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Question 1
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
72% (03:10) correct
28%
(02:59) wrong
based on 176
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
56% (01:18) correct 44%
(01:19) wrong
based on 225
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
45% (00:53) correct 55%
(01:05) wrong
based on 210
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
34% (01:27) correct 66%
(01:44) wrong
based on 215
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 5
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
47% (01:21) correct 53%
(01:27) wrong
based on 195
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Passage A
Law enforcement agencies can effectively nullify particular laws, or particular applications of law, simply by declining to prosecute violators. This power appears to be exercised frequently and I attempt here to explain why.
Rules of law are almost always overinclusive: read literally, they forbid some conduct that the legislature that formulated the rule did not want to forbid. The costs of precisely tailoring a rule to the conduct intended to be forbidden would be prohibitive given the limitations of human foresight and the inherent ambiguities of language. The more particularly the legislature tries to describe the forbidden conduct, the more loopholes it will create. Enforcing an overinclusive rule to the letter could impose very heavy social costs. The effect would be like punishing an innocent person in order to reduce the probability of acquitting a guilty one. Of course, the danger of punishing the innocent is not a decisive blow against the use of a particular method of law enforcement; the danger must be traded off against the costs of alternative methods that would reduce it. But there is a technique—discretionary nonenforcement—by which the costs of overinclusion can be reduced without a corresponding increase in underinclusion (loopholes).
Of course, allowing discretionary nonenforcement does not determine the principle by which the law enforcement agency will select its cases. Conceivably the agency could concentrate its resources on those areas of conduct that had been brought inadvertently within the scope of the rule. But this seems unlikely. Capricious enforcement is not unknown (or even rare) but it does not appear to be the central tendency since legislative oversight assures that the agency does not stray too far from the intended, as distinct from the enacted, regulation being enforced.
Passage B
The newspaper reported that 231,000 water customers in the city are late paying their bills—some by months, others by decades. In all, these water delinquents owe the city more than $625 million in overdue bills and penalties. So officials are planning to selectively cut the water to a few residences with outstanding bills to show that they are serious about collecting those debts. Officials plan to target only high-income neighborhoods, to make examples of a few privileged residents who will be in no position to complain since they were caught stiffing the system.
But property owners are responsible for water bills. So why not just do what every other property-related creditor or tax authority does—attach a lien to the property? The money owed would automatically be available whenever a property was sold, and the threat of negative credit implications would be a powerful incentive to keep current with one’s water obligations.
Well, here’s an answer: a loophole prohibits debts other than taxes from being subject to liens by the city, and, technically, water charges are not taxes. But if the problem is with the law, then why not change the law? Wouldn’t that be easier, and politically smarter, than shutting off people’s water?
Law enforcement agencies can effectively nullify particular laws, or particular applications of law, simply by declining to prosecute violators. This power appears to be exercised frequently and I attempt here to explain why.
Rules of law are almost always overinclusive: read literally, they forbid some conduct that the legislature that formulated the rule did not want to forbid. The costs of precisely tailoring a rule to the conduct intended to be forbidden would be prohibitive given the limitations of human foresight and the inherent ambiguities of language. The more particularly the legislature tries to describe the forbidden conduct, the more loopholes it will create. Enforcing an overinclusive rule to the letter could impose very heavy social costs. The effect would be like punishing an innocent person in order to reduce the probability of acquitting a guilty one. Of course, the danger of punishing the innocent is not a decisive blow against the use of a particular method of law enforcement; the danger must be traded off against the costs of alternative methods that would reduce it. But there is a technique—discretionary nonenforcement—by which the costs of overinclusion can be reduced without a corresponding increase in underinclusion (loopholes).
Of course, allowing discretionary nonenforcement does not determine the principle by which the law enforcement agency will select its cases. Conceivably the agency could concentrate its resources on those areas of conduct that had been brought inadvertently within the scope of the rule. But this seems unlikely. Capricious enforcement is not unknown (or even rare) but it does not appear to be the central tendency since legislative oversight assures that the agency does not stray too far from the intended, as distinct from the enacted, regulation being enforced.
Passage B
The newspaper reported that 231,000 water customers in the city are late paying their bills—some by months, others by decades. In all, these water delinquents owe the city more than $625 million in overdue bills and penalties. So officials are planning to selectively cut the water to a few residences with outstanding bills to show that they are serious about collecting those debts. Officials plan to target only high-income neighborhoods, to make examples of a few privileged residents who will be in no position to complain since they were caught stiffing the system.
But property owners are responsible for water bills. So why not just do what every other property-related creditor or tax authority does—attach a lien to the property? The money owed would automatically be available whenever a property was sold, and the threat of negative credit implications would be a powerful incentive to keep current with one’s water obligations.
Well, here’s an answer: a loophole prohibits debts other than taxes from being subject to liens by the city, and, technically, water charges are not taxes. But if the problem is with the law, then why not change the law? Wouldn’t that be easier, and politically smarter, than shutting off people’s water?
1. Both passages explicitly mention which one of the following?
(A) legal technicalities
(B) incentives
(C) loopholes
(D) language
(E) overinclusive laws
(A) legal technicalities
(B) incentives
(C) loopholes
(D) language
(E) overinclusive laws
2. Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the material in passage B?
(A) Most water customers in the city are late paying their water bills.
(B) Most of the residences with outstanding water bills are in the city’s high-income neighborhoods.
(C) It is appropriate to turn off the water of high- income residents in the city who pay their water bills a few days late.
(D) In recent years, the city has rarely, if ever, turned off the water of customers who were late paying their water bills.
(E) The only reasonable solution to the problem of overdue water bills in the city is to enact a law that classifies water bills as taxes.
(A) Most water customers in the city are late paying their water bills.
(B) Most of the residences with outstanding water bills are in the city’s high-income neighborhoods.
(C) It is appropriate to turn off the water of high- income residents in the city who pay their water bills a few days late.
(D) In recent years, the city has rarely, if ever, turned off the water of customers who were late paying their water bills.
(E) The only reasonable solution to the problem of overdue water bills in the city is to enact a law that classifies water bills as taxes.
3. The role of the word “selectively” in passage B (Highlighted) is most closely related to the role of which one of the following words in passage A?
(A) “particularly” (Text in Red)
(B) “probability” (Text in Blue)
(C) “alternative” (Text in Red)
(D) “discretionary” (Text in Blue)
(E) “capricious” (Text in Red)
(A) “particularly” (Text in Red)
(B) “probability” (Text in Blue)
(C) “alternative” (Text in Red)
(D) “discretionary” (Text in Blue)
(E) “capricious” (Text in Red)
4. The author of passage A would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the plan described in Bolded lines 41–47 in passage B?
(A) Officials should not implement the plan until just after the legislature’s annual appropriations hearing.
(B) At least the plan would have a lower social cost than would turning off the water of all 231,000 households that have not paid on time.
(C) The plan is a reasonable response to the water department’s history of enforcing overinclusive rules to the letter.
(D) A better plan would have been to place liens on the properties owned by those who are late paying their bills.
(E) Instead of implementing the plan, specific laws regarding the payment of water bills should be introduced to provide a more effective set of incentives.
(A) Officials should not implement the plan until just after the legislature’s annual appropriations hearing.
(B) At least the plan would have a lower social cost than would turning off the water of all 231,000 households that have not paid on time.
(C) The plan is a reasonable response to the water department’s history of enforcing overinclusive rules to the letter.
(D) A better plan would have been to place liens on the properties owned by those who are late paying their bills.
(E) Instead of implementing the plan, specific laws regarding the payment of water bills should be introduced to provide a more effective set of incentives.
5. Passage A suggests that an instance of “capricious enforcement” (Highlighted) most likely involves
(A) enforcing the law only to the degree that municipal resources make possible
(B) enforcing the law according to the legislature’s intent in passing the laws
(C) prioritizing enforcement of the law according to the amount of damage caused by the crimes
(D) not understanding the difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law
(E) not following the intent of the legislature in enforcing the law
(A) enforcing the law only to the degree that municipal resources make possible
(B) enforcing the law according to the legislature’s intent in passing the laws
(C) prioritizing enforcement of the law according to the amount of damage caused by the crimes
(D) not understanding the difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law
(E) not following the intent of the legislature in enforcing the law
13 Oct 2022, 04:01
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Explanation
4. The author of passage A would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements concerning the plan described in Bolded lines 41–47 in passage B?
Explanation
The plan is to shut off water to some houses. It would be better to apply a lien, but an over-specific law prevents this. The author of passage A would agree that this is a case where a more general law would have been helpful.
(A) I don’t see why the author would have an opinion on when the plan ought to be put in place.
(B) CORRECT. I think anyone would agree that it wouldn’t be nice to turn off water to 231,000 just because they were a bit late on their bill. The author of passage A would probably say this wouldn’t be the legislature’s intent.
(C) The author of passage A would probably say the only reasonable response is to change the law to allow liens for water fees.
(D) The author would probably agree, though he’s given no opinion on liens. But this course of action isn’t an option. The only plan that would allow this would involve changing the law.
(E) The author of passage A is against specific laws.
Answer: B
Explanation
The plan is to shut off water to some houses. It would be better to apply a lien, but an over-specific law prevents this. The author of passage A would agree that this is a case where a more general law would have been helpful.
(A) I don’t see why the author would have an opinion on when the plan ought to be put in place.
(B) CORRECT. I think anyone would agree that it wouldn’t be nice to turn off water to 231,000 just because they were a bit late on their bill. The author of passage A would probably say this wouldn’t be the legislature’s intent.
(C) The author of passage A would probably say the only reasonable response is to change the law to allow liens for water fees.
(D) The author would probably agree, though he’s given no opinion on liens. But this course of action isn’t an option. The only plan that would allow this would involve changing the law.
(E) The author of passage A is against specific laws.
Answer: B
15 Oct 2022, 02:39
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Explanation
3. The role of the word “selectively” in passage B (Highlighted) is most closely related to the role of which one of the following words in passage A?
Explanation
If you read the area in the third sentence of the first paragraph of passage B, you’ll see that some houses are being ‘selectively’ chosen as an example for the others. That’s closest to answer D, ‘discretionary’. Discretion means you have a choice. Officials are choosing which houses they cut water to. Remember that you have to read the relevant section of passage A to get the meaning of the word in the answer choice. Several of these words have multiple definitions.
(A) In this case, particularly means ‘thoroughly’.
(B) In this case, probability means ‘likelihood’
(C) In this case, alternative means another option.
(D) CORRECT. Discretionary means that officials have a choice in who to prosecute, just as officials have a choice in whose water they shut off.
(E) Capricious means a sudden change in mood or behavior. In the case of enforcement, it would mean random enforcement, rather than rational discretionary enforcement.
Answer: D
Explanation
If you read the area in the third sentence of the first paragraph of passage B, you’ll see that some houses are being ‘selectively’ chosen as an example for the others. That’s closest to answer D, ‘discretionary’. Discretion means you have a choice. Officials are choosing which houses they cut water to. Remember that you have to read the relevant section of passage A to get the meaning of the word in the answer choice. Several of these words have multiple definitions.
(A) In this case, particularly means ‘thoroughly’.
(B) In this case, probability means ‘likelihood’
(C) In this case, alternative means another option.
(D) CORRECT. Discretionary means that officials have a choice in who to prosecute, just as officials have a choice in whose water they shut off.
(E) Capricious means a sudden change in mood or behavior. In the case of enforcement, it would mean random enforcement, rather than rational discretionary enforcement.
Answer: D
