Reading Comprehension · Humanities
PrepTest 125 · Section 3 · Passage 2
Questions 8–15
Before you start
Open PrepTest 125, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 8–15, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: introduces a figure and the mixed result of the figure's work
- P2: notes an early difficulty, presents the standard account, then corrects it
- P3: argues the work is more than parody, gives examples, contrasts it with some peers, and ends with the author's appreciative reading
Step 2 · The kid passage
Grandpa's Fish-Stick Feast
When Grandpa was a young chef, he helped start the Lunchroom Look in fancy cooking by serving plates that copied school cafeteria trays. Mixing lunch food with fine dining gave a tricky result: his plates teased snooty restaurants, yet they carried a serious idea too, so they were more than a joke.
At first diners could hardly tell it was fine food: fish sticks and milk cartons looked just like the cafeteria. The usual history says the Lunchroom Look was a cool, unfeeling answer to the Flame Show chefs, who poured private moods into fiery displays. Actually, the Flame Show had already gone soft. Its early cooks were bold and thrilling, but its later cooks made airy foams, delicate and far too fancy. Grandpa's plates had bright, simple shapes. He pushed back against a tired style instead of coldly ignoring it.
But if copying the cafeteria to tease chefs were all he did, his food would be just a joke. Under the silly trays was an urge to show everyday life. The tater tots, the square pizza, the pudding cups: these came from the town he lived in. And unlike some Lunchroom Look chefs who sneered at fast food, Grandpa chose a sweet, on-purpose simpleness, answering the too-fancy cooking of the late Flame Show and of some of his own crowd. Because school lunch belongs to childhood, his plates feel warmly nostalgic. They show a hope of making peace: between cafeteria and fine dining, and between teasing and real feeling.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Goofy Goose
In a made-up trial, a town sued a costume maker. His giant goose mascot, they said, mocked the town's beloved pond goose. "It is a joke, nothing more," their lawyer declared. Mr. Whitfield rose, suspenders snapping. "Your Honor, look closer. The goose wears the same striped scarf as our crossing guard. It carries the lunch pail every kid in town knows. That is real town life. And unlike the sneering mascot one town over, this goose is sweet on purpose." He paused. "Yes, it teases a little. It also loves." The judge studied the goose for a long moment. "Teasing and affection can share one costume. Case dismissed."