Reading comp PrepTest 154 · Section 3 · Question 23

Passage

Questions 21-27  .       In the absence of international statutes prohibiting  . nations from causing each other environmental damage,  . scholars Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • Two principles that make up a norm are introduced
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Absence of law, international environmental law relies on "customary law", i.e., norms
    • Principle 1 - Transboundary harm - Don't do anything that leaves your borders
    • Principle 2 - Precautionary principle - Don't put other nations at significant risk of harm
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • A question is implied
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - Do these principles amount to norms for court cases?
    • Normal rule - They do only if countries actually practice them instead of just saying them (Say vs. Do)
    • Current situation - Countries break the principles
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • More of the Say vs. Do situation is discussed
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Countries - Repeat principles, criticize others based on them, break them
    • Scholars - Evaluate countries based on what they say
    • Author - These "norms" aren't really norms - they're an "ideological system"
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • Implications of the Author's conclusion; Author makes a recommendation
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Focusing on norms as law/courts is misguided
    • Focus instead on treaties/negotiations - use principle to make good agreements
Main Point:
Rather than focusing on environmental principles as norms to guide court cases, scholars interested in making progress on the environment should focus on them as a means of directing treaties and agreements.

Key Lines:
Lines 8-9 - The principles being debated are introduced
Lines 21-24 - The criterion for determining whether a principle is a norm is established
Lines 27-28 - The Author shows the principles in question don't meet that criterion
Line 43-46 - The Author classifies the principles
Lines 54-59 - The Author makes a recommendation

Meta-Structure:

Question/Answer - The Author asks whether the principles amount to actual norms for international law, and she determines they don't (Paragraphs 2 and 3).

Criterion/Classification - The Author establishes the criterion for classifying something as a norm, and she determines that the principles in question aren't norms but rather ideological systems (Line 44).

Problem/Solution - The Author presents international environmental problems to be addressed, and she recommends that those focused on these problems approach them by using principles to guide international agreements.

Last Thoughts:
There's an interesting relationship between what scholars are currently doing and what the Author recommends that they do. Currently, the scholars are focusing on two environmental principles as a means of solving international environmental issues. That's what the Author recommends! However, the scholars currently are appealing to these principles as a basis for international law that can be applied by courts, while the Author says that these principles should instead be used as the basis for international agreements.

So, in short, the Author agrees with the principles that the scholars are using, but she disagrees on how they're using them. There's not a complete disconnect between the two viewpoints, so that might come up in the answers.

Question prompt

The author claims that 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

Answer choices

  1. A
    They have commonly been Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 5-9) The Author states that these principles are commonly held to be norms in ""customary international law""—which is defined as being ""not formalized.""
  2. B
    They reflect standards that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Review the section(s) on the topic and then find an answer supported by the stimulus

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    The Author defined the principles in question line Lines 8-16. She then establishes how such principles could be considered norms (Lines 21-24) before determining that these two principles don't meet that criterion (Lines 27-28). Paragraph 3 discusses the reality of these principles from the lens of the countries, scholars, and the Author. And Paragraph 4 makes a recommendation about using them as the basis for international agreements rather than court cases.

    So, in short, there's a lot on these principles! We'll need to stay flexible and rely on our understanding of the passage to find the relevant section to analyze each answer as it comes up.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Line 41) In Paragraph 3, the Author introduces how Countries view these principles/""norms""—we tagged it since it represented a view/approach. There, it's noted that the countries use them to ""justify their own actions and criticize those of other nations,"" so this is the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    The correct answer here reflected a subtly introduced viewpoint—that of the countries. For one sentence, the Author hopped into arguments made by countries (""These principles justify our actions and speak against yours!""). These quick-hit viewpoints are great topics for questions, and so you should be sure to note them when they show up in a passage!
  3. C
    Scholars have not reached Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 8-16) Paragraph 1 clearly defines these two norms, so while scholars might characterize them differently than the Author does, they don't seem to have a problem distinguishing them from other environmental principles.
  4. D
    Scholars have debated whether Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 56-59) There's no discussion of the scholars as being something that inhibits negotiations. The Author even recommends that these scholars use the outlined principles as a basis for negotiations/treaty formations.
  5. E
    They are often held Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 47-50; Lines 56-59) The Author recommends using these principles as the basis for treaties as a change from what is currently being done.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B Credited 67%
  3. C 9%
  4. D 7%
  5. E 9%

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