LSAT Forum
4 postsPage 1 of 1
-
- ohthatpatrick
-
Thanks Received: 3808
-
Atticus Finch
- Posts: 4661
- Joined: April 01st, 2011
Re: Q24
Sure thing.
First of all, "According to the passage" generally means that you're doing an easier question. You just have to find the fact they're asking you to hunt for.
This generally means taking the keywords out of the question stem and finding them in the passage.
This question asks, "in what sense can mathematics be considered a language?"
Let's go hunting! I seem to remember this type of thing coming from the 1st Paragraph (it turns out, there IS a brief reference to math in the 3rd paragraph as well).
Going back to the 1st paragraph, I see right away in line 3, "some .. hold .. math is a kind of language - a systematic contrivance of signs ... with internal coherence, elegance, and depth."
Okay. Got the proof window. Let me find the answer choice that best echoes that line.
(A) metaphors? not in our line.
(B) a systematic collection of signs = systematic contrivance of signs. Bingo!
(C) EXTREME (corresponds 'exactly'?) ... also, it doesn't match anything in our line.
(D) explanatory power?
(E) RELIES on agreed-upon conventions?
(B) is the correct answer, and it basically just gives us a verbatim excerpt from the passage.
If you're not in the habit of finding the keywords in the question stem and matching them to a line in the passage, start doing so! That's what most of RC is all about. You go find the applicable lines being tested and then you simply pick the closest version of that you see in the answer choices.
Good luck.
First of all, "According to the passage" generally means that you're doing an easier question. You just have to find the fact they're asking you to hunt for.
This generally means taking the keywords out of the question stem and finding them in the passage.
This question asks, "in what sense can mathematics be considered a language?"
Let's go hunting! I seem to remember this type of thing coming from the 1st Paragraph (it turns out, there IS a brief reference to math in the 3rd paragraph as well).
Going back to the 1st paragraph, I see right away in line 3, "some .. hold .. math is a kind of language - a systematic contrivance of signs ... with internal coherence, elegance, and depth."
Okay. Got the proof window. Let me find the answer choice that best echoes that line.
(A) metaphors? not in our line.
(B) a systematic collection of signs = systematic contrivance of signs. Bingo!
(C) EXTREME (corresponds 'exactly'?) ... also, it doesn't match anything in our line.
(D) explanatory power?
(E) RELIES on agreed-upon conventions?
(B) is the correct answer, and it basically just gives us a verbatim excerpt from the passage.
If you're not in the habit of finding the keywords in the question stem and matching them to a line in the passage, start doing so! That's what most of RC is all about. You go find the applicable lines being tested and then you simply pick the closest version of that you see in the answer choices.
Good luck.
-
- ohthatpatrick
-
Thanks Received: 3808
-
Atticus Finch
- Posts: 4661
- Joined: April 01st, 2011
Re: Q24
Is the line you quoted discussing "why mathematics can be considered a language"?
If not, why are we looking there? The test-writers, when they are creating trap answers, need some of those answers to be tempting, so they grab words/phrases that were used somewhere in the passage so that the answer has a familiar ring.
In order to counter this, we are trying to develop a process in which we first find the answer in the passage, lock in on that answer, and don't let ourselves budge from that answer when we start hearing familiar wording in other answer choices that comes from elsewhere in the passage.
Lines 18-24 say that there is a debate about what language is or does: one possible interpretation is that it's purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions. The author never endorses that theory. She just describes to us that it's gaining wider acceptance among linguists. We don't even know if a majority of linguists accept this possible interpretation of language. We only know that a growing number do.
But since we're being asked, "According to the passage, why is mathematics considered a language", it seems like lines 3-6 provide a direct answer to that question.
Looking at line 21-24, where we're not even discussing mathematics, we'd have to do a lot of off-the-page speculation to assume that "Math is considered a language because it relies on agreed-upon conventions".
If not, why are we looking there? The test-writers, when they are creating trap answers, need some of those answers to be tempting, so they grab words/phrases that were used somewhere in the passage so that the answer has a familiar ring.
In order to counter this, we are trying to develop a process in which we first find the answer in the passage, lock in on that answer, and don't let ourselves budge from that answer when we start hearing familiar wording in other answer choices that comes from elsewhere in the passage.
Lines 18-24 say that there is a debate about what language is or does: one possible interpretation is that it's purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions. The author never endorses that theory. She just describes to us that it's gaining wider acceptance among linguists. We don't even know if a majority of linguists accept this possible interpretation of language. We only know that a growing number do.
But since we're being asked, "According to the passage, why is mathematics considered a language", it seems like lines 3-6 provide a direct answer to that question.
Looking at line 21-24, where we're not even discussing mathematics, we'd have to do a lot of off-the-page speculation to assume that "Math is considered a language because it relies on agreed-upon conventions".
4 posts Page 1 of 1