LSAT 147 – Section 1 – Question 15

LSAT 147 - Section 1 - Question 15

September 2016

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT147 S1 Q15
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
82%
163
B
4%
158
C
5%
157
D
7%
155
E
2%
153
138
147
157
 +Medium 147.09 +SubsectionMedium

A popular book argues that people who are successful in business have, without exception, benefited from a lot of luck on their way to success. But this is ridiculous. Anyone who has studied successful people knows that success requires a lot of hard work.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
A book argues that people who are successful in business have always benefited from luck.

The author concludes that the book is wrong. This is based on the fact that success requires hard work.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author misinterprets the book’s claim as a statement about what’s sufficient for success. The book actually says that luck is necessary for success in business. But the author thinks the book says that luck is sufficient for success. This is what makes the author think that pointing out success requires hard work shows that the book is wrong. The author’s trying to prove that luck alone, without hard work, won’t lead to success. This point, however, is irrelevant to what the book actually said.

A
It mistakes the claim that something is required for a purpose for the claim that it is sufficient for that purpose.
The book claimed that luck is required for business success. But the author interprets that as a claim that luck is sufficient for business success. This confusion is why the author thinks hard work being required for success proves the book wrong.
B
It accepts a view as authoritative without establishing the authority of the source of the view.
The author does not accept any view as authoritative. The author tries to prove the book’s claim is false.
C
It takes for granted in a premise what it is trying to prove in its conclusion.
(C) describes circular reasoning. The author’s conclusion is not restated in a premise.
D
It treats an effect of something as the cause of that thing.
The argument isn’t causal. The author’s trying to disprove the book’s claim by indicating that hard work is required for success. This argument involves sufficiency and necessity, not cause.
E
It attacks the source of an argument rather than attacking the substance of that argument.
There’s no attack on the source of the book’s claim.

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LSAT PrepTest 147 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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