adlindsey wrote:I also had this one down to B & E. I choose E. I see the broad scope in it now. Also, in the first sentence of the stimulus:
people's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric
Is it okay to assume that in E, political beliefs is a substitution for rhetoric? If so, the "never" in "people's behavior never matches their political beliefs," leaves out the possibility that "frequently does not" leaves open for matching.
I made the same mistake of choosing answer choice E; however, aside from the word "never" in the answer choice, I picked up another word that could be the achilles heel to this answer choice, and that is "political beliefs." I believe, the reason why anyone would choose this as an answer choice is because of the very first sentence, "People's political behavior frequently does not match their rhetoric." Now, while this analysis maybe subjectively plausible, it could help with future analysis of the power of words:
— The phrase "political behavior" could be taken to mean an action of doing something politically related, as in vote, help with a campaign, pass flyers, etc, while the word "rhetoric" traditional connotation is words. However, just because one utters something doesn't mean they necessarily believe the words they utter. Plus, we see this being an issue in the second sentence, "Although people often COMPLAIN," well now complain isn't a belief as the answer choice states, it is a mere feeling, and if rhetoric is to mean "complain," in the second sentence, then for sure it cannot mean to be a belief. Finally, if "political beliefs" is to defined as a conceptualization each individual concocts to define how a government ought to function, then laws are a consequence of how that belief is executed; so, to say, "complain about government intervention in their lives," would be completely contradictory to any political belief. The only form of "governance," which isn't a form of government is "anarchy," defined as "a state of society without government or law." Thus, that analysis alone would help mark this as an incorrect answer.