LSAT 149 – Section 1 – Question 11

LSAT 149 - Section 1 - Question 11

December 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT149 S1 Q11
+LR
Most strongly supported +MSS
Part v. Whole +PvW
A
94%
163
B
1%
153
C
1%
150
D
4%
154
E
0%
153
126
135
144
 +Easier 143.093 +SubsectionEasier

Lecturer: If I say, “I tried to get my work done on time,” the meanings of my words do not indicate that I didn’t get it done on time. But usually you would correctly understand me to be saying that I didn’t. After all, if I had gotten my work done on time, I would instead just say, “I got my work done on time.” And this example is typical of how conversation works.

Summary

The lecturer gives us an example of a statement that, in a conversation, contains meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words. The literal meaning of “I tried to get my work done on time” does not express that I didn’t get my work done on time. But if I made that statement, you’d be correct to understand me as asserting that I didn’t get my work done on time. This example is typical of other statements in a conversation.

Strongly Supported Conclusions

People say things that contain meanings beyond the literal meaning of the words.

A
Understanding what people say often requires more than just understanding the meanings of the words they use.

Strongly supported. We have an example of a statement that contains meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words. This was typical of conversations. So, understanding the meaning of some other things people say requires more than just the meaning of the literal words.

B
It is unusual for English words to function in communication in the way that “tried” does.

Unsupported. The stimulus gave us an example of something that is typical (usual) in conversations. There’s no support for a claim about the function of certain words being unusual.

C
Understanding what people use a word to mean often requires detecting their nonverbal cues.

Unsupported. We don’t know that understanding the meaning of the example in the stimulus requires nonverbal cues. We might get the meaning from the context in which it’s made, or from the fact the person didn’t say something else.

D
Speakers often convey more information in conversation than they intend to convey.

Unsupported. The example in the stimulus concerns a speaker who intends to express more than what the literal words mean. It doesn’t concern someone who expressed more than he intended.

E
Listeners cannot reasonably be expected to have the knowledge typically required for successful communication.

Unsupported. The stimulus doesn’t tell us anything about how likely people will interpret statements accurately. Maybe most people interpret statements in conversations accurately; there’s no evidence either for or against this possibility.

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LSAT PrepTest 149 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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