StrengthenDiff: Easy
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: A criminologist argues that making the punishment for robbery harsher won't actually stop people from doing it.
Conclusion: Lengthening the prison sentences for robbery will not significantly deter people from committing that crime.
Reasoning: The stimulus provides the conclusion as a standalone claim without explicit supporting premises.
Analysis: This is a 'Strengthen EXCEPT' question, so our goal is to identify the one answer choice that does NOT support the criminologist's claim. To support the claim, an answer might suggest that robbers don't expect to get caught, or that they aren't aware of the specific lengths of prison terms. The 'odd one out' will either be irrelevant to the claim or will actually suggest that potential robbers are sensitive to the length of the punishment. Robbers might be impulsive, but if they don't even think about the consequences, then increasing those consequences won't change their behavior.
Conclusion: Lengthening the prison sentences for robbery will not significantly deter people from committing that crime.
Reasoning: The stimulus provides the conclusion as a standalone claim without explicit supporting premises.
Analysis: This is a 'Strengthen EXCEPT' question, so our goal is to identify the one answer choice that does NOT support the criminologist's claim. To support the claim, an answer might suggest that robbers don't expect to get caught, or that they aren't aware of the specific lengths of prison terms. The 'odd one out' will either be irrelevant to the claim or will actually suggest that potential robbers are sensitive to the length of the punishment. Robbers might be impulsive, but if they don't even think about the consequences, then increasing those consequences won't change their behavior.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage8.Each of the following, if true, supports the criminologist's claim EXCEPT:
Correct Answer
C
C reports that robbery sentences have generally decreased recently, which doesn’t bear on whether increasing them would deter. It provides no link to offenders’ perceptions or behavior and thus fails to support the criminologist’s claim.
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