Reading comp PrepTest 131 · Section 4 · Question 11

Topic: Legal

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Problem with legal education (too little time spent on understanding and applying statutes)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view
    • Law school's current focus on analyzing case law gives students the impression that lawyers don't really interpret or imply statutes, which is, in fact, a vital skill that law school gives too little attention to (first and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "vital aspect" (first sentence); "given too little attention" (first sentence); "can give a law student the impression" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Why statute interpretation is an essential skill (legal practice involves consulting laws with not-obvious meanings/applications; tax ? example)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Much of lawyers' practice involves interpreting and applying statutes, which have meanings and applications that are not always clear or obvious, so law students need to learn how to interpret statutes (first and last sentences)
  • Example of a situation where a lawyer would consult a statute, according to the author:
    • Business asking a tax question (second sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "does not depend" (first sentence); "clear" (third sentence); "transparent" (third sentence); "not always so obvious" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Another skill statutory interpretation builds (synthesis: seeing how laws interrelate; helpful because most students specialize)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • Law professors do more to help students analyze individual cases than to help students see how laws interrelate and form a coherent system (second sentence)
    • Studying statutes in one area will do more than case analysis to help students see how laws interrelate and form a coherent system (third sentence)
  • Author's view:
    • Seeing how laws interrelate and form a coherent system in one legal area will help students apply this ability to other areas, which is important because most lawyers specialize (fourth and last sentences)
  • Author's attitude: "would improve" (first sentence); "work hard" (first sentence); "favor" (second sentence); "would enable" (third sentence); "would then be able to apply this ability to synthesize in other areas" (fourth sentence); "especially important" (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

• Paragraph note
  • Counterpoint (laws vary by region) and author's defense (some truth, but understanding is a skill that transfers)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Counterpoint:
    • Statutes vary throughout the country, so statutory analysis is not a good idea for national schools (first and second sentences)
  • Author's view:
    • Knowledge isn't transferable, but skills acquired in mastering one set of laws are (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "possible argument" (first sentence); "some truth" (second sentence); "could seem to be an inappropriate investment" (second sentence); "the skills acquired in mastering a particular set of statutes are" (last sentence); "important undertaking" (last sentence)

Main Point: The current focus on analyzing cases in law school doesn't prepare law students for all aspects of their practice, so focusing on interpreting, synthesizing, and applying states would improve legal education.

Problem/Solution: This passage best fits the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure.* The author kicks this passage off with a problem — the current focus of law schools excludes statutory interpretation, a key skill set that attorneys need. And while the author never explicitly states it, they strongly imply a solution — teach those skills! While the author doesn't make that recommendation explicit, they talk about its benefits and defend it against a possible counterargument, so we should view this as a Problem/Solution passage.

In such a passage, the author's preferred solution is the main point. And since the author goes into some detail on which specific skills related to statutes should be taught, those could be reflected in the main point, as well.

*That said, you could certainly call this an Old Approach/New Approach passage, with the "Old Approach" being law schools' current focus on case law and the "New Approach" including statute analysis. We just need to remember that there's no indication that the author wants to throw out the study of case law — just ensure that students are also learning skills related to statutory law.