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Consider these lines: "It is tempting to think of the framers of the Constitution as a group of like-minded men aligned in their lofty thinking regarding rights and freedoms. However, the Constitution was designed largely out of necessity following the failure of the first revolutionary government, and it featured a series of pragmatic compromises among its disparate stakeholders." What is the main point of the quoted lines?
AThe framers shared one lofty political philosophy
BThe Constitution grew out of practical compromise, not shared idealism
CThe first revolutionary government was a success worth keeping
DCompromise makes constitutional government impossible to sustain
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. The Constitution grew out of practical compromise, not shared idealism
1. The first sentence sets up a tempting belief: that the framers were united, lofty thinkers.
2. The word However signals that the second sentence corrects that belief.
3. The correction says the document was born of necessity and built from pragmatic compromises among people who disagreed.
4. So the main point is that practical compromise, not shared idealism, produced the Constitution.
5. Option A restates the very belief the quoted lines call merely tempting and then overturn.
_Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", section The Constitution and Its Origins_
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