Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Hard

PT136 S1 P1 Q1 Explanation

The Evolution of Publishing in a Digital Era

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

TopicsMain PointSociety

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 Internet makes possible the instantaneous transmission and retrieval of digital text. It is widely assumed that this capacity will lead to the displacement of printed books by digitized books that are read mainly on computer screens or handheld electronic devices. But it is more likely, I believe, that most digital files includes even those books that, under traditional publishing assumptions, would have been designated “out of print.”

Also, the digital publication of a book online involves no physical inventory, thereby eliminating the costs of warehousing, shipping books to wholesalers and to retail stores, displaying physical books in retail stores, and returning unsold books to publishers. This would make digital publishing much less expensive than traditional publishing. Given the economic digitized books becomes large enough to justify investment in book printing machines at numerous regional sites.

Moreover, the elimination of whole categories of expense means that under the digital publishing model, authors would be responsible for a greater proportion of the value of the final product and would therefore, according to literary agents, be entitled to a larger share of the proceeds. Currently a large percentage of publishers’ and may help explain the caution with which today’s publishing conglomerates are approaching the digital future.

What this question is testing

Main Point

Anticipate

This is a Main Point question. Step back and ask what the passage is really arguing across all three paragraphs.

P1 sets up a different vision of digital publishing (print on demand). P2 explains the cost savings. P3 — the longest paragraph — works out how those savings translate into higher royalties for authors via competitive pressure from upstart digital firms. So the main argument runs through all three paragraphs, and the destination is the author-royalty point.

Goal

Look for an answer that captures both halves: economic transformation + greater share for authors. Common traps:

Answers that only describe the digital-vs-traditional shift without the royalty consequence

Answers that focus on print-on-demand vs. screen reading — that's P1 only

Answers that frame the passage as about economic transitions in general

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 statements most accurately expresses the main point

Answer choices

  1. Too Broad8% picked this

    The shift from traditional to digital publishing is typical of the shift from one economic model to a

    The passage isn't about the typicality of economic-model shifts. It's a specific argument about digital publishing's effects on author royalties. The brief comparison at the end of P3 (about typical adjustments between economic models) is a side note explaining publisher caution, not the main point.

  2. Wrong View17% picked this

    Digital publishing is likely to one day rival traditional publishing, but social and economic factors are

    The passage actually argues digital publishing will transform the industry and is likely to supplant or rival traditional publishing — not that it's currently being hindered by social and economic factors. P1-P2 are bullish, not pessimistic.

  3. Wrong Emphasis8% picked this

    Digital publishing will be convenient for readers and profitable for publishers but will also result in a great deal of movement by

    The passage doesn't emphasize a "great deal of movement by authors among different publishing houses." P3 mentions that traditional publishers might lose authors, but the main argument is about pressure to raise royalties — not about authors changing publishers.

  4. Too Narrow4% picked this

    Although digital books can now be displayed on computers and handheld electronic devices, consumers will demonstrate that they prefer books printed

    This describes only P1 — the prediction that digital files will mostly be printed at point of sale. It misses the much bigger argument in P2 and P3 about cost transformation and author royalties.

  5. Correct64% picked this

    Digital publishing will transform the economics of the publishing business and in doing so will likely create competitive pressures to pay authors a

    Why this is right

    This captures both halves of the main point: digital publishing will transform the economics (P1-P2) and that transformation will likely create competitive pressure to pay authors a greater percentage of net revenue (P3's sustained argument). (E) is the only answer that captures the full arc of the passage.

    Skill tested: Main Point · 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