PrepTest 154
[lcid:3714] Prep Test 154 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3
Reading comp
Passage
Complex societies flourished on the central plateau of southern Africa from the ninth through sixteenth centuries. Their regional political centers,
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Social Science
Paragraph 1
While some scholars maintain that the regional power of Great Zimbabwe was due to their control of gold mining, their complex cattle agricultural system is the actual key to understanding that power.
Key Lines:
Lines 12-19 - Both sides of the debate are presented, with the Author presenting an alternative explanation to the opposing point's
Lines 31-34 - The specifics of the Author's explanation are given
Lines 48-50 - The Author highlights how her explanation also explains the alternative explanation
Meta-Structure:
Phenomenon/Explanation. Here, the Author starts with a lot of background that highlights the phenomenon of Great Zimbabwe control over a certain region over a period of time. She presents what scholars believe explains this power before stating that the true explanation lies elsewhere.
Last Thoughts:
First, note how we broke up Paragraph 2. It was super long, and it pivoted halfway through. Some of our instructors would even draw a line at that point to physically note the shift! Breaking up a paragraph and digesting it in two pieces will both make it easier to remember and make it easier to find material when working on questions.
Second, while we can't be sure until we've headed through the questions, it seems likely to be important that the Author circles back to the alternative explanation that she says isn't the true explanation at the end of Paragraph 3. Viewpoints are important on RC, and when an Author refers back to one, it's almost always going to be important to take note of it.
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Background, and competing theories, with the Author taking sides
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Time period - 9th-16th century
- A lot of background on the central plateau of southern Africa/Great Zimbabwe (GZ)
- Phenomenon - GZ took over the area and had a high quality of life
- Scholars - GZ controlled gold mining and trade
- Author - GZ agricultural system was the key element in their control
- Paragraph note
- Problems with traditional agriculture for GZ
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- GZ population was over 10k (extraordinary), and crop agriculture wouldn't be able to feed that many because of soil, distribution, and storage
- Paragraph note
- GZ's agricultural solution to feeding its people
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Cattle - they grazed in different areas during the year to avoid disease
- This required coordination, which required centralized control, which led to a ruling class
- Paragraph note
- Implications of GZ's system for society and gold mining (Scholar theory)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Crucial in understanding two aspects of GZ
- Cattle were given out as patronage and influenced all aspects of life
- Cattle were the incentive that led people to take on the dangers of gold mining
While some scholars maintain that the regional power of Great Zimbabwe was due to their control of gold mining, their complex cattle agricultural system is the actual key to understanding that power.
Key Lines:
Lines 12-19 - Both sides of the debate are presented, with the Author presenting an alternative explanation to the opposing point's
Lines 31-34 - The specifics of the Author's explanation are given
Lines 48-50 - The Author highlights how her explanation also explains the alternative explanation
Meta-Structure:
Phenomenon/Explanation. Here, the Author starts with a lot of background that highlights the phenomenon of Great Zimbabwe control over a certain region over a period of time. She presents what scholars believe explains this power before stating that the true explanation lies elsewhere.
Last Thoughts:
First, note how we broke up Paragraph 2. It was super long, and it pivoted halfway through. Some of our instructors would even draw a line at that point to physically note the shift! Breaking up a paragraph and digesting it in two pieces will both make it easier to remember and make it easier to find material when working on questions.
Second, while we can't be sure until we've headed through the questions, it seems likely to be important that the Author circles back to the alternative explanation that she says isn't the true explanation at the end of Paragraph 3. Viewpoints are important on RC, and when an Author refers back to one, it's almost always going to be important to take note of it.
Question prompt
According to the passage,
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
Answer choices
-
Athe allocation of different Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Incorrect. There's no mention of members of the royalty having land allocated to them in any particular way, so this answer is out of scope. -
Bthe paucity of grain Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 33-34; Lines 38-31) There's no mention of a lack of grain for cattle, and the passage notes that the cattle were allowed to graze—they weren't fed grain! The passage does note that there was no ability to transport or store grain for human consumption, thus requiring the alternative cattle-based agriculture. -
Cthe importance of protecting Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C matches the stem
Correct. Question Type:
Must Be True
Strategy Overview:
Find the relevant section of the passage, refresh ourselves on the details, and anticipate a specific answer
Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
We noted that the second half of Paragraph 2 described the alternative agricultural system used by GZ that focused on cattle. Heading back there, we can see that the different elevations were discussed in Lines 35-39, and it's tied to the risk of disease from the tsetse fly. Let's find an answer bringing that up.
Answer Explanation:
(Lines 35-39) The passage notes that the cattle were moved to higher regions in summer to avoid disease from the tsetse fly, which is reflected in this answer.
Key Takeaway:
If you didn't note the section of the passage that talked about this and couldn't find the answer easily, that's an important thing to note during review! See what function the element you missed notating served in the passage, and then you can try to come up with a rule of thumb for noting similar elements in the future. Here, the element highlighted a problem with the cattle agriculture that served as the key explanation in the passage, and so it should have been noted. -
Dthe peculiar and difficult Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Incorrect. (Lines 21-27) The closest the passage gets to discussing this is tying the topology/soil to difficulty in using crop-based agriculture. -
Ethe need to allow Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Incorrect. (Line 25) The stimulus talks about a long fallow period when discussing the problems with a traditional, crop-based agricultural system in the region, not with respect to cattle.
What this tests
Discussion
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