Tuesday's questions and sample explanations - #5

5. So we don’t confuse charity with self-interest, we need to remember that we can rehabilitate a convicted felon without demanding that he become someone just like us. If we insist that the former drug pusher become a social worker, or that the former burglar become a bank clerk, we deny the very individuality of expression that true rehabilitation programs should develop.

Which of the following sentences best completes the statement of the position put forth in the passage above?

1. For proper rehabilitation, however, the convicted felon must follow the advice of professionals in choosing a career.
2. Moreover, forcing an unsuitable career upon the felon might pressure him to return to the criminal life out of frustration.
3. In particular, it is unlikely that any individual will find self-expression in work that involves reporting daily to an institution.
4. Furthermore, many social workers have less knowledge about the reasons for crime than a felon who has actually committed a crime.
5. In addition, society has the right to demand that rehabilitated felons take jobs that benefit the society as a whole.

(B) is correct. This is an inference question, which asks for a completion of the statement, i.e., an extension of the author's conclusion. The argument is that we should not force former criminals into certain specific job areas, because the purpose of rehabilitation is to enable the ex-felon to express himself individually in a more positive way. (B) logically follows this basic idea by suggesting what the consequences might be if we don't follow the author's advice.

(A) is incorrect because it undermines the author's main argument. Requiring ex-felons to follow professional advice is not quite as harsh as forcing them into a particular career, but it still vests more control over the ex-felon's life in the authorities, i.e., other people besides himself.

(C) is incorrect because although it might seem to follow the argument, it doesn't. Its suggests that certain types of work ("reporting to an institution") make it unlikely for people who do it to find individual expression in doing it. The point of the argument, though, is for the ex-felon to choose what kind of work he wants to do. In other words, the argument is about the choice, not the nature of the work itself.

(D) is incorrect for two reasons. For one, the argument makes no specific reference to "social workers" choosing careers for ex-felons and therefore is not limited thereto. Further, the "knowledge about the reasons for crime" does not seem to be relevant to the author's argument. While it may be a true statement, it is not a logical extension of the argument.

(E) is incorrect because, like (A), it undermines, indeed even contradicts, the author's argument. The author emphasizes the ex-felon's individual needs, whereas (E) emphasizes society's needs. Rehabilitation, according to the author, is supposed to benefit the ex-felon, not society.