PrepTest 151, Section 1, Question 1
The United States Supreme Court’s 1948 ruling in(440 more words not shown)
The primary purpose of the(3 more words not shown)
- Aquestion the reasoning(5 more words not shown)
- Bdraw a distinction(6 more words not shown)
- Cdefend the way(12 more words not shown)
- Dhighlight the shortcomings(4 more words not shown)
- Eextend the rationale(9 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the central criticism: Shelley reached a welcome result, but its reasoning has implications later courts will not accept and leaves the discriminatory content of the covenants untouched. The question asks what the author is doing with that discussion.
What we’re looking for
Our prediction is evaluating and criticizing the reasoning behind this decision. The answer need not repeat both objections to capture that purpose.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The author questions the Court's rationale, first by showing what its attribution rule would imply for other contracts, then by arguing that it targets the wrong problem. Approving of the outcome does not stop the author from challenging the reasoning used to reach it.
- B
The private-action/state-action distinction matters, but it serves the criticism of Shelley. The author explains how the Court's logic threatens that distinction. This is not a general discussion that uses the case merely to teach two categories of action.
- C
The author is not defending a traditional explanation of the decision. The opening calls its stated rationale problematic, and the remaining discussion explains the problems. Later courts' reluctance to apply it supports that criticism.
- D
The target is the Court's use of a constitutional rule, not a shortcoming of the Constitution itself. Questioning how the Court reasoned does not amount to questioning the Fourteenth Amendment.
- E
The author explores what would happen if the rationale were applied more broadly to show why it is troubling. That is a criticism of extending the rationale, not an effort to extend it to additional cases.
More Main Point questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Main Point questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.