Reading comp PrepTest 104 · Section 2 · Question 12

Passage

Questions 7-14  .        By the mid–fourteenth century, professional  . associations of canon lawyers (legal advocates in  . Christian ecclesiastical Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph Note
    • Phenomenon introduced (professional canon lawyers guilds, unlike other guilds, rarely disciplined members)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definitions
      • Professional associations of canon lawyers: legal advocates in Christian ecclesiastical courts (first sentence)
      • Christian ecclesiastical courts: courts that dealt with cases involving marriage, inheritance, etc. (first sentence)
    • Comparison
      • Professional associations of canon lawyers did not play a prominent role in enforcing standards of conduct, unlike other guilds at the time and modern professional associations do (second sentences)
    • Example of a professional association of lawyers hobbling conduct enforcement efforts, according to the author:
      • Florentine guild forbade its members to play any role in the discipline of another member (fifth sentence)
      • Few recorded examples of disciplinary enforcement are initiated by clients and not fellow lawyers (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "might expect" (second sentence); "often did" (second sentence); "seems not to have happened" (second sentence); "little fervor" (third sentence); "erring" (third sentence); "some even" (fourth sentence); "few" (last sentence); "apparently" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph Note
    • Two possible explanations for phenomenon (1. canon lawyers were more ethical, or 2. discipline was less efficient)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of two explanations for why canon guilds, rarely disciplined members
      • They all followed the rules, or they didn't but the enforcement mechanisms were so bad no one was caught/punished (first through last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "[a]t first glance" (first sentence); "seem" (first sentence); "possible" (first sentence); "may have" (second sentence); "possible" (last sentence three)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph Note
    • Author on why explanation 2 is more likely (1: civil courts, with similar rules and members, disciplined more frequently)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparisons, according to the author:
      • The econd explanation is more plausible than the first (first sentence)
      • Unlikely that church lawyers were more ethical than civil court lawyers (last sentence)
    • List of reasons why the second explanation is more likely, according to the author:
      • First reason: Non-church legal courts show plenty of examples of disciplinary proceedings, and these courts had similar rules and members as the church courts (second through last sentences)
    • Author attitude: "makes it clear" (first sentence); "more plausible" (first sentence); "many more" (second sentence); "could well indicate" (third sentence); "seems inherently weak" (last sentence); "especially" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph Note
    • Author on why explanation 2 is more likely (2: church records reveal many complaints about ethics violations)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of reasons why the second explanation is more likely, according to the author (continued from previous paragraph):
      • Second reason: Church authorities complained about ethical failures and lack of disciplinary measures (first sentence)
    • Examples of complaints, according to the author:
      • Council of Basel declared the canon lawyers were lacking ethics and directed Cardinal Cesarini to address the problem (second sentence)
      • In England, there were many complaints about the lack of a functioning discipline system (last sentence)
    • Author attitude: "deplored the shortcomings" (first sentence); "extraordinarily rich" (last sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph Note
    • Implications of explanation (caused lawyers to defend themselves rather than discipline members)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Criticism about ethics in the profession caused solidarity among lawyers, which caused them to start a professional association to defend themselves rather than improve ethics (first through last sentence)
    • Author attitude: "paradoxical result" (first sentence); "apparently" (first sentence); "may actually have" (second sentence); "may also have" (last sentence)

Main Point:

Although professional associations of canon lawyers ostensibly were created to uphold professional standards since the mid-fourteenth century, there weren't many disciplinary proceedings against members because these associations may have focused more on defending members from critics than enforcing ethical standards.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 (P1, S2) - Phenomenon introduced

P2, S1 - Two possible explanations introduced

P3, S1 - The author chooses the second explanation

P3, S2 - First reason why

P4, S1 - Second reason why

P5, S2 - Conclusion regarding the real purpose of the association

Meta-Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation: This passage utilizes a Phenomenon/Explanation Major Meta-Structure. In the first paragraph, the author introduces the central phenemonon: although other medieval guilds played a prominent role in enforcing their own professional standards, professional associations of canon lawyers did not seem to do this much at all. The author then gives two possible explanations to the rarity of disciplinary proceedings: either all these canon lawyers followed the rules, or they didn't but the enforcement mechanisms were so bad no one was caught or punished. The author then explains why the latter is the more likely reason, using comparison and example minor Meta-Structures to support their explanation.

The main point is generally the author's explanation in a Phenomenon/Explanation passage. The author more or less summarizes their explanation in the last sentence of the passage. But we decided to flesh out the explanation a bit more. So, we summarized the author's explanation as: "Although professional associations of canon lawyers ostensibly were created to uphold professional standards since the mid-fourteenth century, there weren't many disciplinary proceedings against members because these associations may have focused more on defending members from critics than enforcing ethical standards."

Last Thoughts?

This author hits for the minor Meta-Structure cycle — there are comparisons, examples, cause and effect, and lists galore. Given the sheer number of important details in this passage, we expext a higher-than-usual percentage of Minor Point, Author Agree, and Application questions.

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the relevant part of the passage and notes, if necessary, to anticipate key features of professional solidarity.

Answer Anticipation

These Application/Analogous Situation questions closely resemble Parallel Reasoning questions in Logical Reasoning. We want to find the answer choice that is structurally similar to the element we're asked to analogize. The correct answer won't have the same subject matter as the passage; instead, it will feature similar characteristics or themes as the element from the passage. Therefore, we should start by reviewing the key features of the element we're asked to parallel.In this case "professional solidarity" was referenced in regards to the result of criticism of lawyers' ethics. Test-takers reading for minor Meta-Structure may have noticed this as a cause-and-effect relationship, where ethical complaints caused professional solidarity *instead* of actually trying to enforce ethical standards and discipline members who received complaints (P5, S1). This is elaborated on in the next two sentences — that outside complaints paradoxically did not lead to discipline or improvements in ethics, but instead to a focus on defending other lawyers from attack (P5, S2-3).So, let's look for a type of "professional solidarity" where a group is more concerned with protecting its members from attack than making sure its members are following the rules. This anticipation may sound rather broad, but we want our anticipation to be very general for these questions. This will help us assess the elements or themes of the answer choices independent of their subject matter.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Members of a teachers' Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice describe a group more concerned with protecting its members from attack than ensuring its members are following the rules?

    It seems like it's on the right track, as it describes a professional association receiving a complaint and going on strike in solidarity. It makes sense that many test-takers would select this.

    But does this feature all of the elements of our anticipation? Not really. In the passage, the guilds defended their members against actual, legitimate complaints that the members weren't following the rules. In this answer choice, there is a "false" accusation. There isn't a clear sense that this teacher actually broke the rules.

    While it's not an awful answer choice, expert test-takers may want to hold on to this one while looking for an answer choice with *more* of features we want to parallel, especially one that describes a clear rule violation.

  2. B
    In order to protect Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) Does this answer choice describe a group more concerned with protecting its members from attack than ensuring its members are following the rules?

    This one has it all! A member of a group breaking ethical rules (distorting the news), another member protecting them rather than enforcing the rules (concealing these distortions), and even a public that doesn't trust the group in question (a "largely hostile public"). We have a winner. If we were holding on to (A), we could definitely eliminate that one and select (B).

  3. C
    Several dozen recording artists Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice describe a group more concerned with protecting its members from attack than ensuring its members are following the rules?

    Nope. Although this does seem to show industry professionals working together, it is not an example of the professional solidarity referenced in the passage. Rather than banding together to defend themselves against legitimate complaints, here we have artists working together to promote a worthy cause.

  4. D
    In order to expedite Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this answer choice describe a group more concerned with protecting its members from attack than ensuring its members are following the rules?

    Not really. Although we do seem to have an ethical violation, we do not have a group working together to protect members of that group. Instead, we have a government official concealing problems in another industry (pharmaceuticals). That makes this dissimilar to the "professional solidarity" described in the passage.

  5. E
    A popular politician agrees Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice describe a group more concerned with protecting its members from attack than ensuring its members are following the rules?

    Nope. We don't seem to have any members of a group breaking any ethical rules here, so we can cross (E) off.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 29%
  2. B Credited 58%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 7%
  5. E 4%

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