Reading Comprehension · Science
PrepTest 145 · Section 3 · Passage 3
Questions 14–19
Before you start
Open PrepTest 145, Section 3 in your official copy from LSAC and read the passage for Questions 14–19, using the structure guide below. The passage is not reprinted here.
Structure guide
- Part A, P1: states a general function of one kind of communication and what usually triggers it
- Part A, P2: contrasts a second kind of communication as unintended, gives two examples and a study, and ends by doubting that it is as purposeful as it looks
- Part B, P1: reports a common view that separates the two kinds, adds a related claim, cites a definition from one authority and an example from another that fits the common view
- Part B, P2: objects that the common view's reasoning is circular, then cites newer research suggesting the difference is one of degree and questioning the view's starting assumption
Step 2 · The kid passage
Do Kindergartners Plan Their Block Towers?
Part A (by Owen): People usually build something to show a friend the picture in their head. Older kids often start a build because they notice a buddy wants to see a design. Kindergarten block towers are different. A tall tower may help the builder, since it gets cheers, but the builder is not planning anything. Tommy's cousin Bo stacks blocks because stacking gets a clap, yet nothing shows that he pictures the finished tower or knows the clap comes from what others see. In one classroom test, kindergartners did not build more carefully when a new kid who had never seen a tower was watching. Many towers that look planned are less planned than they seem.
Part B (by Priya): Lots of grown-ups split builders into two groups: kindergartners just react to blocks, while older kids plan. People also like to say no kindergartner can fake a tower, building a wobbly one on purpose to fool a rival. But faking takes a plan. Ms. Rivera defines a plan as picturing the end before you start and wanting others to notice you did. And planning, most grown-ups think, belongs only to older kids. Grandpa says the neat rows of kindergarten castles are just habit, not plans. These arguments chase their own tail: planning is ruled out at the start, then its absence is used to prove kindergarten building is a different kind of thing. New classroom videos shrink the gap. They hint that the difference is a matter of how much, not what kind, and that the react-versus-plan split was an assumption all along.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Toppled Sandcastle
A toddler knocked over a prize sandcastle at the beach contest. The castle's builder sued for a do-over. Ms. Pike, for the contest, stood up. "Toddlers cannot mean to do anything, Your Honor. So this was no act, just a bump." The judge nodded. "And how do you know toddlers cannot mean things?" Ms. Pike smiled. "Because they never act on purpose." Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, she has decided the answer first and then used it as her proof. That is a circle, not a fact. Nobody looked at the video." The judge sighed and asked for the video. It showed the toddler pointing, giggling, then marching straight at the castle. "Well," said the judge, "let us at least watch before we decide."