Reading Comprehension · Humanities
PrepTest 145 · Section 3 · Passage 2
Questions 7–13
Before you start
Open PrepTest 145, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 7–13, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- P1: states a common assumption, then challenges it: experts can be fooled, shown by one detailed example, ending with an expert who would not change their mind
- P2: reports what some thinkers conclude from the example, raises two hard questions, and introduces a theorist whose answers the author calls convincing
- P3: lays out the theorist's view: the imitation is lesser, not in what you can see, but because it adds nothing new; then supports this with a timing comparison between the pioneer and the imitator
Step 2 · The kid passage
The Loop Dart Mix-Up
Most kids at our school believe that a copied paper airplane can be pretty good, but never as good as one folded by the person who invented the design. Yet even the toughest contest judges can be fooled. Grandpa invented the famous Loop Dart fold when he was a boy, fifty years ago. Last month Marcus folded a new plane in that style, copying no single plane, and wrote Grandpa's initials on the wing. The judges called it one of Grandpa's best ever. It sat in the trophy case until Marcus confessed, and the judges turned red. Amazingly, one judge still insists it is Grandpa's.
Since the judges loved it, some kids say Marcus's plane must have had flight qualities that would deserve praise in a real Grandpa plane. That raises puzzles. Is a fake plane worse as an invention? If so, how can we fairly lower its score? Priya offers answers I find convincing.
Yes, Priya says, the fake is lesser, but not in how it flies. It glides and loops perfectly. The gap is something you cannot see. Every plane takes skill to fold, but only some bring a brand new way of folding, and newness is what makes a folder an inventor, not just a good flier. Grandpa created the Loop Dart fold fifty years ago, a real first. Marcus folded it perfectly fifty years later, adding nothing new. So his plane, however well it flies, lacks the history that makes Grandpa's planes great inventions.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Borrowed Board Game
A collector sued a seller who sold her a board game labeled as a famous designer's first prototype. It was really made last year by a clever fan. Mr. Whitfield, in bright red suspenders, defended the seller. "Your Honor, the buyer's own experts played it and called it brilliant. The rules work perfectly." The judge nodded. "I believe the game is fun. Nobody's praise was wrong about that. But she paid for the moment a new kind of game was born. That happened decades ago, in someone else's hands. This copy adds nothing new to game history." Mr. Whitfield sighed. "So it plays well and is still worth less." "Exactly," said the judge. "Quality you can see and credit for being first are two different things."