LSAT 153 – Section 2 – Question 08

LSAT 153 - Section 2 - Question 08

June 2019

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT153 S2 Q08
+LR
Strengthen +Streng
Rule-Application +RuleApp
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
83%
162
B
2%
155
C
7%
155
D
4%
153
E
4%
155
134
144
155
 +Medium 146.684 +SubsectionMedium

Analyst: When Johnson attacked his opponent by quoting her out of context, his campaign defended this attack by claiming that the quote was even more politically damaging to her in context. But those who run his campaign clearly do not believe this. They have since had plenty of chances to refer to the quote in its proper context but continue to quote it out of context.

Summarize Argument
The analyst concludes Johnson’s campaign doesn’t actually believe his opponent’s quote was more damaging in context. Why not? Because they’ve passed on several more opportunities to quote her statement in context.

Notable Assumptions
The analyst assumes Johnson’s campaign continues to take the quote out of context because it believes the quote would be no more damaging in context. This means assuming there’s no other reason the campaign would continue to give the quote without context—such as convenience, for example.

A
In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will pursue the line of attack they believe to be most politically damaging.
This makes concrete the analyst’s assumption that the campaign would only continue to use the quote out of context if it were at least as damaging as the quote in context. It rules out the possibility that considerations other than political damage are more important.
B
In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns do not use techniques that they would find objectionable if used against their candidate.
This principle doesn’t apply. There’s no indication Johnson’s campaign would find it objectionable if his opponent quoted him in context.
C
In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns are expected by voters to make sure that the quotes to which these campaigns refer are not taken out of context.
This principle doesn’t affect the argument. It implies the campaign must have some motivation for taking the quote out of context—but doesn’t make the particular motivation suggested by the analyst any more likely.
D
In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will not be strongly criticized as long as the words attributed to their opponent were actually said by their opponent.
This doesn’t affect the argument. It implies Johnson’s campaign won’t be criticized either way—it doesn’t make it any more likely the campaign is lying.
E
In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will avoid using techniques that leave their candidate open to effective counterattacks.
This principle doesn’t apply. There’s no indication that quoting Johnson’s opponent in context—as opposed to out of context—would make Johnson vulnerable to counterattack.

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LSAT PrepTest 153 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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