LSAT 153 | Section 4 | Reading Comprehension: Q23

RC Question 23 Explanation

DISCUSSION: This question asks about a specific sentence at the start of paragraph 3. To answer questions like this, you should always read a bit above and a bit below the quoted line.

If you keep reading the paragraph you’ll see the author says “we” long for cognitive satisfaction and this leaves “us” uncomfortable. The author is including themselves in the group.

So while the author thinks this longing for determinism is misguided, they feel it too.

___________

1. See the discussion above. The author is sympathetic, not wary. Further, they didn’t mention any political implications. In the earlier paragraph, they said determinist theories had been tainted by association with political regimes. But that was something in the past, not the future. Whereas “political implications” in this answer are about the present and future.
2. Completely wrong. The author says “we” and “us”, so they feel a part of the group that is sentimental.
3. CORRECT. See the discussion above. The author says “we” and “us”, so they consider themselves part of the group. Indeed, they’re sympathetic, as they want to meet people’s longing for determinism. But the author proposes that instead of going back to a flawed theory, we should adopt a new, more accurate theory of history. (So they think determinism is wrong, hence disappointment is inevitable).
4. I can’t see anything that supports this. If you read on to line 42, a couple lines down from “but perhaps”, the author says the discomfort may even be a good thing, so they certainly don’t seem to think the longing for nostalgia is dangerous.
5. This answer is the direct opposite of the author’s hopes. The author wants people to “contemplate contingency”! And the author says our longing for the past may be a good thing (line 42), so they seem to think our longing for the past will help people shift to “contemplating contingency” and that this is good.