Reading Comprehension · Social Science
PrepTest 111 · Section 2 · Passage 1
Questions 1–6
Before you start
Open PrepTest 111, Section 2 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 1–6, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: gives figures about a group of writers and offers two explanations for a pattern among them
- P2: raises a doubt held by some historians, concedes part of it, then presents other scholars' two-part reply
- P3: cites a scholar's view, counters it with evidence and an example, and concludes the accounts are credible and significant
Step 2 · The kid passage
The Snow Fort War Videos
Of the 120 kids at Maple School who recorded video stories about the Great Snow Fort War, about 20 were second graders. And of those 20, most were on the Blue Team. Part of the reason is simple: only kids with tablets at home could record easily. But there was a playground politics reason too. Most videos were recorded months after the war, once the Blue Team had won the recess council vote. Blue Team kids recorded with the council's blessing, while Red Team kids risked losing recess points for telling their side.
Since the videos came so late, some teachers doubt them. Sure, memories fade, and a loyal teammate may bend the story to make the team look good. But Priya showed that careful checking settles most of these worries in two ways. First, for big moments everyone saw, many videos can be matched against each other. Second, for private moments only the teller saw, you ask softer questions: does the story hang together, and does the teller act the way we know that kid acts? Or is it so full of excuses that you stop believing it?
Ms. Rivera says the second graders saw themselves as helpers who just carried snowballs for the big kids. Even so, plenty of them took charge. Lulu, for example, was locked in the Red Team's snow jail. She freed herself and three other prisoners by passing folded notes, and later she argued Tommy's case before the recess council and got his points back. Several second graders also broke the rule against little kids standing on the front wall. Priya's review finds these videos believable on factual and personal grounds alike, which makes them special: they show a bold, take-charge style nobody expected until the Second Grade Leaders Club started three years later.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Late Witness
Judge Park frowned. 'Your Honor,' said the other lawyer, 'this witness waited two years to describe the bake sale mix-up. Memory fades. Toss it out.' Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. 'Fair worry, Your Honor. But let us check. For the public part, the cupcake table tipping over, five other people tell the same story. For the private part, what she whispered to the treasurer, ask: does it hang together, and does it sound like her? She is famous for blunt honesty, and her account is calm, with no excuses.' The judge nodded. 'Late is not the same as false. The testimony stays.' Lulu wrote on her clipboard: doubt, then two tests.