Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: goal
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question comes from a short passage about a victim centric criminal justice system. In such cloze test items you must choose the word that best preserves the author s intended meaning and fits naturally into the sentence. The phrase in focus is "achieving the ______ of justice in whichever sense the idea is conceived". You are being tested on vocabulary, collocation, and your understanding of how abstract nouns like purpose, agenda, plan, and goal are used in serious legal and policy discussions.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
In English, certain noun phrases are more natural in particular contexts. The expression "goal of justice" is a standard way to talk about the ultimate aim that the system is trying to realise. "Purpose of justice" is possible but less common here, and "agenda of justice" or "plan of justice" sound awkward. When solving cloze questions, you should think about which word regularly occurs in similar formal phrases, not just which one has a roughly similar dictionary meaning. Matching collocation and tone in legal or policy language is crucial for selecting the best answer.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Verification / Alternative check:
Try reading the sentence aloud with each option: "achieving the goal of justice" sounds smooth, formal, and idiomatic, matching how policy documents and judgments are often written. "Achieving the agenda of justice" sounds strange because an agenda is usually implemented rather than achieved. "Achieving the plan of justice" is also awkward, since one executes a plan, while "achieving the purpose of justice" is grammatically possible but stylistically clumsy. The best academic and legal English favours "goal of justice" when talking about the ultimate outcome the system wants to realise. This check confirms that "goal" is the correct answer.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Purpose refers to reason or intention but is not the natural collocation here. Agenda suggests a list of items or hidden motives, which conflicts with the neutral legal tone of the passage. Plan refers to a concrete scheme of action rather than the overall aim and therefore feels misaligned with the idea of justice as an abstract ideal. Only goal matches both meaning and collocation with "achieving".
Common Pitfalls:
Candidates often look only at dictionary meanings and forget about typical usage in context. Because all four words can be linked to aims or intentions, many students pick randomly or select the most unusual word, thinking the exam setters prefer rare vocabulary. In cloze tests you must give more weight to natural phrasing and domain specific style. Remember that formal legal writing usually talks about goals, objectives, or ends of justice rather than agendas or plans of justice.
Final Answer:
The phrase that best completes the sentence is goal, giving "achieving the goal of justice in whichever sense the idea is conceived".
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