Q21

[perng.yan]

sorry.. this seems like a really easy question...

i just wanted to know how you can differentiate to find the one that is "closest" to the meaning.. they are all pretty close...

I was stuck between choosing (A) and (B)... and ended up choosing (A)... bummer..

thanks.

[aileenann]

It can certainly be difficult sometimes - you have to focus on the strict meaning of each of the choices they give you. To do this, it can sometimes be best to substitute in the suggested words for the original wording - that can make it clearer.

Trying out (A), if we were to say the rules are fully illustrated by an example, we'd be changing the meaning - we don't have any examples do we? That's a fairly specific meaning, and we don't have a textual basis for it here. Since we are changing the meaning or adding information not originally there, the use must not be there.

If you look at (B), that doesn't look like a good candidate answer. Fully explicit is not the same as uncomplicated. Something could very well be complicated but still fully explicit (that is fully delineated). So sometimes it can be enough just to match the meaning of an answer choice with the original phrasing and see they couldn't possibly go together.

I hope this helps

[perng.yan]

mm yes this does. i find myself sometimes talking myself into an answer.. and this will help me eliminate.. thanks!

[wallace.rachael]

I also chose A on this one. I thought that the previous line, which states that you would treat each segment the same way as the original segment was treated, would count as an "illustration by example." If you can copy the original, doesn't that mean you can use the original as an example?

Is one possible problem that the original doesn't have an example?

Thank you!

[ohthatpatrick]

I think (A) is designed to be tempting based on the broader context of the end of the 1st paragraph and beginning of the 2nd.

The author has illustrated how fractals work by discussing a particular example, the Koch curve,

But the context of the phrase "fully explicit" is very limited, referring specifically to why "fully explicit" instructions allow fractal images to be generated by a computer.

Are we showing the computer an example of the fractal before it renders an image?

Or are we giving the computer a set of clear, repeatable instructions, and from those the computer renders an image?

It seems like the latter is a more common sense interpretation of how computers work.

I think the way you're stretching the 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph to mean "illustrated by an example" is not what we normally mean by that phrase.

The fact that subsequent segments are treated the same as the original statement is really just a rule to repeat a certain process again. It's kinda like saying the instruction on shampoo bottles to "rinse and repeat" is illustrating by means of an example.

Even though most RC questions reward our awareness of what's happening in the vicinity of what the question is asking about, these "substitute the meaning" questions have a pretty narrow focus. If you keep thinking purely about the sentence in 23-26, I think (C) seems to be smallest leap from the provided text.

Let me know if you have lingering qualms.

[ttunden]

what's wrong with E? It appeared to fit and sounded good

[maryadkins]

To some extent you need to remember always to consider what the words themselves actually mean. Context comes into play, yes, but "fully explicit" means fully, as in wholly, or in total, and "explicit" means made completely clear, or stated outright. (E) doesn't actually include either of those definitions so it's unlikely to be the right answer.

[vtoroplaza]

I am still having difficulty understanding why the answer is C, and not B. It's the only question I got wrong in this story and it seemed easy.

I started from the beginning of the sentence and went to the end. I also skimmed the lower paragraph.

Lines 23-26 state, "Since the rules for getting from one stage to another are fully explicit and always the same, images of successive stages of the process can be generated by computer." And lines 34-35 state, "...dramatically illustrates a major attraction of fractal geometry: simple processes can be responsible for incredibly complex patterns."

Taking those two sections into account, B seems to be the best answer. I did not find where the passage mentions that the shape is unambiguous.

[maryadkins]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but my response to you is going to be the same...just because in this section there is also text suggesting that it is simple or uncomplicated doesn't mean that "fully explicit" MEANS that. It may be simple, but that's just another piece of information you are given. It doesn't mean that when the author said something was explicit, what he actually meant was that it was simple. More importantly, explicit does not mean "uncomplicated." It means, most accurately of these choices, "expressed unambiguously," and that is how the author uses it here, as its standard definition.

I'm glad this section was good for you overall, though! I hope this helps clarify this one.

[KenM242]

Not once did I see anyone provide a clear-cut reasoning behind why one is correct and the others wrong. All of the justifications, at best, make the correct answer sound 'a bit better' while the wrong choices 'slightly more off'. That's not what people are looking for. For example, summarizing the area around lines 24-25 into a single word, and finding the one that is closest in meaning to the very word you picked while already knowing the answer helps no one. What people are looking for is the LSAT writer's logic as to why the other choices are wrong.

For example, "fully explicit" is surrounded by 'since' and 'can be generated by computer'. In other words, being 'fully explicit', along with being 'always the same(provided in the passage)' are two main , if not the only two, reasons that these instructions can be generated in computer.

Now, computers don't need to be shown examples to do anything, that's not how their output works. Also, computers can handle complicated stuff. However, is the instructions are ambiguous-open to two or more interpretations-a computer will not be able to produce consistent output with them.

That's why I think (C) is the correct answer.

I am not saying I am confident about my reasoning, but if anyone wants to teach anyone on a question like this, this type of approach is the least they can employ to help clarify things for people, rather than hiding behind vague, abstract interpretations.

Again, I'm not trying to teach anyone with my reasoning, I'm just contributing to the forum by writing what I think is right. Hopefully someone comes along to either confirm it or tear it down with more concrete, committed reasoning.

[em71]

nah ken I agree with you. thanks for your contribution!