Reading comp PrepTest 125 · Section 3 · Question 2

Passage

Questions 1-7  .        Most of what has been written about Thurgood  . Marshall, a former United States Supreme Court Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Current focus of scholarship and author’s interest in Marshall’s strategy/methodology
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Traditional scholarship on Marshall:
      • Marshall’s time as Supreme Court Justice
    • Author’s focus:
      • Marshall’s technical legacy — how his work with the NAACP was strategically/methodologically innovative
      • Marshall’s innovation — how he predetermined and carefully crafted/coordinated legal strategy
    • Author’s attitude: “reveals a strategic and methodological legacy” (lines 9-10); “forever changed the landscape of public interest law” (lines 14-15); “meticulously crafted and carefully coordinated” (lines 19-20)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • One aspect of Marshall’s innovative strategy (the test case strategy)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of Marshall's innovations:
      • Item 1: Test case strategy — picking cases that have a good chance of changing law and feature sympathetic litigants
    • Author’s attitude: “careful evaluation” (line 23); “essential element” (line 27); “carefully selected” (line 31)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Another aspect of Marshall’s innovation (use of sociological and psychological stats) and criticism of it
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of Marshall's innovations:
      • Item 2: Sociological and psychological stats to show public harms in violation of constitutional principles
    • Example of stats Marshall used:
      • The harm of segregation
    • Criticism of Marshall’s use of stats:
      • Gives judges non-legal reasons to reach fuzzy legal decisions

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Marshall’s legacy on public interest law
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author’s view:
      • Public interest firms have increased and used these strategies
      • The legacy is somewhat unexpected, since Marshall’s strategy is used for both consumer advocacy and conservative purposes
      • But Marshall’s strategies are the norm today
    • Author’s attitude: “grown substantially” (line 48); “widely adopted” (lines 48-49); “might seem surprising” (line 57); “have become the norm” (line 61)

Main Point: Focusing on Thurgood Marshall’s work with the NAACP highlights innovative strategies he developed in the field of public interest law that have become standard in that practice today.

Key Lines?

Lines 17-20 - Marshall’s innovation

Lines 21-25, 30-32 - One aspect of the innovation

Lines 34-35 - Another aspect of the innovation

Lines 40-42 - A criticism of this second aspect

Lines 57-59 - A surprising aspect of his legacy

Lines 61-62 - His legacy

Meta-Structure?

Innovative Subject: While much more common in Humanities passages, a discussion of a subject’s innovation is one of the most common Meta-Structures in the RC section. Here, the passage focuses explicitly on innovations spearheaded by Marshall and the NAACP in the public interest space. The innovation is described in Lines 17-20, two aspects are then explored through Paragraphs 2 and 3, and the legacy of these innovations (including a surprising one) is discussed in Paragraph 4. When a passage falls into the Innovative Subject Meta-Structure, the main point focuses on that innovation, as reflected in our main point above.

Examples: The passage provides a couple of examples in a few places. First, the author discusses examples of the type of sociological and psychological statistics used by Marshall in his innovative strategy (Lines 35-37). Later, the author presents examples of groups that have used this strategy in more recent times (Lines 51-54). Both of these are fairly limited in scope and back up minor points made by the author, so we should expect a question or two on them, but they won’t be a major focus of the questions.

Last Thoughts?

One element that has a solid chance of being the feature of a question is the “surprising” use of Marshall’s strategy by conservative public interest lawyers. When an author notes that something is surprising or unexpected, it almost always gets asked about, so be sure to note such features when they show up!

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the purpose of Paragraph 1, then use that and the immediate context of the first sentence to define its two purposes

Answer Anticipation

What an interesting question! It asks us for the two main functions of the first sentence. That said, this isn’t going to change up our process at all, and we should still use the big-picture and immediate context in the passage to define the purpose.Our note for the first paragraph is “Current focus of scholarship and author’s interest in Marshall’s strategy/methodology.” So, Paragraph 1 introduced the current focus of scholarship on Marshall, as well as the author’s suggestion that we should shift the focus to Marshall’s strategic innovation in the public interest law space.Sentence 1 brings up the current focus of scholarship on Marshall, as well as a brief note about his background. The author says that most scholarship on Marshall covers his time as a judge and the ideological content of his career as a lawyer. The background tells us that he was a Supreme Court Justice for four decades. So this is the content of that sentence.Does the sentence suggest any opinion, or preview the argument at all? In this first sentence, the author says that most of what has been written has “just” focused on these aspects of his career. The word “just” suggests that the author is likely to expand the focus to other areas of Marshall’s career.So this opening sentence is meant to convey what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage. Let’s find an answer reflecting these two purposes.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It disputes a claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this say the first sentence conveys what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage?

    Not quite. While the author does say that most writings on Marshall “just” focus on his judicial record and ideology, the author doesn’t suggest that this claim is wrong — just that it’s missing some other achievements in Marshall’s career. If the opening line claimed that Marshall’s judicial record and ideology were the only important aspects of his legacy, then this answer might be correct. But, as written, this answer mischaracterizes the author’s purpose in the first line.

  2. B
    It establishes the passage's Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this say the first sentence conveys what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage?

    No. The opening line does talk about the ideological content of Marshall’s pursuit of civil rights issues, but it never refers to or implies that his ideology was or is controversial.

  3. C
    It introduces two aspects Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this say the first sentence conveys what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage?

    Not quite. The opening line arguably discussed two aspects of Marshall’s career —his time as a judge and his work as a lawyer pursuing civil rights in the courts. However, it doesn’t outline the historical significance of both. What did he accomplish as a lawyer? As a judge? The first sentences doesn’t provide any info on what made him an important lawyer or judge, so this answer is incorrect.

  4. D
    It identifies Marshall's better–known Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Does this say the first sentence conveys what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage?

    Yes! The opening line identifies his “better-known achievements” when it says that “[m]ost of what has been written” about him focuses on his time as a judge and his time as a lawyer. And in saying that this writing has “just” focused on these areas, the author suggests that there are other areas that have been “neglected.” This answer captures two purposes of the opening sentence, so it’s the correct answer.

  5. E
    It provides a new Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this say the first sentence conveys what most scholarship on Marshall has focused on, while also implying that there are other important achievements that the author will covery later in the passage?

    Nope. While Line 3 suggests a new perspective on Marshall’s achievements, this opening line doesn’t itself provide that perspective. Also, the author doesn’t attempt to “correct” a historical inaccuracy. Instead, the author seeks to supplement most scholarship on Marshall with a discussion with another important facet of Marshall’s legacy.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 6%
  4. D Credited 87%
  5. E 1%

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