Wednesday, April 2, 2008

LSATS: A lesson and a laugh

Sooo, I've been quasi studying for the LSATs. I'm not sure if it's because I still kind of want to go to law school or because I just don't have anything else lined up or on the radar for my life after Denmark. (I'm totally open to suggestion though... Please, send them my way!).

Anyway, as much as studying for a standardized test sucks, sometimes there are little gems of passages or questions that make me smile or laugh. Today, I got:
In his History of Oracles, de Fontanelle maintained that it was not the obvious and true facts, for which we lack a cause or explanation, that had convinced him of our ignorance, but rather the obvious falsities we take for facts, and for which we have elaborate causes and explanations. He felt the greatest indication of our foolishness was not that we lack principles and methods to arrive at what is true, but that we possess others that co-exist so peacefully with what is false.
... which I thought was interesting and thought provoking. I wasted a lot of time on this question being distracted and thinking about it. :/ Got it right, though.

This question, extracted entirely with the exception of the actual question part, just made me laugh:
Advertisement: All boys who read one year or more below grade level are invited to spend the summer at Remedial Reading Summer Camp. Let us get your son up to grade level. Have him spend his summer in the classroom, delving into the classics of children’s literature and winning spelling bees. Allow him to improve his morale by being surrounded by other underachievers. Make him into the successful, goal-oriented boy he was before he fell behind in his reading – and finally, the “A” student of your dreams.
Haha, can you imagine your parents sending you to Remedial Reading Summer Camp?! Sucksville. While the other, more academically gifted kids are spending their time camping and swinging on rope swings at sleep away camp, you're spending the glorious days of summer "enjoying" spelling bees. Not that there can't be something enjoyable about spelling, of course... but, really, when given the alternative, wouldn't you just wish you were smart enough to not have to go to RRSC? The saddest part about this ad, which I really hope is completely fabricated, btw, is the part about improving morale by being surrounded by other underachievers (yes! I'm the smartest dummy in the class!) and the part about being the "A" student of (presumably) the parent's dreams. Like, they won't love you unless you make As. Also, does falling behind in one's reading really make you completely goal-less?

Questions such as these really are the silver lining of studying for the LSATs.

Until next time...

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