PrepTest 145
[lcid:3676] Prep Test 145 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1
Reading comp
Passage
. Passage A . During the 1990s, the study of history witnessed . both a dramatic integration of the study
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Social Science
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Passage A - While a shift in focus from the study of women's history to gender has allowed for deeper understanding of societal structures, it has lost a focus on how individual women interacted with the world.
Passage B - Augustus's focus on family-based morality made gender (roles) more constrained, visible, and political, a trend reflected in political and artistic trends of the time.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 1-4 - Two shifts are noted
Lines 7-11 - How experts reacted to the second shift
Lines 24-26 - The benefits of the second shift are noted
Lines 30-32 - What was lost with the second shift is noted
Passage B:
Lines 36-40 - A historical shift is noted
Lines 48-50 - Trends during the time period are noted
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
These passages are written in a different tone/voice and seem to deal with different topics, but there is common ground. In both passages, a shift in the way that women and gender are viewed is noted. In Passage A, a shifting focus from women to gender is said to have some benefits (analytic framework; analyze structures) and some costs (loss of focus on individual stories). In Passage B, a shift in gender roles (more constrained, more visible, more politicized) is reflected in other aspects of society (government; art).
The bigger relationship, though, is that Passage A talks about the study of history and how it changed during a period of time. Passage B is a study of history, and it largely reflects what Passage A says. In Passage A, the Author notes that the study of history has shifted from the study of women's history to the issue of gender (Lines 1-4). Passage B is a study of history that doesn't talk about individual women but rather focuses on gender roles and how they shaped a particular time period. That's an interesting relationship!
Last Thoughts:
Not much else to say—let's head to the questions!
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Two shifts in the study of history are described, and the implications of the second shift
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Shift 1 - Integration of study of women's history into mainstream
- Shift 2 - Shift from subject of women to subject of gender
- Gender involves societal systems, not individuals
- Some historians - Shift 2 is a retreat from studying women per se
- 3 forms of new work
- Paragraph note
- The benefits of the shift are noted
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Studying "women" - too narrow, celebratory
- Studying gender - explanatory power and analytic framework to analyze societal structures
- Paragraph note
- The downsides of the shift
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- In first-person ("I")
- Gender obscures - focus on structure misses individual stories
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Roman history
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Augustus - Focused on traditional family-based morality
- Relocating women in a domestic context (wives/mothers)
- Paragraph note
- Outcome of this focus
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Rome prospered; Augustus tied it to family/women
- Gender roles - More constrained, more visible, more political
- Paragraph note
- Reflection in art
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Artists used house images to speak about Rome
Passage A - While a shift in focus from the study of women's history to gender has allowed for deeper understanding of societal structures, it has lost a focus on how individual women interacted with the world.
Passage B - Augustus's focus on family-based morality made gender (roles) more constrained, visible, and political, a trend reflected in political and artistic trends of the time.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 1-4 - Two shifts are noted
Lines 7-11 - How experts reacted to the second shift
Lines 24-26 - The benefits of the second shift are noted
Lines 30-32 - What was lost with the second shift is noted
Passage B:
Lines 36-40 - A historical shift is noted
Lines 48-50 - Trends during the time period are noted
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
These passages are written in a different tone/voice and seem to deal with different topics, but there is common ground. In both passages, a shift in the way that women and gender are viewed is noted. In Passage A, a shifting focus from women to gender is said to have some benefits (analytic framework; analyze structures) and some costs (loss of focus on individual stories). In Passage B, a shift in gender roles (more constrained, more visible, more politicized) is reflected in other aspects of society (government; art).
The bigger relationship, though, is that Passage A talks about the study of history and how it changed during a period of time. Passage B is a study of history, and it largely reflects what Passage A says. In Passage A, the Author notes that the study of history has shifted from the study of women's history to the issue of gender (Lines 1-4). Passage B is a study of history that doesn't talk about individual women but rather focuses on gender roles and how they shaped a particular time period. That's an interesting relationship!
Last Thoughts:
Not much else to say—let's head to the questions!
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
-
Athe decline of historical Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 31-32) Passage A brings this up as a downside of the shift to studying gender, but Passage B doesn't talk about historical research (it is historical research). -
Bthe role of gender Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Main Point
Strategy Overview:
Review the main points of both passages, identifying any overlap
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
While this question is about a central topic of each passage, any topic that is central should be reflected in the main point, so we approach it through that lens.
Passage A introduced two shifts - the integration of the study of women's history, and then the transition to the topic of gender (Lines 1-4). The Author notes that this second shift has upsides (it provides an analytic framework; Lines 24-26), but it also loses something (the focus on individual women and their stories; Lines 31-32). From this, we said the main point of Passage A is:
While a shift in focus from the study of women's history to gender has allowed for deeper understanding of societal structures, it has lost a focus on how individual women interacted with the world.
Passage B brought up something that happened in Rome thousands of years ago - Augustus put a focus on traditional values and the family unit, with a focus on relocating women to a domestic context (Lines 33-40). When Rome prospered, he tied the success to this shift, making gender roles "more constrained" but also more visible and politicized (Lines 48-50). This was reflected in politics (Lines 51-54) and art (Lines 55-58). From this, we said the main point of Passage B is:
Augustus's focus on family-based morality made gender (roles) more constrained, visible, and political, a trend reflected in political and artistic trends of the time.
Where's the overlap? They both discuss the role of gender, and how it can influence different aspects of society. Let's find an answer stating that.
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 14-16; Lines 48-50; Lines 51-54; Lines 55-58) Other than generally being about how the study of history has shifted to studying gender, Passage A also notes that an "imagined domesticity...shaped culture and politics" (Lines 15-16) and how studying gender reveals "social and political structures" (Lines 25-26), which must mean that it has an influence on them. Passage B highlights how Augustus's focus on traditional gender roles made them "more politicized" (Line 50), and this focus ended up influencing politics (his title, Lines 51-54) and culture (art, which used imagery of the household; Lines 55-58). Since both passages deal with this as a central topic, this is the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
The central topics of a passage should all be reflected in your conception of the main point. As such, you should start your approach to any question asking about a central topic by looking back over the main point, as you understand it. -
Cthe creation of an Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Incorrect. Passage A didn't talk about ancient Rome at all. -
Dthe function of masculinity Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 12-13) Passage A discusses historical analyses that focus on this topic, but it doesn't focus on it itself. And Passage B doesn't mention the function of masculinity in society. -
Ethe "celebratory" goals of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 21-22) Passage A talks about the celebratory goals of women's history when discussing the benefits of the shift to the issue of gender, but Passage B doesn't analyze history - it discusses a specific time in history.
What this tests
Discussion
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