Q6

[sweetygurl]

I chose A as the answer.

is A wrong because it is a half right and half wrong answer?
the first half looks pretty good but the second half "and his accomplishments on the US Supreme Court" seems a bit odd because the author seems to focus much more on his accomplishments with NAACP..

Help anyone?

[tommywallach]

Hey Sweetygurl,

Your reasoning is perfect. This is a classic trap on the LSAT. Think of it this way:

A) Perfect perfect perfect perfect perfect, dead wrong.

B) I guess it's okay, I guess it's okay, I guess it's okay.

Do you see what I mean? They like to start an answer choice off looking great, so that you prefer it at first glance to some other one that is just decent all the way through. In this case, the first half of (A) is totally solid, but the opening of the passage actually says the OPPOSITE of the second half (i.e. his innovations have been undervalued because people ONLY focus on his accomplishments on the Supreme Court).

Hope that helps!

-t

[nflamel69]

hey Tommy,

Can we necessarily say that it has undervalued? I thought the passage said it focused on something, but just because his techniques weren't emphasized, they were being undervalued..

[Djjustin818]

Could you please explain how Answer E is supported by the passage? I can't find anywhere that state's Marshall may have not intended the purposes.

[tommywallach]

@nflamel -- Yes, I agree, actually. It's not really a question of undervaluing so much as ignoring/underemphasizing.

@Djjustin -- You have to think pretty deeply to get there. Marshall pursued civil rights issues (line 5). Such issues are politically liberal (not conservative). Then we read in line 53 that his methods have been used "by politically conservative public interest lawyers." Marshall would not agree with the aims of political conservatives.

Finally, it's stated most clearly in line 55: "If we focus on the particular content of Marshall's goals, it might seem surprising that his work has influenced the quest for such divergent political objectives..."

A translation of this might read: "Given that Marshall was politically liberal, it might seen surprising that his work has influenced people pursuing politically conservative objectives..."

In other words, his techniques have been used for purposes that he himself might not have intended.

Hope that helps!

-t

[soyeonjeon]

I debated amongst A, B, and D.
I could not choose A because of "both." While I agree with the former aspect of the two, I could not find the evidence from the passage that supports the latter of the two.
Can someone point me to the area in the passage where it says Marshall's accomplishments on the US Supreme Court was undervalued?
It says that previously Marshall was understood in terms of his judicial record (line 4), which does not support that his accomplishments as a judge was undervalued.

Thanks

[adamB415]

Hey soyeonjeon,

You are right. The passage does not say anything about it, which is why you can cross off answer choice (A).

[KrishnaP848]

Can someone explain why D is incorrect?

[VickX462]

D states that the first public interest law firms were established because of TM's innovations. We only know that the number of public interest firms grew since TM's time at NAACP, but we don't know anything about the FIRST public interest law firms. That is why D is not correct.

[OliviaM54]

Can someone explain to me why B) is incorrect?