LSAT Comparative Reading Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In LSAT Comparative Reading, when Passage A presents empirical data and Passage B offers a theoretical framework, the most productive analytical relationship is to:
- Accept the empirical data as more reliable than the theory
- Use the theory to interpret and contextualize the empirical findings (Correct answer)
- Treat the passages as independent and unrelated texts
- Prioritize whichever passage aligns with common knowledge
Correct answer: Use the theory to interpret and contextualize the empirical findings
LSAT comparative passages reward readers who identify how theoretical frameworks can give meaning to empirical data, revealing an interpretive relationship between the texts.
Question 2: Passage A argues that strict liability tort law protects consumers effectively. Passage B argues strict liability creates excessive costs for manufacturers. These passages are best characterized as:
- Presenting complementary views on separate legal topics
- Offering competing policy assessments of the same legal doctrine (Correct answer)
- One summarizing the other's argument
- Addressing different branches of tort law without overlap
Correct answer: Offering competing policy assessments of the same legal doctrine
Both passages evaluate strict liability tort law but reach opposing conclusions about its overall desirability, making them competing policy assessments.
Question 3: An author of Passage B would most likely respond to the central claim of Passage A by:
- Fully endorsing the claim and providing additional supporting evidence
- Acknowledging the claim but arguing it applies only in narrow circumstances (Correct answer)
- Ignoring the claim because it falls outside Passage B's scope
- Restating the claim using different terminology
Correct answer: Acknowledging the claim but arguing it applies only in narrow circumstances
When passages disagree, the author of one typically concedes partial validity of the other's claim while limiting its applicability—a common rhetorical move the LSAT tests.
Question 4: Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument in Passage A while weakening the argument in Passage B?
- A study showing that both passages rely on the same dataset
- Evidence that the policy Passage A advocates reduces harm at low economic cost (Correct answer)
- A finding that Passage B's author has financial conflicts of interest
- Data showing that Passage A was published before Passage B
Correct answer: Evidence that the policy Passage A advocates reduces harm at low economic cost
Evidence that the policy works well and is economically viable directly supports Passage A's position and undercuts Passage B's cost-based objections.
Question 5: Passage A uses case studies from the 1970s to support its argument. Passage B uses statistical analysis of recent data. A question asking you to evaluate the 'methodological differences' between the passages is primarily asking you to:
- Determine which methodology is universally superior
- Identify how each passage's evidence-gathering approach shapes its conclusions (Correct answer)
- Memorize the specific studies cited in each passage
- Assess whether the passages share the same conclusion
Correct answer: Identify how each passage's evidence-gathering approach shapes its conclusions
Methodological difference questions ask readers to recognize how each author's chosen approach to gathering evidence influences the claims they can credibly make.
Question 6: Both passages discuss the role of intent in criminal law, but Passage A focuses on subjective intent while Passage B focuses on objective standards. A point on which the authors would most likely agree is that:
- Objective standards should replace subjective intent entirely
- Subjective intent is irrelevant to criminal culpability
- Criminal law must grapple with questions of mental state in some form (Correct answer)
- The distinction between intent standards is purely semantic
Correct answer: Criminal law must grapple with questions of mental state in some form
Despite disagreeing about which standard is best, both passages implicitly accept that mental state is a meaningful legal concept—this shared premise is a common LSAT agreement point.
Question 7: The phrase 'regulatory capture' appears in Passage A as a flaw in agency governance. Passage B does not use this phrase but discusses how agencies develop expertise that makes them effective. These treatments are best described as:
- Identical in scope and conclusion
- Contradictory perspectives on the relationship between agencies and regulated industries (Correct answer)
- Unrelated because they use different terminology
- Complementary since one covers flaws and one covers strengths of different agencies
Correct answer: Contradictory perspectives on the relationship between agencies and regulated industries
Both passages address how agencies relate to the industries they oversee—Passage A sees this as a source of corruption while Passage B sees it as a source of competence, making their views contradictory.
LSAT Comparative Reading Analysis 2
In LSAT Comparative Reading, when Passage A presents empirical data and Passage B offers a theoretical framework, the most productive analytical relationship is to: