vipschips wrote:
did'nt get question 5
Quote:
5. Which one of the following is most closely analogous to pluralist democracies as they are described in relation to the democratic principle of political equality?
Hello,
vipschips. Since you have recently joined GMAT Club, I would like to point out that LSAT passages and questions feel a little different from their GMAT™ counterparts. I see no harm in practicing LSAT passages for fun, or for fine-tuning down the road, once you have gotten your accuracy up to a high level on official GMAT™ questions, but I do not recommend training for the GMAT™ by using LSAT proxies. That said, the GMAT™ does occasionally toss an Application question in front of the reader, one in which the test-taker must select an answer that demonstrates a working knowledge of some concept brought up in the passage. The
analogous scenario we are asked to consider in question 5 is fair game.
Since we are asked about an analogue
to pluralist democracies, we can start by finding information on pluralist democracies. We can worry about the latter part of the question stem,
the democratic principle of political equality, later. The opening line of the passage provides a second term for pluralist democracies—
polyarchies—so we know to look for a description of either term in the text. Toward the end of the first paragraph, we happen upon both halves of the question stem:
Quote:
[T]he democratic principle of political equality is incapable of full realization. So actual systems can be deemed democratic only as approximations to the ideal. It is on these grounds that Dahl defends polyarchy.
In short, polyarchy, or pluralist democracy, is democratic
in principle but is not capable of achieving true
political equality. We are looking for an answer that outlines a similar relationship. Furthermore, just in case you missed that information in the first paragraph, you get a reminder in the middle of the second (my
italics):
Quote:
It is this centrifugal characteristic, Dahl argues, that makes polyarchy the nearest possible approximation to the democratic ideal.
With a better understanding of the relationship, we can examine the answer choices.
Quote:
(A) an exact copy of an ancient artifact that is on display in a museum
An
exact copy is a perfect replica, and we are looking for an
imperfect execution of an ideal—an
approximation.
Quote:
(B) a performance of a musical score whose range of tonality cannot be completely captured by any actual instruments
Yes. Notice how
cannot be completely captured mirrors
incapable of full realization from the passage. The only difference is that the answer choice swaps out a political system for a musical score, and, of course, such an alteration creates an analogy.
Quote:
(C) a lecture by a former astronaut to a class of young students who would like to be astronauts
There is nothing about an aspiring political system in the passage, or any information about an earlier form of polyarchy giving shape to a rising one.
Quote:
(D) the commemoration of a historical event each year by a historian presenting a lecture on a topic related to the event
This is a little too general for a proper analogy to be drawn. Although we can imagine that different historians might present different lectures loosely related by topic, thereby touching on an aspect of plurality, we are getting away from the closely defined relationship outlined in the passage between pluralist democracies and the democratic principle of equality.
Quote:
(E) the mold from which a number of identical castings of a sculpture are made
Like (A), this answer choice touches on the notion of one thing being
identical to another. By this point, we should see right through the trap.
Perhaps the question makes more sense now. Whatever type of passage you are using to study, you must be able to find textual evidence to back up your answers. Otherwise, the task will feel overwhelming, and you will probably keep chasing answers and missing questions without understanding why.
Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew