LSAT Comparative Reading Analysis 3

Question 1

In Comparative Reading, the 'relationship between the passages' question type most directly asks you to:

Accepted Answer

Characterize how the two passages intellectually engage with each other

Answer

Relationship questions require you to characterize the intellectual dynamic between the passages—such as rebuttal, extension, illustration, or contrast—not simply catalog their content.

Question 2

Passage A argues that social media platforms should be regulated as public utilities. Passage B argues they should be treated as private publishers. Which approach best prepares you to answer questions about both passages?

Accepted Answer

Map the central claim, evidence, and tone of each passage, then compare them

Answer

Effective comparative reading requires building a structural understanding of each passage—claim, evidence, tone—before analyzing their relationship.

Question 3

Passage A focuses on the economic benefits of free trade. Passage B focuses on the distributional harms caused by free trade. A student who concludes that the passages are 'about different things' is making which error?

Accepted Answer

Failing to recognize that both passages analyze the same policy from different evaluative angles

Answer

Both passages address free trade policy; the student errs by treating different angles of analysis as different topics, missing the shared subject and the passages' comparative relationship.

Question 4

When a comparative reading question asks which statement 'the authors of both passages would agree with,' you should look for a claim that:

Accepted Answer

Both authors are committed to based on their respective arguments

Answer

Agreement questions require inferring shared commitments from each author's argument, not hunting for identical wording—authors can agree implicitly through their shared premises.

Question 5

Passage A is written by a legal scholar and Passage B is written by an economist. Both discuss antitrust law. A question about the 'primary purpose' of each passage would most likely focus on:

Accepted Answer

Each author's disciplinary lens and the goal it produces in analyzing antitrust

Answer

Primary purpose questions probe why an author wrote the passage, which is often shaped by disciplinary perspective and the analytical goal that follows from it.

LSAT - Law School Admission Test Practice Test

LSAT - Law School Admission Test Practice Test

LSAT Comparative Reading Analysis 3