In June 2007, LSAC added a wrinkle to the Reading Comp section, which it calls “Comparative Reading.” We’ll refer to it as “Paired Passages” in order to highlight its distinguishing feature: two short passages instead of one long one.
What It Is
One of the four Reading Comp question sets will be based on two short passages written on the same subject, labeled, cleverly enough, Passage A and Passage B. The subject matter will fall into one of the four usual categories: humanities, law, social science or natural science.
The ideas in one passage will in some way relate to the ideas in the other. Some pairs may contain conflicting viewpoints, but even these may contain points of agreement and complementary elements. The relationship between the passages may be nuanced. For example, one passage may explore a generalization, while the other discusses a specific case to which that generalization applies. The authors do not interact directly; that is, they don’t respond to each other. The passages exist independently, even though they share a common topic.
Together, the two short passages will be roughly the length of a standard long passage—about 450 words—and the question set accompanying them will contain somewhere around seven questions. A few of those questions may refer to a single passage, which means they’ll be just like the question types we discussed earlier. We call these “Passage-Specific” questions. However, the majority of the questions in the set—“Comparison” questions—will focus on the relationship between the two passages.
Why It Is
LSAC says that the change is “a result of extensive research.” Uh, okay—thanks for sharing. It does go on to say that the purpose of Comparative Reading is to assess the skills necessary to synthesize information from multiple texts, such as the ability to recognize and evaluate comparisons, contrasts, and generalizations. That said, it’s not hard to see how the ability to compare two sides of a story is relevant to the study and practice of law. After all, our legal system is based on an adversarial approach that pits various interpretations of events and situations against each other. It appears that the test makers have adopted this comparative reading format as an attempt to re-create that dynamic.
Your Motivation
It’s likely that some unprepared LSAT test takers may not even know about this relatively new Reading Comp item type, so acing the Paired Passage question set provides yet another opportunity to edge out your competition.
|
