Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Medium

PT153 S4 P2 Q11 ExplanationNative American Languages

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

TopicsAuthor OpinionSociety

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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

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
11.

With which one of the following statements would the author be most

Answer choices, explained

  1. Correct74% picked this

    The preservation of native languages is desirable as an end in itself, and this end will be most successfully accomplished if these languages become

    Why this is right

    This answer on its face sounds like stuff the author would say. It doesn't sound like stuff the author did say, but on Most Supported tasks like Opinion we are sometimes doing a little mind-reading. Can we support that the author thinks that preservation of native languages is a worthy goal? Yes, first of all the author says in the 3rd sentence of the opening paragraph that it was misguided when U.S. government forced Native Americans to learn English, because it resulted in discouraging the transmission of native languages. She must think preserving languages is a good thing if she thought it was misguided to do something that discouraged preserving languages. Can we support that the author thinks that languages will be most successfully preserved if they're integrated into the daily life of native communities? We can cobble together some support for this. In the 2nd paragraph, the author is stressing that radio is an effective tool for preserving language because it's widely accessible, it can keep community members apprised of important issues, and helps to solidify communities. And in the 4th paragraph, where the author is giving advice about what would be effective radio programming, she is stressing that we avoid making them "unengaging and distant from the cultural contexts that give necessary and subtle meaning to the words". What is the opposite of making the programming "unengaging and distant from the cultural contexts"? Make it engaging and relevant to the cultural contexts, in other words "integrate it into the daily lives of native communities". Overall, this answer is hard to love, because "most successfully accomplished" is really loaded language. The author never came close to defining the superlative recipe for accomplishing native language preservation. Also "integrated into the daily life of native communities" does not have a good line match. This is a good example of a correct answer that is gist-y and speculative. Did the author say this? No, not really. But would the author be likely to agree with it? Yes, we could say the author's likely to agree with this more so than any other answer available.

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

  2. Too Strong20% picked this

    The preservation of native languages will fail without cooperation among those who speak the language, other members of their communities, and the members and

    Too Strong: will fail Out of Scope: cooperation of society This is very harshly formulated in on / off, Absolute language. If we don't have cooperation from "the members and institutions of society as a whole", then preservation of native languages will fail? The author never stressed that members of society who don't belong to these native communities must play some crucial role, nor did she say that any institutions of society need to play a role. She seems to think that native communities, on their own, could preserve languages if they're just wise about what sort of radio programming works well for that task.

  3. Too Strong2% picked this

    The main roadblock to the preservation of native languages is a lack of consensus among tribal elders concerning the most effective way to ensure

    Too Strong: main roadblock Out of Scope: consensus of tribal elders The author never identified "you must get tribal elders to agree on the most effective way" as a crucial obstacle that needs to be overcome, in order for us to preserve languages. She seems to think that if we just put on some good radio programming (recordings of elders, mixed language games, songs, etc.) that we could preserve languages.

  4. Too Strong3% picked this

    The preservation of native languages can most efficiently be accomplished if these languages are used to report on developments in the rapidly

    Too Strong: most efficiently Out of Scope: report on tech / economy Technically, the strong language of "most efficiently accomplished" is no stronger than "most successfully accomplished" in the correct answer. But just because there is strong language in our best available correct answer doesn't mean we like that strong language! We're tolerating it because we can't find a better answer, but it's still unnerving. What separates (D) from (A) is that the author never stressed, as (D) is, that native language radio shows should report on developments in technology and economics.

  5. Unsupported: need more $ for curricula1% picked this

    The preservation of native languages is unlikely to be achieved unless institutions of higher learning devote significantly more resources to the

    Did the author ever say that one of the most crucial things to do in preserving native languages is for "universities to devote way more time and money to developing native language curricula"? Not at all. She does mention in the first paragraph that more universities are offering language curricula developed by Native American scholars, but nowhere in the 3rd or 4th paragraphs (where she's stressing the things that will be mission-critical to language preservation success) do higher learning institutions ever get discussed.

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