LSAT 109 – Section 1 – Question 03

LSAT 109 - Section 1 - Question 03

December 2000

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT109 S1 Q03
+LR
Point at issue: disagree +Disagr
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
98%
166
B
0%
151
C
1%
158
D
0%
151
E
0%
162
120
127
137
 +Easiest 148.877 +SubsectionMedium

Juan: Unlike the ancient Olympic games on which they are based, the modern Olympics include professional as well as amateur athletes. But since amateurs rarely have the financial or material resources available to professionals, it is unlikely that the amateurs will ever offer a serious challenge to professionals in those Olympic events in which amateurs compete against professionals. Hence, the presence of professional athletes violates the spirit of fairness essential to the games.

Michiko: But the idea of the modern Olympics is to showcase the world’s finest athletes, regardless of their backgrounds or resources. Hence, professionals should be allowed to compete.

Speaker 1 Summary
Juan thinks that having professional athletes compete in the Olympics violates the spirit of fairness underpinning the games. Why? Because professional athletes will likely not be seriously challenged by amateurs. This is further backed up by the fact that professionals generally have more resources than amateurs.

Speaker 2 Summary
Michiko argues that professional athletes should be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Why? Because the point of the Olympics is to display the best athletes in the world, even if they’re the best because they have more resources.

Objective
We need to find a point of disagreement. Juan and Michiko disagree about the most important principle behind the Olympics: Juan thinks it’s fairness, but Michiko thinks it’s showcasing excellence.

A
whether the participation of both amateur and professional athletes is in accord with the ideals of the modern Olympics
Juan thinks that the participation of professionals is not in accord, but Michiko thinks it is—this is the disagreement. This is because Juan thinks that fairness is the key ideal of the Olympics, but Michiko thinks the Olympics are about displaying athletic excellence.
B
whether both amateur and professional athletes competed in the ancient Olympic games upon which the modern Olympics are based
Juan claims in passing that amateurs and professionals did not both compete in the ancient Olympics, but Michiko neither agrees nor disagrees. Michiko just talks about the modern Olympics.
C
whether the athletes who compete in the modern Olympics are the world’s finest
Neither speaker actually says whether modern Olympic athletes are the world’s best or not. Michiko indicates that they should be the best, but even then doesn’t discuss whether that reflect reality.
D
whether any amateur athletes have the financial or material resources that are available to professional athletes
Neither speaker makes an absolute claim that no amateurs have the same resources as professionals. Juan says that amateurs “rarely” have those resources, and Michiko says nothing at all about who has resources.
E
whether governments sponsor professional as well as amateur athletes in the modern Olympics
Neither speaker mentions government sponsorship of athletes at all.

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LSAT PrepTest 109 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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