PrepTest 123

[lcid:3591] Prep Test 123 LSAT — Reading Comp — S4 Reading comp

Passage

 The World Wide Web, a network of electronically produced and interconnected (or "linked") sites, called pages, that are accessible via Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage SummaryTopic: Legal Studies

Paragraph 1
  • Paragraph note
    • New technology leads to debate
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • New tech - Internet, linked sites on computers
    • IP owners - Without stronger copyright laws, the internet will have a lot of infringement
    • Users - Reducing access makes internet less valuable

Paragraph 2
  • Paragraph note
    • New question/consideration from new tech; current law
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Central issue - website can link to document on another
    • Traditional IP protection - Owner can sue distributor for unauthorized copies
    • Question - Does linking to a document count as copyright infringement?

Paragraph 3.1 (Lines 28-44)
  • Paragraph note
    • Analogy leads to answer
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Analogy - Like recording an outgoing message on phone/giving out number
    • Author's Answer - No, it doesn't

Paragraph 3.1 (Lines 44-55)
  • Paragraph note
    • "Moreover"; Technique available to protect doc you put online; recommendation
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Example - Password (somewhat limit open access, but not as much as copyright law changes)
    • Author - Copyright law shouldn't be changed, as it would hurt the internet

Main Point:
Putting a link to a document on another website shouldn't be considered copyright infringement because the copyright owner, by posting it, still controls it and has made it available for distribution.

Key Lines:
Lines 6-9 - One side of a debate
Lines 9-13 - The other side
Lines 23-27 - The central question is posed
Lines 28-30 - A requirement to answer the question
Line 31- An extended analogy is introduced
Lines 40-44 - The Author's answer
Lines 44-46 - Another consideration/support, and an example
Lines 52-55 - Author's opinion on related subject

Meta-Structure:
Question/Answer - The passage focuses on a question posed in Paragraph 2—does linking to a document constitute copyright infringement? Through the use of an extended analogy between phone messages/numbers and the internet (Lines 31-37), the Author concludes that no, it isn't (Lines 40-44). When a passage has a central Question/Answer structure, the Author's answer to the question is the main point of the passage, as we highlighted in our main point above.

Analogy - The Author uses an extended analogy in Lines 31-37 to relate posting a link to a document on another website to giving out someone's phone number. This is all in service of answering the question that's central to the passage.

Add-On - This passage includes an "Add-On" at the end—everything after the "Moreover" in Line 44. This segment of the passage adds to the Author's argument but it doesn't build from the central evidence, instead going off in a bit of a different direction. It reflects her opinion, but not necessarily her main point.

Last Thoughts:
We split up Paragraph 3 for two reasons. First, there are two distinct ideas in there, with the first highlighting an analogy that answers the Author's question, and the second with some additional points she makes relevant to the issue but not the central question. Second, that second half is introduced with "Moreover" (Line 44), which is an interesting structural word. It serves the same purpose as "Besides," in that it's introducing a side consideration that, while relevant, isn't directly speaking to the main point, or, at most, is support for that main point. So while that section of the passage could be asked about, it doesn't have to be reflected in the main point.

Question prompt

According to the passage, 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

Strategy Overview

Find the section on present copyright laws, then find an answer reflecting the information in that section

Answer Anticipation

The passage is largely about a new technology and how the Author believes copyright law should apply to it, and whether it needs strengthening in light of it. That's not directly about current copyright law, so there must be a section where that law is directly discussed — and since it's about the current state of affairs while the passage is about a new/future state of affairs, we should have noted it.
If you did, you'd know that it shows up in Line 20. If you didn't, you'd likely have to take a look at Paragraphs 1 and 2, as those are where this background information is most likely to show up.
Starting in Line 20, the Author notes that current copyright law gives owners "the right to sue a distributor" for unauthorized copies, even if they weren't the ones to make those copies. From here, the Author moves on to the question about how this applies to the Web, so we should look for an answer reflecting this statement.

Answer choices

  1. A
    allow completely unrestricted use Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 6—9) The owners of IP argue that documents on the Web won't be protected unless copyright laws are strengthened, but the Author disagrees with them, so this view isn't established as fact.
  2. B
    allow those who establish Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 40—44) The Author says that the person who posts the document controls access to and distribution of the document. Since she argues that copyright laws don't need strengthening, this must be under the current laws, making this answer wrong.
  3. C
    prohibit anyone but the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. This is a tempting answer because it likely lines up with your personal view of copyright law, but the passage never talks about profiting from these documents.
  4. D
    allow the author of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Correct. (Lines 20—23) This answer reflects the information about "current copyright laws" presented in Paragraph 2, making it the correct answer.
  5. E
    should be altered to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. (Lines 52—55) While the Author is big on allowing the Web to serve its purpose of freely exchanging ideas, there's no indication she believes that even current copyright laws are too restrictive. She talks only about it being ill—advised to change them to make them more restrictive, and her overall argument shows that she doesn't think they're currently limiting.

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