Determining the most effective way to deter deliberate crimes GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Determining the most effective way to deter deliberate crimes, such as fraud, as opposed to impulsive crimes, such as crimes of passion, is a problem currently being debated in the legal community. On one side of (5) the debate are those scholars who believe that deliberate crimes are a product of the influence of societal norms and institutions on individuals. These scholars suggest that changing people’s beliefs about crime, increasing the access of the most economically (10) alienated individuals to economic institutions, and rehabilitating those convicted of this type of crime will reduce the crime rate. On the other side are those legal scholars who believe that the decision to commit a deliberate crime is primarily the result of individual (15) choice. They suggest that increasing the fines and penalties associated with criminal activity, along with efficacious law enforcement, is the best deterrence method. However, some recent legal scholarship has changed the nature of this debate by introducing an (20) economic principle that shows that these two positions, far from being antithetical, are surprisingly complementary. The economic principle that reconciles the two positions is that of utility maximisation, which holds (25) that, given a choice of actions, rational individuals will choose the action that maximises their anticipated overall satisfaction, or expected utility. The expected utility of an action is ascertained by determining the utilities of the possible outcomes of that action, (30) weighing them according to the likelihood of each outcome’s coming to pass, and then adding up those weighted utilities. Using this economic framework, an individual’s decision to commit a crime can be analysed as a rational economic choice. (35) According to the utility maximisation principle a person who responds rationally to economic incentives or disincentives will commit a crime if the expected utility from doing so, given the chance of getting caught, exceeds the expected utility from activity that is (40) lawful. Within this framework the two crime-deterrence methods have the same overall effect. For instance, the recommendations on one side of the crime deterrence debate to increase penalties for crimes and strengthen law enforcement result in an increased likelihood of (45) detection and punishment and impose an increased cost to the individual if detected and punished. This lowers the expected utility from criminal activity, thereby making a person less likely to choose to commit a deliberate crime. The recommendations on (50) the other side of the debate, such as increasing the economic opportunities of individuals most alienated from economic institutions, also affect the utility equation. All else being equal, enacting these types of policies will effectively increase the expected (55) utility from lawful activity. This economic analysis demonstrates that the two positions are not fundamentally in conflict, and that the optimal approach to crime deterrence would include elements of both deterrence strategies.

‘Determining the most effective way to deter deliberate crimes’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analysing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) The principle of utility maximisation provides an economic framework that allows legal scholars to analyse an individual’s decision to commit a crime as a rational economic choice that maximises that individual’s expected utility.
(B) Legal scholars have found that deliberate criminal acts are motivated by neither external influences nor individual choices alone but that instead both of these factors are important in the decision to commit a crime.
(C) The utility maximisation principle can be used to quantify the effects both of methods of deterrence that revolve around individual factors and of those that emphasise the impact of societal norms on the decision to commit a deliberate crime.
(D) Introduction of the utility maximisation principle into the current crime deterrence debate indicates that both sides in the debate offer useful recommendations that can work together in deterring deliberate crime.
(E) The utility maximisation principle demonstrates that deliberate criminal acts are the result of the rational economic choices of individuals and are not influenced by societal norms or the policies and practices of societal institutions.

2. The author mentions “crimes of passion” primarily in order to

(A) give an example of a kind of deliberate crime
(B) provide a contrast that helps to define a deliberate crime
(C) demonstrate that not all crimes can be deterred
(D) help illustrate one side of the current debate in the legal community
(E) mention a crime that is a product of the influence of societal norms

3. The explanation of the utility maximisation principle in the passage suggests that which one of the following would be least appropriately described as a rational response to economic incentives and disincentives?

(A) In order to reduce his taxes, a waiter conceals a large part of his tip income from the government because he believes that it is very unlikely that this will be detected and he will be penalised.
(B) A motorist avoids speeding on a certain stretch of road because she knows that it is heavily patrolled and that a speeding ticket will lead to loss of her driver’s licence.
(C) An industrialist continues to illegally discharge an untreated pollutant into a river because the cost of treatment far exceeds the fine for illegally discharging the pollutant.
(D) A government official in an impoverished country risks prosecution for soliciting bribes because rampant inflation has rendered her government salary inadequate to support her and her family.
(E) A worker physically assaults his former supervisor in a crowded workplace because he has been dismissed from his job and he believes that the dismissal was unwarranted and unfair.

4. Based on the passage, which one of the following scenarios is most similar to some legal scholars’ use of the utility maximisation principle regarding the crime deterrence debate?

(A) an astronomer’s use of a paradox employed by certain ancient cosmologists as a metaphor to help describe a phenomenon recently observed with the aid of new technologies
(B) a drawing instructor’s use of a law of optics from physics to demonstrate that two lines that appear to diverge actually run parallel to each other
(C) a botanist’s use of a quotation from a legendary Olympic athlete to make a point about the competitive nature of plants in a forest
(D) a judge’s use of evidence from anthropology to support a decision in a controversial legal case
(E) a mediator’s use of a short quotation from a well-known novel in an attempt to set a tone of collegiality and good conduct at the start of a bargaining session

5. Which one of the following most accurately describes the organisation of the passage?

(A) Two sides of a debate are described and a general principle is used to resolve the conflict between them.
(B) Two sides of a debate are described and an economic principle is applied to decide between them.
(C) Two beliefs are described and a principle is introduced to discredit them.
(D) A general principle is described and instantiated by two different ways of solving a problem.
(E) A general principle is described and used to highlight the differences between two sides in a debate.

6. The passage suggests that the author would be likely to agree with each of the following statements, EXCEPT:

(A) The rate at which criminals return to criminal activity is likely to fall if laws requiring stronger punishments for repeat offenders are adopted.
(B) The rate at which criminals return to criminal activity is likely to increase if efforts to rehabilitate them are ended.
(C) The rate of deliberate crimes is likely to decrease if the expected utility of lawful activities decreases.
(D) The rate of deliberate crimes is likely to increase if the access of individuals to economic institutions decreases.
(E) The rate of deliberate crimes will tend to vary inversely with the level of law enforcement.

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