Free Sample LSAT Reading Comprehension Passage

I didn't write the following blog post. It was already on the blog when I took over the URL. The following blog post may contain mistakes. -Steve

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Starting tomorrow, I'm going to explain actual LSAT questions from October 2004.

Out of the four graded sections on the LSAT, 2 are Logical Reasoning (Arguments), 1 is Analytical Reasoning (Games), and one is Reading Comprehension, the area we'll cover today. Below is a passage very similar to what you will see on the LSAT. I have bolded a few key words. When you're reading passages in practice and on test day, it might help to mark key parts of the passage, but don't overdo it. (The numbers in the passage are just to mark the lines, for reference.)

Question 3

The Acme Steel Corporation Benefit Plan, designed to give
active and retired steelworkers and their families access to totally
prepaid or partially paid healthcare, has
was founded in 1991. Workers have
the option of using either Acme’s staff doctors,
whose services are paid for by the company, or an outside doctor.
Outside doctors can either sign up with the plan as a
“cooperating doctor” and accept the ACME’s set fee,
or they can charge a higher fee and collect the rest
(10)from the patient. Steelworkers like the notion of prepaid
medical services: 45 percent of eligible union
members were enrolled in the plan by 1993.
Also, the idea of insurance for health services for both current and retired workers has been
spreading in the corporate world. Many Fortune 500
Companies have begun doing it.

While many plan members seem to be happy to
get reduced-cost medical help, many doctors are
concerned about the plan’s effect on their profession,
especially its impact on prices for medical care.
(20)Some point out that even though most doctors have
not joined the plan as cooperating doctors, medical fees
in the cities where the ACME plan operates have
been dropping, in some cases to an unprofitable
level. The directors of the plan, however, claim that
both patients and doctors benefit from it.
For while the patients get can easily get
reduced-price services, doctors get professional
contact with people who would not otherwise be
using medical services much, which helps generate even more
(30) business for them. Studies demonstrate, the
directors say, that if people are referred to a doctor and
receive excellent service, the doctor will get three to
four other referrals who are not plan subscribers and
who would therefore pay the doctor’s standard rate.

However, increased use of such plans
probably will not result in long-term patient satisfaction or in a
substantial increase in profits for doctors. Since
doctors with established reputations and patient bases
can benefit little, if at all, from participation, the
(40) plans function largely as marketing devices for
doctors who have yet to establish themselves. While
many of these doctors are no doubt very able and
conscientious, they will tend to have less expertise
and to provide less effective care to patients. At the same
time, the downward pressure on fees will mean that
the full-fee referrals that proponents say will come
through plan participation may not make up for a
doctor’s investment in providing services at low plan
rates. And since lowered fees provide little incentive
(50) for doctors to devote more than minimal effort to
cases, a “volume discount” approach toward the
practice of medicine will mean less time devoted to
complex maladies and a general lowering of quality for
patients.

What description most completely and accurately corresponds to the presentation of material in this passage?

A) a description of a recently implemented set of
procedures and policies; a summary of the
results of that implementation; a proposal of
refinements in those policies and procedures

B) an evaluation of a recent phenomenon; a
comparison of that phenomenon with related
past phenomena; an expression of the author’s
approval of that phenomenon

C) a presentation of a proposal; a discussion of the
prospects for implementing that proposal; a
recommendation by the author that the
proposal be rejected

D) a description of an innovation; a report of
reasoning against and reasoning favoring that
innovation; argumentation by the author
concerning that innovation

E) an explanation of a recent occurrence; an
evaluation of the practical value of that
occurrence; a presentation of further data
regarding that occurrence

Solution

What this question is asking us to do is find out the passage's organization, and see which answer choice best describes that organization. This is a common type of question in Reading Comprehension. Let's start to eliminate answer choices based on the first part of their descriptions of the passage.

A) This fits, the first paragraph "procedures" for what doctors plan members can have and the "policies" for reimbursement.

B) The passage doesn't being with an evaluation of the program. It just describes it and doesn't evaluate it as effective or ineffective.

C) It doesn't begin with a "proposal"; the program described is already in practice, it isn't being proposed.

D) This might be right, because the passage does begin with a description.

E) The passage begins with description, not "explanation of a recent occurence." The author is just laying out the details of a plan, not trying to explain the plan's existence.

So, we're left with A and D. Let's look at the last part of each description and eliminate one of those.

A) The end of the passage doesn't propose "refinements" but just says that the way the plan is currently structured may result in poor medical care. It gives a problem but no solution.

D) Correct. The passage does end with an "argumentation by the author" that this type of healthcare plan may reduce the quality of care. We know this because we were sure to look back at the passage.

Remember:

1) Read the passage. Sounds like a no-brainer, but some test preparation materials advise people to just read the sections of the passage pertaining to each question. This often has people taking more time to read the passage than if they had read it the first time, and often results in a lot of wrong answers.

2) Look back at the passage to find specific parts, if needed. Don't try to memorize it. If you read the passage carefully before looking at the questions, you should be able to find specific information quickly anyway.

3) Ignore the questions until you've finished reading the passage. Reading the questions first does no good because most anyone will be unable to remember them all at once while reading the passage anyway.

4) Eliminate answer choices based on even a single element in them. Just go down the list of responses and find what disqualifies them, on this type of question.

5) Mark the passage so you can find key evidence. This helps almost everyone. Don't get carried away and mark everything though, just key points. Writing a word or two alongside the passage that summarizes each paragraph is sometimes helpful too, to give you an overview of the passage.