LSAT 108 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 108 - Section 2 - Question 14

February 2000

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT108 S2 Q14	+LR	Strengthen +Streng	A 1% 152 B 64% 168 C 33% 163 D 0% 165 E 2% 154	142 157 173	+Harder	145.001 +SubsectionEasier

Essayist: Some researchers criticize British governmental security agencies for not releasing enough information about sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) made by these military and intelligence agencies. Requests for information by civilian researchers are brushed aside. This leads one to suspect that there have been spacecraft sighted near Earth that are extraterrestrial in origin.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The essayist hypothesizes that extraterrestrial spaceships have been spotted near Earth. Why? Because British security agencies don’t release much information about UFO sightings.

Notable Assumptions

The essayist assumes no alternative explanation accounts for the security agencies’ refusal to release information about UFOs. That requires assuming the agencies do, in fact, have information about UFO sightings that they’re withholding.

The British government is generally not forthcoming with secure information.

This doesn’t mean the information about UFOs is considered secure—perhaps the government is also not forthcoming with some insecure information. Even if it is secure, this doesn’t advance the argument by making any alternative hypothesis less likely.

The British government would withhold information pertaining to UFOs only if it were established that they were from other planets.

This implies the UFOs must be extraterrestrial if the British government is withholding information about them. It rules out the possibility the agencies are keeping silent about sightings of aircraft that might be from Earth.

The British government would deny the requests by civilian researchers to have access to data only if this government had something to hide.

This implies the government has something to hide, not that the spacecraft sighted are extraterrestrial. There are many possible reasons the government might want to hide this information that have nothing to do with extraterrestrial spaceships.

The British government is less trusting of civilian researchers than it is of military researchers.

This comparison is irrelevant because the essayist doesn’t mention military researchers. Even if the government were particularly mistrustful of civilian researchers, that wouldn't imply they’ve spotted extraterrestrial UFOs.

The British government has always attempted to deny the existence of UFOs.

This doesn’t mean their refusal to provide information indicates those UFOs are extraterrestrial. It’s not established whether the security agencies actually have information about UFOs.

LSAT 108 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 108 - Section 2 - Question 14

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LSAT PrepTest 108 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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