LSAT 139 – Section 1 – Question 11

LSAT 139 - Section 1 - Question 11

June 2013

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT139 S1 Q11
+LR
Argument part +AP
Value Judgment +ValJudg
A
2%
155
B
2%
156
C
3%
158
D
3%
159
E
89%
165
130
141
152
 +Easier 142.273 +SubsectionEasier

Video of JY doing this

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Editor: When asked to name a poet contemporaneous with Shakespeare, 60 percent of high school students picked a twentieth-century poet. Admittedly, it is hard to interpret this result accurately. Does it show that most high school students do not know any poets of Shakespeare’s era, or do they just not know what “contemporaneous” means? However, either way, there is clearly something deeply wrong with the educational system.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that there’s something deeply wrong with the educational system. This is based on the fact that 60% of high school students pick a modern poet when asked to identify a poet contemporaneous with Shakespeare. That response by students might show that high school students don’t know the meaning of “contemporaneous,” or that students don’t know other poets of Shakespeare’s ear. Either of these interpretations signifies that there’s something wrong with the education system.

Identify Argument Part
The referenced text is used as support for the author’s conclusion that there’s something wrong with the educational system.

A
as evidence that the educational system is producing students who are ignorant of the history of poetry
This misdescribes the author’s conclusion. She didn’t try to establish that students are ignorant of the history of poetry. She acknowledged that students might just be unaware of the meaning of “contemporaneous.”
B
as evidence of the ambiguity of some questions
This misdescribes the author’s conclusion. She didn’t try to establish that some questions are ambiguous.
C
to illustrate that research results are difficult to interpret
This misdescribes the author’s conclusion. She didn’t try to establish that research results are difficult to interpret. She acknowledged multiple interpretations of the students’ response, but argued that either interpretation shows something wrong with the educational system.
D
as evidence that the ambiguity of data should not prevent us from drawing conclusions from them
This misdescribes the author’s conclusion. She didn’t try to establish that ambiguous data shouldn’t prevent us from drawing conclusion. Rather, she interpreted the students’ response as showing something is wrong with the educational system.
E
as evidence that something is deeply wrong with the educational system
This accurately describes the role of the referenced text. It was used to support the conclusion that something id wrong with the educational system.

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LSAT PrepTest 139 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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