LSAT 149 | Section 2 | Reading Comprehension: Q22

RC Question 22 Explanation

DISCUSSION: There’s no way to prephrase this. For each answer you find tempting, try to identify roughly which part of the passage it would be in, if it was in the passage. Then quickly skim that to confirm before picking an answer. The right answer will be directly supported by the passage on this type of question. Getting better at mapping the passage can let you prove it in time.

___________

1. We don’t know. Only paragraph 1 mentions theories that applied evolution to the social realm. This paragraph doesn’t mention any political movements. (In fact it’s possible Gilman was associated with a political movement: the passage doesn’t confirm or deny this.)
2. The first paragraph says there was a whole intellectual movement applying Darwin’s ideas to society! Gilman was merely a part of this movement.
3. We’re never told if Gilman worked with anyone. The first line of paragraph 2 says she “identified herself” with the activist Social Darwinists, but that doesn’t mean she actively worked with anyone. I “identify myself” as an LSAT tutor but generally have worked independently.
4. Who knows? Maybe Gilman read Darwin directly. We’re not told.
5. CORRECT. This is quite vague, and thus easy to support. The first paragraph says that Gilman “played an important role” in the debate about applying Darwin’s ideas to society. And the end of the first paragraph + the start of the second says that Gilman was part of a larger group, the activist Social Darwinists. This implies that at least some members of the Social Darwinist group agreed that Darwin’s ideas had social implications. And these people broadly could be called “evolutionary theorists” as they tried to apply Darwin’s ideas to society.
    
   On vague answers: which of these two statements gets more agreement? “America has political troubles” vs. “The president is causing political troubles”
    
   Most of the time, almost everyone would agree with the first statement, as people are politically pessimistic at the moment. But fewer people would agree with the second statement: only those opposed to the party in power. So, vague answer can be easy to pick as being true.