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: B

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

Strategy Overview

Review the relevant passages' main points and our notes, if necessary, to anticipate key features of how these passages are related, and select the answer choice that contains the key features of that relationship

Answer Anticipation

These Application/Analogous Situation questions closely resemble Parallel Reasoning questions in Logical Reasoning. We want to find the answer choice that is structurally similar to the element we're asked to analogize. The correct answer won't have the same subject matter as the passage; instead, it will feature similar characteristics or themes as the elements from the passages. Therefore, we should start by reviewing the key features of the element we're asked to parallel. In this case, we're asked to find a pair of documents that are analogous to the relationship between passage A and passage B. So, let's start by defining that relationship. The italicized introduction before passage A provides a good starting point. Passage A is "from a newspaper article," while passage B is "from UNESCO's 1999 Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage." So, one of the documents should be an informative article, while the other should be a set of official rules. Beyond that, we can compare the passage's main point and overall relationship. In the Passage Summary, we noted that passage B is also quite a bit broader in scope than passage A. Passage B discusses general rules that apply to any artifacts that qualify as "underwater cultural heritage" (UCH). Passage A is just about recovering artifacts from one ship that qualifies as UCH. So, the informative article should describe a situation, while the official rules should lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation. Let's look for documents like that in the answer choices.

Answer choices

  1. A
    a proposal from an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    Does this describe an informative article that describes a situation and a set of official rules that lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation?

    Nope. The proposal isn't similar to an informative article. The proposal will probably not discuss both sides of the debate (unlike passage A). And the "work specifications" just describe what work the proposal will entail, not the rules that would govern the proposal. This doesn't resemble the relationship between passages A and B.

  2. B
    a magazine article discussing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    Does this describe an informative article that describes a situation and a set of official rules that lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation?

    Yep. The magazine article is certainly similar to passage A, which also discusses an innovative proposal. And the "set of codes" definitely resembles passage B, which also lays out the rules that apply to the innovative proposal in passage A. Since the documents are clear analogs to passages A and B, we can select (B) and wrap up this passage.

  3. C
    a newspaper account of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    Does this describe an informative article that describes a situation and a set of official rules that lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation?

    Not quite. The newspaper article is certainly similar to passage A. However, the "work specifications" just describe what work the two firms will do. They don't describe the rules that would govern the proposal. So, the second article isn't analogous to passage B, making this answer choice dissimilar to the relationship between passages A and B.

  4. D
    a publicity brochure describing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    Does this describe an informative article that describes a situation and a set of official rules that lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation?

    Not quite. The publicity brochure isn't similar to an informative article, as the brochure will probably not discuss both sides of the debate (unlike passage A). Moreover, the set of blueprints just describes what they're building. It's not the rules that would govern the design. This doesn't resemble the relationship between passages A and B.

  5. E
    a press release, made Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    Does this describe an informative article that describes a situation and a set of official rules that lay out the guidelines that apply to that situation?

    Nope. A press release isn't similar to an informative article, as the release will probably not discuss both sides of the debate (unlike passage A). So, while the "abstract conceptual description" is somewhat akin to passage B, this answer choice still doesn't resemble the relationship between passages A and B.

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