#12 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose/Function

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[aghartism]

Hi,

I have a question about the linguistic conventions used by the makers of the LSAT. Ordinarily, use of the indefinite article in English can function in a general sense. I find it perfectly natural to interpret answer choice (C) as meaning "describe the strategy contributing to a successful legal argumentin general", as opposed to "describe the strategy contributing to a certain successful legal argument".

For example, if a law professor were to say that her course teaches students how to construct a successful legal argument, it would be odd to interpret her as saying that her course teaches students how to construct some specific, successful legal argument.

On that interpretation, (C) is a bad answer; the passage is not really a how-to guide on legal argumentation. And (A) then becomes the best answer, no? I saw on another website that (A) is to be rejected because "details of Marshall's career" must mean things like salary and working hours. Clearly, that's a stretch. Maybe the word that busts (A) is "reveal". Is it too weak a word when the passage discusses details of Marshall's career and their import? But then again, "describe" in (C) is also quite a weak word, at least relative to what's attempted and/or accomplished in the passage.

I'd be interested to learn what people think about this particular question, or a question like this!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi aghartism!

Happy to address answer choices (C) and (A).

First, you comment about (C),

I find it perfectly natural to interpret answer choice (C) as meaning "describe the strategy contributing to a successful legal argument in general", as opposed to "describe the strategy contributing to a certain successful legal argument".

The first phrasing you offer certainly seems like a possible interpretation of the answer choice. However, that's not the only possible meaning. Taking the answer choice as it is, and without adding in the "in general" at the end, the mention of "a successful legal argument" in (C) could be referring to a particular argument explained in the passage. So, one could have those two interpretations of (C) in hand, and as you note, the passage isn't really about constructing legal arguments in general. That should eliminate that interpretation, leaving you with the other one--that it is referring to a particular legal argument discussed in the passage. More specifically, the argument is what is advanced by Thurgood Marshall in litigating Brown v. Board. The passage delineates a strategy he pursued that contributed to his success in arguing Brown.

Answer choice (A) doesn't accurately describing the primary purpose of the passage. Some of the details of Marshall's career before Brown are discussed, to be sure, but they're not discussed just for their own sake, as (A) suggests. Rather, these details of his work before Brown are part of the overarching narrative about the strategies he had been pursuing that helped him be successful in Brown.

[aghartism]

Thank you for this response, Luke.

Somewhat embarrassingly, I didn't see that there were at least two possible interpretations of the answer choice in question when I first attempted this item, but did as soon as I checked the answer key and revisited the item. I didn't mean to suggest that the interpretation you give is not an understandable or natural one!

I was fairly new, then, to LSAT reading comp. After attempting several more reading comp. sections, I've come to see that the kind of language in the answer choice in question is not unusual in "main idea" items!