If citizens do not exercise their

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct61% picked this

   People in a democracy should not neglect

   Why this is right

   This looks good. The author clearly has this opinion, and the whole argument sounds like support for this position. Why should we not neglect to vote? - well, if citizens neglect, democratic institutions crumble and social cohesion is lost. - even though individual votes don't matter, if an action would be bad writ large, then it's bad on an individual scale too.

   Skill tested: Main Conclusion · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   61%
2. B

   Too Strong: equally damaging1% picked this

   Dishonest acts and failure to vote are

   The author brings up dishonest acts like theft in the final sentence to elaborate on this moral principle that "if it would be wrong if lots of people did it, then it's wrong for you to do it". She doesn't commit to the extreme position that dishonest acts (such as theft) and failing to vote are equally damaging. She thinks they have at least one relevant similarity (the moral principle just discussed), but she doesn't defend that they're equally damaging.

   1%
3. C

   Out of Scope4% picked this

   There is a risk that individual antisocial acts will be imitated

   Out of Scope: imitated Too Broad: nothing about voting This author is definitely making an argument about voting, so the scope of this answer is way off. This answer sounds like a possible claim the author would agree to, but she isn't arguing for it or defending it. Why should we believe that there's a risk that antisocial acts will be imitated by others? ? ? ? ? The author doesn't provide any reason for this claim, so it can't be her Conclusion.

   4%
4. D

   Contradicted13% picked this

   A single person’s vote or wrongful act can in fact make a great

   The author twice acknowledges that the single non-vote or the single act of theft doesn't really do anything perceptible on its own. Nevertheless, we have a moral principle that still would say "it's wrong not to vote / it's wrong to steal". Even though it doesn't make a great deal of difference as a single act, because a large number of these acts would make a great deal of negative difference, we hold individuals accountable for their voting / stealing behavior.

   13%
5. E

   Out of Scope: other societies21% picked this

   Large-scale dishonesty and neglect of public duty will be destructive of democratic

   We never go into non-democratic societies. We also are supposed to see the "dishonest theft" example as a follow up example to the moral principle that the author is applying to voting. But this answer never even mentions "voting", so it's losing out to an answer choice like (A) that nails the actual central focus of the argument.

   21%