Scope vs Interpretation (unsupported)?

[Kth769]

I was working through the section in the RC book about finding incorrect answers, and while doing the sample problems I found myself mislabeling a lot of the Interpretation (unsupported) questions as scope and vice versa. I was wondering if anyone could better explain the difference to help clear this up.

[demetri.blaisdell]

I'm glad you asked the question. A lot of my students have a little trouble distinguishing between these two ideas. The short answer is that there is some overlap between them and it's not totally essential to choose between them every time.

The long answer is below:

An answer choice that is out of scope relates to subject matter that is not discussed in the passage. Imagine a passage that discussed two sources for American law: the Constitution and English Common Law.

The out of scope answer choice might say something like "French law, on the other hand, relies on Civil Law derived from Roman precedents." You're thinking, "where the heck did that come from? We haven't mentioned French law or Civil Law anywhere. I hate France." And you're right.

The Interpretation (unsupported) answer choice would sound more like: "English Common Law is way more significant to American law than the Constitution." First, that sounds like treason. Second, nothing we have been given has allowed us to compare the two sources. The subject matter (American law, the Constitution, and Common Law) isn't strange or unexpected, but it's being used in a way that hasn't been supported by the text.

Let me know if you have any more questions about this. I'm happy to answer them. The distinction isn't so important, though, so I wouldn't spend much time worrying about it.

Demetri