LSAT 126 – Section 3 – Question 12

LSAT 126 - Section 3 - Question 12

October 2008

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT126 S3 Q12
+LR
Most strongly supported +MSS
Math +Math
A
3%
154
B
2%
154
C
16%
158
D
70%
165
E
9%
157
147
155
163
 +Harder 144.364 +SubsectionEasier

The total number of book titles published annually in North America has approximately quadrupled since television first became available. Retail sales of new titles, as measured in copies, increased rapidly in the early days of television, though the rate of increase has slowed in recent years. Library circulation has been flat or declining in recent years.

Summary
The stimulus says that four times as many new books are published in North America each year, compared to when television first became available. Also, shortly after television’s debut, new books sold at much faster rates than before. Now, more books are still selling each year, but the rate of increase is slowing down. However, recently, library use has been flat or falling.

Strongly Supported Conclusions
The stimulus lets us infer these conclusions:
The arrival of television in North America did not lead to a decline in new book publications or in book sales.
An increase in new books sold each year does not always coincide with an increase in library circulation.

A
Television has, over the years, brought about a reduction in the amount of per capita reading in North America.
This is not supported. The facts do not directly address per capita reading, and we also don’t have enough information to make an inference. How much has the population grown compared to book sales? Do book sales reflect reading rates? We don’t know.
B
The introduction of television usually brings about a decrease in library use.
This is not supported. We only have information about one situation with television and books in North America, so we can’t conclude that anything “usually” happens. Also, we don’t know of any causal link between television and library use.
C
Book publishers in North America now sell fewer copies per title than they sold in the early days of television.
This is not supported. The facts don’t include any information about the proportion between new book titles and total books sold, so we can’t say if those numbers balance differently than they used to.
D
The availability of television does not always cause a decline in the annual number of book titles published or in the number of books sold.
This is strongly supported. Based on the stimulus, since television was introduced in North America, there have been increases in book titles published and total books sold. Thus, television can’t have caused a decline, meaning it must not always cause a decline.
E
The introduction of television expanded the market for books in North America.
This is not supported. We know that books started selling faster after television was introduced, but we have no idea if there’s a causal link between those events. All we have is a correlation!

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LSAT PrepTest 126 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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