Self-study
Conclusion Marian Anderson, the famous contralto, did not take success for granted. ██ ████ ████ ███████ ████████ ███ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ███ ███ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ████ █ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████
Summary
Anderson did not take success for granted. This is because she had to struggle early in life, and anyone who struggles early is able to keep a good perspective.
Missing Connection
The conclusion is about not taking success for granted, but none of the premises mention taking success for granted. We need to link the two. For example, suppose that anyone with a good perspective does not take success for granted. That would guarantee the author’s conclusion that Anderson did not take success for granted.
Note that assuming anyone who had to struggle early does not take success for granted would also guarantee the conclusion. But it’s more common on the LSAT for the right answer to use all inferences available from the stimulus.
14.
The conclusion of the argument ███████ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████
a
Anyone who succeeds █████ ███████ ███ ████████
This would contradict the author’s conclusion that Anderson (who was successful) did not take success for granted.
b
Anyone who is ████ ██ ████ █ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ████████
We already inferred that Anderson had a good perspective, because she struggled early in life. So, if (B) is true, she must not have taken success for granted, and the author’s conclusion is guaranteed.
c
Anyone who is ████ ██ ████ █ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████
This can’t connect to the author’s conclusion (about not taking success for granted), so this can’t be the correct answer.
d
Anyone who does ███ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████
This tells us that, if someone does not take success for granted, she had to struggle early in life. The problem is that this is starting with our endpoint. Our author wants the reverse to be true: if someone had to struggle early in life, she will not take success for granted.
e
Anyone who does ███ ████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ████ █ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████
This is the reverse of what we’re looking for. We want to start with someone who has a good perspective, and end with her not taking success for granted. By contrast, (E) starts with someone who doesn’t take success for granted, and ends with her having a good perspective.