Improving Farm Economics

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

TopicsPrimary PurposeSociety

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Passage

The prevailing trend in agriculture toward massive and highly mechanized production, with its heavy dependence on debt and credit as a means of raising capital, has been linked to the growing problem of bankruptcy among small farms. African American horticulturalist Booker T. Whatley has proposed a comprehensive approach to small farming that believes will bring about such profitability when combined with smart management and hard work.

Whatley emphasizes that small farms must generate year-round cash flow. To this end, he recommends growing at least ten different crops, which would alleviate financial problems should one crop fail completely. To minimize the need to seek hard-to-obtain loans, the market for the farm products should be developed via a “clientele membership crops that clients ask for, and to comply with client requests regarding the use of chemicals.

Whatley stresses that this “pick-your-own” farming is crucial for profitability because 50 percent of a farmer’s production cost is tied up with harvesting, and using clients as harvesters allows the farmer to charge 60 percent of what supermarkets charge and still operate the farm at a profit. Whatley’s plan also affords farmers needed. The CMC would consist primarily of people from metropolitan areas who value fresh produce.

The success of this plan, Whatley cautions, depends in large part on a farm’s location: the farm should be situated on a hard-surfaced road within 40 miles of a population center of at least 50,000 people, as studies suggest that people are less inclined to travel any greater distances for food. In alternative to sprawling corporate farms while providing top-quality agricultural goods to consumers in most urban areas.

What this question is testing

Primary Purpose

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

The author of the passage is primarily

Answer choices

Correct90% picked this
summarizing the main points of an innovative solution to a
Why this is right
This is close to what we anticipated: "present someone's potential Solution to a Problem". Of all the answers, it feels most aligned with the Problem / Solution framework. Is it fair to call Whatley's solution "innovative"? Yes, because "Whatley proposed an approach that runs counter to this trend". When you're going against the trend, you're usually plotting a new, different course, so it's fair to call it innovative. Is the problem "serious"? Sure, it's a growing number of bankruptcies. Bankruptcies are very serious for businesses or people that go through them.
Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
90%
Out of Scope: examining trends0% picked this
examining contemporary trends and isolating their strengths
"Examining contemporary trends" doesn't make any sense as a fit for this passage. 95% of the passage is describing Whatley's proposed apporach, which goes against contemporary trends. And this answer is saying that multiple trends are being examined. Meanwhile, the passage is totally focused on Whatlely's proposed approach.
0%
Out of Scope: criticizing0% picked this
criticizing widely accepted practices within a key sector of
The author's voice/opinion never shows up in this passage. She identifies the context of why we're hearing about Whatley (the growing number of small farms going bankrupt) and then presents Whatley's solution. She never criticizes anything or anyone.
0%
Too Strong2% picked this
demonstrating the advantages and disadvantages of a new strategy within
Too Strong: demonstrating Out of Scope: disadvantages The reader might take in the author's presentation of Whatley's new strategy within the farming industry and decide for themselves what seem like advantages or disadvantages, but the author never editorializes. To "demonstrate" the advantages and disadvantages would mean that the author is actively arguing or showing evidence in order to show us what's good and what's bad about Whatley's plan. But the passage merely presents a new strategy within an industry. This answer sounds more like a passage we would write a couple years from now, reflecting on success stories and pitfalls of people who followed Whatley's strategy.
2%
Out of Scope: analyzing impact7% picked this
analyzing the impact of a new idea on a
The author just presents Whatley's new idea. She never analyzes what impact it's having (we don't know if anyone is even following Whatley's plan yet). We also were never told that farming was a tradition-driven industry. We would just be plucking that from our brains.
7%

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