Reading comp PrepTest 146 · Section 4 · Question 3
Passage
Passage A . Jury nullification occurs when the jury acquits the . defendant in a criminal case in disregard of
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Passage A - Jury nullification, while probably rare, creates many problems for criminal law.
Passage B - While jury nullification has the potential to be done for the wrong reasons, that's probably rare, and it solves a lot of problems with law enforcement and for the legislature.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 8-10 - The Author's opinion is stated
Line 11 - A problem is described
Line 17-18 - A problem is described
Lines 25-28 - A problem is described
Lines 30-32 - The Author's opinion is reiterated
Passage B:
Lines 36-40 - A benefit is noted by the Author
Lines 41-43 - Another benefit is noted
Lines 51-53 - Another benefit is noted
Lines 54-56 - A problem is noted that is said to be rare
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
List of Problems (Passage A) - The Author starts the passage out with a statement that a certain practice has problems, and then she goes through a list of those problems. Note that our Key Lines for this list generally featured the first line of each statement, but it didn't always. Being able to identify the "best" line summing up each problem is a key way to be able to really understand these passages!
List of Benefits (Passage B) - In a mirrored structure to Passage A, Passage B notes that the same practice has benefits, and then it goes about listing those benefits. This mirrored structure reflects their opposite opinions of jury nullification.
Which brings us to the relationship between the passages. They both use a similar structure to make opposite arguments. In Passage A, problems with jury nullification are noted. In Passage B, the benefits of jury nullification are described. These problems and benefits aren't perfectly mirrored—Passage B doesn't address each downside in Passage A by suggesting that it's actually a benefit—but they do overlap in discussing the role of the legislature in the criminal justice system.
Last Thoughts:
Since the passages reach different conclusions, we should expect questions about differences between them, and answers that reflect differences. The exception to that is any question about Argument Structure or Methods of Reasoning since the way that they make their arguments is actually quite similar.
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A problematic phenomenon is introduced
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Jury nullification - Jury thinks someone is guilty but say innocent (mercy, dislike of victim, civil disobedience)
- Probably rare, but problematic
- Paragraph note
- First problem noted (No reasoning)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Juries don't release reasoning, so don't know how often and how used
- Paragraph note
- Second problem noted (Not all info)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Juries don't have full knowledge (e.g., prior crimes)
- Paragraph note
- Third problem noted (Unaccountable)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Legislature passes laws; judges interpret
- Jury not accountable, so don't need to think of overall effect
- Paragraph note
- Wrap up
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Disagreement over criminal law should happen in public, not in jury box
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Benefit of nullification (Protect against overzealous prosecution)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Police and prosecutors sometimes "overzealous"
- Jury nullification can protect against this
- Paragraph note
- Another benefit of nullification (Help legislature)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Legislature makes general/broad because they can't cover all cases or make everyone happy
- Nullification helps legislature
- Paragraph note
- Another benefit of nullification (Tell legislature the law is bad)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- More help for legislatures - send message that law has a problem with it
- Paragraph note
- Problem with nullification (bad reasoning); frequency is discussed
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Problem - Might be based on bad reasoning
- Frequency of problem - Rare, since all 12 have to agree to nullify
Passage A - Jury nullification, while probably rare, creates many problems for criminal law.
Passage B - While jury nullification has the potential to be done for the wrong reasons, that's probably rare, and it solves a lot of problems with law enforcement and for the legislature.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 8-10 - The Author's opinion is stated
Line 11 - A problem is described
Line 17-18 - A problem is described
Lines 25-28 - A problem is described
Lines 30-32 - The Author's opinion is reiterated
Passage B:
Lines 36-40 - A benefit is noted by the Author
Lines 41-43 - Another benefit is noted
Lines 51-53 - Another benefit is noted
Lines 54-56 - A problem is noted that is said to be rare
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
List of Problems (Passage A) - The Author starts the passage out with a statement that a certain practice has problems, and then she goes through a list of those problems. Note that our Key Lines for this list generally featured the first line of each statement, but it didn't always. Being able to identify the "best" line summing up each problem is a key way to be able to really understand these passages!
List of Benefits (Passage B) - In a mirrored structure to Passage A, Passage B notes that the same practice has benefits, and then it goes about listing those benefits. This mirrored structure reflects their opposite opinions of jury nullification.
Which brings us to the relationship between the passages. They both use a similar structure to make opposite arguments. In Passage A, problems with jury nullification are noted. In Passage B, the benefits of jury nullification are described. These problems and benefits aren't perfectly mirrored—Passage B doesn't address each downside in Passage A by suggesting that it's actually a benefit—but they do overlap in discussing the role of the legislature in the criminal justice system.
Last Thoughts:
Since the passages reach different conclusions, we should expect questions about differences between them, and answers that reflect differences. The exception to that is any question about Argument Structure or Methods of Reasoning since the way that they make their arguments is actually quite similar.
Question prompt
Based on what can
Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right
Credited answer: C
The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.
Question Type
Legal
Answer choices
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A"Cameras in the Courtroom: Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. While the first title here arguably mirrors the position of Passage A (though "perversion" is a little more extreme than Passage A's opinion), the second title is about balancing the pros and cons, while Passage B just mentioned the pros of jury nullification. -
B"Cameras in the Courtroom: Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
Incorrect. The second title here lines up with Passage B in that they both discussed the benefits of a certain practice. However, the first title describes a passage where the issues in the debate are raised—not a passage where the problems with a practice are described. -
C"The Inherent Dangers of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Parallel Reasoning
Strategy Overview:
Review the main points and relationship between the passages, then find an answer reflecting a similar pair
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
After reading through the passages, we said that they both discussed the same topic—jury nullification—while having opposite opinions on the practice. Passage A described a bunch of problems with it, while Passage B brought up the benefits. As such, we should look for an answer that reflects opposed opinions on the same topic.
Answer Explanation:
Both of these titles reflect a passage on the same topic—cameras in the courtroom. The first title reflects a passage that thinks this practice is a problem, mirroring the opinion of Passage A on jury nullification. The second title reflects a passage that thinks this practice helps the law, mirroring the opinion of Passage B (Line 43; lines 50-51). This answer is therefore correct.
Key Takeaway:
For all Parallel Reasoning questions, you should have a few criteria that you're looking for in the correct answer, and you should eliminate any answer that fails to meet any of those criteria. Here, we were looking for titles on the same topic, with the first negative and the second positive. That narrowed it down to (C) and (D), and then the details allowed us to decide between those two. -
D"The Troublesome History of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. This answer is tempting! Both titles reflect passages on the same topic—cameras in the courtroom. And the first title is negative, while the second title is positive. However, they don't reflect opinions on the topic itself. The first title is about the history of cameras in the courtroom, not the downsides of cameras in the courtroom. And the second title is about the motives of those who want them in the courtroom, not the actual benefits of them. Since each title applies the opinion to a different topic, these titles don't describe passages analogous to the provided ones. -
E"Why Cameras Should Be Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. Both of these titles reflect an opinion on the same topic—cameras in the courtroom. However, while the first title arguably is analogous to the opinion in Passage A, Passage B's opinion was that the topic/practice had benefits. This title says instead that the practice is inevitable. Different opinions, so the second title here isn't analogous to Passage B.
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Discussion
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Difference between B and C 2 replies
Started by BrundonDavey