LSAT 158 – Section 2 – Question 09

LSAT 158 - Section 2 - Question 09

May 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT158 S2 Q09
+LR
Argument part +AP
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
0%
137
B
2%
148
C
73%
162
D
12%
157
E
13%
154
136
148
160
 +Medium 146.031 +SubsectionMedium

Scholar: The purpose of a law is to deter certain actions by threatening to punish those performing the actions. This threat works only if potential violators believe that they are likely to be punished. But the likelihood that someone will be apprehended and punished for committing a prohibited act decreases as the number of types of prohibited actions increases. Therefore, a successful legal system prohibits only those few behaviors that citizens find absolutely intolerable.

Summarize Argument
The scholar argues that a successful legal system should prohibit only those few behaviors citizens believe are intolerable. This is because the purpose of a law is to deter specific actions through the threat of punishment, which is effective only if potential violators believe they are likely to be punished. However, the likelihood of punishment decreases as the number of prohibited actions increases.

Identify Argument Part
This statement lays out the intended purpose of the law, and is used as a premise to support the author’s main conclusion.

A
It is offered in support of the implicit conclusion that a legal system needs a significant number of police officers.
This is not descriptively accurate. There is no implicit conclusion that the legal system needs more police officers.
B
It is the conclusion of the argument.
The statement is not a conclusion. It does not receive any support.
C
It is a premise of the argument.
This is an accurate description of the statement. It only provides support to the main conclusion.
D
It is an intermediate conclusion.
The statement is not an intermediate conclusion. It does not receive any support.
E
It is the view that the argument as a whole is designed to discredit.
This is not descriptively accurate. The scholar believes this statement and uses it to support his main conclusion.

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LSAT PrepTest 158 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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