PrepTest 149
[lcid:3693] Prep Test 149 LSAT — Reading Comp — S2
Reading comp
Passage
Questions 13-20 . . Passage A . Comedians are not amused when their jokes are . stolen, and for that
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Passage A - Copyright law doesn't protect jokes, but social norms provide similar protections and allow comedians to create and protect their work.
Passage B - Social norms provide chefs with protections similar to patents, contracts, and copyright.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 13-15 - Sum up problem faced by comedians
Lines 20-23 - Question/paradox presented
Lines 24-26 - The answer/resolution to the paradox is stated
Passage B:
Lines 40-44 - Sum up problem faced by chefs
Lines 46-49 - Solution to this problem is presented, along with structure for rest of passage
Paragraph 2 - A very dense paragraph that goes into the solutions developed for the chefs' problem
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
This is an interesting set of Comparative Passages that falls into a repeated but less frequent pattern—they discuss analogous situations. Here, the legal situation for comedians is analogous to that of chefs, in that both lack many formal legal protections. And in both cases, social norms are noted as providing the protections that the law fails to provide.
Each passage presents a bit of a Problem/Solution structure, in that they highlight a lack of legal protections and how the industry has adapted to provide protections. And the first passage presents a Paradox/Question—why do comedians keep making jokes if they're not protected?
Last Thoughts:
This should be an interesting set of questions since the similarities between the passages largely come down to analogies and legal terms!
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A problem facing stand-up comedians is discussed, along with the legal implications
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Problem - Joke stealing is rampant in the stand-up comedy world
- Legal aspect - Copyright law is most relevant, but not used for two reasons
- Expensive
- Hurdles make a successful lawsuit uncertain
- Copyright law doesn't provide practical protections
- Paragraph note
- A paradox is introduced
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Traditional view - If something isn't legally protected, it won't be created
- Reality - Comedians keep making up new jokes without legal protections
- Paragraph note
- The paradox/question is resolved
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Social norms offer protections that the law doesn't
- The norms have punishments - people won't work with/hire a joke stealer
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- A problem facing chefs is introduced
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Problem - Recipes aren't protected by patents or copyrights, and while they're protected by trade secret laws, that's rarely done
- Solution - social norms
- Paragraph note
- A description of the social norms at play, and their legal analogues
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Patents - Chefs don't use the recipe of another chef, even if it's publicly available
- Contract - Chefs don't pass on secret information that a creator reveals to them
- Copyright - Credit the chefs who created a recipe
Passage A - Copyright law doesn't protect jokes, but social norms provide similar protections and allow comedians to create and protect their work.
Passage B - Social norms provide chefs with protections similar to patents, contracts, and copyright.
Key Lines:
Passage A:
Lines 13-15 - Sum up problem faced by comedians
Lines 20-23 - Question/paradox presented
Lines 24-26 - The answer/resolution to the paradox is stated
Passage B:
Lines 40-44 - Sum up problem faced by chefs
Lines 46-49 - Solution to this problem is presented, along with structure for rest of passage
Paragraph 2 - A very dense paragraph that goes into the solutions developed for the chefs' problem
Meta-Structure - Relationship Between Passages:
This is an interesting set of Comparative Passages that falls into a repeated but less frequent pattern—they discuss analogous situations. Here, the legal situation for comedians is analogous to that of chefs, in that both lack many formal legal protections. And in both cases, social norms are noted as providing the protections that the law fails to provide.
Each passage presents a bit of a Problem/Solution structure, in that they highlight a lack of legal protections and how the industry has adapted to provide protections. And the first passage presents a Paradox/Question—why do comedians keep making jokes if they're not protected?
Last Thoughts:
This should be an interesting set of questions since the similarities between the passages largely come down to analogies and legal terms!
Question prompt
Passage A, but not
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
Legal
Answer choices
-
Athe relationship of social Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 47-49) Passage B relates three social norms to three types of laws that might protect intellectual property, so this answer can be ruled out. -
Bthe evolution of social Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
Incorrect. Neither passage discusses the evolution of these social norms—just their existence. -
Cthe enforcement of social Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Must Be True
Strategy Overview:
Head straight to the answers and use our notations to find something that shows up only in Passage A
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
There's not much guidance here, so we're going to head into the answers a bit blind. It'd be great if an answer dealt with comedians and jokes, but don't expect anything that straightforward in this third passage!
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 29-31) Passage A discusses the enforcement of these social norms in the third paragraph, noting that those who violate them are bad mouthed and blacklisted. Passage B, on the other hand, doesn't discuss what happens to those who violate the norms, so this is the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
When dealing with a Must Be True question asking you to identify something in the passages (or something that shows up in only one), they don't have to address that topic in the same way! As long as the topic is dealt with, it counts as showing up in that passage. Here, it would have been easy to fall for answer choice (E) since they discussed that topic in different ways—but they still both discussed it, so it could be eliminated. -
Dthe limitations of social Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. Both passages discuss social norms as a means of providing protections where the law falls short—not limitations on those norms. -
Ethe impact of social Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 20-26; Lines 50-64) Both passages discuss the impact of social norms on creative output, though in slightly different ways. Passage A discusses the impact of social norms on the volume of output—they explain why comedians keep writing jokes if they don't have legal protections. Passage B discusses the impact of social norms on the meaning of creative output—they allow chefs to feel ownership of that output. While the ""sense"" of how each passage addresses this topic is different, they both do address it, so this answer is incorrect.
What this tests
Discussion
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C vs E? 1 reply
Started by pgeorge2017