Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT121 S2 P1 Q1 Explanation

Multipolar/Bipolar Systems

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

TopicsMain PointSociety

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Passage

Social scientists have traditionally defined multipolar international systems as consisting of three or more nations, each of roughly equal military and economic strength. Theoretically, the members of such systems create shifting, temporary alliances in response to changing circumstances in the international environment. Such systems are, thus, fluid and flexible. Frequent, small confrontations Europe, which coincided with general peace on that continent lasting roughly 100 years beginning around 1815.

Bipolar systems, on the other hand, involve two major members of roughly equal military and economic strength vying for power and advantage. Other members of lesser strength tend to coalesce around one or the other pole. Such systems tend to be rigid and fixed, in part due to the existence of only had a bipolar relationship, as did the United States and the USSR during the Cold War.

However, the shift in the geopolitical landscape following the end of the Cold War calls for a reassessment of the assumptions underlying these two theoretical concepts. The emerging but still vague multipolar system in Europe today brings with it the unsettling prospect of new conflicts and shifting alliances that may lead to members and shifting alliance patterns peculiar to multipolar systems would create a bewildering tangle of conflicts.

This reassessment may also lead us to look at the Cold War in a new light. In 1914 smaller members of the multipolar system in Europe brought the larger members into a war that engulfed the continent. The aftermath—a crippled system in which certain members were dismantled, punished, or voluntarily withdrew—created the have created the necessary parameters for general peace in the second half of the twentieth century.

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
1.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of

Answer choices

  1. Too Strong1% picked this

    Peace can be maintained in Europe only if a new bipolar system emerges to replace

    Too Strong: only if Wrong Emphasis: peace in Europe Six words in, we should be thinking of bailing, because the main clause of this answer is about "maintaining peace in Europe". The main focus of the passage was our emerging understanding that bipolar systems are more stable than we were giving them credit for being. And multipolar systems are less stable than we were thinking. But the author isn't acting like multipolar systems doom us to war. This answer is saying, "If we don't have a new bipolar that matches the Cold War, then Europe will have war!" The author never made any bold proclamations like that.

  2. Wrong Emphasis: main character missing4% picked this

    All kinds of international systems discussed by social scientists carry within themselves the seeds of their own collapse

    This answer doesn't even mention the main character of the passage, multipolar vs. bipolar, so we know it can't be right.

  3. Wrong Emphasis: current Euro landscape3% picked this

    The current European geopolitical landscape is a multipolar system that strongly resembles the Concert of Europe which existed through

    Five words in, we should be thinking of bailing, because the main clause of this answer is about "the current European geopolitical landscape". The main focus of the passage was our emerging understanding that bipolar systems are more stable than we were giving them credit for being. This answer doesn't even mention bipolar systems, so we know it can't be right.

  4. Too Strong3% picked this

    Multipolarity fostered the conditions that led to World War II and is incompatible with a

    Too Strong: incompatible Wrong Emphasis: bipolar is missing Similar to (A), this answer is making it seem like our New understanding is that "multipolar is the devil!" We have learned that multipolar is less stable than we thought and bipolar is more stable than we thought, but we can't turn that into, "Multipolarity is incompatible with a stable, modern Europe". Furthermore, this answer doesn't mention "bipolarity", which was one of the two main characters of the passage, so we know it can't be right.

  5. Correct89% picked this

    The characterization of multipolar systems as stable and bipolar systems as open to debilitating conflict needs to be reconsidered in light of

    Why this is right

    This is actually the only answer that says both multipolar and bipolar, so being stubbornly demanding that our Central Topic show up in our main point answer would actually be enough here to find the correct answer. This answer also lovingly aligns with our Most Valuable Sentence, the first sentence of the 3rd paragraph, adorned with our Author's Pivot "however".

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

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