LSAT 142 – Section 4 – Question 12

LSAT 142 - Section 4 - Question 12

December 2014

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT142 S4 Q12
+LR
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Link Assumption +LinkA
Value Judgment +ValJudg
A
2%
155
B
2%
154
C
3%
154
D
92%
164
E
1%
155
135
142
150
 +Medium 147.564 +SubsectionMedium

Prime minister: Our nation’s government should give priority to satisfying the needs of our nation’s people over satisfying the needs of people of any other nation. This is despite the fact that the people of other nations are equal in worth to the people of our nation, which means that it is objectively no more important to satisfy the needs of our nation’s people than to satisfy those of other nations’ people.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why does the prime minister claim that his government should prioritize the needs of his nation’s people over those of any other nation’s people, even though the needs of all people are equally worth prioritizing?

Objective

The correct answer will be a principle that helps to explain why the prime minister’s nation should prioritize the needs of its own people, even though the needs of all people are equally worth prioritizing.

A
A nation’s government should not attempt to satisfy the needs of a group of people unless the satisfaction of those people’s needs is objectively more important than that of any other group’s needs.

This furthers the conflict in the prime minister’s claims. Because his nation’s people’s needs are not objectively more important than any other group’s needs, (A) argues that his nation should not prioritize the needs of its own people. We need an explanation for why it should.

B
A nation’s government should give priority to satisfying the needs of its own people over satisfying the needs of another nation’s people only if its own people are more worthy than the other nation’s people.

This furthers the conflict. Because the prime minister’s nation’s people are not more worthy than any other nation’s people, (B) argues that his government should not prioritize the needs of its own people. We need an explanation for why it should prioritize their needs.

C
The priority a nation’s government should place on satisfying the needs of a group of people depends mainly on how objectively important it is for the needs of those people to be satisfied.

This doesn’t resolve the conflict in the prime minister’s claims. We know it’s not objectively more important to meet the needs of his nation’s people than those of any other nation. So, the question remains: why should the prime minister’s government prioritize its own people?

D
When the people of two nations are equally worthy, the needs of the people of each of those nations should be satisfied primarily by the people’s own governments.

This helps to resolve the conflict in the prime minister’s claims. According to this principle, since the needs of all nations are equally important and all people are equally worthy, the prime minister’s government should prioritize the needs of its own people.

E
A nation’s government should give priority to the satisfaction of the needs of a group of people if, but only if, there is no other way for that group’s needs to be satisfied.

We don’t know if there are other ways for the prime minister’s nation’s needs to be satisfied. Instead, our questions is whether his nation’s government should prioritize its own people’s needs, given the fact that all people’s needs are equally important.

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LSAT PrepTest 142 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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