Reading Comprehension · Science
PrepTest 109 · Section 2 · Passage 3
Questions 15–22
Before you start
Open PrepTest 109, Section 2 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 15–22, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: lays out a background problem, then a hopeful hypothesis that a side benefit will ease that problem
- P2: grants part of the hypothesis but cites studies showing the benefit is uneven and can cause new harms, with an example
- P3: asks about the second half of the hypothesis and presents one researcher's trial that undercuts it, then says why the finding matters
Step 2 · The kid passage
The Glitter Question
Ms. Rivera predicts the glitter on the art room floor will double by June. Loose glitter is a pest. Still, Marcus has a cheerful theory. More glitter, he says, makes kids craft more, turning the art room into a craft paradise. A bigger craft club would scoop up floor glitter to reuse, so the floor would get sparkly more slowly than Ms. Rivera thinks.
Class surveys agree that crafting goes up with more glitter. But the boost is uneven, which could mean fewer finished projects. The big class mural, which used to soak up glitter better than any other project, may lose that lead. Nadia and Owen found that the mural could stall because sticker cards, which love glitter, steal its helpers. Paper streamers take off with extra glitter far more than three other crafts do, and since streamer scraps jam the vacuum, more streamers may mean more broken vacuums.
So paradise is not guaranteed. But could extra crafting still slow the pileup? Priya ran a two-week trial in the reading nook, and the glitter there went up, not down. Kids did craft more, but as their chairs scuffed the old rug, glitter buried in it for years worked loose. Priya figured that if art time grew by two afternoons a week, the rug would shed half again as much glitter as it does now, far more than extra crafters could scoop up. This matters because the nook should get the biggest jump in art time.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Helpful Puddle
Mr. Whitfield's client, a neighbor, sued over a leaky sprinkler next door. The sprinkler's owner testified, "Sure, it leaks. But the extra water grows thicker grass, and thick grass drinks up puddles. So the sidewalk will flood less over time." Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, the grass did grow thicker. I grant that. But our expert soaked a test lawn for a month. The soggy soil loosened years of packed mud under the grass, and that mud washed onto the sidewalk faster than any new grass could hold it back." The judge nodded. "So the bonus is real, but a hidden side process outruns it. The hopeful theory leaves something out." Ruling for the neighbor.