PrepTest 155
[lcid:3718] Prep Test 155 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3
Reading comp
Passage
With rapidly expanding populations, growing industrial development, and dwindling water supplies on national and regional levels, water is fast replacing
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic:
Legal
Paragraph 1
Main Point:
The UN ILC's proposed treaty structure is a step forward in addressing a current problem, but it's inadequate because it doesn't address what will happen to changes in water levels in the future.
Key Lines?
Paragraph 1, Sentence 4 (P1, S4) - Potential solution to a problem
P3, S1 - Summary of the author's opinion of the solution
Meta-Structure?
Problem/Solution: This passage best fits the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure*. The author describes a problem with the increasing risk of international conflict over water sources and one potential solution — the United Nations' ILC Draft Articles, which recommend guidelines in the formation of treaties regarding rivers and other watercourses that flow through more than one country. The author even layers another problem and solution on this general framework. The author describes a problem with the ILC solution and briefly discusses how to solve one of those problems. Still, it's easiest to understand this passage if we consider the growing risk of conflict as the passage's central problem and the ILC's Draft Articles as the passage's central solution.
In a Problem/Solution passage, the author's opinion of the proposed solution is the passage's main point. The author has a fairly critical opinion of ILC's Draft Articles, an opinion summarized in the first sentence of the third paragraph. We can use that sentence to help us with any question that requires us to consider the passage's main point.
*Some may argue that this is a Criticizing a Viewpoint or Correcting the Record passage — understandably so, since this author is fairly critical of the proposed solution. If you went with either of these, that's OK! You'd wind up with the same main point and big-picture understanding of the passage described above. Let's remember that the Meta-Structures are here to help us think about the overarching structure and ideas in a passage. We don't have to agree on which Meta-Structure a passage has to realize the benefits of the Meta-Structures.
Causality: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure in this passage is causality. The author describes several cause-and-effect relationships in the passage, and at least one of them is likely to factor into a question. To help us locate and review these relationships, we recommend highlighting the causal words, like "increased" (P1, S2), "led to" (P1, S4), "resulting" (P3, S3), "arising from" (P3, S3), and "due to" (P3, S3).
Last Thoughts?
It'll likely be important to note that although the author focuses on problems with the proposed Draft Articles, the author still says they're a "significant step forward" (P3, S1). So, the author is not entirely down on the Draft Articles. This concession might factor into a Tone question or two.
Legal
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Problem (potential conflicts over water) and one attempted solution (ILC treaty structure)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
- Increasing populations, development, and water shortages have caused water to become the world's most valuable resource (first sentence)
- The growing importance of water has caused the potential for conflicts over water resources like rivers (second sentence)
- Nations' realization that they need to cooperate to protect rivers has caused the UN ILC to develop a treaty structure (last sentence)
- Author's attitude: "rapidly" (first sentence); "dwindling" (first sentence); "fast replacing" (first sentence); "growing importance of water" (second sentence); "threats" (third sentence); "acutely aware" (third sentence); "need for international cooperation" (last sentence)
- Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
- Paragraph note
- Details of ILC Draft Articles (guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- List of principles ILC Draft Articles recommend for treates:
- Use of river shouldn't harm another nation (last sentence)
- Every nation's use should be equitable and reasonable (last sentence)
- Nations should work to protect ecosystems (last sentence)
- List of principles ILC Draft Articles recommend for treates:
- Paragraph note
- Author's criticism of ILC (doesn't address changing water levels)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Author's view
- The ILC Draft Articles are a step forward but "inadequate" because they don't address future environmental changes, like changing water levels (first through last sentences)
- Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
- An increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide causes the greenhouse effect and warmer temperatures, which causes decreased participation and increased runoff from snow (second through last sentences)
- Author's attitude: "significant step forward" (first sentence); "inadequate because they do not provide satisfactory ways of dealing with possible future environmental changes" (first sentence); "significant environmental threat" (second sentence); "likely to have a number of dramatic effects on water levels" (last sentence); "more importantly" (last sentence)
- Author's view
- Paragraph note
- More of the author's criticisms (allocating a fixed amount of water will be unfair as water levels change) and possible solution
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
- Author's view:
- The Draft Articles recommend allocating fixed amounts of water, which doesn't address changes to water levels and will therefore favor countries with higher usage (first through third sentence)
- This problem could be avoided if the Draft Articles were more flexible (fourth through last sentence)
- Examples of ways to make the Draft Articles more flexible, according to the author:
- Allocating water based on proportional usage or having plans for specific changes (last sentence)
- Author's attitude: "will not be flexible enough" (first sentence); "would have no mechanism for coping" (second sentence); "unjustly favor" (third sentence); "circumvent this problem" (fourth sentence)
- Author's view:
Main Point:
The UN ILC's proposed treaty structure is a step forward in addressing a current problem, but it's inadequate because it doesn't address what will happen to changes in water levels in the future.
Key Lines?
Paragraph 1, Sentence 4 (P1, S4) - Potential solution to a problem
P3, S1 - Summary of the author's opinion of the solution
Meta-Structure?
Problem/Solution: This passage best fits the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure*. The author describes a problem with the increasing risk of international conflict over water sources and one potential solution — the United Nations' ILC Draft Articles, which recommend guidelines in the formation of treaties regarding rivers and other watercourses that flow through more than one country. The author even layers another problem and solution on this general framework. The author describes a problem with the ILC solution and briefly discusses how to solve one of those problems. Still, it's easiest to understand this passage if we consider the growing risk of conflict as the passage's central problem and the ILC's Draft Articles as the passage's central solution.
In a Problem/Solution passage, the author's opinion of the proposed solution is the passage's main point. The author has a fairly critical opinion of ILC's Draft Articles, an opinion summarized in the first sentence of the third paragraph. We can use that sentence to help us with any question that requires us to consider the passage's main point.
*Some may argue that this is a Criticizing a Viewpoint or Correcting the Record passage — understandably so, since this author is fairly critical of the proposed solution. If you went with either of these, that's OK! You'd wind up with the same main point and big-picture understanding of the passage described above. Let's remember that the Meta-Structures are here to help us think about the overarching structure and ideas in a passage. We don't have to agree on which Meta-Structure a passage has to realize the benefits of the Meta-Structures.
Causality: The most prominent minor Meta-Structure in this passage is causality. The author describes several cause-and-effect relationships in the passage, and at least one of them is likely to factor into a question. To help us locate and review these relationships, we recommend highlighting the causal words, like "increased" (P1, S2), "led to" (P1, S4), "resulting" (P3, S3), "arising from" (P3, S3), and "due to" (P3, S3).
Last Thoughts?
It'll likely be important to note that although the author focuses on problems with the proposed Draft Articles, the author still says they're a "significant step forward" (P3, S1). So, the author is not entirely down on the Draft Articles. This concession might factor into a Tone question or two.
Question prompt
The author probably intends
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
-
Aan outline for a Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Does this say that "treaty structure" refers to guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law?
Nope. The Articles are said to be a template for future treaties, not as a single comprehensive treaty itself. -
Ba compendium of past Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B is not credited
Does this say that "treaty structure" refers to guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law?
Not quite. The Articles compile the principles from legal decisions and international practice, which can make this answer choice tempting. But a "compendium of past treaties" that the ILC considers "exemplary" would just be a book of supposedly outstanding treaties. That's not what the Draft Articles are — they synthesize the principles and practices from those treaties (and other sources) to guide the formation of future treaties. -
Ca systematic analysis of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Does this say that "treaty structure" refers to guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law?
Nope. There's a difference between codifying principles and analyzing them, as this answer choice states. -
Da set of general Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D matches the stem
Question Type:
Minor Point/Meaning in Context
Strategy Overview:
Review the purpose of the paragraph in which the expression is found, including the expression in question, then use the purpose and the immediate context to define the expression's meaning
Answer Anticipation:
This question asks what the author meant when they used the phrase "treaty structure" in the last sentence of the first paragraph. We should start by defining the role of that paragraph, as that can sometimes provide contextual clues about the author's meaning. Our note for the first paragraph is, "Problem (potential conflicts over water) and one attempted solution (ILC treaty structure)," which ... doesn't give us a lot to go off of.
But it suggests that "treaty structure" refers to the ILC Draft Articles, described at length in the second paragraph. Our note for that paragraph is, "Details of ILC Draft Articles (guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law)." Let's find an answer choice that reflects our definition of the Draft Articles as "guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law."
Answer Choice Explanation:
Does this say that "treaty structure" refers to guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law?
Yes! This answer sure sounds like a set of guidelines for the creation of treaties, so this is the correct answer.
Key Takeaway:
The test-writers are not above using a little misdirection. On this question, the question stem pointed us to first paragraph, but the text that helped us predict what the correct answer would say was in the second paragraph. Questions that provide a line reference — including Minor Point, Argument Structure, and Application questions — are sometimes but not always answered with information near the line reference. Because the supporting text is not always near the line reference, we should approach these questions with a "big-picture" understanding of the entire passage. Our notes can be effective tools to help us employ this approach. -
Ea charter for a Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Does this say that "treaty structure" refers to guidelines for treaty-formation based on customary principles and accepted law?
Negative. There's no discussion of the formation of an advisory board, so this answer is incorrect.
What this tests
Discussion
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Started by bill-lee