PrepTest 132

[lcid:3626] Prep Test 132 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 14-20  .        Specialists in international communications almost  . unanimously assert that the broadcasting in  . developing nations of Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • A consensus view; the Author questions it; Examples for the latter
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Consensus view - Broadcasting programs into developing nations = cultural imperialism
    • Author - View assumes automatic dominance of import, which lacks evidence
    • Author - Some risk of dominance, but…
    • Example 1 - Imports don’t stop domestic shows from being profitable
    • Example 2 - Imports don’t get bigger audiences; many prefer domestic shows

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Area where experts are wrong; example to show it
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Experts (wrong) - Role of TV
    • Example - Anthro study showed people used domestic serial dramas like oral poetry

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Recommendation; Questions that need to be answered after consensus view rejected
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Recommendation - Empirical approach, similar to anthropologists
    • Question - What is the relationship between imported and domestic productions if not dominance?
    • Potential answer 1 - Domestic culture absorbs imports (enriched)
    • Potential answer 2 - Imports fuse with domestic culture where aligned

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Another question posed
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Question - Assess position of individual within culture
    • Requires - Diverse and individual responses

Main Point: The consensus view that imported programs amount to cultural imperialism lacks empirical proof and rests on faulty assumptions - those who make it should adopt an empirical approach similar to anthropologists in order to answer the key questions on imported broadcasts and their effects on developing nations.

Key Lines?

Lines 1-5 - A consensus view

Line 7; Lines 9-13 - The Author calls that view into question

Line 17 - An (counter)example is introduced

Line 19 - Another (counter)example is introduced

Lines 26-27 - An area where the consensus view is wrong

Line 28 - An example is introduced

Lines 37-40 - A recommendation

Lines 41-45 - A question

Line 45 - One potential answer is introduced

Line 48 - Another potential answer is introduced

Lines 53-55 - Another question is posed

Lines 55-58 - What answering that question will require

Meta-Structure?

Questioning Consensus View (Similar to Old Theory/New Theory) - The Author starts with something that is “almost unanimously” believed by specialists in international communication - that industrialized programs being broadcast to developing nations is cultural imperialism. When a consensus view is introduced, the Author is almost always going to call it into question - and we see that here. The Author immediately pivots to assumptions of the view (Lines 7-9) and examples that show it’s wrong. The rest of the passage highlights a flawed belief central to it (Paragraph 2), and two questions that it should focus on to be correct (Paragraphs 3 and 4). Normally, the Author’s “replacement” view would serve as the main point, but here, the Author doesn’t give one, so the main point should reflect that.

Examples - There are examples throughout of details that can’t be accounted for by the consensus view - two in Paragraph 1, another in Paragraph 2. These examples support the Author’s attack on the consensus view, so they’re premises and not central to the main conclusion.

Recommendation - Here, the Author shows that the “methods” being used by specialists in international communications have led to incorrect conclusions - namely, they’re making assumptions and drawing conclusions without research (Lines 7-11). After highlighting the problems with this and the false conclusions it’s led to, the Author recommends a change in approach - the experts should adopt “an empirical approach not unlike that of anthropologists” (Lines 37-40). She then goes on to describe how this approach could answer the key questions in this area. When an Author makes a recommendation on the central topic of the passage, it’s generally going to be the main point - which is what we have here.

Question/Answer - The Author poses two questions in this passage, one in each of Paragraphs 3 and 4. In Paragraph 3, it’s an explicit question (Lines 41-45), and the Author provides two potential answers (Line 45; Line 48). In Paragraph 4, it’s an implied question (“will also need to consider how”; Lines 53-54), and what’s needed to answer it is stated (not an answer itself). Question/Answer structures can frequently lead to the main point, but in this case, they’re follow-up questions that don’t have answers that the Author commits to, which is a factor in the main point but not the main point itself.

Last Thoughts?

There were a lot of examples, questions, and answers - a lot of details - in this passage, so having a set view of the topic/content of each section is going to be key to answering the questions efficiently.

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

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the main point, and then the point of the last paragraph, and the closing line. Bring them all together to find an answer that promotes the main point and purpose of the last paragraph while flowing from the closing sentence.

Answer Anticipation

These questions can feel a bit difficult, as we’re tasked with extrapolating from the passage instead of just finding something in it. However, don’t get too scared - we actually have quite a lot to work with!The correct answer needs to do a few things. First, it needs to continue supporting the main point of the passage. An Author isn’t going to end her argument with a contradictory point (unless hesitation is a key part of her attitude, but even then, it’s a bit of a stretch). Second, it needs to make sense in the context of the last paragraph. And, finally, it needs to build from the current last line in the passage. We know that, overall, the Author is arguing for a new approach to studying industrialized countries broadcasting into developing ones so that some key questions can be answered. The last paragraph discusses one of those questions - how does the individual in these countries fit into the model? And the final sentence brings up all of the considerations that need to be addressed for this question to be answered.So let’s find an answer that brings this all together, discussing these considerations and how they’re necessary to answering a key question that the Author’s recommended approach can help address.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Lacking such an emphasis, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) (Lines 44-45) The Author doesn’t question whether there is an appropriate model - rather, she asks what model is appropriate to describe the situation. As such, this answer about whether cultural relationships can be described by a model at all is incorrect.

  2. B
    Without such an emphasis, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) The Author never discusses whether the dominance view will persist - she makes recommendations about how it should change. There’s no discussion of what would need to change for the approach to change, or the chances of that happening, so this answer is out of scope.

  3. C
    Unless they do so, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) This answer makes sense in the context of the passage, paragraph, and final line. Overall, it reflects the Author’s overall point that a new approach is necessary (“Unless they do so” is the same as saying “If they don’t do so,” which is another way of saying “Doing so is necessary for…”). It reflects the purpose of the last paragraph, arguing about a needed emphasis on individual lives (“the lives of people”). And it makes sense as a line added after the last sentence, where this focus on individual impact is noted as something that “must” be emphasized - suggesting that the goal won’t be reached if it isn’t. This answer reflects all the key aspects of the passage, making it correct.

  4. D
    Until they agree to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) There’s no discussion of the communications specialists “crav[ing]” scientific credibility.

  5. E
    But even with such Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Line 12; Line 18) Economics are mentioned way back in Paragraph 1, but there’s no discussion of them in this last paragraph, so it would be weird to circle back to them here.

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