LSAT 143 – Section 1 – Question 12

LSAT 143 - Section 1 - Question 12

June 2015

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Request new explanation

Target time: 1:52

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT143 S1 Q12
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
1%
154
B
32%
161
C
1%
159
D
65%
165
E
1%
158
139
154
170
 +Harder 148.401 +SubsectionMedium

Commentator: The Duke of Acredia argued long ago that only virtuous Acredian rulers concerned with the well-being of the people will be able to rule successfully. Since then, when Acredian governments have fallen, their falls have always been during the rule of one who viciously disregards the people’s needs. The Duke, then, was right about at least one thing: Concern for the welfare of the people is necessary for the successful governance of Acredia.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that concern for the welfare of people is necessary for successful governance of Acredia. This is based on the fact that whenever Acredian governments have fallen, their falls have always been during the rule of someone who didn’t care about the welfare of people.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks the possibility that there might be some cases where Acredian governments have been successful, but the ruler didn’t care about the welfare of people. In other words, although we know that whenever governments have failed, rulers haven’t been concerned with welfare of people, that doesn’t imply that concern with welfare of people is necessary. It’s possible there are successful Acredian governments that have also been unconcerned with welfare of people.

A
ignores the possibility that the conditions that are necessary for the welfare of the people are likely to change over time
The argument concerns what is necessary for a successful Acredian government. What’s necessary for the welfare of people is a separate issue.
B
infers the necessity of a certain condition for success from the fact that its absence has always led to failure
The premise doesn’t establish that the absence of concern for welfare has “always” led to gov. failure. It establishes that when a government has failed, it’s always been during the rule of one not concerned with welfare. (B) reverses the correct description of the premise.
C
appeals to evidence from sources that are likely to be in some way biased or unreliable
The premise doesn’t rely on a source. In any case, even if it did, we have no reason to think the evidence is based on a source that’s biased or unreliable.
D
infers that a certain condition is required for success from the fact that the lack of that condition is associated with failure
The author infers that concern for welfare is necessary for success from the fact that lack of concern has been “associated” with failure. (D) accurately describes the premise portion, unlike (B). We know whenever a gov. has failed, it’s been during lack of concern.
E
presumes, without providing justification, that the character of past rulers can be assessed in some completely objective way
The argument doesn’t try to establish anything about the character of past rulers. The argument concerns whether certain features in a ruler are necessary for success.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 143 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply