#10 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14445)

The correct answer choice is (E)

For this question, we need to consider which of the following responses most accurately captures
the author’s position regarding illustrations in medical textbooks. Having a solid grasp of passage
organization is key. A direct comparison between medical textbook illustrations and custommade
illustrations is made in the third paragraph, which you should use as evidence to prove your
response.

Answer choice (A): This is an Opposite answer. It is the custom-made medical illustrations that
are “sometimes even eschewing the use of color” (line 36), not the illustrations found in medical
textbooks. If you found this answer choice attractive, you failed to differentiate between the author’s
viewpoint and that of her opponents, who argue that “custom-made illustrations may subtly distort
the issues through the use of emphasis, coloration, and other means” (lines 30-32).

Answer choice (B): This answer choice is incorrect, since it refers to the use of custom-made
medical illustrations, not illustrations found in medical textbooks (lines 26-29).

Answer choice (C): The passage offers no evidence to support the claim that the same individuals
draw both custom-made and textbook illustrations.

Answer choice (D): At first glance, this may seem like an attractive answer choice. Indeed, the
opponents of custom-made medical illustrations do consider textbook illustrations to be less prone to
misrepresentation than custom-made medical illustrations (lines 17-21 and 30-33). However, there
is no reason to suspect that most lawyers agree with the opponents of custom-made illustrations.
Furthermore, the question specifically asks about the author’s view regarding illustrations in medical
textbooks, not the opponents’ view.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. In the third paragraph, the author compares
the two types of illustrations, noting that “the more complex details often found in textbooks can be
deleted [from custom-made illustrations] so as not to confuse the issue” (lines 44-46). Therefore, it
would be reasonable to conclude that textbook illustrations are more apt to confuse jurors than are
custom-made medical illustrations.

[ashpine17]

how do we know which paragraph to look at? i feel that illustrations in medical textbooks was a topic sprinkled throughout the passage

[Jeff Wren]

Hi ashpine,

If you go back and look at the passage carefully, you'll see that illustrations in medical textbooks were only discussed in any detail in the third paragraph, which is where the information to select the correct answer appears. Custom-made medical illustrations, on the other hand, which is the main topic of the passage, do appear throughout the passage, so it's important to not confuse these terms.

It's true that illustrations from medical textbooks were also mentioned briefly in the first paragraph (lines 9-10), but this is in the context of the view of the opponents of custom-made medical illustrations, not the author. In this passage, the author actually disagrees with the opponents mentioned in the first paragraph. A huge part of succeeding at reading comprehension is identifying and tracking the different viewpoints in a passage.

In this question, we want to find an answer that the author would most likely believe. It is not enough to find a statement or claim about illustrations from medical textbooks that appears in the passage, it has to be a view that is shared by the author.

Starting in line 36 "unlike illustrations in medical textbooks ..." we get a detailed comparison between these illustrations and the custom-made illustrations. As a general rule of thumb, anytime you see an author compare and contrast two things in a passage, you should make a note of it because you will likely be tested on it.

In addition, while you shouldn't worry about trying to memorize the details of these differences while reading the passage (just note where they appear), you should try to remember the "big picture" ideas, which is that the author is in favor of the custom-made illustrations and definitely thinks that they have certain advantages over the textbook illustrations. With this in mind, it's likely that the answer will involve something "negative" about the textbook illustrations, i.e. how they are not as good as the custom-made ones. So Answer E, which discusses confusing jurors, looks like a solid contender based on the overall view of the author and sure enough it is discussed in lines 44-46.

One final tip is that on the digital LSAT, you can do a Control F word search, which can be helpful in quickly identifying relevant words. In this question, you could start by searching "textbook" to save time searching through the passage. Once you see that Answer E looks promising, you could search "confuse" to quickly find the relevant lines. Be aware, however, that this doesn't always work because the test makers sometimes use synonyms in the questions, so the exact word in the question may not appear in the passage itself.