LSAT 145 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q9

RC Question 9 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The primary purpose of the passage is to…

DISCUSSION: To solve a primary purpose question, pretend the author is real and ask why they’re telling you anything at all. Reading the first and last lines can help.

This passage is pretty clearly about the Economists’ view. The author first introduces their view, then attacks it.

Note that most of the wrong answers will actually be false.

___________

1. The author only mentions courts in lines 25-29 and 40-41. They don’t criticize courts.
2. The author doesn’t say why corporations commit crimes. Presumably it’s for profit, but nowhere in the passage is there any extended discussion of corporate motives.
3. The author argues that corporate crimes should have a moral penalty, but that’s not the same as condemning corporations. The author might agree with this answer, but they don’t say it.
4. CORRECT. This is the main point. The bulk of the passage is devoted to describing and criticizing the economists’ views.
5. There is no specific proposal. The author’s most concrete proposal is a vague statement that some crimes should have “moral weight”. (lines 49-50).