LSAT 82, Reading Comprehension, Q8, LSATHacks

RC Question 8 Explanation, by LSATHacks

DISCUSSION: The main focus of the passage is that native languages are under threat, and that community radio is a great way to reverse the decline.

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1. The internet wasn’t the main problem. It was only mentioned in paragraph 3. Remember, this article was written in 1996: the internet was a small thing back then. The article wasn’t saying it was a dominant factor, and the author was confident radio could beat the internet.
2. CORRECT. Good enough. I feel this places too much emphasis on the internet, but that was all of paragraph 3. And paragraphs 2 and 4 are about how radio helps, so this is a good summary. (It would have been better had it mentioned the historical context from paragraph 1).
3. This is too strong. The author didn’t say that only radio can help. In fact they specifically mentioned other things such as university classes and recordings of fluent speakers (paragraph 1) and community newspaper lessons (paragraph 4).
4. Rubbish. This answer doesn’t mention radio! But the whole passage was radio, radio, radio. A main point answer for this passage definitely has to mention radio. The author did say in paragraph 4 that cultural contexts are important, but this answer is way too narrowly focussed on that part of the passage.
5. This is far too narrow. It just repeats a line from the end of paragraph 2. But if you read that line in full, it says radio stations have “also” rekindled older people’s internet in the languages. That’s far from the main reason radio succeeds! The passage lists many other benefits of radio, such as community news, hearing fluent speak, letting younger people learn, etc.

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