LSAT 135 – Section 2 – Question 18

LSAT 135 - Section 2 - Question 18

December 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT135 S2 Q18
+LR
+Exp
Most strongly supported +MSS
A
18%
159
B
2%
153
C
4%
157
D
74%
164
E
1%
151
139
150
162
 +Medium 146.729 +SubsectionMedium

Historian: In rebuttal of my claim that West influenced Stuart, some people point out that West’s work is mentioned only once in Stuart’s diaries. But Stuart’s diaries mention several meetings with West, and Stuart’s close friend, Abella, studied under West. Furthermore, Stuart’s work often uses West’s terminology which, though now commonplace, none of Stuart’s contemporaries used.

Summary

The historian claimed that West influenced Stuart. Other people think West didn’t influence Stuart, because Stuart’s diaries mention West’s work only once. The historian responds to this objection by pointing out that Stuart has a close friend who studied under West, and that Stuart’s diaries mention meetings with West. The historian also points out that Stuart’s work often uses the same terms as West, even though other people working around the same time as Stuart didn’t use those words.

Strongly Supported Conclusions

The fact West’s work was mentioned only once in Stuart’s diaries does not imply that Stuart was not influenced by West.

There’s strong evidence Stuart was influenced by West.

A
Stuart’s discussions with Abella were one of the means by which West influenced Stuart.

Unsupported. There’s no support for the idea that “discussions” were the means by which Stuart was influenced. We don’t even know if Stuart and Abella had discussions. Maybe Stuart was influenced through reading Abella’s work, which could have been influenced by West.

B
It is more likely that Stuart influenced West than that West influenced Stuart.

Unsupported. The stimulus suggests that West influenced Stuart. But it doesn’t say anything concerning whether Stuart influenced West.

C
Stuart’s contemporaries were not influenced by West.

Unsupported. Although the author believes the language Stuart used is evidence of influence by West, that doesn’t suggest people who didn’t use that language weren’t influenced. The contemporaries could have been influenced, but in a way that didn’t involve using West’s words.

D
Stuart’s work was not entirely free from West’s influence.

Strongly supported. The historian points out evidence showing potential influence, including meetings with West, friendship with one of West’s students, and use of distinctive language also used by West. This isn’t a “must be true” conclusion, but it is most strongly supported.

E
Because of Stuart’s influence on other people, West’s terminology is now commonplace.

Unsupported. Although we know the terminology is now commonplace, that stimulus doesn’t tell us why it became commonplace.

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LSAT PrepTest 135 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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