What is the main distinction the author draws?
Civil disobedience is often confused with ordinary lawbreaking, but the two are different in kind. The ordinary lawbreaker hides, hoping to escape punishment. The civil disobedient acts openly, accepts the penalty, and appeals to the community's sense of justice. This openness is not a technicality; it is what makes the act a form of speech. A person who blocks a road and then walks away has simply caused an obstruction. A person who blocks it, states the reason and submits to arrest has asked a question of the society that is arresting them. The distinction also gives courts a principled basis for leniency: not because the cause is right, which judges cannot decide, but because the defendant has shown respect for the legal system while disputing one of its rules.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Civil disobedience is open and accepts punishment, whereas ordinary lawbreaking is concealed and seeks to avoid it
- Step 1: The second to fourth sentences contrast hiding and escaping with acting openly and accepting the penalty.
- Step 2: The only choice consistent with this is "Civil disobedience is open and accepts punishment, whereas ordinary lawbreaking is concealed and seeks to avoid it".
Answer
Civil disobedience is open and accepts punishment, whereas ordinary lawbreaking is concealed and seeks to avoid it.
Why not the others: Civil disobedience is still breaking the law; the author says courts cannot judge if the cause is right.
Practise more Protest and the law.
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