"Manhattan LSAT Reading Comprehension"

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Reading notes of "Manhattan LSAT Reading Comprehension"

Use this post as a reading notes.

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Chpt 2 - Recognizing the Argument

Target of the day:
Each of the following is a truncated version of a real reading passage that has appeared on a past LSAT. Give yourself one minute per passage. Your goal is to correctly identify the two sides of the argument.

One min per passage is impossible for me....

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The myth persists that in 1492 the Western Hemisphere was an untamed wilderness and that it was European settlers who harnessed and transformed its ecosystems. But scholarship shows that forests, in particular, had been altered to varying degrees well before the arrival of Europeans. Native populations had converted much of the forests to successfully cultivated stands, especially by means of burning. Nevertheless, some researchers have maintained that the extent, frequency, and impact of such burning was minimal. However, a large body of evidence for the routine practice of burning exists in the geographical record. One group of researchers found, for example, that sedimentary charcoal accumulations in what is now the northeastern United States are greatest where known native American settlements were greatest.

Vocabulary:
1.Myth: an idea or story that is believed by many people but that is not true
2.the Western Hemisphere: half of the Earth west of the Atlantic Ocean
3.Untamed: wild and not controlled by people
4.Harnessed: utilize
5.By means of: through the use of
6.Sedimentary: geology (of rock) that has formed from sediment deposited by water or air
7.Settlement: a place where people have come to live and where few or no people lived before

Argument (LZ's version):
1. It was European Settlers harnessed and transformed the untamed ecosystems of the Western Hemisphere in 1492.
2.The ecosystems, forests in particular, had been altered before the arrival of Europeans.  

The Answers (As per the book):
Side A:
Western Hemisphere was untamed wilderness before European settlers, and they were first to
harness and transform ecosystems. (Note: Later, this opinion gets softened a bit, with archers acknowledging that Native Americans might have altered the land slightly, but that the overall
effect was minimal.)

Side B:
Western Hemisphere ecosystems, particularly forests, were altered by humans well before arrival
of Europeans. (Note: The author's opinion is made clear through a shift in wording. The first
opinion is characterized as a “myth,” while the second is written with authority, “scholarship
shows…” )

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With the approach of the twentieth century, the classical wave theory of radiation—a widely accepted theory in physics—began to encounter obstacles. One fundamental assumption of wave theory was that as the length of a wave of radiation shortens, its energy increases smoothly —like a volume dial on a radio that adjusts smoothly to any setting—and that any conceivable energy value could thus occur in nature. Max Planck, a classical physicist who made important contributions to wave theory, discarded the assumption of radiation's smooth energy continuum and took the then bizarre position that these atomic processes could only involve discrete energies that jump between certain units of value—like a volume dial that “clicks” between incremental settings. The physics community was at first quite critical of Planck's hypothesis, in part because he presented it without physical explanation. Soon thereafter, however, Albert Einstein and other physicists provided theoretical justification for Planck's hypothesis.

Vocabulary:
1.Obstacles: an object that you have to go around or over: something that blocks your path
2.Conceivable: capable of being imagined or grasped mentally
3.Discarded: get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable
4.Discrete: individually separate and distinct
5.Incremental: an increase or addition, especially one of a series on a fixed scale (e.g. all sizes from 4-30 mm in 1 mm increments)
6.In part: in some degree : partially
7.Thereafter: after that


Arguement (By LZ): Need to be more general
1. Radiation's smoot h energy continuum
2. Atomic processes could only involve discrete energies that jump between certain units of value


Arguement (As per the book):
Side A: Classical Wave theory is correct.
Side B: Classical Wave theory is incorrect.

Notes in the book:
Here the argument is not clearly spelled out. In the first sentence, a theory on how radiation
waves function is introduced and immediately put into doubt. The rest of the passage supports
the second opinion, and is presented with an objective tone that tells us that his opinion can be
considered fact.

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A crucial component of the jury trial, at least in serious criminal cases, is the rule that verdicts be unanimous among the jurors. Under this requirement, dissenting jurors must either be convinced of the rightness of the prevailing opinion, or, conversely, persuade the other jurors to change their minds. In either instance, the unanimity requirement compels the jury to deliberate fully and truly before reaching its verdict. Critics of the unanimity requirement, however, see it as a costly relic that extends the deliberation process and sometimes, in a hung jury, brings it to a halt. But the material costs of hung juries do not warrant losing the benefit to society of the unanimous verdict. Requiring unanimity provides a better chance that a trial, and thus a verdict, will be fair.

Vocabulary:
1. verdicts: the decision made by a jury in a trial
2. unanimous: agreed to by everyone
3. jurors: a member of a jury
4. dissenting: to publicly disagree with an official opinion, decision, or set of beliefs
5. prevailing: usual, common, or popular
6. conversely: in a way that is the opposite of something else
7. unanimity: agreed to by everyone
8. compel: to force (someone) to do something
9. deliberate: to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully
10. Relic: something that is from a past time, place, culture, etc.
11. halt: stop
12. warrant: to make something necessary or appropriate in a particular situation?? Not quite sure about this one.

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