Reading Comprehension · Social Science

PrepTest 141 · Section 3 · Passage 4

Questions 21–27

Before you start

Open PrepTest 141, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 21–27, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.

Structure guide

P1: presents a widely held view and a split between two groups, then states the author's thesis that the key distinction is unreliable for decisions
P2: gives the first reason, with an example of how people focus on only one moment
P3: gives the second reason, contrasts two examples, and draws an interim recommendation
P4: states the author's general principle and how exceptions should be justified

Step 2 · The kid passage

The Lost-and-Found Fund

(by Lulu) Every year our class keeps a small fund to replace things kids lose. Most kids agree on one rule: if a loss was not your fault, the fund pays; if it was your fault, you pay. The class treasurers, Nadia and Owen, mostly count how many useful things the fund can replace. The rest of us care mostly about fault. But I think 'your fault' is a muddled label, and it should not steer the fund. First, fault is rarely all or nothing. A lightning storm that ruins a drawing on the classroom wall is truly nobody's fault. Most losses are in between. Kids say a lunchbox left on the field-trip bus was not the owner's fault, since the driver drove off. But the owner chose to bring it and chose where to set it. We look only at the moment the bus pulled away, not at the choices before it. Second, we shout 'your fault' when we dislike the activity. Nobody wants to replace a yo-yo cracked while showing off tricks, even a cheap one. Yet everyone happily replaces markers worn out on the class mural, though helping with the mural was a choice. So 'fault' has no special power. The fund should replace as many useful things as its money allows. When we make an exception, we should name the real reason, not just shout 'your fault!'

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Cracked Library Book

In a fictional town, the library's repair fund refused to fix a book because the reader 'did it on purpose' by reading it in the bath. Judge Amari heard the case. Mr. Whitfield tugged his suspenders. "Your Honor, the fund fixed a book a reader dropped while rushing to catch a train. Rushing was a choice too. Nobody calls that 'on purpose' because nobody minds trains. They mind baths." He paused. "These labels hide the real reasons. The fund should fix as many books as its budget allows. If it wants an exception, let it say why plainly." The judge smiled. "So the label is a stand-in for something else. Name the something else, and we can talk."