LSAT 137 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q21

RC Question 21 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Wealthy subjects are mentioned in the last sentence of paragraph 4. Lenders gave wealthy subjects interest rates that were lower than those lenders gave to monarchs.

This was because sovereigns could cancel debts whenever they pleased. Wealthy subjects couldn’t cancel debts, so lenders thought they were more likely to pay back loans.

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1. What do creditors care about imperial expansion? They just want someone to pay back their loans.
2. This is something that creditors might believe about sovereigns, not wealthy subjects. If a sovereign cancels a debt, then they owe less money, but they lose credibility if they want new loans.
3. This describes Parliament after the Glorious Revolution (the middle part of paragraph 5).
4. The only thing we know about wealthy subjects is that they paid lower interest rates. We don’t know what they thought about omnipotence.
5. CORRECT. This is why lenders gave them lower interest rates. They believed that wealthy subjects would be more likely to pay back their loans, because they couldn’t cancel the debt.