PrepTest 126

[lcid:3601] Prep Test 126 LSAT — Reading Comp — S2 Reading comp

Passage

The following passages concern a plant called purple loosestrife. Passage A is excerpted from a report issued by a prairie Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Science


Passage A

Paragraph 1 - Prairie research council report

  • Paragraph note
    • Effects of introduction of purple loosestrife (bad)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Intro - Early 1800s by settlers
    • Spread throughout midlatitude wetlands
    • 50% of native biomass displaced, and weed blocks maintaining themselves
    • Wildlife - Not well studied, hurt birds and furbearing animals, threaten endangered vertebrates
    • Faster in disturbed habitats
    • Can’t stop with digging weeds out (just slow); Glyphosate works but could hurt native plants

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Future
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Need to find means of control
    • Current - Need to detect early and eradicate; can’t control after takes hold

Passage B

Paragraph 1 - Journal of sociology

  • Paragraph note
    • Argument of scientific community (Author disagrees)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Scientific community - Purple loosestrife a scourge to be battled to save nature
    • Author hints that he disagrees (“apparently”, “is portrayed”, “the...literature discusses”, “according to the scientific community”)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Real motive behind war against loosestrife
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Driven by desire to control nature (human desires)
    • Birds - Only one threatened by loosestrife
    • Furbearing mammals - None threatened by loosestrife
    • Impact - Lower these populations, cutting into profits that can be made on them

Main Points:

Passage A - Purple loosestrife is an environmental scourge that must be controlled, but current means of doing so are inadequate.

Passage B - The war on purple loosestrife isn’t a war to protect nature but rather to control it, allowing people to continue to make money off of more valuable natural resources.

Key Lines?

Passage A:

  • Lines 5-6 - A list of the negative effects of purple loosestrife is started
  • Lines 24-26 - What is needed long-term

Passage B:

  • Lines 30-33 - An opposing point is noted
  • Lines 46-50 - The Author’s viewpoint, calling into question the opposing point (or, at least, it’s motives)
  • Lines 53-55 - One premise of the opposing point is undermined
  • Lines 57-58 - Another premise of the opposing point is undermined
  • Lines 59-62 - The true motive is explained

Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

These passages are strongly related, staking out separate sides of the same debate. That debate is over the fight against purple loosestrife. Passage A argues that it’s an environmental scourge that’s hurting local wildlife (Lines 5-8; most of Paragraph 1), and thus means to control its spread must be developed (Lines 24-26), as current ones are inadequate (Lines 18-23). Passage B directly attacks the scientific literature that makes this argument (Lines 36-40) - in other words, it directly attacks Passage A - to say that any efforts to control loosestrife are based on a desire to control nature (Lines 46-50) and exploit it for economic gain (Lines 59-62). Passage B even goes directly after the evidence presented in Passage A - the discussion of the threat to native waterfowl and furbearing mammal populations.

List (Passage A) - Passage A presents a list of effects of purple loosestrife on native wildlife throughout Paragraph 1, so we should expect some questions about elements on that list.

Rebuttal (Passage B) - Passage B directly rebuts the argument in Passage A, calling out the “scientific literature” of which it’s an example and directly rebutting specific claims made in that passage (about waterfowl and furbearing mammals).

Last Thoughts?

It’s pretty rare that we get sources for a passage, let alone both passages in a comparative set. You should absolutely have noted the two sources, as that could help you determine the likely tone and focus of the passages. Both are academic in nature, while the former was more likely to focus on nature/science and the latter on a human aspect of whatever is being discussed. There was a bit more opinion in each than we might have expected (“disastrous”; “liberate” and “tyrannical”), but that becomes noteworthy since it goes against our expectations - and thus it “sticks” in our mind better!

Also, Passage B is a great exercise in two things. First, reading an Author’s negative opinion of an opposing view that it’s explaining. In Paragraph 1, the Author of Passage B presents the argument made in Passage A. There are, however, a lot of examples of language that suggests he doesn’t buy that argument. Things such as “apparently” and “is portrayed...as” - words that show he doesn’t fully buy that view. Second, not buying into a main point too early. If you missed those language cues and the pivot in Paragraph 2, the questions would be much harder, as you might think that the Authors of Passages A and B are much more aligned than they actually are!

Question prompt

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Question Type

Science

Strategy Overview

Review the overlap between the two passages, and then find an answer that reflects a point on which they agree

Answer Anticipation

These passages are strongly related, staking out separate sides of the same debate. That debate is over the fight against purple loosestrife.Passage A argues that it’s an environmental scourge that’s hurting local wildlife (Lines 5-8; most of Paragraph 1), and thus means to control its spread must be developed (Lines 24-26), as current ones are inadequate (Lines 18-23).Passage B directly attacks the scientific literature that makes this argument (Lines 36-40) - in other words, it directly attacks Passage A - to say that any efforts to control loosestrife are based on a desire to control nature (Lines 46-50) and exploit it for economic gain (Lines 59-62). Passage B even goes directly after the evidence presented in Passage A - the discussion of the threat to native waterfowl and furbearing mammal populations.Since there’s so much disagreement, the correct answer will likely fall into one of two camps. The first is an answer with more neutral language - for instance, and reflective of what we said for Question #8 answer choice (E), purple loosestrife has an effect on environments where it’s present. Both passages agree that there is an effect, even if they disagree on how big of an effect and how negative it is. The second potential type of answer features a small detail that they both discuss and agree with. Let’s head to the answers and find something that fits into both of their arguments.

Answer choices

  1. A
    As it increases in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) (Lines 10-12; Lines 53-55) This answer is weak, and it deals with a topic that both passages address - the impact of purple loosestrife on wildlife population. Passage A argues that “serious reductions” in some populations have been observed as an effect of purple loosestrife, so that Author agrees with this answer. And while the Author of Passage B believes that the threat to wildlife is largely overblown, he does say that at least the canvasback is endangered by purple loosestrife, so this is something he’d agree with, as well. This answer is therefore correct.

  2. B
    Its establishment in North Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 5-6) First, this answer sounds more like something that would be a point at issue between the two passages, since Passage A argues purple loosestrife harms local wildlife while Passage B argues that the impacts are more muted than argued. Second, digging in, we see that only Passage A talks about native vegetation - Passage B brings up waterfowl and furbearing mammals. So this is somewhere between being out of scope and being a point at issue.

  3. C
    It is very difficult Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Line 21) Passage B doesn’t mention herbicides, so this answer is out of scope of that passage, making it incorrect. (The Author of Passage A disagrees with this answer - while she doesn’t recommend using glyphosate since the impact on native vegetation is unknown, she does say that it has been used to successfully stop the spread of purple loosestrife.)

  4. D
    Its introduction into North Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) This answer effectively sums up the main point at issue between the two passages. Passage A argues that purple loosestrife has hurt certain ecologies in North America, while Passage B thinks that such arguments are overblown and really motivated by the economic impact of the plant rather than the ecological impact.

  5. E
    When it is eliminated Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 15-20) Passage B doesn’t mention the speed with which purple loosestrife can return to an area, so this answer is out of scope. (The Author of Passage A arguably agrees with this answer by saying that the plant can spread quickly into disturbed environments, which would presumably be true of an environment where loosestrife was recently eliminated. She also says that digging out the plants can “temporarily” halt their spread.)

What this tests

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