Comparing two passages?

[parsons]

What's the deal with this? Some of the newer tests have RC sections with two passages and the questions deal with comparing them. They don't seem all that difficult, but it makes me nervous since there are so few practice questions available of this type.

[Steve Stein]

The comparative reading passages were added to the LSAT Reading Comp section a few years back. Many students actually like those better than the standard, longer passages, because the comparative passages are often both shorter and more straightforward (although not always).

Presumably, the idea behind the addition is specifically to test your ability to compare and contrast different viewpoints, as you will surely need to do in your law school studies.
For some practice with these, there are a couple of passage sets available on the LSAC website (lsac.org), as well as in the official LSATs from the last few years. You might also consider PowerScore's Reading Comprehension Bible, which has a chapter dedicated to Comparative Reading, and provides many practice passage sets, each of which is followed by complete explanations of the passages and analysis of the questions and answer choices.