LSAT 140 – Section 1 – Question 19

LSAT 140 - Section 1 - Question 19

December 2013

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT140 S1 Q19
+LR
Must be false +MBF
PSA - Find or complete the application +PSAa
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Rule-Application +RuleApp
A
61%
167
B
28%
162
C
8%
158
D
2%
157
E
2%
159
149
160
171
 +Hardest 148.137 +SubsectionMedium

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One should not intentionally misrepresent another person’s beliefs unless one’s purpose in doing so is to act in the interest of that other person.

Summary
The stimulus can be diagrammed as follows:

Notable Valid Inferences
If it is acceptable to intentionally misrepresent one’s beliefs, then you must be doing so in their interest.

A
Ann told someone that Bruce thought the Apollo missions to the moon were elaborate hoaxes, even though she knew he did not think this; she did so merely to make him look ridiculous.
This must violate the principle. Ann is not acting in Bruce’s interest, but she does misrepresent his beliefs. The sufficient condition of the rule (/person’s interest) is met, but the necessary condition (/intentionally misrepresent) is not, so this violates the rule.
B
Claude told someone that Thelma believed in extraterrestrial beings, even though he knew she believed no such thing; he did so solely to keep this other person from bothering her.
This is consistent with the principle. Claude intentionally represented Thelma’s beliefs, and he did so in her interest.
C
In Maria’s absence John had told people that Maria believed that university education should be free of charge. He knew that Maria would not want him telling people this, but he wanted these people to think highly of Maria.
The rule does not apply. In this situation, we don’t know Maria’s true beliefs––we just know that Maria wouldn’t want John to tell people that she thought education should be free. Because of this, we don’t know if John misrepresented her beliefs, intentionally or not.
D
Harvey told Josephine that he thought Josephine would someday be famous. Harvey did not really think that Josephine would ever be famous, but he said she would because he thought she would like him as a result.
The rule does not apply. In this situation, Harvey is misrepresenting his own beliefs; the rule applies to situations about misrepresenting another person’s beliefs.
E
Wanda told people that George thought Egypt is in Asia. Wanda herself knew that Egypt is in Africa, but she told people that George thought it was in Asia because she wanted people to know that George knew little about geography.
The rule does not apply. We don’t know whether or not George actually thought Egypt is in Asia, so we don’t know if Wanda was misrepresenting George’s beliefs.

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LSAT PrepTest 140 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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