LSAT 148 | Section 2 | Reading Comprehension: Q8

RC Question 8 Explanation

DISCUSSION: Lines 16-19 say this directly: only by 1915 was the income gap large enough to start a giant migration.

Generally speaking, the passage will directly answer a question like this. I just skimmed the first two paragraphs looking for 1915. I saw the first reference was lengthy, so I skimmed to the second and saw it said “in short”, which was the clue that the passage would summarize the reason here.

___________

1. CORRECT. Lines 16-19 say this directly.
2. The passage doesn’t say whether WWI affected housing costs in the North.
3. This isn’t mentioned, and seems to contradict the passage. The authors don’t say that African-Americans received any specialized training in 1915 that let them take jobs in the North. The fact that labor recruiters went south (lines 10-12) suggests that African-Americans already had the necessary skills. You don’t travel across the country recruit people who can’t do the work.
4. This contradicts the passage. The author said momentum maintained the Great Migration once it had started, but lines 16-19 says that it was the income gap that started the migration.
5. The passage doesn’t say how well agricultural jobs paid. Before 1915 they clearly paid “well enough” to prevent African-Americans from moving North, but “well enough” doesn’t mean “very well”.