more residents, but they are choosing to be selective. This is related to Passage A’s use of “discretionary.” Officials are exercising their discretion in choosing not to enforce the laws against most other people who are late in paying their water bills.

"particularly" (third sentence ██ ███ ██████ ██████████

(A) refers to attempts by the legislature to specify conduct that’s illegal. This doesn’t relate to “selectively” in Passage B, which isn’t about trying to be more specific about something. “Selectively” means being more limited in how something is applied, not trying to increase how specifically something is targeted.

10%

"probability" (fifth sentence ██ ███ ██████ ██████████

(B) refers to the chance of letting a guilty person go free. This doesn’t match the role of “selectively,” which isn’t about the chance of something occurring.

"alternative" (second-to-last sentence ██ ███ ██████ ██████████

“Alternative” refers to a different choice. This doesn’t match the role of “selectively,” which isn’t used to imply the existence of a different choice.

"discretionary" (last sentence ██ ███ ██████ ██████████

This best captures the role of “selectively.” Officials are exercising their discretion in enforcement; they are enforcing the law against fewer people than they could.

74%

"capricious" (last sentence ██ ███████ ██

“Capricious” in the context of Passage A refers to enforcement of a law against those who are not intended to be brought within the scope of the law. This isn’t related to the role of “selectively,” because we’re not told that the officials are cutting off water to people who aren’t intended to have their water cut off in the event of late payments.

10%

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PrepTest 138 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 25

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PrepTest 138 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 25

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