Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT153 S4 P2 Q10 Explanation

Native American Languages

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

TopicsLocal PurposeSociety

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Passage

This passage is based on an article published

Of the 300 indigenous languages spoken when European explorers reached what is now the United States, fewer than 150 survive today. Of these, one third are near extinction, with fewer than 100 surviving speakers. The decline of many of these languages is due in large part to misguided U.S. government policies: between At the same time, many indigenous communities are establishing radio stations that broadcast in native languages.

Because of the strong oral traditions of indigenous cultures, radio is a particularly effective tool for preserving native languages. It provides a natural and widely accessible means for the diffusion of native languages. In fact, some communities have consciously founded native language radio stations as a means of simultaneously promoting their languages rekindling the use of their languages and in helping younger generations understand idiomatic usage.

However, the growth of Internet use in many native communities could counter the influence of radio. In order to use this international computer network, many community members often find that they must devote considerable energy to mastering a standard language —generally English. Communities with radio stations have at their disposal a means effects of the Internet, it should resonate with the living oral traditions of indigenous communities.

One analyst noted recently that in native communities where English is a second language—i.e., spoken less frequently than a native language—there is an abundance of such programming, but where English is the primary language, what native language programming there is often takes the form of lessons, which can be unengaging and distant makes it easier for novice speakers to grasp the language by familiarizing them with its rhythms.

What this question is testing

Local Purpose

Your task

Identify why the author included the referenced detail at that point in the passage — its function, not its content.

Common trap

Answers that merely repeat or summarize the topic of the detail instead of describing the role it plays.

Winning move

Ask what job the detail does for the paragraph, then for the passage's broader point.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
10.

The author’s primary purpose in mentioning the native language curricula being developed at many

Answer choices

  1. Out of Support Window2% picked this

    cite an example of methods of native language preservation less successful than native

    Out of Support Window: less successful / radio This doesn't sound anything like what we're looking for, "to illustrate a way in which there has been a recent resurgence in native language study and preservation efforts". The purpose of the sentence had nothing to do with radio programming and certainly didn't seem to be denigrating university efforts as less successful than something.

  2. Out of Support Window: programming7% picked this

    indicate one of the effects of the attempts to preserve native languages by means of

    This is a little closer to what we're seeking: "to illustrate a way in which there has been a recent resurgence in native language study and preservation efforts". We could fix this answer by saying, "indicate one of the attempts to preserve and study native languages". But what does by means of native language programming have to do with it? This isn't a radio show. There's no programming here. It's a course you sign up for at a university.

  3. Correct89% picked this

    provide evidence that interest in the study and preservation of native

    Why this is right

    This is the best match for what we wanted: "to illustrate a way in which there has been a recent resurgence in native language study and preservation efforts". The language of "is growing" matches up with "recent resurgence".

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

  4. Out of Support Window: scholars / govt2% picked this

    show that the attitudes of scholars toward the study of native languages are markedly different from

    We were looking for this: "to illustrate a way in which there has been a recent resurgence in native language study and preservation efforts". Nothing in our prediction has anything to do with comparing attitudes of scholars to those of government officials. One might find this tempting because the start of the first paragraph involved a government action that had a deleterious effect on traditional languages, and what universities are doing is intended to have a beneficial effect on traditional language. But it would be a gigantic leap away from the text to infer what this answer is saying from that. And we have an answer choice available that tightly paraphrases the actual sentence that "universities" is connected to.

  5. Out of Support Window: programming1% picked this

    point out one of the factors that has contributed to the popularity of native

    We're looking for this: "to illustrate a way in which there has been a recent resurgence in native language study and preservation efforts". No part of that says anything about radio programming.

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