PrepTest 157

[lcid:3724] Prep Test 157 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1 Reading comp

Passage

 The late 1950s and early 1960s were a time of profound growth for the civil rights movement in the United Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic: Social Sciences

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on sit-in demonstrations (segregation only illegal in public schools, African-American community anticipated further change) and author's conclusion (sit-ins inspired major changes)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author's conclusion:
      • Sit-ins inspired civil rights organizations, created new ones, and caused more people to support the civil rights movement (last sentence)
    • Comparison, according to the author:
      • Segregation was illegal in public schools but not in other areas (second sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "profound growth" (first sentence); "simple" (last sentence); "galvanized" (last sentence); "brought about" (last sentence); "generated support" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on sit-ins (students at a lunch counter) and their influence (showed students they could affect change and led to SNCC and FR)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of two events sit-ins inspired, according to the author:
      • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "spread rapidly" (second sentence); "important model" (third sentence); "influence" (last sentence); "particularly visible" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Two events sit-ins inspired: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (student-led, made protests sustained and national) and Freedom Rides (led to government protection, showed segregation's harsh realities, demonstrated methods to activists)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Cause-and-effect relationships, according to the author:
      • The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee caused small-scale student protests to become sustained and national efforts against discrimination (second sentence)
      • The Freedom Rides caused the U.S. government to intervene, causing the U.S. government and society to see the harsh realities of segregation and civil rights activists to see methods they can use to fight discrimination (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "solidified" (first sentence); "strong" (second sentence); "transform" (second sentence); "into a sustained effort" (second sentence); "clearest turning point" (third sentence); "the first government action" (fifth sentence); "new level" (last sentence); "harsh realities of the segregation system" (last sentence); "providing, for students and their elders alike, examples of the methods they might use" (last sentence)

Main Point:

Sit-in protests inspired and created civil rights organizations and movements, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides, which provided models of nonviolent protest and generated new support for the civil rights movement.


Meta-Structure?

Importance of Subject: We think this passage best fits the Importance of [Subject]. Meta-Structure. In such passages, the author describes why a particular person, artistic work, law or legal accomplishment, scientific breakthrough, or social movement was historically significant or meaningful. As we know, "[Subject]" is just a placeholder for whatever the passage focuses on. In this case, that's a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins. So, we can dub this passage an Importance of Movement passage.

In an Importance of [Subject] passage, the main point is generally the author's opinions on why the subject was important. To identify this, we can look for whether the author provides a conclusion that summarizes their opinion. The author provides this summary at the end of the first paragraph, so we can use that to answer any question for which the main point is handy. Alternatively, we can make our own summary of the author's opinions on why the subject was important. We wanted to include the author's references to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides, so we formed our own summary.

List: The author uses several minor Meta Structures, but the list is the most prominent. The author lists two movements that illustrate the influence of sit-in demonstrations: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides. The author provides details on both of these movements, so we can expect them to figure into a question or two.


Last Thoughts?

This passage has only five questions, which means the rest of the passages will have 7 or 8 questions each. We cannot afford to spend too much time on the questions, so it'll be crucial that we use the main point and our notes to quickly answer the questions, minimizing the number of times we check the passage—especially to eliminate wrong answers.

Question prompt

The primary purpose of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Strategy Overview

Review the main point and any major Meta-Structures, then find an answer that best captures the latter with the details from the former

Answer Anticipation

A question that asks for a passage's "primary purpose" asks us to select the answer choice that describes why the author wrote the passage. The correct answer will describe an action: what the author hoped to do in the passage and how the author accomplished that. Now, in a broad sense, every author hopes to convince us that the main point is true. However, different authors employ different means to convince us of that main point. That's why the passage's Meta-Structure can be revealing: it helps us predetermine how this specific author was attempting to convey the main point. In this case, the central Meta-Structure was Importance of [Subject]. The author describes why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant. So, the author's primary purpose is to "show why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant." Easy enough! If we need to fill in more detail, we can use our main point: "Sit-in protests inspired and created civil rights organizations and movements, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides, which provided models of nonviolent protest and generated new support for the civil rights movement."

Answer choices

  1. A
    describe how the successful Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    Here it is! This matches our anticipated primary purpose: "show why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant." We anticipated that this movement "started with sit-ins," so it's accurate to say a "new tactic" eventually "led to the transformation of the U.S. civil rights movement." This answer choice also correctly identifies that sit-in demonstrations and ensuing movements were intended to "combat discriminatory social practices."

    The only part of this answer choice we may need to check is its claim that sit-ins were successfully used in the early 1960s, but the first paragraph corroborates that claim (P1, S4-S5). Once we verify this matter, we can select (A) and advance directly to the next question.

  2. B
    chronicle the activities of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    This doesn't match our anticipated primary purpose: "show why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant." While our anticipated main point discusses the movements that "started with sit-ins," this answer choice focuses on the civil rights movement before sit-in demonstrations. The passage only discusses the climate before set-in demonstrations in the first three sentences. The rest of the passage discusses the sit-ins and their aftermath.

  3. C
    contrast various techniques and Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    This doesn't quite match our anticipated primary purpose: "show why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant." The author isn't concerned with "contrast[ing]" various civil rights tactics. The author discusses tactics that were inspired by the sit-in demonstration, but the author doesn't point out these tactics' differences.

  4. D
    argue that confrontational sit-in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    This doesn't quite match our anticipated primary purpose: "show why a movement of civil rights protests and organizations that started with sit-ins was historically significant." The author, whose tone toward sit-in demonstrations is entirely approving, would probably not use a loaded term like "confrontational" to describe sit-ins.

    Moreover, the author never argues that sit-ins were "necessary" for the civil-rights movement. The author argues that sit-ins inspired other civil rights protests and organizations, but the author doesn't claim that these protests and organizations could not have grown without sit-ins.

  5. E
    provide information on the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    So close! However, this answer choice messes up the dates. The passage discusses how the sit-in demonstrations of the early 1960s inspired new tactics and protests like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides. So, it's probably fair to say that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides were "rooted in the earlier successes of the movement," but it would be ahistorical to say they were from the 1950s.

    Moreover, this answer choice goes a little too far when it says the passage's "primary purpose" is to show "the extent to which" activities like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Freedom Rides were rooted in earlier civil rights successes. The author really just asserts that both were influenced by sit-in demonstrations and doesn't elaborate (P3, S4).

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