PrepTest 147

[lcid:3686] Prep Test 147 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 7-13  .       The government of Mali passed a law against  . excavating and exporting the wonderful terra-cotta  . sculptures Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • A situation is described which implies a problem
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Mali/Djenne-jeno sculptures - Mali couldn't enforce law against excavation/export of sculptures, so people did so illegally
    • Author - These collectors "rightly" admired them
    • Problem - A lot of important info is now lost
Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • A relevant doctrine is described
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • UNESCO Doctrine - Cultural artifacts belong to the culture
    • Some countries have gone further - These artifacts are state property
Paragraph 3
  • Paragraph note
    • The doctrine is applied to the situation, and a paradox is noted
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Mali's government should have been in control
    • Irony/paradox - These regulations can result in people keeping things secret to get around them, making problem worse
Paragraph 4
  • Paragraph note
    • A thought experiment is done to "rank" different outcomes and suggest one
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Suppose - UNESCO helped Mali to educate, register artifacts, and tax their export
    • Worst - What did happen (illicit excavation export)
    • Better - Supposed situation, where people are excavating and exporting things under some regulations
    • Best* - Professional archaeologists did the excavation
Main Point:
Simply passing laws or doctrines to protect cultural artifacts can ironically result in people illegally excavating/exporting them while hiding important information about them, so there need to be other possible solutions that allow for "better" outcomes, even if they're not the "best" outcomes.

Key Lines:
Lines 6-12 - The problem is outlined
Lines 18-20 - A doctrine to address the problem is described
Lines 22-25 - Laws building from the doctrine are discussed
Lines 30-34 - A paradox ("painful irony") about implementing the doctrine or laws is highlighted
Lines 51-56 - The Author implies a non-ideal but practical solution addressing the paradox

Meta-Structure:
Problem/Solution - Here, the Author notes a problem—cultural knowledge is lost when cultural artifacts are illicitly looted and exported from their country of origin. One solution—doctrines/laws making this illegal—can ironically result in the information being hidden and thus still lost. And while she does note an ideal solution—professional archaeologists doing the excavations—she recognizes that this isn't practical/realistic.

Rather, she imagines a solution whereby the government steps in to record, register, and tax these cultural items as they're excavated and exported by individuals. While not as good as the archaeologists, she notes it's better than them being looted and that knowledge lost forever.

Last Thoughts:
This is a tricky passage! The last paragraph, in particular, highlights a middle-of-the-road approach phrased in a convoluted manner. Making sure that you understood the comparison between the potential solutions will probably be key to answering questions.

Also, note that ironies and paradoxes can, more or less, be treated as the same thing on the LSAT. So when an RC passage notes an irony, think of it as a paradox—and we know paradoxes are important!

Question prompt

The author 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

Legal

Answer choices

  1. A
    They must be owned Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 49-51) The passage notes that taxing exports on some cultural pieces can fund the preservation of important pieces in a national museum, so she believes some can be exported—and thus not owned and protected by the national museum.
  2. B
    They must remain within Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 49-51) Similar to the last ones, this answer is also contradicted by the Author's advocacy for taxing some cultural items as they're exported.
  3. C
    They are too valuable Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 30-34) The Author does object to them being owned by the state and their being a blanket ban on others excavating and exporting them, but it's not because of their value. Rather, it's because such a policy ironically promotes the hiding of these items by private individuals.
  4. D
    They should be excavated Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Correct. Question Type:
    Must Be True

    Strategy Overview:
    Review the Author's main point and then head to the answers, considering ones that line up with it and using the passage to confirm details or eliminate answers

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    This Must Be True question is very much like the last one—it provides a specific topic, but that topic is the central concern of the passage! The passage is about the preservation of cultural antiquities, and so those antiquities serve as a central focus—especially since this question stem would be open to answers about the preservation of these antiquities.

    As such, we can do what we did for the last question—reiterate the main point, and then head to the answers ASAP.

    Answer Explanation:
    (Lines 51-54) In the last paragraph, when comparing different things that could happen to these artifacts, the Author notes that her proposed practical solution would result in excavations that are "less well conducted" than one done by archaeologists. That suggests she believes when it is practical, they should be carried out by archaeologists, because otherwise they won't be carried out as well. This answer reflects one specific detail in the passage while also reflecting the Author's argument that's based on the practicality of different solutions ("when possible"), making it correct.

    Key Takeaway:
    The key support for the correct answer here would have been easy to miss, or to forget by the time you got to this question. However, there are a couple things you could have noted to make it easier to find the right answer here. First, the last paragraph used comparative language to introduce the key information—and comparisons should always be noted, as they frequently feature in questions. Second, the correct answer included language that mirrored the Author's focus on practical solutions—"when possible." Answers that align with the Author's overall tone or the strength of her argument should always be fully considered.
  5. E
    They belong to whoever Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 47-49) While the Author does talk about registration with the state in her hypothetical practical solution, she doesn't say that under any circumstance the person who finds them and registers them owns them! They could have come across them illegally, in which case the Author might be against giving them ownership.

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