Comparative Passages I: Mapping the Relationship
Comparative Passages I: Mapping the Relationship
Day 46 introduced comparative passages briefly. Today is the full dedicated treatment: two related but independent passages, and the question types that only comparative sets use.
1. Map Each Passage Independently
Full four-step method on Passage A, then full four-step method on Passage B — resist the urge to blend them on the first read.
2. Then Name the Relationship
Agreement, disagreement, one passage providing context the other assumes, or two independent treatments of a shared topic with no direct interaction. This relationship, once named, answers most comparative-specific questions almost immediately.
Practice items on this page are curriculum-authored in LSAT style; they are not official LSAC questions. Real drilling happens on LawHub — see the assignment below.
Original Comparative Set: Standardized Testing
Passage A. Critics of standardized admissions testing argue the tests measure test-taking skill and access to preparation resources as much as they measure the underlying aptitude they claim to assess, and that this confound systematically disadvantages applicants without access to expensive preparation.
Passage B. Defenders of standardized testing note that, unlike grade-point averages, which vary enormously in meaning across thousands of differently-resourced schools, a standardized test provides one comparable measure across every applicant, and argue that removing it removes information rather than removing bias.
Q1. What is the relationship between the two passages?
LawHub drill-tier comparative RC set, untimed.
A full LR maintenance section tomorrow, then Comparative Passages II: agreement, disagreement, and cross-passage question types specifically.