Reading Comprehension

PT122 · S3 · P1 · Q3 Court Computer Displays

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The use of computer-generated visual displays in courtrooms is growing as awareness of their ability to recreate crime scenes spreads.

Topic

The growing use of computer-generated visual displays in courtrooms—benefits, risks, and recommendations for fair use.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

While computer-generated displays can give litigators powerful advantages by making evidence more accessible and compelling for juries, they also pose risks of misuse and unfairness; therefore, practical steps must be taken to ensure accurate, equitable use in courtrooms. ( — first sentence of the last paragraph)

P1: The Rise and Advantages of Computer-Generated Displays

The paragraph explains how computer-generated visuals are changing how lawyers present cases. They make things clearer and more memorable for juries (like “being there”), especially in tricky or technical trials, because people remember pictures much better than words.

P2: Criticisms and Risks of Misuse

Here, the author points out that these displays can be abused or accidentally mislead juries, either by overwhelming their critical thinking with slick visuals or by giving one side an unfair advantage if the other can’t afford such technology. Plus, the displays mix data and speculation, which might not make them reliable evidence.

P3: Solutions and Safeguards

This paragraph proposes how to prevent abuse: lawyers should analyze and disclose the data behind displays, judges should carefully screen and explain the risks to jurors, and courts should ensure both sides have access to the technology, perhaps by offering financial assistance.

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

using several of a crime
No Match: establish a motive
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).
3% picked this
using an author’s original manuscript
No Match: fixing errors
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.
2% picked this
using information gathered from satellite
No Match: predict
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.
8% picked this
using a video camera to
No Match: gathering opinions
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.
4% picked this
Correct
using detailed geological evidence to
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.
83% picked this

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