Q25 - A law is successful primarily

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Analyze Argument Structure (Identify a Comparison the author used)

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Laws are successful when the behavior they require becomes customary.
Evidence: With manners, just like with societal laws, repetition and familiarity make it so that behaving some other way becomes unthinkable, thus removing the need for sanctions/penalties to be an enforcement mechanism.

Answer Anticipation:
The author compared "manners" to "societal laws", as can be seen from the structure "Just as ____, so ____ ". They're similar in the sense that custom, not punishment, is what really modifies the behavior of people following them.

Correct Answer:
C

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) Nothing in here talks about laws or customs varying from society to society.

(B) This wasn't about the adoption of a law or adoption of some rule of etiquette. It was about the success of laws / manners that are already enacted.

(C) The first sentence definitely sounds like it supports the idea that laws are complied with "primarily because" of custom. The second sentence says that manners are observed "because, through repetition, other behavior becomes unthinkable". That's a close enough synonym for the idea of custom.

(D) The author doesn't actually say whether laws deal with ethically required behavior. He only says that "whether or not the behavior is ethically required, THAT'S not why societal laws are obeyed".

(E) Similar to (D), the author doesn't say "most laws have no penalties", she says "laws are not obeyed because of the accompanying penalties".

Takeaway/Pattern: This is an unusual question stem, so we just have to roll with it. Ultimately, the correct answer is just reinforcing the author's main conclusion, so if someone were stuck with C/D/E, thinking that all those things were mentioned, we could certainly prioritize going with the one that most reinforces the main point.

#officialexplanation

[pinkdatura]

I am not quite clear with what the question type? "which of the following is utilized by argument.
A, D, E are out of scope by referring to other customs, ethical or penalty, which are not the argument major talking about.
B is wrong because it talks about adoption of law rather than how law is considered as successful (I am not sure if this explanation hits the point)

Also I am confused about the first half of the second sentence 'just as manners are observed not because of sanctions...unthinkable" what does this sentence has to do with the whole argument? Is it a analog for manner observe-contrary behavior as unthinkable; law obey-uncustomary or manner has sth to do with custom argument?

THX

[bbirdwell]

Sounds like you'v got it!

It's not really a categorizable question type. It's the only one like this that I've ever seen, simply asking you to identify the comparison in the argument.

I would think of the second sentence this way:
Just as manners are observed because, through repetition, contrary behavior becomes unthinkable, societal laws are obeyed because to act otherwise would be uncustomary.