PrepTest 125

[lcid:3598] Prep Test 125 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 16-20  .        Because the market system enables entrepreneurs  . and investors who develop new technology to reap  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author: Unexpected effect of market system
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison between expectation and reality of market system, according to the author:
      • Under the market system, rich people invest in new technologies and make money, so we’d expect the rich get richer
      • Although the rich get richer, everyone benefits from new tech and the gap has narrowed over time
    • Author’s attitude: “may sesame” (line 3); “But in spite of the fact” (lines 5-6); “remarkable democratizing force” (line 9); “In fact” (line 9), “the gap in benefits accruing to different groups of people has been narrowed in the long term” (lines 10-12)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Examples of technologies that have benefited everyone
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of examples of technologies that have benefited everyone, according to the author:
      • Printing press - Significantly more people can read and own books
      • Computer/modem - Computing power and database access
      • Leisure(/Communication) - TV, phones, email

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • How it works (causal chain)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Entrepreneurs want to increase market, so they lower prices, resulting in tech getting to more and more people
    • Author’s attitude: “not an accident (line 50);

Main Point: While the market system can be expected to make investors richer as new technologies they invest in sell well, the market actually serves as a democratizing force in that it leads to lower prices that provide access to new technologies to broader swathes of the population.

Key Lines?

Lines 1-5 - Expected outcome

Lines 8-9 - Unexpected outcome

Lines 13-14 - A list of examples is introduced

Lines 49-52 - Examples are said to be part of a general pattern

Lines 57-60 - Causal chain on how it all works

Meta-Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation: The passage starts by talking about what “may seem” to be the “primary result” of the market system - rich investors getting richer (Lines 1-5). And while the author doesn’t question that outcome, the author puts forward another outcome that’s unexpected - the market serves as a “remarkable democratizing force,” providing new technologies/developments to the broader population (Lines 8-12). When a passage describes an unexpected outcome, the author will likely explain how that outcome comes to pass. This strongly suggests a Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure. Indeed, after providing several examples of technologies that benefit the larger population, the author describes how it all works. When the author spends so much time explaining how an unexpected outcome occurs, that explanation should be reflected in the main point.

Generalization/Example: The author opens up this passage with a generalization - the market has served as a remarkable democratizing force because it results in new technologies becoming available to the broader population (Lines 5-12). The author then spends a very long Paragraph 2 providing several examples of such developments/technologies, and opens Paragraph 3 by stating that these examples aren’t exceptions but rather “the result of a general tendency of the market system” (Lines 49-52). When the author spends that much of the passage providing examples for a generalization, the generalization will almost always be central to the main point.

Causality: The entire passage is dripping with causality. The opening paragraph’s generalization is a causal one — the market is a “democratizing force.” Paragraph 2 brings up example after example of a new technology that resulted in a benefit to the broader population. And Paragraph 3 explains the causal chain on how the market serves as a democratizing force. Since the passage features so much causality, we should expect correct answers that have causal language in them.

Last Thoughts?

There were a lot of small details, technologies, and benefits listed in Paragraph 2, so we should be careful when dealing with questions about those examples and be sure to check these minor details as they show up in the answer choices.

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

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the purpose of the paragraph, including Lines 52-54, then use that big-picture context and the immediate context around those lines to define its purpose

Answer Anticipation

Lines 52-54 show up in Paragraph 3, where we said the author describes how new technologies result in broad benefits to the public instead of just financial benefits to those who created and sell the technology. We also noted that it’s a heavily causal paragraph, working through a causal chain on how this works.Lines 52-54 kick off the causal chain, explaining that entrepreneurs and investors want to maximize their profits. They can’t do this without expanding their market. So the desire to maximize profits causes them to lower prices to expand their market, which results in the technologies being more broadly available, resulting in the democratization of goods and benefits.Let’s find an answer choice that says the lines in question establish a requirement (“unable to...without”) that kicks off a causal chain that results in the democratization of technological goods and benefits.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It forms part of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this say the reference to financial success establishes a requirement that kicks off a causal chain resulting in the democratization of technological goods and benefits?

    Nope. The “financial success” causes the technologies to be widely accessible. Financial success is not the benefit the author describes in this paragraph. This answer is, therefore, wrong.

  2. B
    It serves as the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this say the reference to financial success establishes a requirement that kicks off a causal chain resulting in the democratization of technological goods and benefits?

    Nope. Paragraph 2 doesn’t really have data — there are no stats/numbers. It’s more an overview of technologies and their benefits. Additionally, the lines in question aren’t a conclusion related to those benefits. In fact, it’s a precondition to those benefits!

  3. C
    It forms part of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this say the reference to financial success establishes a requirement that kicks off a causal chain resulting in the democratization of technological goods and benefits?

    No. Paragraph 3 describes the causal chain that directly relates to the author’s main point. The desire for maximal financial success is a part of that chain, so it’s absolutely a part of the argument and not just something that’s interesting but only somewhat related to the main topic.

  4. D
    It serves as part Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Does this say the reference to financial success establishes a requirement that kicks off a causal chain resulting in the democratization of technological goods and benefits?

    Yes! Paragraph 3 serves as a causal chain describing how the market system, and the desire for maximizing profits underlying it, can result in technologies becoming more generally available. Lines 52-54 bring up the starting point of that causal chain, reinforcing the author’s hypothesis that the market leads to such a democratizing effect. This answer is, therefore, correct.

  5. E
    It forms part of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this say the reference to financial success establishes a requirement that kicks off a causal chain resulting in the democratization of technological goods and benefits?

    Nope. At the beginning of the third paragraph, the author says that the examples presented in Paragraph 2 are part of a general tendency of market systems. Lines 52-54 then start discussing that tendency. So the lines in question build to the author’s point — they don’t serve as a concession to an argument against it.

What this tests

Discussion

View all discussions Start a discussion