Q23

[e. chung]

This asks for something "laypeople generally consider to involve risk that is not freely assumed?"

I thought the passage was very explicit -

"people would probably not object to to spending enormous resources on improving the safety of firefighters, even though the decision to become a firefighter is voluntary"
= laypeople think it's involuntary, even though they voluntarily elected to become firefighters

"In characterizing the risks as involuntary, people focus on a small part of a complex interaction, not the decision to fly, but the accident when it occurs."
= laypeople think that the flight is voluntary, but that the accident is involuntary

So I picked C, serving as a firefighter.

Can someone please help me see how D, traveling in airplanes is correct?

Thanks!!!

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thanks for posting e. chung!

This is a very confusing passage, in no small part because the author is tackling the very definitions of the words "voluntary" and "involuntary". It's incredibly easy to get turned around on the terms, and what the author is really saying about various situations.

First, it's critical to understand that the author is laying what regular people typically think about whether a situation is "voluntary" or "involuntary" - even if the author himself disagrees with the general population's label.

Let's tackle firefighters first:

"people would probably not object to to spending enormous resources on improving the safety of firefighters, even though the decision to become a firefighter is voluntary"
= laypeople think it's involuntary, even though they voluntarily elected to become firefighters

The passage explicitly states that the decision to become a firefighter is voluntary. It's also saying that people don't object to spending money on this risk even though it's voluntary. The fact that people are willing to spend money on the risk does not mean that it's involuntary. The author never suggests that this risk is in any way involuntary.

In fact, his point is the opposite. He's pointing out an example that is very, very clearly entirely voluntary, and yet we're willing to spend money on it.


Now, let's look at the risk involved with travelling in airplanes:

"In characterizing the risks as involuntary, people focus on a small part of a complex interaction, not the decision to fly, but the accident when it occurs."
= laypeople think that the flight is voluntary, but that the accident is involuntary

Again, the passage explicitly states that the "risks incurred by airline passages are ....thought to be involuntary". The author then goes on to explain that this is kind of silly - since clearly passengers voluntarily decide to fly. But he is pointing out that people, in characterizing airline flight as involuntary are ignoring the decision to fly.

But notice what the question is asking us for? It is NOT asking us simply what is or is not "voluntary", but rather what laypeople generally consider "involuntary". Even though there's a reasonable argument to be made that the risks involved in airline travel ARE voluntary (because of the decision to fly), the passage tells us explicitly that those risks "are typically thought to be involuntary" -i.e., by laypeople. In fact, the author is pointing out that those laypeople are ignoring the "decision to fly" by characterizing the risks as "involuntary".

Remember, this is not asking about what the author thinks is voluntary or involuntary, but rather what the passage indicates that laypeople think is voluntary or involuntary.

Does this help a bit?