Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT8 S3 P4 Q21 Explanation

Rubinstein's London

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

TopicsMain PointSociety

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Passage

A conventional view of nineteenth-century Britain holds that iron manufacturers and textile manufacturers from the north of England became the wealthiest and most powerful people in society after about 1832. According to Marxist historians, these industrialists were the target of the working class in its struggle for power. A new study by outnumbered and outdone by a London-based commercial elite. His claims are provocative and deserve consideration.

Rubinstein’s claim about the location of wealth comes from his investigation of probate records. These indicate the value of personal property, excluding real property (buildings and land), left by individuals at death. It does seem as if large fortunes were more frequently made in commerce than in industry and, within industry, more biases into the probate valuations of individuals with different types of businesses would be worth investigating.

The orthodox view that the wealthiest individuals were the most powerful is also questioned by Rubinstein’s study. The problem for this orthodox view is that Rubinstein finds many millionaires who are totally unknown to nineteenth-century historians; the reason for their obscurity could be that they were not powerful. Indeed, Rubinstein dismisses any companies. The only requirements were university attendance and a father with a middle-class income.

Rubinstein, in another study, has begun to buttress his findings about the location of wealth by analyzing income tax returns, which reveal a geographical distribution of middle-class incomes similar to that of wealthy incomes revealed by probate records. But claims can only be considered partially convincing.

What this question is testing

Main Point

Your task

Capture the passage's overall primary point — the claim everything else supports.

Common trap

Answers that are true but too narrow (a single paragraph) or too broad (beyond the passage's scope).

Winning move

Summarize the whole passage in one sentence first, then match it to a choice.

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

The question
21.

The main idea of the passage

Answer choices

  1. Lacks Central Topic1% picked this

    the Marxist interpretation of the relationship between class and power in nineteenth-century Britain is

    This makes it seem like the passage was mainly about the Marxist interpretation between class and power, but it was mainly about Rubenstein's study.

  2. Trap0% picked this

    a simple equation between wealth and power is unlikely to be supported by new data

    Lacks Central Topic Too Narrow / Too Broad This makes it seem like the passage was mainly about the general Theme of "does wealth = power", with a specific counterexample coming from 19th century Britain. Instead, the passage was mainly about Rubenstein's study, which was trying to answer the question of "where was the most wealth and power located in 19th century Britain?"

  3. Correct81% picked this

    a recent historical investigation has challenged but not disproved the orthodox view of the distribution of wealth and the relationship of wealth

    Why this is right

    Answer C is correct.

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

  4. Lacks Central Topic Too Narrow11% picked this

    probate records provide the historian with a revealing but incomplete glimpse of the extent and location of

    This makes it seem like the passage was mainly about probate records, but that was just the 2nd paragraph. The passage is about Rubenstein's study, which this answer doesn't mention or allude to.

  5. Too Strong7% picked this

    an attempt has been made to confirm the findings of a new historical study of nineteenth-century Britain, but complete confirmation

    Too Strong: likely to remain elusive Too Narrow This answer, unlike the other three incorrect answers, at least alludes to Rubenstein's study, but the focal point of the answer is "an attempt to confirm the findings of his study", not the study itself. The attempt to confirm is only discussed in the final paragraph, and the author never suggests that confirmation will likely never come. She just says, "Until we get confirmation, we should only tentatively accept this study's findings."

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