Reading Comprehension

PT156 · S1 · P2 · Q14 Art Subsidies

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

  • 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

Passage AWhat public interest is served by an earmarked tax for the arts?

Topic

The debate over whether public (tax) funding for the arts is justified.

Framework

Present Debate

Main Point

Passage A argues that public arts funding is justified because it promotes equitable access and builds social capital in communities. Passage B counters that government subsidies for the arts are not justified, as they do not necessarily serve the majority’s tastes or represent a true public good and undermine individual choice. Most valuable sentences: Passage A — (P2) Passage B — (P3)

P1 (Passage A): Raises the Question of Justifying Arts Subsidies

The author asks why the government should fund the arts and insists that merely serving large or diverse audiences isn’t enough to justify public spending over private funding.

P2 (Passage A): Argues for Equity and Access

The public sector is necessary, the author says, because private funding alone leads to inequitable access—people with less money or those in culturally underserved regions miss out.

P3 (Passage A): Social Capital and Civic Benefits

Arts organizations strengthen community ties and increase civic engagement, offering broader social benefits beyond just enjoyment of the art itself.

14.

The authors would be most likely to disagree over whether

  1. most people would be willing

    Unsupported Both: most people

    It's hard to support this answer from either passage, because neither author talks about whether a majority of people are willing to pay taxes to support arts subsidies or whether most would be willing to pay taxes in some hypothetical situation. Furthermore, it's likely that both authors would agree to this, because in general it's pretty reasonable to say, "If most tax payers could be sure that X would serve the public interest, they would be willing to pay taxes to support X."

    9% picked this

  2. the range of arts organizations

    Trap

    Unsupported Agree Position Too Strong: in itself When Passage A is discussing how to justify subsidies in her 1st paragraph, she says, "It is not enough to claim that the range of organizations receiving funding will be large and attract diverse audiences". So she would disagree with this claim that "the range of organizations and the resulting diversity of audiences is in itself a justification". And so if Passage A is covering the Disagree side of the answer, then we would need to support this answer from Passage B, who doesn't think arts funding is justified in general. So neither author supports this answer.

    34% picked this

  3. most people, if given the

    Unsupported Both: most people

    It's hard to support this answer from either passage, because neither author talks about whether a majority of people would choose to spend some of their personal income on cultural events. The only most generalizations in either passage happen in Passage B, but those sentiments are just that "most people don't like (and wouldn't have chosen for themselves) the sort of art that gets subsidized".

    6% picked this

  4. Correct

    tax-funded subsidies for the arts

    Why this is right

    Passage A would agree with this claim. In her 2nd paragraph, she's arguing that if we leave arts funding to the private sector alone, "opportunities to share in cultural life will not be distributed equitably. Individuals who don't have the money or live in the wrong area will miss out ." In her 3rd paragraph, she talks about how arts subsidies would result in people having more opportunities to get together, especially in amateur organizations where they are participants rather than spectators. So she definitely thinks that public arts funding leads to an increase in the number of people who would take part in cultural opportunities. Passage B's disagreement is harder to support, but this is our best available answer. Passage B says, "Even if we could guarantee better art (through public funding), it's doubtful that we could guarantee more widespread aesthetic enjoyment". After all, he continues, the art that gets subsidized is art that most people don't like (so why would they take advantage of the opportunity to see it?) We can also kind of support B's disagreement through a combo of the last sentences of his 1st and 3rd paragraphs. 1st: [To justify tax-funded arts subsidies we] must show that subsidies will enable many more people to enjoy works of art that are decidedly better than art that is privately funded. 3rd: For these reasons, there can be no justification for arts subsidies. The author implies with that final sentence that he has established that art subsidies do not lead to many more people enjoying works of art that are better than what is privately funded.

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

    46% picked this

  5. art that is publicly funded

    Unsupported Agree Position

    We can easily support that Passage B would disagree with this: even if we could guarantee better art ... (which we can't). But can we support that Passage A would agree? Does she say that publicly funded art it generally aesthetically better than private art? She never comments on aesthetic quality. And given that some of the publicly funded art she's envisioning is going to be done by amateur cultural organizations, it seems unlikely that she would want to argue that the art created by amateurs is usually aesthetically superior.

    6% picked this

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