Reading Comprehension · Law
PrepTest 148 · Section 2 · Passage 3
Questions 14–19
Before you start
Open PrepTest 148, Section 2 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
- Passage A, P1: states the rule under debate in one plain line
- Passage A, P2: challenges the rule by saying the targeted move is just ordinary smart play
- Passage A, P3: argues the targeted move actually helps the whole system work better
- Passage A, P4: compares the targeted move to a similar, everyday move that nobody punishes
- Passage B, P1: lays out a fairness principle and says what success should depend on
- Passage B, P2: argues the targeted move breaks that principle and shuts others out
- Passage B, P3: traces a chain of bad results ending in possible collapse of the whole system
Step 2 · The kid passage
The Recess Treasure Hunt: Two Views
Frankie's view: Owen helps Ms. Rivera hide the clue cards for the recess treasure hunt, so he knows some hiding spots before anyone else. A few kids want a rule that helpers can't play. Frankie says that rule is silly. Winning by knowing things other kids don't know is what a hunt is all about! When Priya studies the school map and figures out that a card is behind the slide, she knows something nobody else knows. That isn't cheating. That's homework. Besides, the hunt runs best when news travels fast. When a helper dashes toward the slide, everyone notices and follows, so the whole crowd finds cards sooner. And think about helpers who skip the empty sandbox because they know nothing is buried there. They act on secret knowledge every single day, and nobody calls them cheaters.
Sharon's view: The hunt has one golden rule: fairness. Every player gets the clue card at the same moment, so the winner is whoever solves it best. Brains and effort decide it. When a helper already knows the spots, the other kids can't catch up, no matter how clever they are. Soon kids stop believing they can win. Kids who think they can't win stop playing. With no players, the parent club stops buying prizes, and the whole hunt could disappear.
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Early Pie Theme
In a made-up town, the county fair barred judges' cousins from the pie contest. A cousin sued. Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, every baker who tastes the market's best apples knows something others don't. That's skill. And cousins who choose NOT to enter because they know the theme is boring? Nobody punishes that." Opposing counsel, Ms. Grant, stood up. "Your Honor, a contest works only if everyone hears the theme at once, so talent decides. Give some bakers a head start and the rest quit. No bakers, no fair." The judge sighed. "So one of you says this is just like things we all accept, and the other says it breaks the fairness rule and topples the whole fair. Same question, opposite answers."