Reading Comprehension · Law
PrepTest 121 · Section 2 · Passage 4
Questions 20–27
Before you start
Open PrepTest 121, Section 2 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 20–27, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: defines a problem practice, notes an existing safeguard against it, then warns (with alarm) that the safeguard misses earlier exposure
- P2: reports recent research that backs up the warning and explains the mechanism behind it, ending with an example
- P3: draws out consequences: what raises the risk, which kind of detail is most at risk, and why that kind of detail can still be decisive, with an example
Step 2 · The kid passage
Grandpa's Recipe Card
A hint-note is a pencil note on a recipe card that nudges the next baker toward a certain step. Some are added on purpose, by a rival sneaking in a mistake, and some by accident, by a helper scribbling a guess. So the school bake-off judges forbid writing on cards during the contest. But the rule comes too late. Worse, a baker's card may already hold hint-notes from cousins who borrowed it earlier.
New work by Priya's baking club backs this up and shows how it happens. Only steps traced in dark ink stay clear; untraced steps blur. And when a hint-note does not clash with what is written, copiers treat it alike whether it lands on a clear step or a blurry gap. On a clear step, it gets copied as extra support for that step. In a gap, it gets copied as a brand-new step. Suppose Aunt Rosa asks, "How long did the dough chill after the orange zest went in?" and someone jots that in the margin. The next copier may add orange zest, though the original had none.
The more times a card is copied, the blurrier it gets, and the more easily hint-notes blend in. Since blurry steps are easier to fill wrongly, side steps, like a pinch of cinnamon, get made up more often than main steps, like the flour. But a side step for the baker can be the whole question for the judges: the "secret spice" ribbon depends on that pinch.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Parrot Who Learned Too Much
The case was about a missing hat, and the only witness was Pepper the parrot. The judge banned anyone from coaching Pepper in court. Mr. Whitfield stood up anyway. "Your Honor, the ban is fine, but it is late. Pepper lived at the pet shop for a month before today. Visitors kept asking her, 'Was it the blue hat?'" The judge raised an eyebrow. "So?" "So Pepper only learns clearly the words she hears often. Rare words leave gaps, and a visitor's phrase fills the gap as if it had always been there." Pepper squawked, "Blue hat! Blue hat!" Mr. Whitfield bowed. "The color was a tiny detail when Pepper saw the hat. Today it decides the whole case." The judge asked for a list of every visitor.