LSAT 104 – Section 4 – Question 18

LSAT 104 - Section 4 - Question 18

December 1998

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT104 S4 Q18
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
4%
162
B
56%
170
C
25%
166
D
4%
161
E
10%
167
151
165
179
 +Hardest 147.438 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Book publishers have traditionally published a few books that they thought were of intrinsic merit even though these books were unlikely to make a profit. Nowadays, however, fewer of these books are being published. It seems, therefore, that publishers now, more than ever, are more interested in making money than in publishing books of intrinsic value.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that today, more than in the past, publishers are even more interested in making money than in publishing books demonstrating intrinsic merit. This is because there’s been a decline in the number of books of intrinsic merit that are published.

Notable Assumptions
There’s no other explanation for the decline in the number of books of intrinsic merit being published aside from an increase in the publishers’ interest in making money.

A
Book publishers have always been very interested in making money.
The author never denied that publishers were very interested in making money in the past. The author’s point is just that their desire for money has increased.
B
There has been a notable decline in the quality of books written in recent years.
This provides an alternate explanation for the decline in publication of books of intrinsic merits. If there’s been a decline in the quality of books written, that could reasonably mean there are fewer books of intrinsic merit available for publication.
C
In the past, often books of intrinsic value would unexpectedly make a sizable profit.
If the profits were “unexpected,” the publishers didn’t know which books of intrinsic merit would lead to profits. So, we can’t read (C) as suggesting that the past publication of books of intrinsic merit was due to a desire to make profit.
D
There have always been authors unwilling to be published unless a profit is guaranteed.
This answer doesn’t suggest any reason to think there’s been an increase in the number of authors unwilling to publish. So, this doesn’t explain a decrease in the number of books of intrinsic merit being published.
E
In recent years, profits in the book publishing industry have been declining.
This doesn’t provide an alternate explanation for a decline in the publication of books of intrinsic merit. If anything, it could support the author’s theory by suggesting that declining profits might have lead publishers to become more competitve and more concerned about money.

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LSAT PrepTest 104 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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