Q14

[samantha.rose.shulman]

14. (C)
Question Type: Synthesis (16-19, 32-37, 48-58)

This question is testing your ability to keep the two passages separate, while simultaneously being able to remember which topics are mentioned in both passages. This is not an easy task!

(C) is a central point in both passages and is the correct answer. Passage A discuss how blackmail has been handled in the United States and Canada (lines 16-19), Passage B discusses how blackmail was handled in Classical Roman law (lines 32-37, 48-58).

(A) is mentioned in Passage A (line 30), but is not a central topic (or a topic at all) in Passage B.
(B) is an unsupported interpretation in both passages. Although Passage A mentions how free speech plays a part in the blackmail paradox, this answer choice is too general; Passage A doesn’t mention the role of the right to free speech in a given legal system, but rather mentions a role that it plays. We can also eliminate this answer choice because free speech is not a topic at all in Passage B.
(D) is an unsupported interpretation. The first passage passage discusses the current legal concept of blackmail, not the history of blackmail as a legal concept.
(E) is an unsupported interpretation and has obvious degree issues. Passage A clearly believes the opposite, since it provides a specific explanation of why blackmail should be illegal (lines 29-31) and Passage B states that a special legal category for blackmail is not only unnecessary, but irrelevant. This is very different from saying there is no good explanation for the illegality of blackmail.