Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Hard

PT129 S4 P4 Q26 Explanation

Fractal Geometry

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

TopicsNon-Author OpinionScience

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Passage

Fractal geometry is a mathematical theory devoted to the study of complex shapes called fractals. Although an exact definition of fractals has not been established, fractals commonly exhibit the property of self-similarity: the reiteration of irregular details or patterns at progressively smaller scales so that each part, when magnified, looks basically like and then the process is repeated indefinitely on the segments at each stage of the construction.

Self-similarity is built into the construction process by treating segments at each stage the same way as the original segment was treated. Since the rules for getting from one stage to another are fully explicit and always the same, images of successive stages of the process can be generated by computer. Theoretically, illustrates a major attraction of fractal geometry: simple processes can be responsible for incredibly complex patterns.

A worldwide public has become captivated by fractal geometry after viewing astonishing computer-generated images of fractals; enthusiastic practitioners in the field of fractal geometry consider it a new language for describing complex natural and mathematical forms. They anticipate that fractal geometry's significance will rival that of calculus and expect that proficiency in in mathematics only if it becomes a precise language supporting a system of theorems and proofs.

What this question is testing

Non-Author Opinion

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
26.

The enthusiastic practitioners of fractal geometry mentioned in the last paragraph would be most likely to agree with which one

Answer choices

  1. Too Strong: most easy / most important1% picked this

    The Koch curve is the most easily generated, and therefore the most important, of the forms

    Nothing in our Support Window is talking about the Koch curve. This is just word-baiting us with stuff from elsewhere in the passage and then adding some extreme words to it, to make it a wrong answer.

  2. Too Strong: same28% picked this

    Fractal geometry will eventually be able to be used in the same applications for which traditional

    None of our support sentences make it seem like fractal geometry will be used in an identical set of applications as traditional geometry is used in. In fact, the Support Window suggests different applications. Traditional geometry would be used to describe the rectangles and triangles of a house's architecture, and fractal geometry would be used to describe the amorphous complexity of a cloud's architecture.

  3. Too Strong: greatest4% picked this

    The greatest importance of computer images of fractals is their ability to bring fractal geometry to the attention

    This is another word-bait + strong language answer. The claim right before the highlighted phrase talks about "the public". But none of our support sentences sound like these geometers think that the #1 reason computer images of fractals are important is that they bring more public attention to fractal geometry.

  4. Too Strong: impossible1% picked this

    Studying self-similarity was impossible before the development of sophisticated

    Nothing in our supporting sentences sounds like we have never been able to study self-similarity, until this recent development of sophisticated computers.

  5. Correct66% picked this

    Certain complex natural forms exhibit a type of self-similarity like that

    Why this is right

    This is the only one of the five answers not amped-up on extreme language. It's also the only one of the five answers referencing language in our Support Window (complex natural forms). The fractal geometers are anticipating using fractals as a language for describing complex natural and mathematical forms. Fractals all have self-similarity, so if you're using fractals to describe a certain form, then you probably think that this form has some self-similarity too. (Note: one of the reasons people think modern RC is harder is because we don't see as many problems these days that are this bifurcated, where the four wrong answers are super extreme and the one correct answer is soft and weak.)

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

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