Reading comp PrepTest 120 · Section 2 · Question 15

Passage

Questions 12-18  .        Individual family members have been assisted in  . resolving disputes arising from divorce or separation,  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal Studies


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Two types of ways of resolving disputes compared
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Court adjudication - Decisions binding (appeal), forma rules, open to public
    • Family mediation - Private, less formal, no binding decisions; communicate and cooperate to find agreement

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Benefits of court adjudication over mediation (Author - “some validity”)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • (The Author’s claim that there’s some validity suggests that, at the very least, she’s going to also see validity to family mediation, if not outright prefer that method)
    • Interpret and apply broader societal values
    • Courts protect those at power disadvantage
    • Protect full rights
    • Formal record, so easy to later modify agreement
    • Sets precedent/refines law

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author - Mediation better than court adjudication
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • More efficient/less damaging
    • Develop autonomy/avoid government
    • Develop skills to resolve future disputes and spirit of cooperation
    • Emotional (not just legal) issues
    • Studies - Most reach agreement and like the process

Main Point: While there is some merit to using the court system to adjudicate family disputes, family mediation is actually a superior way to handle them.

Key Lines?

Lines 5-16 - The two methods are compared

Lines 17-20 - Proponents of one method; Author says there’s “some” validity to claim

Lines 44-46 - Author sides with other method

Meta-Structure?

Resolving a Debate - The Author here starts by comparing two methods of resolving family disputes - court adjudication and family mediation (Lines 1-5). The first paragraph contrasts the methods of the two without editorializing on which is better, so while a debate is suggested, it isn’t yet established. That changes in Paragraph 2, where the Author starts off by bringing up “supporters” of court adjudication. She even goes so far as to say that there is “some validity” to their argument that court adjudication is better, though that some suggests she’s going to come out on the other side. That anticipation is backed up at the beginning of Paragraph 3, where the Author steps in to say that family mediation is better suited to family disputes. Since the passage features a debate between two sides, with the Author picking one of those sides and arguing in its favor, the Author’s preferred side is the main point, as reflected above.

Comparisons - This passage is chock full of comparisons. Paragraph 1 contrasts family mediation with court adjudication as far as how they work is concerned. Paragraphs 2 and 3 each list the benefit of one over the other, which is not the same as listing the benefits of each. By framing each paragraph as why one of the two methods is better than the other, we can infer that any pro of the one featured in that paragraph is missing from the alternative method. Since the passage is so heavily comparative, we should expect correct answers to frequently include comparative language.

Pros/Cons - Certain passages will balance the pros and cons of a decision, or compare the pros and cons of two different options. This passage does that in comparing court adjudication to family mediation, ultimately deciding that the balance is better for the latter than the former (as reflected in our first Meta-Structure).

List - Paragraphs 2 and 3 both feature lists of benefits of one approach over another, so it would be important to have some way to quickly find the elements on this list. Whether you write out a shorthand version of them, number where each one starts, or some other method, you’ll almost certainly need to have a general awareness of them for the questions.

Last Thoughts?

Note that if you viewed the passage as an Old Approach/New Approach passage, there’s nothing wrong with that! Family mediation isn’t really “new,” but the important thing about that Meta-Structure is that the two approaches are compared/contrasted, and the Author’s opinion on the “new” approach serves as the main point. That would have led you to the exact same place as we ended up!

Question prompt

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the benefits of mediation over adjudication as noted by the proponents of mediation, then find one of those benefits as an answer

Answer Anticipation

We know that the Author is a proponent of family mediation, and she made her argument (and that of these proponents) in Paragraph 3. We also said that that paragraph presented a list of benefits, so we should either have notes on what those benefits are, or an easy way to see where each is introduced (e.g., a number next to the line where each one starts).Either way, you should be able to review the list quickly before heading to the answer choices to find something that shows up on that list. To copy how we noted that list:More efficient/less damagingDevelop autonomy/avoid governmentDevelop skills to resolve future disputes and spirit of cooperationEmotional (not just legal) issuesStudies - Most reach agreement and like the process

Answer choices

  1. A
    is more time–consuming than Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) (Line 47) First, this answer seems to present a downside of family mediation, so it doesn’t line up with what we’d expect the proponents of family mediation to say, so this is likely an answer we’d defer/eliminate. Checking the passage, we can see that the Author claims family mediation is “more efficient” than litigation, suggesting that it wouldn’t be more time-consuming.

  2. B
    almost always results in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 57-59) This would be a positive of family mediation if true, and our list does talk about a study showing that most reach an agreement. Checking the relevant lines in the passage, however, it states that most reach a full “or partial” agreement, so we can’t infer that it almost always results in full agreement.

  3. C
    attempts to protect those Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Lines 23-30) This was listed as a benefit of court adjudication over family mediation.

  4. D
    is most effective in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 1-4) The Author kicks off the passage by stating that family mediation programs have been used to resolve these types of disputes, but proponents don’t claim in the passage that mediation is “most effective” in these types of disputes.

  5. E
    helps develop the conflict–resolving Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) (Lines 51-52) The development of skills to resolve future disputes is listed as a benefit of family mediation over court adjudication in Paragraph 3, so this is the correct answer.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 1%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 4%
  5. E Credited 88%

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