Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Hard

PT101 S1 P2 Q7 Explanation

Pico Workers

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsMain PointSociety

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Passage

In April 1990 representatives of the Pico Korea Union of electronics workers in Buchon City, South Korea, traveled to the United States in order to demand just settlement of their claims from the parent company of their employer, who upon the formation of the union had shut down operations without paying the American groups and deeply affected the Korean American community on several levels.

First, it served as a rallying focus for a diverse community often divided by generation, class, and political ideologies. Most notably, the Pico cause mobilized many young second-generation Korean Americans, many of whom had never been part of a political campaign before, let alone one involving Korean issues. Members of this generation, in the support received from the Coalition of Labor Union Women and leading African American unionists.

The reasons for these effects lie in the nature of the cause. The issues raised by the Pico unionists had such a strong human component that differences within the community became secondary to larger concerns for social justice and workers’ rights. The workers’ demands for compensation and respect were unencumbered with strong Americans, the working class more inclusively, and a broad spectrum of community leaders.

The Pico workers’ campaign thus offers an important lesson. It demonstrates that ethnic communities need more than just a knowledge of history and culture as artifacts of the past in order to strengthen their ethnic identity. It shows that perhaps the most effective means of empowerment for many ethnic communities of immigrant struggles for economic and social justice in their countries of origin.

What this question is testing

Main Point

Your task

Capture the passage's overall primary point — the claim everything else supports.

Common trap

Answers that are true but too narrow (a single paragraph) or too broad (beyond the passage's scope).

Winning move

Summarize the whole passage in one sentence first, then match it to a choice.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
7.

Which one of the following best describes the main topic of

Answer choices

  1. Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Union8% picked this

    the contribution of the Korean American community to improving the working conditions of Koreans employed

    The focal point is "the union cause". The secondary point of the passage is that Korean Americans ended up championing their cause. But this answer doesn't reference the focal point of this whole story: the Union of Korean workers that traveled from Korea to the US to protest their parent company.

  2. Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Union7% picked this

    the change brought about in the Korean American community by contacts with Koreans visiting

    The focal point of the passage is the Union that came from Korea to the U.S., who were supported by Korean Americans. This answer, like (A), doesn't reference the focal point of this whole story: the Union of Korean workers that traveled from Korea to the US to protest their parent company.

  3. Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Union13% picked this

    the contribution of recent immigrants from Korea to strengthening ethnic identity in the

    The focal point of the passage is the Union that came from Korea to the U.S., who were supported by Korean Americans. This answer, like (A) and (B), doesn't reference the main character: the Union of Korean workers that traveled from Korea to the US to protest their parent company. This group of union workers was not comprised of recent immigrants.

  4. Correct64% picked this

    the effects on the Korean American community of a dispute between Korean union workers and

    Why this is right

    This answer focuses on the main character: the Union of Korean workers that traveled from Korea to the US to protest their parent company. Why was this dispute noteworthy? Because it galvanized Korean Americans into connecting with their homeland and connecting with other recent immigrants. Those were the effects of the dispute.

    Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

  5. Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Union8% picked this

    the effect of the politicization of second- generation Korean Americans on the Korean American community

    The focal point of the passage is the Union that came from Korea to the U.S., who were supported by Korean Americans. This answer, like the other wrong answers, doesn't reference the main character: the Union of Korean workers that traveled from Korea to the US to protest their parent company.

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