SECTION I
　　Time 35 minutes 26 Questions
　　Directions: Each passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer, that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.
　　To many developers of technologies that affect public health or the environment, “risk communication” means persuading the public that the potential risks of such technologies are small and should be ignored. Those who communicate risks in this way seem to believe that lay people do not understand the actual nature of technological risk, and they can cite studies asserting that although people apparently ignore mundane hazards that pose significant danger, they get upset about exotic hazards that pose little chance of death or injury. Because some risk communicators take this persuasive stance, many lay people see “risk communication” as a euphemism for brainwashing done by experts.
　　Since, however, the goal of risk communication should be to enable people to make informed decisions about technological risks, a clear understanding about how the public perceives risk is needed. Lay people’s definitions of “risk” are more likely to reflect subjective ethical concerns than are experts’ definitions. Lay people, for example, tend to perceive a small risk to children as more significant than a large risk to consenting adults who benefit from the risk-creating technology. However, if asked to rank hazards by the number of annual fatalities, without reference to ethical judgments, lay people provide quite reasonable estimates, demonstrating that they have substantial knowledge about many risks. Although some studies claim to demonstrate that lay people have inappropriate concerns about exotic hazards, these studies often use questionable methods, such as asking lay people to rank risks that are hard to compare. In contrast, a recent study showed that when lay people were given the necessary facts and time, they understood the specific risks of electromagnetic fields produced by high-voltage power transmission well enough to make informed decisions.
　　Risk communication should therefore be based on the principle that people process new information in the context of their existing beliefs. If people know nothing about a topic, they will find messages about that topic incomprehensible. If they have erroneous beliefs, they are likely to misconstrue the messages. Thus, communicators need to know the nature and extent of recipients’ knowledge and beliefs in order to design messages that will not be dismissed or misinterpreted. This need was demonstrated in a research project concerning the public’s level of knowledge about risks posed by the presence of radon in the home. Researchers used open-ended interviews and questionnaires to determine what information should be included in their brochure on radon. Subjects who read the researchers’ brochure performed significantly better in understanding radon risks than did a control group who read a brochure that was written using a different approach by a government agency. Thus, careful preparation can help risk communicators to produce balanced material that tells people what they need to know to make decisions about technological risks.
　　1. Which one of the following best expresses the main point of the passage?
　　(A) Risk communicators are effectively addressing the proliferation of complex technologies that have increasing impact on public health and safety.
　　(B) Risk communicators should assess lay people’s understanding of technologies in order to be able to give them the information they need to make reasonable decisions.
　　(C) Experts who want to communicate to the public about the possible risks of complex technologies must simplify their message to ensure that it is understandable.
　　(D) Risk communication can be perceived as the task of persuading lay people to accept the impact of a particular technology on their lives.
　　(E) Lay people can be unduly influenced by subjective concerns when making decisions about technological risks.
　　2. The authors of the passage would be most likely to agree that the primary purpose of risk communication should be to
　　(A) explain rather than to persuade
　　(B) promote rather than to justify
　　(C) influence experts rather than to influence lay people
　　(D) allay people’s fears about mundane hazards rather than about exotic hazards
　　(E) foster public acceptance of new technologies rather than to acknowledge people’s ethical concerns
　　3. According to the passage, it is probable that which one of the following will occur when risk communicators attempt to communicate with lay people who have mistaken ideas about a particular technology?
　　(A) The lay people perceiving that the risk communicators have provided more-reliable information, will discard their mistaken notion.
　　(B) The lay people will only partially revise their ideas on the basis of the new information.
　　(C) The lay people fitting the new information into their existing framework will interpret the communication differently that the risk communicators had intended.
　　(D) The lay people misunderstanding the new information will further distort the information when they communicate it to other lay people.
　　(E) The lay people will ignore any communication about a technology they consider potentially dangerous.
　　4. Which one of the following is most clearly an example of the kind of risk perception discussed in the “studies” mentioned in line 8?
　　(A) A skydiver checks the lines on her parachute several times before a jump because tangled lines often keep the parachutes from opening properly
　　(B) A person decides to quit smoking in order to lesson the probability of lung damage to himself and his family
　　(C) A homeowner who decides to have her house tested for radon also decides not to allow anyone to smoke in her house
　　(D) A person who often weaves in and out of traffic while driving his car at excessive speeds worries about meteorites hitting his house
　　(E) A group of townspeople opposes the building of a nuclear waste dump outsider their town and proposes that the dump be placed in another town
　　5. It can be inferred that the authors of the passage would be more likely than would the risk communicators discussed in the first paragraph to emphasize which one of the following?
　　(A) lay people’s tendency to become alarmed about technologies that they find new or strange
　　(B) lay people’s tendency to compare risks that experts would not consider comparable
　　(C) the need for lay people to adopt scientists’ advice about technological risk
　　(D) the inability of lay people to rank hazards by the number of fatalities caused annually
　　(E) the impact of lay people’s value systems on their perceptions of risk
　　6. According to the passage many lay people believe which one of the following about risk communication?
　　(A) It focuses excessively on mundane hazards.
　　(B) It is a tool used to manipulate the public.
　　(C) It is a major cause of inaccuracies in public knowledge about science.
　　(D) It most often functions to help people make informed decisions.
　　(E) Its level of effectiveness depends on the level of knowledge its audience already has.

　　参考答案：1-6 BACDEB
　　相关阅读：LSAT考试备考辅导、心得技巧
　　美国法学院入学考试LSAT阅读真题（含答案）汇总
　　法学院入学考试(LSAT)写作范文汇总
　　LSAT阅读：找准文章结构和观点汇总
　　考生心得：申请JD，LSAT成绩是关键
　　相关阅读：LSAT考试交流空间!