#1 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Purpose

[Zarie Blackburn]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

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

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):


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

[avengingangel]

Why is the answer choice A and not B? I was going between the two and ultimately chose B. Is it because administrative contracts are not a necessarily a solution to a problem, but more a position on an issue ?? Please elaborate on that.

Also, I liked B because it said inherent -- in passage two the author describes administrative contracts as being something other than the way they are defined by government's freedom advocates in the first paragraph, thus not serving their purpose.

[Adam Tyson]

Absolutely right, Angel - there is no solution offered to any problem here, just an analysis of a position (that of the folks who believe in the French approach). The purpose of the passage is to show why that approach is incorrect, and we have a two-pronged argument against it. The French approach is not a solution , but is in fact a problem itself - it solves nothing and makes the problem (uncertainty when contracting with a developing country) seemingly greater.

[Lsat180Please]

Can you please discuss why D is incorrect? I often find myself stuck on these types of question in RC the "primary purpose" questions. Can you please advise the best way to attack these questions? thank you!

[Brook Miscoski]

LSAT180Please,

Answer Choice (D) is incorrect because the position under attack is whether governments possess the power to terminate their own contracts, not whether that is a good idea or risk-free. It does seem that the proponents of that position have also recommended a course of action, but it is the legal basis of the course of action that the author claims is flawed. His critique doesn't talk about risks.

The way that we approach reading comprehension is to read for viewpoint, structure, tone, arguments, and main point. Before reaching the question, I would have noted that the author introduces a legal theory and then spends the rest of the passage criticizing that theory. Although I might have kept (A), (B), and (D) as contenders, I would pretty quickly pick (A) because the author explicitly states that he is showing us why the legal argument is flawed, a sentence or word I would have marked.

[cgleeson]

Hi,

I really liked A a lot however, the part about "support of a position" threw me for a loop. I was stuck on A, B & D. I dumped B and had trouble pulling the trigger on A or D. Answer choice A mentions the flaws just like in the passage, I thought LSAT test makers were trying to trick me
Thank you.

[Adam Tyson]

Perhaps the simplest way to arrive at answer A, cgleeson, would be to start with a prephrase. This passage fits nicely into a very common (perhaps THE most common) Reading Comp structure: "Some people say something, but they are wrong, and here's why."

Over and over again, passages follow this basic structure. The author goes about showing why some position held by someone else is incorrect in some way. Sometimes the author offers a different position, and sometimes they just find problems with the stated position. We see this on a micro scale in many LR questions, too, and the common thread is that the conclusion/main point is "those people/that position is wrong."

With that in mind, it's easy enough to prephrase the primary concern here: to show that the position advanced in the first paragraph by "advocates of governments' freedom to modify or terminate such agreements" is wrong. Answer A matches this perfectly! The advocates are arguing in favor of a certain position regarding Administrative Contracts, and the author points out flaws in that argument.

Familiarity with the common structures like this one can go a long way towards helping us form our prephrases and more quickly and confidently select correct answers. The best way to gain that familiarity is to read lots and lots of RC passages and look for the commonality between them, so keep up the good work and find those patterns!

[cgleeson]

Thank you Adam. This makes a lot of sense.

Chris

Perhaps the simplest way to arrive at answer A, cgleeson, would be to start with a prephrase. This passage fits nicely into a very common (perhaps THE most common) Reading Comp structure: "Some people say something, but they are wrong, and here's why."

Over and over again, passages follow this basic structure. The author goes about showing why some position held by someone else is incorrect in some way. Sometimes the author offers a different position, and sometimes they just find problems with the stated position. We see this on a micro scale in many LR questions, too, and the common thread is that the conclusion/main point is "those people/that position is wrong."

With that in mind, it's easy enough to prephrase the primary concern here: to show that the position advanced in the first paragraph by "advocates of governments' freedom to modify or terminate such agreements" is wrong. Answer A matches this perfectly! The advocates are arguing in favor of a certain position regarding Administrative Contracts, and the author points out flaws in that argument.

Familiarity with the common structures like this one can go a long way towards helping us form our prephrases and more quickly and confidently select correct answers. The best way to gain that familiarity is to read lots and lots of RC passages and look for the commonality between them, so keep up the good work and find those patterns!

[jwooon]

Hello,

The above chain helped me understand a bit of why (B) is incorrect, but I am still struggling to see how (A) is a better choice. My reasoning for choosing (B) was that I saw the "problem" as the problem the foreign investors have in making a contract with developing countries, and the "proposed solution" as the developing countries agreeing to be governed by "general principles of law recognized by civilized nations."

One of the previous responses on this thread mentioned that no solution exists, only problems, but I thought the answer choice contained "proposed solution" instead so the correctness of the solution doesn't matter as much?

TLDR; I am having trouble understanding why (A) is a better choice than (B) considering the wording of the answer choices.

[Dana D]

Hey Jwoon,

We want to take the abstract terms of the answer choices and apply them to the passage to see if they apply. So, for answer (B), analyzing the weaknesses inherent in the proposed solution to a problem - the 'proposed solution to a problem' would be the application of administrative contracts and French law to the problem of economic development agreements between countries. Except that this is not what is actually happening in the passage - administrative contracts are not a solution to the problem of development agreements. The existence of administrative contracts does not resolve the risks introduced in the beginning of the passage.

Instead, answer choice (A) is a better answer - line (20) says that advocates of government's freedom are arguing that these development agreements fall into the class of administrative contracts, and the rest of the passage is spent pointing out the flaws in this argument.

Hope that helps!