Reading Comprehension · Humanities
PrepTest 129 · Section 4 · Passage 2
Questions 6–12
Before you start
Open PrepTest 129, Section 4 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 6–12, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: states the author's thesis that two camps should be joined and that their split comes from misreading each other
- P2: describes one camp's mistaken caricature of the other, with examples
- P3: describes the other camp's mistaken caricature in return
- P4: proposes a corrective middle position built on shared goals, notes each side already uses the other's tools, and concludes that joining is possible if goals are stressed over methods
Step 2 · The kid passage
Rules Kids and Story Kids
Priya wrote this for the class newsletter.
Somebody needs to clear up the mix-ups that keep the Rules Kids and the Story Kids apart, because recess needs both. Joining them should be easy once everyone sees that the split comes mostly from each group getting the other wrong.
Some Story Kids think the Rules Kids care only about points, whistles, and who crosses the line first. That is a cartoon, drawn by kids who have never really watched a game. Story Kids say rules games squash everything fun, and that make-believe has a magic part no rulebook could ever capture.
Some Rules Kids, meanwhile, say Story Kids are just 'cloud-nappers drifting wherever the breeze goes.' To them, make-believe is pointless because it never wins a trophy or settles who gets the ball. Pretend games, they say, should come second.
So both groups need fixing. The fix is an idea I call Story-Sport, which keeps what the two share. Both groups want the same thing: a recess where everyone has fun and learns about each other. They just start from different spots. Real games are full of pretending (every kid on the team is secretly a famous star), and the best make-believe runs smoother with a few clear rules and turns. If kids keep calling rules games all numbers and make-believe all fluff, they will never play together. But if they look first at what they both want, not at how they get there, teaming up is possible, even likely.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Baker and the Bookkeeper
A bakery's two owners stood before Judge Okafor, each asking to buy the other out. The baker said, 'She only sees numbers. She would sell cardboard if it were cheaper.' The bookkeeper said, 'He only sees frosting. He would bankrupt us for one perfect swirl.' Mr. Whitfield, hired to sort it out, stood up. 'Your Honor, both pictures are cartoons. She tastes every new recipe. He counts every egg. They both want the same thing: a shop people love that stays open.' He held up a ledger with a frosting smudge on it. 'They start from different ends, but they meet in the middle.' The judge denied both buyouts. 'Go bake. Together.'