PrepTest 141, Section 2, 19. A carved flint object depicting…

How will the right answer fit in terms of support and conclusion?

Only the right answer will add support for disagreeing with the conclusion, or for the opposite conclusion.

Highlight the main conclusion in the passage, if there is one:

the object was probably the head of a speaking staff

[BACKGROUND]. [BACKGROUND] but [SUPPORT]. Because [SUPPORT], [CONCLUSION], [BACKGROUND].

Disagreement is usually the conclusion, but the author doesn’t give support for “it is too small for that purpose”. Instead that’s used to support that the object was part of a speaking staff. Huh? It’s not a weapon so it’s probably part of a speaking staff. Like, there are no other options? You caught that this conclusion totally changes the subject, right? The right answer will support that the object might NOT be part of a speaking staff.

Map the wording of the answers to the wording of the passage:

(A) …any other objects that might have been weapons.

It would need to be obvious based just on common sense how info about other objects leads to a conclusion about this one object the author is talking about. It’s not obvious at all, you’d definitely have to add in other reasoning to make this work.

(B) …normally passed from one generation to the next…

Plenty of bright future lawyers eliminate this one thinking it’s irrelevant. Buuut, the background says the thing was found in a tomb. If it was the kind of thing that was normally passed on, it was less likely to end up in a tomb. So it’s less likely to be part of a speaking staff. I don’t love it, but I can’t eliminate this one.

(C) …carved with an artistry that was rare…

That’s lovely to imagine, but doesn’t map to anything stated in the passage. There’s nothing in there connecting how it was carved to what it was for.

(D) …that of a politically prominent person.

Okay, it’s not unreasonable to think big time politicians would be doing a lot of public speaking. But it’s a crazy huge un-lawyerly leap to assume that means objects found in the politician’s tomb are probably related to public speaking. If you picked this, you’re still misunderstanding what this test is asking you to do.

(E) A speaking staff with a stone head…

…isn’t mentioned or referred to anywhere in the passage. Out.

(B) is the correct answer.

Common pattern/s in this question: This one has an annoyingly weak right answer, but catching that the conclusion brought in something new and changed the subject is probably the best way to make sure you end up picking that one.