#25 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14655)

Author’s Perspective, Specific Reference. The correct answer choice is (D)

This question asks which words, in context, best reveal the author’s attitude toward the Modernists. With
this kind of question it is always advisable to read the material surrounding the reference in each choice.
The appropriate response must involve the author’s evaluation of the proponents; anything else should be
immediately eliminated. If left with more than one response, we should seek the one that most closely
reflects the author’s general opinion of the proponents: their ideology committed them to ignore some of
the practical realities of construction.

Answer choice (A): The author does not agree that Modernist architecture reflects a truly functional
spirit, as is evidenced by his criticism that the Modernist architects do not seem to consider functional
concerns, so this response is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): “Tended,” in context, references an observation about how the proponents of
Modernist architecture treated non-modernist architects. Since this offers little insight into the author’s
attitude about the proponents themselves, this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (C): The author has a generally negative view of Modernist proponents and probably
does not view them as innovators. Furthermore, “innovators” is used to describe two architects that the
author implies were not fully Modernist. The author would not use the term “innovators” to describe the
proponents of the Modern Movement.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice, as this selection specifically describes the
actions of the proponents from the author’s perspective. “Conveniently” describes the fact that the
proponents acknowledged only the evidence that appeared to support the Movement. That is consistent
with the author’s view that the proponents’ beliefs were impractical.

Answer choice (E): “Degree of inaccuracy” describes the realities of the construction industry that
the Modernist architects did not allow for, and not the position of the proponents from the author’s
perspective.

[Nina]

I thought the main attitude of the author toward the proponents of the Modern Movement was that they are merely innovative but lacking realistic consideration. Thus i don't quite know why answer D is the correct one instead of C?

Thanks a lot!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Nina!

I think the answer lies in the word "merely" in your description. Answer (C) suggests they indeed were innovative, while (D) suggests this was just a matter of convenience (ln. 30).

Another way you might arrive at (D) instead of (C) is that (D) is negative while (C) is a positive comment. Given that the author views proponents of the Modern Movement negatively, that's why (D) would be the better choice.

[Nina]

Thanks Luke! It's clear now

[voodoochild]

Experts,
I tend to miss such "contextual attitude" questions even though I correctly answered Q23. Here, my initial strategy to find out synonyms. I locked in to C (innovators). This is an incorrect answer choice.

Another idea was to identify author's emotions from the context. I liked "tended" because it indicates the probability that Modernists were dismissing the architecture.
Alas, even this is wrong.

I am not sure about this question. Can you please provide a strategy to attack such questions. I checked the Powerscore RC Bible. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a strategy.

Please help.

thanks

[Steve Stein]

Hi voodoochild,

The question you asked about refers to phrases drawn from a number of specific points in the passage. It is a mistake to rely solely on the words quoted, though, as it is important to consider a slightly broader context.

Did you take a look at the lines surrounding the various answer choice references? Have another look and let me know whether that provides any new insights--thanks!

~Steve

[est15]

I was able to eliminate A, C, E but I'm having trouble understanding why B is incorrect. Could you also go over what exactly to be looking for in these questions with answer choices that are only one or two words long? Thanks.

[Robert Carroll]

est,

We know from the passage that the author is highly critical of the Modern Movement, so we need to find a word that reveals the author's critical attitude. Answer choice (B) is entirely neutral in context - the author uses it simply to say that the Modernists did a certain thing most of the time (thus, that they tended to do it). Only answer choice (D) has a tone that is critical - the author has a hint of sarcasm when using the word "conveniently", as it was too convenient for the Modernists to take the view that they did.

The distinguishing feature of this question is that it asks you to identify the author's attitude, not that it has one-word answers (although often questions that ask for an attitude will have short answers!). Approach the question this way, and ask yourself what the author's attitude was toward the Modern Movement. That part of the question can be answered by the attitude expressed in the passage as a whole. When looking at the specific answer choices, ask yourself whether each is actually used by the author in the passage to heap criticism on the Modern Movement; if not, then that answer is not a place where the author reveals his/her attitude.

Robert Carroll