LSAT 144 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q14

RC Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Which one of the following most accurately…

DISCUSSION: This question has extremely long answers, so it’s important to have a good process. On main point questions, you can eliminate answers for two reasons:

1. They’re not true.
2. They’re true, but not the main point.

The first way is usually the easiest to eliminate. Then you can narrow down to a couple of answers and check which one actually covers all paragraphs.

As for the main point itself, the purpose of the passage is to say that wampum originally was not used for money, but instead was a complex communication system that eventually transmitted the provisions of the Haudenosaune constitution.

___________

1. This was tempting, but it actually contradicts the passage. Lines 19-20 say that wampum was originally loose beads of wampum. Stringed wampum only came later (lines 35-36) and was used for political messages, rather than for religious purposes.

2. CORRECT. This covers all paragraphs.

   • Paragraph 1: Wampum wasn’t money
   • Paragraph 2: Describes the colors and symbols of Wampum
   • Paragraph 3: Describes how wampum eventually encoded the Haudenosaune confederacy’s constitution.
3. The first paragraph never said that wampum was used exclusively for money after European contact. This has no support.
4. Nonsense. Paragraphs 2 and 3 make clear that Wampum had meanings even before the confederacy. The confederacy merely boosted wampum’s importance.
5. This seems true, but it’s not the main purpose. The bulk of the passage focussed on explaining the role of wampum. So the passage was focussed on wampum’s uses, while this answer is focussed on historians.