Reading comp PrepTest 103 · Section 4 · Question 5

Topic: Social Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • In a liberal democracy, each citizen must accept limits on their liberty when it comes to supporting the community.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Criticism 1: Compulsory national service is not in keeping with principles of individual rights inherent in Western democracy (first sentence)
    • Analogy: this argument is like saying compelling people to pay taxes violates the right to property (second sentence)
      • Taxes must be paid so there is law enforcement for everyone’s benefit (sixth sentence)
    • Argument against criticism: individual rights must be curbed by obligations to the greater good (other citizens) (third-fifth sentences)
  • Author’s attitude: “claim” (first sentence); “fail to take into account” (third sentence); “intricate nature” (third sentence); “only in the context of a community” (fourth sentence); “implicit in such a context” (fifth sentence); “shared sacrifice” (fifth sentence); “of benefit to everyone” (sixth sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • The state has a right to compel individuals to perform national service when it is needed for society.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Analogy: If people have an obligation to fund law enforcement with taxes inside the nation, they certainly have a responsibility to defend the nation against outside aggression (first sentence)
  • The state is fully justified in compelling people to perform national service when necessary (second sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “surely no less” (first sentence); “state is certainly within its rights” (second sentence); “compel citizens” (second sentence); “benefit of society” (second sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Critics of national service may raise the objection that compulsory national service goes beyond the acceptable limits of governmental interference in the lives of its citizens.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Criticism 2: National service and taxation are not analogous b/c compulsion is necessary in the case of taxation but not necessary in the case of national service; there are volunteers for the military (first sentence)
  • Criticism 3: National service activities go far beyond those that are absolutely necessary to defend the nation (second sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “might be objected” (first sentence); “not analogous” (first sentence); “do not limit its scope” (second sentence); “it may be contended” (third sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • National service goes beyond the defense of the nation and encompasses what is of benefit to society; these programs, like those supported by taxation, are worthy of continuation.
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • If they discuss what is needed vs. what is not needed, opponents of national service have already conceded that the government has a right to demand service when needed (first sentence)
  • Return of analogy: if programs currently supported by tax revenue are acceptable intrusions on right to property, then programs supported by national service should go beyond what is needed to defend the country (third sentence)
    • Even conservative politicians would say tax money is spent on programs that don’t ensure survival of nation but are of great benefit to society (fourth sentence)
    • Programs of military including putting down civil disorder, rebuilding dams and bridges, helping disaster victims are of similar benefit to society (fifth sentence)
    • Opponents of national service must concede that these programs are of similar benefit, and therefore that an expanded definition of national service is consistent with liberal democratic state (sixth sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “has already allowed” (first sentence); “it is a right of government to demand” (first sentence); “legitimate intrusions” (third sentence); “must also be granted” (third sentence); “tax money is rightly spent” (fourth sentence); “great benefit to society” (fourth sentence); “truly claim” (fifth sentence); “all extraneous to the defense of society” (fifth sentence); “must concede” (sixth sentence); “broadened conception” (sixth sentence); “in keeping with” (sixth sentence); “shared sacrifice and community benefit” (sixth sentence)

Main Point: Compulsory national service is in keeping with the principles of a liberal democracy because individual rights must be limited by the greater good in the same way that compulsory taxation funds programs that are not necessary to the survival of the state but nevertheless are considered of great benefit to the community.

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1 S1) - Criticism 1

P1 S2 - Central analogy

P1 S4-5 - Limits on individual liberty that justify taxation and national service

P3 S1 - Criticism 2

P3 S2 - Criticism 3

P4 S3 - Return of central analogy

P4 S5 - National service provides similar benefits to those programs supported by taxation

Rebutting Critics: This passage uses a Rebutting Critics Meta-Structure. The author shoots down criticisms of compulsory national service using political philosophy and analogy to compulsory taxation. The author identifies three criticisms/objections to compulsory national service and deals with them in turn, relying heavily on the central analogy to taxation and the programs it supports. At the end, the author concludes that opponents of compulsory national service would have to concede the justice of the author’s view that compulsory national service is consistent with the principles of a liberal democracy.

Because this passage is framed with criticism, and the main work the author does is to rebut those criticisms, this is a Rebutting Critics passage rather than a Correcting the Record or a Resolving a Debate passage.

The author’s viewpoint is clear throughout. They use the foil of “opponents of national service” to raise objections to their view and deploy analogy and political philosophy to rebut those objections. This makes discerning the argumentative flow of the passage a relatively straightforward matter.

This is a somewhat philosophical passage, but the viewpoint of the author is plainly stated and the argument bounces from one purported criticism to another using the central idea of the analogy: national service is akin to taxation. This is the argumentative device upon which the author relies, and it is important to understand how this device is used.