LSAT 129 – Section 1 – Question 02

LSAT 129 - Section 1 - Question 02

June 2009

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT129 S1 Q02
+LR
+Exp
Weaken +Weak
A
6%
157
B
87%
164
C
4%
156
D
2%
158
E
1%
149
129
140
152
 +Easier 146.023 +SubsectionMedium

Randy: After Mega Cable Television Company refused to carry the competing Azco News Service alongside its own news channels, the mayor used her influence to get Azco time on a community channel, demonstrating her concern for keeping a diversity of news programming in the city.

Marion: The mayor’s action is fully explained by cruder motives: she’s rewarding Azco’s owner, a political supporter of hers.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
Marion hypothesizes that, by using her influence to get Azco time on a community channel, the mayor was rewarding Azco’s owner for politically supporting the mayor.

Notable Assumptions
Marion assumes that there’s no other explanation for why the mayor used her influence to get Azco time on a community channel.

A
The owner of Azco supported the mayor simply because he liked her political agenda, and not for any expected reward.
The mayor can still choose to reward the owner, even if the owner didn’t expect it. (A) doesn’t suggest that the mayor’s action might not be a choice to reward the owner for the support.
B
The mayor also used her influence to get time on a community channel for another news service, whose owner supported the mayor’s opponent in the last election.
This suggests that there can be other motives behind the mayor’s action besides rewarding for political support. After all, (B) shows that the mayor used her influence in a similar way for someone who didn’t support her.
C
Azco’s news coverage of the mayor has never been judged to be biased by an impartial, independent organization.
Marion’s theory doesn’t depend on the content of Azco’s channel involving bias. It’s just based on the Azco owner’s support of the mayor. This could be financial support, such as donations to the mayor’s campaign.
D
The many people whose jobs depend on Azco’s continued presence on a community channel are a potential source of political support for the mayor.
This doesn’t suggest that the mayor’s action might not be a reward to the Azco owner. If anything, this provides more reason to think the mayor might be politically motivated.
E
The number of people who watch Mega Cable Television Company’s programming has decreased during the mayor’s term.
The number of people watching Mega Cable has no clear impact on Marion’s theory. Her theory doesn’t depend on any assumptions concerning viewership of either Mega Cable or Azco.

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LSAT PrepTest 129 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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