Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT122 S3 P1 Q3 Explanation

Court Computer Displays

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

TopicsAnalogyLaw

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • 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

Free to start

Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Passage

The use of computer-generated visual displays in courtrooms is growing as awareness of their ability to recreate crime scenes spreads. Displays currently in use range from still pictures in series that mimic simple movement to sophisticated simulations based on complex applications of rules of physics and mathematics. By making it possible to generally low. In addition, computers also allow litigators to integrate graphic aids seamlessly into their presentations.

Despite these benefits, however, some critics are urging caution in the use of these displays, pointing to a concomitant potential for abuse or unintentional misuse, such as the unfair manipulation of a juror’s impression of an event. These critics argue further that the persuasive and richly communicative nature of the displays can and speculation, the displays may in some instances constitute evidence unsuitable for use in a trial.

To avoid misuse of this technology in the courtroom, practical steps must be taken. First, counsel must be alert to the ever-present danger of its misuse; diligent analyses of the data that form the basis for computer displays should be routinely performed and disclosed. Judges, who have the discretion to disallow displays financial aid in these circumstances would help create a more equitable legal arena in this respect.

What this question is testing

Analogy

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

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

The question
3.

As described in the passage, re-creating an accident with a computer-generated display is most similar to which one

Answer choices

  1. No Match: establish a motive3% picked this

    using several of a crime suspect’s statements together to suggest that the suspect

    This doesn't align with any of the purposes of using computer displays for recreating accidents: - greater psychological impact on the audience (make them feel like they're there) - greater retention of information - also conducive to integrating graphic aids throughout the presentation If this said, "using several statements together to create a vivid narrative that helps someone picture what the crime was like and remember its details", then we'd have a better match. We should be very wary of this answer, since it's using a closely related topic to crime scenes (using a similar topic is a common trap on Analogy / Parallel tasks).

  2. No Match: fixing errors2% picked this

    using an author’s original manuscript to correct printing errors in the current edition

    This doesn't align with any of the purposes of using computer displays for recreating accidents: - greater psychological impact on the audience (make them feel like they're there) - greater retention of information - also conducive to integrating graphic aids throughout the presentation The relationship here is, "Using the OLD to fix errors with the NEW", which doesn't match up with using a computer simulation of an accident to help the jurors feel like they were there and to retain information about it.

  3. No Match: predict8% picked this

    using information gathered from satellite images to predict the development of

    This doesn't align with any of the purposes of using computer displays for recreating accidents: - greater psychological impact on the audience (make them feel like they're there) - greater retention of information - also conducive to integrating graphic aids throughout the presentation Using computer modeling to recreate crime scenes has nothing to do with predicting any future outcome.

  4. No Match: gathering opinions4% picked this

    using a video camera to gather opinions of passersby for use in a candidate’s

    This doesn't align with any of the purposes of using computer displays for recreating accidents: - greater psychological impact on the audience (make them feel like they're there) - greater retention of information - also conducive to integrating graphic aids throughout the presentation The recreated crime scenes are supposed to be factual. It's not supposed to be a series of opinions.

  5. Correct83% picked this

    using detailed geological evidence to design a museum exhibit depicting a

    Why this is right

    This somewhat aligns with some of the purposes of using computer displays for recreating accidents: - greater psychological impact on the audience (make them feel like they're there) - greater retention of information - also conducive to integrating graphic aids throughout the presentation Mostly, it's just our best available answer. But we can use a little common sense and think, "the point of an exhibit depicting a volcanic eruption is to get museum goers to understand what it was like to be there and to retain what they've learned". In reality, the connection between this answer and the passage is less about "why we use computer recreations of crime scenes" and more about "what we use to create the computer recreation of the crime scene". They based these computer simulations on "complex applications of rules of physics and mathematics", while this museum exhibit is based on "detailed geological evidence".

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

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