Reading comp PrepTest 149 · Section 2 · Question 15
Passage
Questions 13-20 . . Passage A . Comedians are not amused when their jokes are . stolen, and for that
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Passage A - Copyright law doesn't protect jokes, but social norms provide similar protections and allow comedians to create and protect their work.
Passage B - Social norms provide chefs with protections similar to patents, contracts, and copyright.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 13-15 - Sum up problem faced by comedians
Lines 20-23 - Question/paradox presented
Lines 24-26 - The answer/resolution to the paradox is stated
Passage B:
Lines 40-44 - Sum up problem faced by chefs
Lines 46-49 - Solution to this problem is presented, along with structure for rest of passage
Paragraph 2 - A very dense paragraph that goes into the solutions developed for the chefs' problem
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
This is an interesting set of Comparative Passages that falls into a repeated but less frequent pattern—they discuss analogous situations. Here, the legal situation for comedians is analogous to that of chefs, in that both lack many formal legal protections. And in both cases, social norms are noted as providing the protections that the law fails to provide.
Each passage presents a bit of a Problem/Solution structure, in that they highlight a lack of legal protections and how the industry has adapted to provide protections. And the first passage presents a Paradox/Question—why do comedians keep making jokes if they're not protected?
Last Thoughts:
This should be an interesting set of questions since the similarities between the passages largely come down to analogies and legal terms!
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A problem facing stand-up comedians is discussed, along with the legal implications
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Problem - Joke stealing is rampant in the stand-up comedy world
- Legal aspect - Copyright law is most relevant, but not used for two reasons
- Expensive
- Hurdles make a successful lawsuit uncertain
- Copyright law doesn't provide practical protections
- Paragraph note
- A paradox is introduced
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Traditional view - If something isn't legally protected, it won't be created
- Reality - Comedians keep making up new jokes without legal protections
- Paragraph note
- The paradox/question is resolved
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Social norms offer protections that the law doesn't
- The norms have punishments - people won't work with/hire a joke stealer
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A problem facing chefs is introduced
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Problem - Recipes aren't protected by patents or copyrights, and while they're protected by trade secret laws, that's rarely done
- Solution - social norms
- Paragraph note
- A description of the social norms at play, and their legal analogues
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Patents - Chefs don't use the recipe of another chef, even if it's publicly available
- Contract - Chefs don't pass on secret information that a creator reveals to them
- Copyright - Credit the chefs who created a recipe
Passage A - Copyright law doesn't protect jokes, but social norms provide similar protections and allow comedians to create and protect their work.
Passage B - Social norms provide chefs with protections similar to patents, contracts, and copyright.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 13-15 - Sum up problem faced by comedians
Lines 20-23 - Question/paradox presented
Lines 24-26 - The answer/resolution to the paradox is stated
Passage B:
Lines 40-44 - Sum up problem faced by chefs
Lines 46-49 - Solution to this problem is presented, along with structure for rest of passage
Paragraph 2 - A very dense paragraph that goes into the solutions developed for the chefs' problem
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
This is an interesting set of Comparative Passages that falls into a repeated but less frequent pattern—they discuss analogous situations. Here, the legal situation for comedians is analogous to that of chefs, in that both lack many formal legal protections. And in both cases, social norms are noted as providing the protections that the law fails to provide.
Each passage presents a bit of a Problem/Solution structure, in that they highlight a lack of legal protections and how the industry has adapted to provide protections. And the first passage presents a Paradox/Question—why do comedians keep making jokes if they're not protected?
Last Thoughts:
This should be an interesting set of questions since the similarities between the passages largely come down to analogies and legal terms!
Question prompt
Which one of the
Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right
Credited answer: B
The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.
Question Type
Legal
Answer choices
-
AHow can members of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 56-59) The second passage discusses a social norm that allows chef's to share recipes without it being shared further, so this answer can be eliminated. -
BWhy do members of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Must Be True
Strategy Overview:
Head straight to the answers and use our notations to find something that shows up only in Passage A
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
This answer is more or less a repeat of #14, so we should approach it the same way. It does add in a specific—it's something about the profession—but those professions were so prevalent throughout the passage that there's not much anticipating we can do.
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 8-13) Passage A discusses this in the first paragraph—copyright lawsuits are expensive and often fail. Passage B doesn't discuss this, so this is the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
Questions like this one have two criteria for a correct answer—it has to show up in the one passage, and it can't show up in the other. If it doesn't show up in the former or does show up in the latter, it can be eliminated. -
CTo what extent can Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Incorrect. (Line 43) Passage A doesn't discuss patents, while Passage B does. This answer fits the opposite criteria of what we're looking for. -
DWhat is a form Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 39-40) Passage B starts by stating that chefs consider their recipes valuable intellectual property. -
EWhat social norms prohibit Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 24-26; Lines 50-65) Both passages discuss social norms that prohibit the stealing of intellectual property. And, if anything, Passage B goes into detail here that A lacks!
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