LSAT 142 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q8

RC Question 8 Explanation

DISCUSSION: This question asks about the organization of the passage. Before looking at the answers, you should skim over each paragraph and decide upon a short summary.

Here’s mine: The first paragraph asks why perfume is not taken more seriously. The second and third paragraphs explain why perfume ought to be taken seriously. The final paragraph gives one possible reason why perfume is not taken seriously.

You can use this summary to eliminate answers. Be ruthless. A single error in an answer means that you can discard it and move on to better candidates.

___________

1. The first paragraph does more than make an observation. Instead, it asks a question: why isn’t perfume art? The second and third cases present an argument that perfume should be art. This answer instead presents very neutral language for the second and third paragraphs: “elaborate on the observation”….that phrase doesn’t describe an argument.
2. The fourth paragraph doesn’t reject a challenge to the idea that perfumes are art. Instead, the fourth paragraph gives an explanation for why perfumes are ignored.
3. The second and third paragraphs aren’t a response to the claim that perfumes are art. Instead, they’re an argument supporting the idea that perfumes are art.
4. CORRECT. This matches the description above. “Helps to justify the posing of the question” is a fancy way of saying that the second and third paragraphs support the idea that perfumes should be considered art. (The original question was: why aren’t perfumes art? By presenting a case that perfumes are art, the second and third paragraphs show that this was a reasonable question to ask.)
5. The second and third paragraphs don’t present any consequences. Instead, they’re arguments supporting the idea that perfumes are art.