#22 - Parallel Reasoning

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

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

Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (A)

This question asks us to choose a situation that is similar to the problems with construction industry
changes described in the passage, which brought a more fragmented process and less accuracy as a
result.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. Lines 40-44 relate a movement from a craft
carried out by a relatively few tradespeople to an industry involving many specialized workers, which is
similar to the movement from garment maker to assembly line. The effect described in lines 44-47 was
that design had to account for a new process and greater inaccuracy at each stage, which is similar to the
scenario of an assembly line that would produce less precisely tailored clothing.

Answer choice (B): Since lines 40-47 discuss accuracy, not beauty, this answer choice does not provide a
proper analogy. While accuracy can be readily measured, beauty is subjective.

Answer choice (C): Since the relevant lines in the stimulus do not refer to usefulness, but only to
accuracy, this response is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): While the inaccuracy described in the passage was a part of the process of initial
production, the reaction of people who receive a letter is not part of the process of composing the letter,
so this is not a proper analogy.

Answer choice (E): Lines 40-47 deal with accuracy, but not with what is fashionable, (another subjective
measure), so this response is incorrect.

[Nina]

the only hints about pre-twentieth-century that i found is in the first paragraph: "compared with the historical styles that it replaced, Modernist architecture more accurately reflected the functional spirit of twentieth-century technology and was better suited to the newest building methods". As applied to answer A, Modernist architecture is analogous to "clothing produced on an assembly line", and pre-twentieth-century architecture is analogous to "clothing produced by a single garment maker." I thought the passage was meant to say that Modernist architecture is more advanced (more accurate) than pre-twentieth-century architecture, but why is the result reversed(that clothing produced on an assembly line is less precisely tailored)?

Many thanks!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Nina!

You're definitely right to be looking to that first paragraph for the answer to this question. But you might consider viewing pre-twentieth-century architecture substitute in for "clothing produced on an assembly line." If that's the case, then the author makes it clear that Modernist architecture "more accurately reflected" the 20th century spirit (ln. 4) and was "better suited..." (ln. 6). In short, the new architecture was a "better fit," just like clothing made from a single garment maker.

Perhaps the confusion arises because answer (A) states the same thing, but differently: it says the earlier type of architecture was not as good a fit as modern architecture. This is the same as saying modern architecture is a better fit.

[Nina]

Thanks Luke! That makes so much sense to me