Reading Comprehension

PT140 · S4 · P2 · Q10 Online Game Currencies

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Passage A is from a source published in 2004 and passage B is from a source published in 2007.

Topic

The real-world economic implications of virtual items and currency in multiplayer online games, and how they relate to taxation.

Framework

Present Debate (Passage B) / Highlight Noteworthy (Passage A)

Main Point

Passage A highlights how virtual economies in online games have real-world value and mimic economic systems. Passage B delves into the legal and policy debate about whether—and how—virtual wealth and transactions should be taxed, ultimately arguing for taxing only real-world cash exchanges, not in-game accumulation or trades.

P1 (A): Introduction to Multiplayer Online Games

Online games let players take on fantasy roles like warriors and quest together, creating a lively digital world where their avatars interact.

P2 (A): Discovery of In-Game Economies

An economist, Edward Castronova, discovered that these games feature complex economies where players generate and trade virtual goods, gaining wealth over time.

P3 (A): Player Auctions

Castronova noticed players sometimes sold their virtual items for real money in online auctions when they got tired of the game.

10.

Based on what can be inferred from their titles, the relationship between which one of the following pairs of documents is most analogous to the relationship between passage A and passage B?

  1. "Advances in Artificial Intelligence"

    "Human Psychology Applied to Robots"

    Weaker Match

    This might be worth saving on a first pass. The first title does kind of sound like it's profiling something new, as Passage A did. The second title does kind of sound like it's applying one field to a certain subject, just as Passage B applied the field of law to video game economies. However, the relationship between titles is weaker here than in the correct answer. The two passages had an overlapping central topic: video game economies. These two titles don't quite have an overlapping topic. Yes, some Robots are instances of artificial intelligence, but that's like an Example vs. Category relationship. That would match if one passage were about the category of video game economies and the other passage focused on one specific game's version of a video game economy.

    4% picked this

  2. "Internet Retailers Post Good Year"

    "Lawmakers Move to Tax Internet

    Fails Both / Buzzword Bait

    The title for A just suggests a financial report, not a startling new discovery. Hence, it wouldn't match the excited, "new horizons" tone of Passage A. The title for Passage B is definitely fishing for us to like it by using the word "tax", which featured prominently in B's conclusion. On Parallel questions (in LR) and Analogy questions (in RC), we frequently see trap answers playing off a similar topic or a similar choice of wording, rather than matching the deeper logical structures we're being tested on.

    10% picked this

  3. "New Planet Discovered in Solar

    "Planet or Asteroid: Scientists Debate"

    Meets One / Fails Other

    This answer is decent. The "new discovery" vibe for Passage A's title is a fair match. The problem is that the title for Passage B suggests that it had a Present Debate framework, like the author was just presenting two different views on a topic. Passage B presents some considerations that feel like the underpinnings of a legal debate over how to tax online game economies. But her final paragraph provides actual answers. Thus, the main point of Passage B would be better expressed by a title that sounds like it provides a takeaway or an answer.

    12% picked this

  4. Correct

    "Biologists Create New Species in

    "Artificially Created Life: How Patent

    Why this is right

    The two passages had the underlying main topic of "online game economies". These two titles have the underlying main topic of "artificial, lab-created life". Passage A's title sounds like the author is an outsider-looking-in, learning about what these biologists have been up to, just as Passage A conveyed a vibe of outsiders peering into the video game world and finding out that the people in that world had developed something new. Passage B's title sounds like "Online Game Economies: How Tax Law Applies".

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

    72% picked this

  5. "A Renegade Economist's Views on

    "Candidate Runs on Unorthodox Tax

    Bad Match for Both

    Passage A didn't feature any "renegade's" views on a subject. Castronova is never portrayed as an iconoclast, going against the mainstreatm. He's just an economist who had an interesting observation. Passage B's match is also troubled. Did Passage B spotlight a certain entity that was trying to achieve something through unconventional means? No, Passage B just told us how we should think about taxes in relation to online game economies.

    3% picked this

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