PrepTest 157

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

Passage

Passage A is from a newspaper article. Passage B is from UNESCO's 1999 Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary Topic: Legal

Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background on HMS Sussex discovery (agreement between N.A. company and British government is a legal breakthrough)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Author's attitude: "legal breakthrough" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author on ocean exploration tech and legal agreement (allows governments to recover sunken objects, end unauthorized treasure hunting)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Author's view:
      • While technology allows for the discovery of sunken treasures, governments often lack the money, skills, and legal precedent to recover these goods (first and second sentences)
      • The HMS Sussex agreement could end the days of unauthorized treasure hunting and allow nations to oversee the recovery of their lost ships (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "could end" (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Specifications of agreement (calls for "archaeological integrity"; only sell coins) and archaeologists' view (disapprove sale of artifacts)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Archaeologists' view:
      • The HMS Sussex company probably cannot maintain "archaeological integrity" (third sentence)
      • The sale of recovered artifacts prevents scholarship and public display (fourth sentence)
    • Comparison, according to the agreement:
      • A distinction is drawn between different types of artifacts on the HMS Sussex; can sell items (like coins) with less archaeological value (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "likely" (first sentence)

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Definition of "underwater cultural heritage" (UCH) (artifacts underwater for more than 100 years)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Point of intersection with passage A:
      • HMS Sussex qualifies as UCH

Paragraph 2 (includes all numbered paragraphs)

  • Paragraph note
    • UNESCO rules for recovering UCH (preserve first; don't sell; harm as little as possible; don't disturb human remains; promote public access)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Points of intersection with passage A:
      • Removing UCH "only when they make a significant contribution to knowledge, protection, and/or enhancement of UCH" matches passage A’s distinction between coins and "cultural items have greater archaeological value" (second sentence)
      • The agreement between the British government and the company recovering the HMS Sussex violates the rule against "trade, sale, barter, or speculation" (third sentence)
      • The agreement's aim to maintain archaeological integrity follows the rule that activities "shall not impact UCH more than is necessary" (fourth sentence)
      • The archaeologists' preference for scholarly analysis and public display matches the stipulation for "scientific studies" and "[p]ublic access" (sixth and last sentences)
    • Author's attitude: "best achieved" (first sentence); "fundamentally incompatible" (third sentence); "must be as nondestructive as possible" (sixth sentence)

Main Points?

Passage A: An agreement between the British government and a company that discovered the sunken HMS Sussex could end the days of unauthorized treasure hunting and allow nations to oversee the recovery of their lost ships, although archaeologists likely disapprove of the arrangement.

Passage B: A series of UNESCO rules govern the recovery of "underwater cultural heritage."


Meta-Structure? Overall Relationship?

Relationship - Different Scopes: Both passages discuss the recovery of sunken artifacts. However, the topic of passage B is also quite a bit broader in scope than the topic of passage A. Passage B discusses general rules that apply to any artifacts that qualify as "underwater cultural heritage" (UCH). However, passage A is just about recovering artifacts from one ship that qualifies as UCH. Because the scope and topics of these passages are different (and there's very little author's opinion in either), expect very few questions to ask us to compare the passages' details or the authors' views. Expect some questions to apply the rules from passage B to the situation described in passage A.


Last Thoughts?

Hey, it's a passage that literally invites us to apply laws (passage B) to a fact pattern (passage A). Get ready for a lot more of this in law school.

Question prompt

Which one of the 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

Remind ourselves of the main point of passage A, then head to the answers, focusing on those that line up with the main point and then using our notes/the passage to find the correct answer

Answer Anticipation

This question asks us to infer, based on all of passage A, a statement that must be true. Such questions can be very challenging. These questions provide little indication as to the topic of the correct answer or where it’ll show up in the passage. Moreover, the correct answer probably won't restate something from passage A. Instead, the question will likely require us to draw a connection between a few different pieces of information. We’ll need to rely on our big-picture understanding of the passage to answer these questions. We should start by reminding ourselves of the main point of passage A. From there, we can head to the answer choices. If something in an answer choice doesn't seem familiar and isn’t reflected in our notes on each paragraph in passage A, we shouldn’t check the passage to see if it was mentioned. Instead, we’ll table it and move on to the next answer choice. If something seems inconsistent with passage A's main point, we can eliminate it. If something seems familiar, consistent with passage A's main point, or reflected in our notes, we’ll use our notes/highlights/underlines to find the part of passage A that proves the answer choice must be true. If we can find that confirmation, we’ll select that answer choice and move on.

Answer choices

  1. A
    A government's property rights Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    Is this consistent with passage A's main point or reflected in our notes for passage A?

    Well, our note for the second paragraph of passage A is, "Author on ocean exploration tech and legal agreement (allows governments to recover sunken objects, end unauthorized treasure hunting)." That suggests that governments retain a right to ships that sank long ago and haven't been recovered since. Therefore, it's worthwhile to check the passage to confirm that (A) is true.

    Reviewing the second paragraph, we'll notice that the author says that "governments often lack the money and skills to retrieve ... the government's treasure" (PA, P2, S2). The author also says that the agreement between the company and the British government could allow "nations to oversee the recovery of their lost fleets" (PA, P2, S3). The author says that the "treasure" and "fleets" are still the government's property. Of course, the relevant treasure and fleet have been underwater since 1694. So, governments can retain ownership of these vessels even though the vessels have been submerged for over 300 years. Therefore, it's fair to say that "a government's property rights" in a long sunken ship "are not forfeited merely by their not having salvaged the ship during the intervening time." We can confidently select (A) and advance to the following question.

  2. B
    Governments have a legal Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    Is this consistent with passage A's main point or reflected in our notes for passage A?

    Well, our notes for the third paragraph mention "archaeological integrity," so many test-takers may elect to check the passage to see whether (B) is supported.

    Reviewing the third paragraph, we'll see that the company that plans to recover the sunken treasure on the HMS Sussex — not the government — promises to maintain "archaeological integrity" (PA, P3, S3). So, there's nothing in the passage about governments being required to "ensure the archaeological integrity." Moreover, if a promise to "ensure the archaeological integrity" has to be specified in an agreement, it doesn't seem like anyone is under a legal obligation to maintain archaeological integrity. We can cross off (B).

  3. C
    Gold coins salvaged from Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    Is this consistent with passage A's main point or reflected in our notes for passage A?

    Nope. Our notes mention that the company promises to "only sell coins" recovered from the expedition. But that doesn't mean that coins are not "archaeologically significant cultural property." Moreover, this answer choice makes a bold prescriptive claim. These kinds of claims are hard to support and are thus unlikely to appear in the correct answer to a Must Be True question. For these reasons, we can eliminate — or at least table — (C) without checking the passage.

    If we had to check the passage to eliminate (C), we'd see that the author claims that the company and British government agreed that "cultural items have greater archaeological value than coins" and that the coins will be sold for the company to recoup their costs (PA, P3, S5). Even if cultural property has a "greater archaeological value than coins," that does not mean the coins lack archaeological value. It also doesn't mean that the fact that the coins can be sold removes the archaeological value from the coins, as (C) implies.

  4. D
    If neither the original Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    Is this consistent with passage A's main point or reflected in our notes for passage A?

    Nope, our notes don't mention the "original owner" of the ship or "legitimate heirs" of that owner. So, we can eliminate — or at least table — (D) without checking the passage.

    Besides, we wouldn't find any reference to the "original owner" or their heirs if we re-read all of passage A. The author says the British government owns the HMS Sussex (PA, P1, S1). However, the author doesn't suggest that that ownership resulted from the original owner losing ownership in probate or anything like that.

  5. E
    When there is no Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    Is this consistent with passage A's main point or reflected in our notes for passage A?

    No. Our notes suggest that this kind of freelance treasure hunting is "unauthorized" — not legal. So, we can eliminate — or at least table — (E) without checking the passage.

    Besides, we wouldn't find any support for this claim if we re-read all of passage A. In fact, the author says, the agreement between the company and the British government "could end the days of freelance treasure hunting and allow nations to oversee the recovery of their lost fleets." The author's claim these lost fleets belong to "nations" suggests that freelance treasure hunters do not have a legal right to salvage the remains of those fleets.

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