Reading comp PrepTest 145 · Section 1 · Question 1

Passage

 .       The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was  . established in the late 1930s by the United States  . government. Although Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Humanities

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • History of a program-within-a-program and its historical importance
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Federal Theater Project - Short-lived but wide ranging
    • Legacy (no study until recently) - African American sub-groups/units; arguably close to founding national Black theater
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • The context, content, and goals of these units is discussed, and an example is given
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Context - Harlem Renaissance - Already thought on function of art in African American community
    • Content - Question as to three types (rural, urban, or adapt plays by white playwrights)
    • Goal - Question as to three goals (go mainstream/be different; target white/African American audience; instruct/entertain)
    • Diverse output - Ex. The Swing Mikado (adaptation with Black actors as traditionally white characters)
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • Wrap it up
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Doesn't say much new
    • Reflected diversity of African American audience
Main Point:
The "Negro Units" of the FTP provided for a wide network of actors, writers, and producers to put on a variety of shows representing the diversity within the African American community and coming close to establishing a Black national theater.

Key Lines:
Lines 7-11 - The topic of the passage is introduced, with a note that it wasn't studied much until recently
Lines 14-20 - The main thesis of the passage is noted
Lines 24-27 - Historical context is provided
Lines 27-29 - A question is introduced (content/types of plays)
Lines 35-36 - Another question is introduced (goals)
Lines 42-44 - The force behind the diversity central to the Author's argument is highlighted
Line 45 - An example is introduced
Lines 55-59 - The Author reiterates the diversity of programming

Meta-Structure:
Important recently discovered historical event/trend—The LSAT will frequently feature passages about something that happened in the past—an event, a trend, a phenomenon, etc . . . —that, until recently, wasn't understood or wasn't studied. The "recent discovery" of this phenomenon will feature in some answers, so it's important to note.

Question/Answer - This passage poses two sets of questions. The first is about the content these units should have produced, and the second is about their goals. It'd be important to note where in the passage these showed up so that they could be quickly found, but it wouldn't be necessary to note each one or memorize them. Interestingly, there's not a definitive answer to either set of questions. Rather, it's noted that the program was large enough to "reflect[] the genuine diversity of African American artists and their audiences" (Lines 56-58)—in other words, the answer to which content and goal should be produced was, "Yes."

Last Thoughts:
There were a lot of little details in this passage, but they all fell into common categories—historical context, examples, etc . . . So using our normal notes for those elements will help us get through this question set!

Question prompt

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

Credited answer: C

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

Question Type

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    The actors, directors, designers, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 8) This answer reflects, to an extent, the note that these units were, until recently, little-studied, but it misses the rest of the passage that describes their importance, not just their talent.
  2. B
    Of all the programs Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer compares the FTP to other programs ("Of all...the most"), but there's no discussion of or comparison to other programs in the passage.
  3. C
    The Federal Theater Project's Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Main Point

    Strategy Overview:
    Reiterate the main point as we stated it after reading through the passage

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    The passage starts with some historical context for a project before discussing one of the most important but "until recently little-studied aspect" of that project—the "Negro Units" of the FTP (Lines 7-11). It then goes on to say that it defied a lot of issues to "arguably c[o]me closer" to establishing a truly national Black theater than any other project (Lines 17-20). Paragraph 2 then talks about some context and details of these units, along with the driving force behind the diversity of programming that the passage brings up multiple times (Lines 42-44; Lines 55-59) and Paragraph 3 wraps it up with a summary, but they all add to these generalizations from Paragraph 1. As such, we said the main point of the passage is:

    The "Negro Units" of the FTP provided for a wide network of actors, writers, and producers to put on a variety of shows representing the diversity within the African American community and coming close to establishing a Black national theater.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 7-9; Lines 14-20; Lines 42-44; Lines 55-59) The Author introduces the general view that the "Negro Units" weren't studied much until recently, but now they're recognized as coming closer than anything else to creating a "truly national" Black theater that "reflected the genuine diversity of African American artists and audiences." This answer captures the entirety of the passage, so it's the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    When the Author states a judgment or opinion, it's reflective of the main point—otherwise, there's no reason for her to step in and give a judgment rather than simply recite facts. Here, there were two key sentences reflecting opinion—Lines 17-20, and Lines 55-59. The correct answer borrowed language from each of them.
  4. D
    Although the Federal Theater Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. (Line 30) The folk dramas were one of the types of plays produced, but a variety reflecting the "genuine diversity" of African American artists/audiences were also produced, and there's no indication in the passage which are the best known today. This answer is therefore not supported, let alone the main point.
  5. E
    By supporting the work Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. The passage was designed to show the importance and diversity of the "Negro Units," not to use them to highlight something about the theater or arts generally.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 5%
  3. C Credited 86%
  4. D 0%
  5. E 7%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

View all discussions Start a discussion