Computers have long been utilized in the sphere of law in the form of word processors, spreadsheets, legal research systems, and practice management systems. ███
Problem with Early Methods ·Underestimated difficulty of interpretation
E.g., is a mobile home in a trailer park a house or a motor vehicle? That requires interpretation. Many laws contain vague concepts in order to be flexible. But to apply those laws requires a lot of contextual knowledge about the world.
Problem with Modern Methods ·The problem of interpretation is still present
Because the computer still needs to figure out which cases are similar in relevant ways.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
23.
In the passage as a ██████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ █████████ ████
Question Type
Implied
Purpose of passage
In this Problem-Analysis passage, the author describes a problem without endorsing a solution. So her purpose is simply to make us aware of the problem and the reasons for that problem.
The author doesn’t suggest that the problems with computer-based interpretation and reasoning will fundamentally change anything. In fact, she notes in P2 that doctrine-based systems won’t work “in the foreseeable future” at least and in P3 that case-based systems have an “intractable” (i.e., difficult to solve) problem.
b
indicating that the ███ ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ██ ████████████ █████ █████████ ████████
The purpose of this Problem-Analysis passage is to inform us of a problem, and this is a good description of that problem.
This describes a solution to the problem of designing legal reasoning systems. But the author doesn’t argue for a solution, and she never suggests that getting computers to use “human intuition” could be a solution. The only factor she brings up about how to get legal reasoning systems to work better is to give them “comprehensive knowledge of the world.” There’s nothing there about intuition, and anyway, she doesn’t propose this as a real solution because she believes it’s beyond what computers are capable of.
e
defending the use ██ █████████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████ █████ ██████████
The author is describing a problem with a specific application of computers. She’s not discussing the use of computers in general, and she’s not defending their use.
Difficulty
95% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is somewhat easier than other questions in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%136
143
75%150
Analysis
Implied
Purpose of passage
Law
Problem-analysis
Single position
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
1%
155
b
95%
165
c
1%
155
d
2%
156
e
0%
157
Question history
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