Q12

[chike_eze]

I had to guess on this one because after returning to the passage, I could not figure out what sections to read in order to answer the question. An issue I've highlighted before in this post:
rc-strategy-main-idea-vs-detail-t4889.html

I picked (C) after 1 minute of "Okay, I don't know what the h$!! to look for and the clock is ticking..". I proceeded to answer the remaining questions and finished the passage in 9 minutes. And wouldn't you know it, Q 12 is the only question I missed from passage 2.

On review, I was able to arrive at (D) after fully re-reading the "Critical Legal" and "Law and Lit" sections.

As stated earlier, I have less problems with "main idea" and "purpose" questions. I've also improved on detail questions (with line numbers). But still struggling with detail/inference questions based on sections of the passage with no line numbers.

This is a specific issue. Please provide any useful tips to improve on this specific weakness. Thanks!

[bbirdwell]

I'm not really sure why you struggled with "where to look" for the answer to this problem. Perhaps you are too involved with the details when you first read the passage. Might be a good idea for you to write 2-4 words beside each paragraph that simply describe *what* is discussed in each - a sort of roadmap.

Here's what happens in my brain when I read it.

Paragraph 1: intro/questions about law. TRADITIONALLY either natural law or positivist. This construction leads me to believe that NOW there are other ways to look at it.

Paragraph 2: answers. Economics, Critical.

Paragraph 3: another answer: Law and Lit.

Paragraph 4: more Law and Lit


So when I see a question that says "what's up with Critical and Law/Lit," it's quite obvious where to look. The last part of paragraph 2, and the first part of paragraph 3.

Alternatively, I could answer this question without looking back if I had a strong first read-through. Economic = money, Critical = elites, Law/Lit = translation.

(A) no, this is just Critical

(B) no, the three mentioned are new

(C) no. "all legitimate power" is beyond scope of passage, plus economic is only in the Economic school.

(D) yes. The key phrase in paragraph 3 "yet another INTERDISCIPLINARY..." supports this. This kind of structural language should stick out as important on a first read-through. By saying "yet another," the author is telling you what he's listing out about. By that point in the reading, you should be hip to the idea that he's describing new approaches. When you read that phrase, you now know that he considers those approaches interdisciplinary.

(E) no, this is just Law/Lit, mentioned in the last paragraph.

With a disciplined and aggressive process of elimination, this question can easily be answered without going back to the passage at all, even if you didn't spot the "yet another" phrase early on. Use your big-picture, structural knowledge of the passage to eliminate answers! It's a necessary (and sometimes sufficient!) way to get better.