Question

The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position.
Should the moral obligation to rescue and aid persons in grave peril, felt by a few, be enforced by the criminal law? Should we follow the lead of a number of European countries and enact bad Samaritan laws? Proponents of bad Samaritan laws must overcome at least three different sorts of obstacles. First, they must show the laws are morally legitimate in principle, that is, that the duty to aid others is a proper candidate for legal enforcement. Second, they must show that this duty to aid can be defined in a way that can be fairly enforced by the courts. Third, they must show that the benefits of the laws are worth their problems, risks and costs.

• A. A number of European countries that have successfully enacted bad Samaritan laws may serve as model statutes.
• B. Everyone agrees that people ought to aid others, the only debate is whether to have a law on it.
• C. If bad Samaritan laws are found to be legally sound and enforceable they must be enacted.
• D. Bad Samaritan laws may be desirable but they need to be tested for legal soundness.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

The correct answer is (D):
The passage starts with a few questions. The answer is nowhere given by the author. After the questions, the author says that proponents of bad Samaritan laws must overcome three obstacles, and further goes on to elaborate what those obstacles are. These obstacles are the test which must be overcome as per the author. Thus choice 4 is the best choice.
Option 3 goes out because nowhere has the author suggested or implied that the laws must be enacted. The idea of ‘everyone agrees’, in option 2, is again nowhere found in the message and nor is it the main idea of the passage. Though what is given in option 1 is correct in the context of the passage, it is not the key focus on the paragraph. In summary questions we must capture the key idea of the passage. Any option that ignores the key idea cannot be the right choice.