LSAT 141 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q16

RC Question 16 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Several of the wrong answers bring in concepts from passage A in an attempt to confuse you. This should tell you two things:

1. It’s very useful to spend extra time reading the passages. If you’re 100% clear about what A and B say, then you can easily eliminate wrong answers and save time.
2. If in doubt, check the passage. It doesn’t take long, and you can realize that passage B doesn’t even talk about most of the things mentioned in the wrong answers.

___________

1. The first sentence of the second paragraph of passage B shows that the author of passage B only mentions genetics in order to disagree with the theory of rivalry. The author never says why we desire to create value – maybe it’s a cultural phenomenon.
2. The author never mentions standards of living. This answer is just trying to confuse you with a concept that the author of passage A talked about.
3. CORRECT. If you read from the second sentence of the second paragraph to the first sentence of the third paragraph of passage B, it’s clear that the author of passage B thinks that success and the feeling of providing value are what make us happy. If you win the lottery, that isn’t what most people would call success or creating value. So the author of passage B would think that winning the lottery or getting money from luck won’t make people happy.
4. This refers to habituation, which was discussed in the first half of passage A. The author of passage B never discusses habituation or small salary increases.
5. The author of passage B never talks about the happiness of society as a whole. But presumably the author would think that society would become happier if the added wealth were due to success. So they wouldn’t agree with this answer.