Reading Comprehension · Social Science
PrepTest 141 · Section 3 · Passage 3
Questions 15–20
Before you start
Open PrepTest 141, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 15–20, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- Passage A, P1: states a puzzle and offers a general explanation built on two mechanisms
- Passage A, P2: explains the first mechanism and backs it with evidence
- Passage A, P3: briefly contrasts this with other areas and notes a cost
- Passage A, P4: turns to the second mechanism and describes a study as evidence
- Passage A, P5: extends the second mechanism with a real-world example
- Passage B, P1: asks what the same study really shows and lays out a popular explanation
- Passage B, P2: rejects that explanation and offers a different one the author says the evidence favors
- Passage B, P3: develops the author's alternative explanation
- Passage B, P4: recasts a trait others view negatively as something positive
Step 2 · The kid passage
The Sunflower Puzzle
Kid Passage A (by Lulu): In our school garden, kids with taller sunflowers say they feel prouder than kids with shorter ones. Yet every year the whole garden grows taller, and the class never gets any prouder. Why? Two things keep raising the bar. First, we get used to things. Last spring a four-foot flower thrilled Tommy; this spring he shrugged at five feet. Second, we compare. Ms. Rivera asked us to pick: grow a three-foot flower while everyone else grows two-foot ones, or grow a six-foot flower while everyone else grows eight-foot ones. Most of us picked the first. We would rather have a shorter flower, as long as we beat our row. Sadly, chasing the row next door never makes anyone prouder for long. Kid Passage B (by Priya): Does Ms. Rivera's survey prove we just love showing off? Marcus says it is an old instinct to win, left over from cave days. That story is popular, but the evidence points elsewhere. Kids feel proud when they believe they grew the flower well with their own care. Two kids who feel equally skilled are equally proud, even if one flower is much taller. A tall flower is simply how we show that we did good work. So wanting the tallest flower is not a selfish urge. It is a wish to do good work, and that helps the whole garden. The pride is a bonus.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Bowling Cheers
In a small fictional town, a bowling league asked Judge Okafor to decide why players cheer so loudly. Witness one, Dr. Penn, held up a chart. "Players cheer most when they beat the lane next to them, not when they bowl their best score. They compare, and they get used to high scores." Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Same chart, Your Honor, different reading." His witness, Coach Bell, spoke up. "They cheer when they feel they bowled with real skill. A win over a neighbor is just proof of skill. That is not envy. That is pride in good work." The judge nodded. "Two witnesses, one chart, two explanations. I will judge the reasons, not the chart." Both sides agreed on the facts. They disagreed about what the facts meant.