A
When car washes all used brushes rather than mitters, there were more cars on the road with scratched finishes than there are today.
B
Modern “brushless” car washes were introduced as a direct response to the use of clear-coat finishes on cars.
C
Modern “brushless” car washes usually do not produce visible scratches on cars with older finishes.
D
Brushes are more effective than mitters and are preferred for cleaning cars with older finishes.
E
More cars in use today have clear-coat finishes rather than older finishes.
Food labeling regulation: Food of a type that does not ordinarily contain fat cannot be labeled “nonfat” unless most people mistakenly believe the food ordinarily contains fat. If most people mistakenly believe that a food ordinarily contains fat, the food may be labeled “nonfat” if the label also states that the food ordinarily contains no fat.
Summary
The stimulus can be diagrammed as follows:
Notable Valid Inferences
If most people are aware that a food does not ordinarily contain fat, that food cannot be labeled “nonfat.”
A
Although most people know that bran flakes do not normally contain fat, Lester’s Bran Flakes are not labeled “nonfat.”
Does not violate. The regulation states that, if most people know that bran flakes do not normally contain fat, Lester’s Bran Flakes cannot label their product “nonfat.” Lester’s does not do so and thus is in compliance with this regulation.
B
Although most people are aware that lasagna ordinarily contains fat, Lester’s Lasagna, which contains no fat, is not labeled “nonfat.”
Does not violate. The regulation doesn’t describe situations in which a company must label a product “nonfat,” so Lester’s isn’t in violation by choosing not to do so. Note that “labeled ‘nonfat’” is a sufficient condition, so negating it (as (B) does) cannot yield a violation.
C
Although most garlic baguettes contain fat, Lester’s Garlic Baguettes are labeled “nonfat.”
Does not violate. The entire stimulus and the conditional logic it presents take place in the domain of “food that does not ordinarily contain fat.” This answer choice takes us out of the domain—if garlic baguettes normally contain fat, the regulation has no bearing on them.
D
Although most people are aware that applesauce does not ordinarily contain fat, Lester’s Applesauce is labeled “nonfat.”
Violates the regulation. As shown below, “most people mistakenly believe the food to be fatty” is a necessary condition of “labeled ‘nonfat’”. Since Lester’s Applesauce fails the necessary, it would have to also fail the sufficient in order to comply with the regulation.
E
Although most people mistakenly believe that salsa ordinarily contains fat, the label on Lester’s Zesty Salsa says “This product, like all salsas, is nonfat.”
Does not violate. As long as most people mistakenly believe that a food ordinarily contains fat, a company is allowed to label it “nonfat.” So Lester’s is in compliance with the regulation!
Critic: As modern methods of communication and transportation have continued to improve, the pace of life today has become faster than ever before. This speed has created feelings of impermanence and instability, making us feel as if we never have enough time to achieve what we want—or at least what we think we want.
Summary
As modern ways of communication and transportation improve, the faster the pace of life has become. The faster the pace of life has become, the more we feel as if we never have enough time to achieve what we want or what we think we want.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Technological changes can result in changing the way people feel about life.
A
The fast pace of modern life has made it difficult for people to achieve their goals.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know whether or not it is difficult for people to achieve their goals in modern life.
B
The disadvantages of technological progress often outweigh the advantages.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus what the advantages are from technological progress. It could be that they vastly outweigh the disadvantages.
C
Changes in people’s feelings about life can result from technological changes.
This answer is strongly supported. This answer correctly states the causal relationship between improved technology and the way people feel.
D
The perception of impermanence in contemporary life makes it more difficult for people to know what they want.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus whether any of the technological improvements are impermanent.
E
Changes in people’s feelings fuel the need for technological advancement.
This answer is unsupported. This answer gets the causal relationship reversed. Rather, it’s technological advancement that fuels the changes in people’s feelings.
A study found that patients referred by their doctors to psychotherapists practicing a new experimental form of therapy made more progress with respect to their problems than those referred to psychotherapists practicing traditional forms of therapy. Therapists practicing the new form of therapy, therefore, are more effective than therapists practicing traditional forms.
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that therapists using the new form of therapy are more effective than therapists using traditional forms. As support, he cites a study that found that patients referred to therapists practicing the new form made more progress than those referred to therapists practicing traditional forms.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of using unrepresentative samples, where the author draws a conclusion based on a sample that doesn't accurately reflect the whole group. In this case, the author concludes something about two types of therapists based on a study of patients referred to those therapists by doctors. But if the patients referred to therapists using the new form had problems that were easier to treat, the author can't conclude that these therapists are overall more effective.
A
It ignores the possibility that therapists trained in traditional forms of therapy use the same techniques in treating their patients as therapists trained in the new form of therapy do.
Whether the two kinds of therapists use the same techniques is irrelevant. The conclusion is about which therapists are more effective, not which forms of therapy are more effective, and (A) doesn't change the fact that patients referred to the new therapists made more progress.
B
It ignores the possibility that the patients referred to therapists practicing the new form of therapy had problems more amenable to treatment than did those referred to therapists practicing traditional forms.
The author draws a conclusion based on samples that probably aren't representative. He ignores the possibility that patients referred to therapists using the new therapy are just easier to treat, and their improvement could be due to that rather than to the therapists themselves.
C
It presumes, without providing justification, that any psychotherapist trained in traditional forms of therapy is untrained in the new form of therapy.
The author doesn’t assume that this. Instead, his conclusion is about therapists who practice traditional forms rather than the new form. Those therapists may still be trained in the new form and simply choose not to practice it.
D
It ignores the possibility that therapists practicing the new form of therapy systematically differ from therapists practicing traditional forms of therapy with regard to some personality attribute relevant to effective treatment.
Even if therapists practicing the new form of therapy are significantly different from those practicing traditional forms, this doesn’t change the fact that their patients made more progress. It also doesn’t weaken the conclusion that these therapists are more effective.
E
It presumes, without providing justification, that the personal rapport between therapist and patient has no influence on the effectiveness of the treatment the patient receives.
The author never assumes that rapport doesn’t influence therapists’ effectiveness. Even if he did assume this, it wouldn’t impact the conclusion that the therapists practicing the new form are more effective because their patients made more progress.
Cookie Cutters
55.3.09
39.2.05
25.4.24
A
It is a conclusion supported by the claim that people realize that sophisticated technologies deeply affect the quality of human relations.
B
It is offered as an explanation of why people’s resistance to technological innovations is more marked the more technologically advanced the society in which they live is.
C
It is a premise in support of the claim that the quality of human relations in technologically advanced societies is extremely poor.
D
It is a generalization based on the claim that the more people resist technological innovations, the more difficult it is for them to adjust to those innovations.
E
It is an example presented to illustrate the claim that resistance to technological innovations deeply affects the quality of human relations.
A
the primary function of political parties in democracies whose governments do not subsidize elections might not be to provide a means of negating the influence of wealth on elections
B
in democracies in which elections are not fully subsidized by the government, positions endorsed by political parties might be much less varied than the positions taken by candidates
C
in democracies, government-subsidized elections ensure that the views expressed by the people who run for office might not be overly influenced by the opinions of the wealthiest people in those countries
D
in democracies in which elections are not fully subsidized by the government, it might be no easier for a wealthy person to win an election than it is for a nonwealthy person to win an election
E
a democracy in which candidates do not compromise their views in order to be elected to office might have other flaws
Kudos to the LSAT writers. They've out done themselves with this question. I hope you didn't spend too much time getting this one wrong.
The passage is tough to understand. The writers make us think that a problem was solved when really, the problem still exists, just pushed one layer down. Crafty, crafty!
Let's pretend you're a painter name van Gogh. You're fucking awesome and you know it. Problem is, no one else knows it. But, alas, despite your god like skills with a brush, your body still needs mortal nourishment, clothing, and shelter. That means you need money. That means (because this is the stupid 1800's), you need to find a wealthy patron... who wants you to paint his ugly children. You'd like to not compromise your artistic genius, to not sell out, so to speak. But of course, that's a highly probably occurrence since no wealthy patron recognizes or agrees with your godly aesthetics.
Here's where the LSAT writers come to "the rescue". They say, "wait, the wealthy are dispersed among the various schools of art in roughly equal proportion to their percentage in the overall population". So no worries van Gogh. Just join up with one of those schools of art and you're all set. You know, maybe that one over there, on the corner with the flashing neon sign.
You see how this doesn't solve your problem? Previously, it's the patrons that you'd have to pander to. Now, it's the schools of art you'd have to pander to. What's the difference? You have to pander either way. The problem was not solved, just pushed one layer down.
But, of course, it certainly felt like it was solved when you were reading the original passage didn't it? Good job, LSAT writers.