LSAT 141 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q12

RC Question 12 Explanation

DISCUSSION: In 1935, Dunham began studying the dance forms of the Caribbean. These dances had origins in African dance (first sentence of paragraph 3).

The passage contradicts all the wrong answers.

___________

1. Second-to-last sentence of paragraph 1 shows that both Caribbean and Pacific-island cultures used body isolation. But that’s just one technique – we have no idea how similar the two dance cultures were in other respects. Meanwhile, the passage implies that Caribbean dance culture was most similar to African dance culture, since Caribbean dance had its origins in African dance.
2. Second-to-last sentence of paragraph 1 mentions that Pacific-island dance cultures also used body-isolation. So they might have used these techniques before Caribbean dancers started using them.
3. Second half (“various dance”) of the fifth sentence of paragraph 3 shows that Dunham used her Caribbean experience to create new forms of ballet.
4. First sentence of paragraph 1 shows that Dunham was the first to incorporate Caribbean body-isolation techniques into modern American dance.
5. CORRECT. Second-to-last sentence of paragraph 1 supports this. Caribbean dance culture was influenced by its origins in African dance culture.This is a fairly straightforward answer, if you get to it. You should always glance over all five answers before spending too much time on any one of them.