PrepTest 155
[lcid:3718] Prep Test 155 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3
Reading comp
Passage
Passage A In 1940, Benjamin Lee Whorf seduced a whole generation into believing that our mother tongue restricts what we
Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic:
Social Science
Passage A
Paragraph 1
Passage B
Paragraph 1
Main Points?
Passage A: Contrary to Whorf's hypothesis that language prevents us from having certain thoughts, language influences how we think about things.
Passage B: A study of innumerate peoples shows could support a variety of conclusions — from strong Whorfian to non-Whorfoian — about the relationship between language and thought.
Meta-Structure? Overall Relationship?
Relationship - Similar Viewpoints: Both passages discuss the connection between language and thought. The authors are at least somewhat aligned in their views. Both would agree that Whorf's theory isn't the end of the story when it comes to the relationship between language and thought. The author of passage A criticizes Whorf's theory for assuming that language prevents us from forming certain thoughts. And the author of passage B says that we can draw at least two non-Whorfian conclusions from a study.
Relationship - Different Scopes: The topic of passage A is also quite a bit broader in scope than the topic of passage B. Passage A addresses the relationship between language and thought in general. On the other hand, passage B discusses the conclusions about language and thought that can be drawn from one specific study. The type of language the passages describe is quite different as well. Passage A focuses on grammatically gendered words, while passage B hones in on numerical words. Because the scope and topics of these passages are slightly different, expect very few questions to ask us to compare the passages' details or the authors' views. Instead, most questions will likely ask about the general relationship between the two passages, or they'll ask about just one of the two passages.
Last Thoughts?
Passage A is very strong in its negative opinion of Whorf's hypothesis, using language such as "seduced," "never actually been any evidence," and "main mistake." Nonetheless, the author believes there is a connection between language and thought — just not the one that Whorf put forward (forced thought vs. prevented thought).
Passage B brings up the hypothesis, but just to have a term to characterize conclusions that can be drawn from the study. At the end of the day, passage B believes that a "non-Whorfian hypothesis" is just as possible as a Whorfian one when describing the study's results.
These viewpoints are much more nuanced than just "Whorf good/bad," and so we should be wary of answers that are blunt in that respect.
Social Science
Passage A
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Author's criticism of Whorf's theory (language restricts thoughts)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Author's view:
- There's no evidence for Whorf's outrageous claim that language restricts our thoughts (second and last sentences)
- Author's attitude: "seduced" (first sentence); "impose" (second sentence); "never actually been any evidence" (last sentence); "fantastic claims" (last sentence)
- Author's view:
- Paragraph note
- Author's argument (new research shows that language influences what we think about) and support (gender example)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Author's view:
- The main issue with Whorf's theory is the belief that language prevents certain thoughts (first sentence); research suggests that language just influences what we think about
- Example of how language influences thought, according to the author:
- German forces you to think about whether neighbors are male or female (last sentence)
- Author's attitude: "main mistake" (first sentence); "suggests that in reality"
- Author's view:
- Paragraph note
- Author's additional support (genders of objects influence how we think about the objects)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
- Gendered words for objects can cause us to develop different feelings about the object (first sentence)
- Example of how gendered words influence thoughts, according to study:
- Study on words where genders are different in German and Spanish (second through last sentence)
- Words included bridges, clocks, violins, mountains, and chairs
- Author's attitude: "can shape" (first sentence)
- Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
Passage B
Paragraph 1
- Paragraph note
- Study of Piraha and Munduruku Indian subjects (don't have number words but seem to understand numbers)
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Point of intersection with passage A:
- The idea of "number words" and an "innate imprecise nonverbal concept of number" invokes the same central question as passage A — does language change how we think?
- Author's attitude: "give evidence" (first sentence); "appear to indicate" (last setnence)
- Point of intersection with passage A:
- Paragraph note
- Discuss a surface-level interpretation of the study, and a deeper one
- Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
- Point of intersection with passage A:
- The author brings Whorf is brought up, suggesting that on the surface, the study shows that language is independent of concepts (passage A would disagree that language and concepts are independent) (first sentence)
- Comparison, according to the study:
- People with exact number words value exact values (e.g., when doing basic addition and subtraction), while those without number words are indifferent to exact values (third through the fifth sentence)
- List of potential conclusions from the study, according to the author:
- Strong Whorfian, weak Whorfian, or non-Whorfian (last sentence()
- Point of intersection with passage A:
- The author also says the study's findings on exact numerical values could support the idea that language expands how we think about concepts (which the author of passage A discusses re: gender of bridges, etc.) or directs attention to certain concepts (which the author of passage A discusses re: gender of neighbors) (last sentence)
- Author's attitude: "support" (first sentence); "there is more to the story" (second sentence); "suggest" (last sentence")
- Point of intersection with passage A:
Main Points?
Passage A: Contrary to Whorf's hypothesis that language prevents us from having certain thoughts, language influences how we think about things.
Passage B: A study of innumerate peoples shows could support a variety of conclusions — from strong Whorfian to non-Whorfoian — about the relationship between language and thought.
Meta-Structure? Overall Relationship?
Relationship - Similar Viewpoints: Both passages discuss the connection between language and thought. The authors are at least somewhat aligned in their views. Both would agree that Whorf's theory isn't the end of the story when it comes to the relationship between language and thought. The author of passage A criticizes Whorf's theory for assuming that language prevents us from forming certain thoughts. And the author of passage B says that we can draw at least two non-Whorfian conclusions from a study.
Relationship - Different Scopes: The topic of passage A is also quite a bit broader in scope than the topic of passage B. Passage A addresses the relationship between language and thought in general. On the other hand, passage B discusses the conclusions about language and thought that can be drawn from one specific study. The type of language the passages describe is quite different as well. Passage A focuses on grammatically gendered words, while passage B hones in on numerical words. Because the scope and topics of these passages are slightly different, expect very few questions to ask us to compare the passages' details or the authors' views. Instead, most questions will likely ask about the general relationship between the two passages, or they'll ask about just one of the two passages.
Last Thoughts?
Passage A is very strong in its negative opinion of Whorf's hypothesis, using language such as "seduced," "never actually been any evidence," and "main mistake." Nonetheless, the author believes there is a connection between language and thought — just not the one that Whorf put forward (forced thought vs. prevented thought).
Passage B brings up the hypothesis, but just to have a term to characterize conclusions that can be drawn from the study. At the end of the day, passage B believes that a "non-Whorfian hypothesis" is just as possible as a Whorfian one when describing the study's results.
These viewpoints are much more nuanced than just "Whorf good/bad," and so we should be wary of answers that are blunt in that respect.
Question prompt
Both passages are concerned
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
Social Science
Answer choices
-
AAre there limits to Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice A is not credited
Does this say something like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
Nope. We can quickly eliminate (A).
Besides, neither passage discusses how easily languages can be translated. Passage A brings up words in two languages with different genders, but that doesn't imply that these words can't be translated. Passage B brings up a language that lacks words of another language, suggesting that there are translatability limits. Still, those limits are not passage B's central concern. -
BWhat does scientific research Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice B matches the stem
Question Type:
Major Point/Main Point
Strategy Overview:
Review the main point of both passages, looking for a way to frame the main point as a question that both passages answer
Answer Anticipation:
This is the first question on almost all Comparative Passages. We can think of this as a Main Point question, in which the main point is framed as a question both passages answer. To approach this, we should think of each passage's main point and try to frame those main points as a question.
Both passages discuss a connection between the language we speak and the thoughts we have, so the correct answer should reflect that. While an answer about Whorf's theory may be tempting, we should avoid that, as passage A moves beyond Whorf's hypothesis to put forward the author's own theory, and passage B mentions Whorf's hypothesis to characterize the results that could be drawn from the study.
So, let's go with a more general anticipation, like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
Answer Choice Explanation:
Does this say something like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
Yes, this is very close to our anticipation! Our anticipation didn't include "scientific research," but both passages mention studies, so there is scientific research in each. And, as our anticipation says, both passages explore the connection between language and thought. This answer reflects the focus of both passages, so it's correct. We can justifiably select it and move on to the next question.
Key Takeaway:
This question stem doesn't explicitly mention "Main Point," but the answers are almost always something that reflects the overall argument, so be wary of answers that are more specific than our anticipated main points! -
CDo differences among languages Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice C is not credited
Does this say something like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
Not quite. Both passages suggest that language influences the way we think. However, that's different from asking whether the way people think about the world leads to differences in language — that reverses the cause and effect. Since neither passage asks what causes differences in language, this answer is incorrect. -
DWere Whorf's claims about Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice D is not credited
Does this say something like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
No, this is too specific. Passage A answers this question, stating that there is no evidence for the Whorfian hypothesis, and thus saying that the evidence is worse than previously thought. However, the author of passage A moves past this point to present a separate theory. So, this isn't a central concern of that passage. Moreover, passage B doesn't discuss the amount of evidence thought to support Whorf's hypothesis. -
EIs the influence of Remaining source text redacted.
Why choice E is not credited
Does this say something like, "How do our words influence what we think?"
Nope — again, this is too specific. Passage A discusses only gender, and passage B discusses only numbers. Since neither passage brings up gender and numbers, this cannot be a concern central to either passage. Plus, neither passage asks whether these are the only areas where language influences thought.
What this tests
Discussion
-
Why not C? 1 reply
Started by alyj628