Reading Comprehension

PT107 · S2 · P2 · Q14 Traditional Languages

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

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Tribal communities in North America believe that their traditional languages are valuable resources that must be maintained.

Topic

The challenges and methods involved in preserving traditional tribal languages in North America.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

Traditional tribal languages in North America are under threat due to the influence of majority culture, but communities can address this challenge by documenting and teaching their languages, even while facing obstacles like writing systems and dialect differences. (The most valuable sentence appears at the end of paragraph 1: )

P1: The Problem of Language Loss

Many tribal communities value their traditional languages, but these languages are threatened by cultural changes that interrupt traditional ways of life. Some communities have taken action to preserve their languages through self-teaching when they've realized the seriousness of language loss.

P2: Documenting the Language

Before teaching younger generations, a community must first formally document the grammar of its language. The example of the Northern Utes is given, who analyzed and organized their language rules to develop effective teaching methods suitable for their culture.

P3: Challenge of Developing Teaching Methods – Writing Issues

A big challenge in creating teaching materials is transcribing oral languages, since some sounds don't have easy written equivalents. Problems especially arise when people try to assign a unique written symbol for every sound—something no language has actually accomplished.

14.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the author's attitude toward the goal of having a written language exactly match its oral equivalent?

  1. Correct

    conviction that an exact match

    Why this is right

    This matches up decently with the end of the 3rd paragraph, where the author says that when you try to get every sound in the language to have a unique written equivalent, it is a "desirable but ultimately frustrating condition that no written language has ever fully satisfied". The language of "all but impossible" is very strong, but so is our support sentence, which says that no written language has ever been able to exactly match its oral equivalent.

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

    59% picked this

  2. doubt that an exact match

    Contradicted, if anything

    In that final sentence of the 3rd paragraph, the author acknowledges the appeal of wanting a written language to match up perfectly with its oral counterpart. She says it's "a desirable condition". So she seems to think that it's worth of consideration in principle. She just thinks it's a fool's errand, in practice.

    22% picked this

  3. faith that an exact match

    Out of Scope: exact match attainable

    This sounds far too optimistic that we could ever have an exact match, given that the author says that "no written language has ever fully" been able to. accomplish an exact match.

    16% picked this

  4. confidence that an exact match

    Opposite

    This is even more optimistic than (C), which was already too optimistic. The author tells us that no language has ever been able to fully satisfy an exact match, so where would her confidence come from that in most languages an exact match can easily be accomplished.

    1% picked this

  5. suspicion that the motives behind

    Out of Scope: malign motives

    Since the author acknowledges that having an exact match is a "desirable condition", it doesn't sound like she's suspicious of people who want an exact match. She seems to be saying, "I totally get your motives. Unfortunately, what you're asking for seems to be impossible since no written language has ever pulled it off".

    2% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free