A. social B. complicated C. legitimate D. legislative E. overstepped
F. committed G. will be H. would be I. obey J. exerted
K. complex L. follow M. primitive N. explicit O. implicit
In any society, no matter how 21 , some individuals have authority over others, at least within a limited sphere. Obedience is particularly relevant as societies get more 22 where the spheres within which authority can be 23 , become much more differentiate& Teachers assign homework, doctors order intravenous feedings, and policemen stop automobiles while pupils, nurses, and motorists generally 24 . Their obedience is based on a(n) 25 recognition that the persons who issue the orders are operating within their 26 domain of authority. If this domain is 27 , obedience is unlikely. Policemen can"t order motorists to recite fists of irregular French verbs or to take two aspirins and go to bed.
Some tendency to obey authority is a vital cement that holds society together; without it, there 28 chaos. But the atrocities of this century—the slaughter of the Armenians, the Nazi death camps—give terrible proof that this disposition to obedience can also become a corrosive poison that destroys our sense of humanity. Some of these atrocities could not have been 29 without the obedience of tens or hundreds of thousands and the acquiescence of many more. How could such obedience have come about Attempt to answer this question has focused on either of the two factors. One concerns the personality structure of the blindly obedient individual; the other emphasizes the 30 situation in which the obedient person finds himself.