PrepTest 156

[lcid:3720] Prep Test 156 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1 Reading comp

Passage

 Traditionally, corporate bankruptcy law placed highest priority on the orderly discharge of debts; courts generally ordered failed businesses to pay Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic:
Legal Studies

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Old Approach/New Approach; arguments for old
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Old Approach: Bankruptcy's focus is repayment of creditors
    • New Approach: Bankruptcy's focus is restructuring to keep company in business
    • Jackson (Old Approach): Focus should be on repaying creditors as much as possible


Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Korobkin criticizes Jackson/Old Approach
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Korobkin: Old Approach fails to take other stakeholders into account (customers, employees, suppliers)
    • Korobkin: Old Approach prevents benefits of company


Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Korobkin: Principles for New Approach
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Korobkin: New Approach fair and acceptable
    • Principle 1, Inclusion: all affected individuals taken into account
    • Principle 2, Rational Planning Salvage potential: "rank" those affected and take care of most affected first


Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Author's opinion
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author: Korobkin/New Approach more equitable
    • Author - Significant weaknesses of Korobkin/New Approach
      • Creditors are put at higher risk, so they charge more for credit
      • Doesn't tell us how to "rank" how badly different groups affected


Main Point:

While Korobkin's modern approach to bankruptcy is more equitable than Jackson's traditional approach, it has significant weaknesses.



Key Lines (P(aragraph) X, S(entence) Y)?

P1, S1 - Old Approach
P1, S2 - New Approach
P1, S3 - Argument for Old Approach
P2, S1 - Old Approach criticized
P3, S1 - New Approach benefits
P3, S2 - One principle of New Approach
P3, S3 - Second principle of New Approach
P4, S1 - Author's opinion of New Approach (and comparison to Old Approach)



Meta-Structure?

Old Approach/New Approach: The opening two sentences of this passage present a traditional and modern approach to bankruptcy law, setting this up as an Old Approach/New Approach passage. The rest of the passage discusses the benefits and criticisms of these approaches, meaning this Meta-Structure defines the passage. When a passage falls into this Meta-Structure, the author's opinion of the New Approach is generally the main point. Here, that opinion is most clearly stated in P4, S1: the New Approach is more equitable than the Old Approach, but it has some significant weaknesses. (See Last Thoughts? for a bit more on this.)



Last Thoughts?

Check the first sentence of Paragraph 4 again — it's a bit trickier than it might first appear, for two reasons. First, it compares the Old Approach and New Approach, but only on equity. The second part of the sentence claims that the New Approach has significant drawbacks, but it doesn't say that these drawbacks are more significant than the Old Approach's drawbacks. Which brings us to our second point: this passage can feel like a Resolving a Debate passage, but the author doesn't resolve the debate as to which of the two approaches is better. The author argues the New Approach is more equitable than the Old Approach but the New Approach also says it has downsides. The author never concludes whether we should go with the Old Approach, the new one, or a hybrid approach. As such, the main point of this passage is the author's opinion of the New Approach, not a recommendation or endorsement of one of the two approaches.

Question prompt

The meaning of the 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

  1. A
    principle
    Why choice A is not credited
    (Paragraph 3) Principles are general rules that can be applied to specific situations. In this passage, it was Paragraph 3 that discussed in principles, not Paragraph 4. Moreover, "regime" seems to mean a set of specific laws or approaches to govern bankruptcy, not broadly applicable principles.
  2. B
    constraint
    Why choice B is not credited
    First, no meaning of "regime" lines up with "constraint," as regime is a broader word than a constraint (a regime can place constraints on something, but it's generally not itself captured by that word). Second, in the context of the passage, "constraint" doesn't make much sense, as the author discusses a set of laws or an approach to bankruptcy law.
  3. C
    law
    Why choice C is not credited
    This answer is tempting since the passage is about corporate bankruptcy law. However, if we replace "regime" with "law" in this passage, it doesn't fit. Korobkin's approach isn't a single law, but rather a set of laws governing these interactions. As such, this answer is too narrow!
  4. D
    system
    Why choice D matches the stem

    Question Type:
    Meaning in Context

    Strategy Overview:
    Review the purpose of Paragraph 4, then use that and the immediate context around the relevant sentence to define the meaning of "regime"

    Answer Anticipation/Relevant Lines:
    In asking us for a word that can replace another, this question asks for us to find a word with the same meaning as the original, so we treat this as a Meaning in Context question.

    The relevant word is included in Paragraph 4, which is where we said the author presented her opinion of the New Approach. Sentence 3 in Paragraph 4 continues the discussion of one such weakness, which began in the previous sentence. In the preceding sentence, the author stated that the New Approach — bankruptcy laws focusing on allowing the company to continue operations — would increase risk to creditors. Under this "regime," the cost of credit goes up. So the "regime" in this case is Korobkin's approach — bankruptcy laws that focus on allowing a business to continue operating. Let's find a word in an answer choice that seems to match this meaning.

    Answer Choice Explanation:
    First off, "regime" and "system" are both about equally broad and vague, so they can work as substitutes for each other. And, in this case, since the "regime" is referring to Korobkin's approach to bankruptcy law, "system" captures the same thing. So this answer is correct.

    Key Takeaway:
    Don't forget to read the sentence with the replacement word for a question such as this one! It can sometimes make it a lot easier to rule out a tempting answer. In this instance, (C) was a tempting answer until we read it in context. "Under such a law," read in context, wouldn't make sense, as the paragraph discussed not a single law but an overall system of laws governing bankruptcy.

  5. E
    government
    Why choice E is not credited
    Another tempting answer, as the government is generally going to be the one passing and enforcing laws. However, the "regime" itself here isn't referring to the government, but rather the set of laws implemented by that government. While "regime" is often used to refer to a government, in this case, it cannot replace "regime" and maintain the same meaning.

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