Reading comp PrepTest 156 · Section 1 · Question 9

Passage

Passage A  What public interest is served by an earmarked tax for the arts? This is a most important question, Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic:
Social Science

Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Question, insufficient answer
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Question: Does taxpayer-funded for the arts serve a public interest?
    • Why most important — Only way to justify it
    • Insufficient answer: Lots of orgs, so diverse audiences (why not privately fund?)


Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's answer
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Answer - Left to private sector, art won't be equitably distributed
    • No money or regions without cultural offerings left behind


Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Why the arts are important
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Build social ties
    • Participating also leads to civic engagement (Examples - Voting/volunteering)


Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Requirement for taxpayer funding of arts
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Benefit: Incidental benefits (Example: Tourism)
    • Requirement: Direct benefit to public — More people enjoy better art


Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Why art funding doesn't meet requirement
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Better art isn't guaranteed
    • Can't guarantee more widespread enjoyment
    • Why? Selection committees pick subsidized art, so most people don't enjoy it


Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Comparison, thought experiment, conclusion
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison: National defense — Art different (can't buy own defense)
    • Thought experiment: Give people money to buy their own art (ridiculous)
    • Wrong for government to choose what people like, so not justified


Main Points:

Passage A: Public funding of the arts is justified because the private sector can't equitably distribute art, and engagement with art increases civic activities and social bonds.



Passage B: There can be no justification for the public funding of the arts because it's wrong for the government to decide what artistic experiences people should enjoy.



Key Lines (P(aragraph)X, S(entence)Y)

Passage A:

  • P1, S1 - Question
  • P1, S2 - Requirement for answer
  • P1, S3 - Insufficient answer
  • P2, S1 - Answer
  • P2, S2 - Reason
  • P3, S1 - Another reason


Passage B:

  • P1, S2 - Requirement
  • P2, S1 - Failure to meet requirement
  • P2, S4 - Reason for failure
  • P3, S6 - Another reason for failure
  • P3, S8 - Conclusion


Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

Relationship — Opposing Viewpoints: While only Passage A explicitly asks a question, both passages provide an answer to it. Passage A's author argues that "public support of the arts is, in fact, eminently justifiable" (PA, P2, S1), while the author of Passage B comes to the opposite conclusion in stating that "there can be no justification for arts subsidies" (PB, P3, S8). Since they hold opposed opinions on the same topic — a topic that is central to each passage — we should view those opinions as the main points of each passage, as reflected above. (This is reinforced by the Question/Answer Meta-Structure analysis for Passage A, below.)



Question/Answer (Passage A): Passage A opens up with a question. This generally means that the author will provide an answer or a set of answers, and the preferred answer is the main point. Here, although the author raises an insufficient answer in P1, S3 ("not enough to claim"), the author does eventually answer that public subsidies for the arts are justified (P2, S1). After that, the author provides reasons for why that's the case. As such, the author's support for public arts subsidies is the main point, reflected in our summary above.



Examples (Both): Both passages bring up an example to prove a minor point. In Passage A, the author cites two examples of the types of civic activities that become more common for those engaged in the arts (PA, P3, S3). Passage B sees the author bringing up an example of an incidental benefit of support of the arts - tourism (Pb, P1, S1). Since these are limited and incidental to the main point, we should expect, at most, one question on each of them.



Comparison (Passage B): The author of Passage B compares national defense to culture at the beginning of Paragraph 3. This contrast is used to prove the main point — there are differences between the two that justify public spending on the former but not the latter. This comparison builds directly to the main point of the argument, so we should expect a question on it.



Last Thoughts?



Passage B starts with an interesting feature — a concession. Normally, we don't see authors lead with exceptions or concessions to their argument. However, this author concedes there is "admittedly" a benefit of public subsidies for the arts. And yet, the author's main point is that there is"no justification" for such subsidies. Since this is an odd way to start off a passage, there might be an Argument Structure question about it, so we should think about why he does it. Since it's a concession, it's likely to show that he has some respect and understanding for the opposing argument to strengthen the audience's willingness to listen to his argument against it. That's the general idea behind a concession, and it makes sense here.



Also, we know that the authors reach the opposite conclusion on the same central topic, so we should expect questions about the differences between the two passages!

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

Humanities

Answer choices

  1. A
    The arts should serve Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    (PA, P3, S1; PB, P1, S3) While passage A brings up benefits of the arts outside of aesthetic enjoyment, passage B's author focuses the argument on aesthetic enjoyment. Throughout passage B, the author ties things back to aesthetic enjoyment, arguing that people have different tastes, so publicly funded art can't be justified. Because this principle doens't tie passage B's support to the main point, this answer choice is incorrect.
  2. B
    Public funding of a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    Question Type:
    Principle (Strengthen)

    Strategy Overview:
    Review the main point of both passages and the arguments in support of them, and then identify a principle that connects the support and main point in both passages

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    It can seem weird to start with two questions about similarities in two passages that reach different and opposed conclusions. However, that just means we have to focus on the big picture. Since both passages talk about the same topic, there must be some overlap in how they approach it.

    We know from Question #8 that they both answer the same question, but this question is about a principle underlying both arguments. In other words, we're looking for a single rule that allows the evidence that each author presents to reach each author's conclusions.

    Luckily, we identified a common logical element in each passage. Both bring up what is required for public funding of the arts to be justified. In PA, P1, S2, the author states that public funding isn't justified unless a public interest is somehow served. In other words, serving the public interest is required for public funding to be justified. And in passage B, the author says the same thing (PB, P1, S2).

    The difference, then, is that the author of passage A believes that a public benefit can be shown (equitable distribution, increased civic engagement). In contrast, the author of passage B believes a public benefit can't be shown.

    However, since both rely on this same requirement in making their argument, we can frame it as a principle: public funding for the arts is justified only if it can be shown that it benefits the public.

    Correct answer:

    (B)

    Answer Choice Explanation:
    (PA, P1, S2; PB, P1, S2) Both passages establish a requirement to justify public subsidies: that a public benefit of it can be highlighted. Passage A says that subsidies can't be justified "unless" the public interest is served, and passage B says that subsidies "must show the direct benefit" of spending public funds to be justified. Since both passages use this principle as a key facet of their argument, it's the correct answer.

    Key Takeaway:
    We should always take note when the LSAT invokes "requirements." If you had noted that both passages brought up public benefits as a requirement for subsidies to be justified, then you would have been able to tackle this question with ease.

  3. C
    People's aesthetic choices should Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Like (A), this answer choice focuses on aesthetic enjoyment. But, as we said in the explanation to (A), only passage B focuses on aesthetic enjoyment, so this principle doesn't underlie the argument in passage A.
  4. D
    Participatory cultural events are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    (PA, Paragraph 3) Passage B is silent on social bonds among members of a community, so this principle does not connect that passage's support to its conclusion. Even passage A falls short of saying that participatory cultural events are essential for community cohesion; passage A's author only argues that these events help build such cohesion and the cohesion is essential for quality of life.
  5. E
    Culture is a public Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    (PA, P2, S1-2; PB, P3, S1) Passage A does argue that public funding for the arts is justified because, otherwise, art wouldn't be equitably distributed. However, passage B argues that art isn't like national defense, a good that should be available to all if it's available to any. In drawing that comparison, passage B's author argues that art isn't a good that needs to be provided to all if it's provided to any, so this principle doesn't underlie his reasoning.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 10%
  2. B Credited 69%
  3. C 7%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 11%

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

No threads yet—be the first to ask a question or share an approach.

View all discussions Start a discussion