PrepTest 110

[lcid:3536] Prep Test 110 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 1-6  .        Most authoritarian rulers who undertake  . democratic reforms do so not out of any intrinsic  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Sciences


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author’s conclusion (Most authoritarians allow democratic reforms because social changes require such reforms)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author’s view: Most authoritarian regimes make democratic reforms because social changes make it impossible to hold on to absolute power, not because the rulers are committed to democracy (first sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “not out of any intrinsic commitment or conversion” (first sentence); “impossible” (first sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • First type of social change (Citizens’ shifting values/norms lead to rejection of authoritarian rule) and example (Latin American countries)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 1: Citizens’ changing values/norms lead to a lower tolerance of repression/absolute power and an increased willingness to mobilize and speak out, often starting with a rejection of human rights abuses (second and last sentences)
    • Example of changing values/norms, according to the author:
      • Latin American countries in the 1970s and 80s (third sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “can contribute” (first sentence); “came about partly” (third sentence); “frequently beginning” (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Second type of social change (privileged people realize that authoritarianism is bad for their economic interests) and example (Philippines)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 2: When privileged people who used to support the authoritarian rules (like landowners, industrialists, merchants, and bankers) determine that authoritarianism is adverse to their economic interests (second sentence)
    • Examples of changing economic interests, according to the author:
      • Philippines and other contemporary authoritarian nations (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “can shift” (first sentence); “an important turning point” (second sentence); “was crucial” (last sentence); “also begun occurring incrementally” (last sentence)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Third type of social change (activists rise and develop organizations) and numerous examples (students, workers, lawyers, etc.)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of major social changes that cause the rejection of authoritarianism, according to the author:
      • Item 3: Various communities gain more resources, autonomy, and confidence, then organize, and then circumvent the authoritarian rule (first through last sentences)
    • Examples of community activism, according to the author:
      • Students marching, workers striking, lawyers refusing to cooperate with regime, alternative sources of info emerging, and networks circumventing state rule (second sentence)
    • Comparison between authoritarian regimes before and after this social change, according to the author:
      • Before, the regimes easily controlled their citizens; after, the regimes are on the defensive (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “profound development” (last sentence); “radically alter” (last sentence)

Paragraph 5

  • Paragraph note
    • Author’s support (authoritarian rule leads to all three changes)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Author’s view: Authoritarian regimes — especially those that create economic growth and social stability — tend to lead to all three changes, so regimes are forced to match the ensuing democratic social changes with democratic political changes (first through last sentences)
    • Cause-and-effect relationship, according to the author:
      • Authoritarian regimes that cause economic growth and social stability cause their citizens to reflect on their living conditions, which causes the emergence of social changes that lead to democratic reforms (second and last sentences)
    • Author’s attitude: “tends in the long run” (first sentence); “Ironically” (second sentence); “can be accelerated” (second sentence); “only hope of retaining some power” (last sentence)

Main Point: Most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do so in response to changes in societal values, the shifting economic interests of previous regime supporters, and the formation of activist organizations, all of which tend to result from authoritarian regimes.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - The author’s conclusion

P2, S2 - First type of social change

P3, S2 - Second type of social change

P4, S2 - Third type of social change

Meta Structure?

Phenomenon/Explanation: This passage best fits the Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure. As is typical in this Meta-Structure, the author identifies a phenomenon (authoritarian leaders allowing democratic reform) and then explains this phenomenon. Here, the author leads with a clear central thesis — authoritarian rulers allow democratic reforms out of self-interest, not out of genuine belief in democratic ideals — in the first paragraph. The author uses the next three paragraphs to explain the three major changes that force authoritarian rulers to reform.

In a Phenomenon/Explanation passage, the main point is generally the author’s opinion of the explanation. In this passage, the author endorses the explanation that authoritarian regimes allow democratic reforms in response to major social changes. As you can see in the Main Point section, we included the author’s explanation and the three major social changes in our anticipated main point.

Last Thoughts?

This passage uses a straightforward structure that allows us to read predictively. In the first paragraph, the author makes a declarative statement about why authoritarian regimes allow democratic reforms. We can anticipate the author will examine, explain or defend this proposition throughout the passage. In the second paragraph, the author references “three major types of changes” (P2, S1) before elaborating on the first change. We can anticipate that the following two paragraphs will discuss the following two types of changes. Developing your ability to read predictively is one way to read these passages more efficiently and confidently.

Question prompt

It can most reasonably 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

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Remind ourselves of the main point of the passage, 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 the entire passage, 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 the passage. 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. 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, 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 the main point, we can eliminate it. If something seems familiar, consistent with the main point, or reflected in our notes, we’ll use our notes/highlights/underlines to find the part of the passage 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
    many authoritarian rulers would Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Is this related to the main point or reflected in our notes?

    Not really. In fact, the main point suggests the opposite — that authoritarian regimes allow democratic reforms because social changes require such reforms. Without these social changes — i.e., the pressure people living under these regimes place on the rulers — it seems unlikely that authoritarian regimes would institute democratic reforms.

    Still, (A) is a very popular answer choice among test-takers. Many test-takers like (A) because the passage’s last paragraph can make democratic reforms seem like a fait accompli for authoritarian regimes. However, the last paragraph merely asserts that authoritarian regimes tend to lead to all three social changes that eventually make authoritarians acquiesce to democratic reforms (P5, S1). The pressure these social changes bring still cause the democratic reforms, according to the passage. Therefore, we don’t have any reason to believe that authoritarian rulers would institute democratic reform even if not pressured to do so.

  2. B
    citizen dissatisfaction in authoritarian Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Is this related to the main point or reflected in our notes?

    Nope. Neither the main point nor our notes mention anything about when “citizen dissatisfaction” is at its highest. Experienced test-takers would table this answer choice and move on to the next one, without checking the passage to see if (B) is supported.


    If we needed to check (B) to verify whether it was correct, we wouldn’t find any support in the passage. The author suggests that citizens become especially dissatisfied when the authoritarians produce periods of economic growth and social stability (P5, S2). This probably doesn’t happen immediately after an authoritarian regime takes power, which suggests that (B) is false.

  3. C
    popular support for authoritarian Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Is this related to the main point or reflected in our notes?

    Negative. We should table this for the same reason we tabled (B) — the main point and notes don’t mention anything about when popular support for authoritarian regimes is at its lowest.

    If we had to check the passage to determine whether (C) is true, we’d find evidence that it’s false. The author says that popular support for authoritarians wanes during periods of economic growth, not decline (P5, S2). Although the author says that the privileged members of society might turn on authoritarian regimes when they think the regime may eventually “damage their long-term interests” (P3, S2), that doesn’t imply that economic conditions have already become weak. Therefore, the passage does not give us any reason to believe that (C) is true.

  4. D
    absolute power in an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Is this related to the main point or reflected in our notes?

    Yes, this is consistent with the passage’s main point. We said the passage’s main point is that “Most authoritarian rulers who undertake democratic reforms do so in response to changes in societal values.” Based on this main point, it seems like society choosing to no longer “condone” the authoritarian regime is the cause that eventually leads to democratic reforms (and thus the end of “absolute power in an authoritarian society”).

    Therefore, we can review the passage to see if we can find support for (D). Since the main point strongly suggests that (D) is accurate, we can simply review the first paragraph, which expresses the main point most completely. There, the author says that authoritarian rulers realize they need to make democratic reforms when “certain changes and mobilizations in civil society make it impossible for them to hold on indefinitely to absolute power” (P1, S1). (The last paragraph, which affirms the main point with a supporting cause-and-effect relationship, furnishes similar support.) That strongly suggests that authoritarian regimes lose absolute power when society turns on the regime, giving us ample reason to select (D).

  5. E
    citizens view human rights Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Is this related to the main point or reflected in our notes?

    No. Our notes don’t mention anything about human rights abuses. Moreover, this answer choice uses strong, hard-to-support language (“the only”), making it an unlikely answer to a Must Be True question. Experienced test-takers would table or eliminate (E) for these reasons.

    If we had to check the passage to see whether (E) was supported, we’d find the only reference to human rights abuses in the second paragraph. The author says that citizens typically start protesting authoritarian regimes by denouncing the regime’s human rights abuses (P2, S4), but that doesn’t mean these abuses are the only thing the society dislikes about the regime. In fact, the author also suggests that citizens may dislike the regime’s “repression and the concentration of power” (P2, S2) and that the regime may damage “long-term [economic] interests” (P3, S2).

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