LSAT 130 | Section 2 | Reading Comprehension: Q7

RC Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Which one of the following most accurately describes the function of the first paragraph in relation to the rest of the passage?

DISCUSSION: The first paragraph talks about difficulties that researchers have overcome with new technologies, techniques and attitudes.

It is a good idea to re-skim the first paragraph before looking at the answers. This will load all the information into your head and let you recognize the right answer.

CODE: prephrase.

___________

1. CORRECT. The study of ancient craft methods is the particularly difficult problem. This gives us an appreciation for the importance of the fact that researchers were able to overcome these difficulties.
2. This is entirely different.
   Example of situation: Some experts say that ancient people were nudists, on account of the fact that we haven’t found ancient garments. But this recently translated ancient manual on clothing production suggests that ancient people wore clothes.
3. This mentions terms from the passage, but it gets everything backwards. The technological advances were described in paragraph 2. And archaeologists have already decided to preserve everything (lines 33-36): the author doesn’t need to convince them!
4. Women are only mentioned on line 3. They aren’t further discussed as a theme.
   We can infer that crafts were probably ignored because they were women’s work, but that’s about all the passage has to say about women specifically.
   Example of situation: Archaeologists believe that women only made crafts. But according to my recent archaeological findings, ancient women were frequently merchants, politicians, military leaders and authors.
5. This is entirely different.
   Example of situation: The study of ancient crafts using re-creation of techniques has revolutionized the field. So scholars should try to re-create ancient alcohol production techniques, ancient stone masonry, ancient blacksmithing, etc.