LSAT 154 – Section 2 – Question 18

LSAT 154 - Section 2 - Question 18

September 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT154 S2 Q18
+LR
Argument part +AP
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
6%
154
B
1%
156
C
78%
163
D
13%
155
E
3%
157
138
148
158
 +Medium 144.659 +SubsectionEasier

Anthropologists have long debated whether the customs of a culture invariably function to preserve it. According to one proposed definition, a culture is the totality of the customs practiced by those whose culture it is. If this definition is correct, then the customs of a culture necessarily function to preserve it, even if only in the most trivial sense, because, under this conception of a culture, the abandonment of any custom by a culture’s members would by definition constitute that culture’s destruction.

Summarize Argument
If the view that a culture is an amalgamation of the customs practiced by its members is correct, then the customs of a culture function to preserve it. This is because the abandonment of any custom would lead to the destruction of that culture.

Identify Argument Part
The statement is a premise that supports the conditional conclusion by showing the implication of defining culture as the totality of customs.

A
It is the main conclusion drawn in the argument.
This statement is not a conclusion. It does not receive any support in the argument. It is used to support the conclusion.
B
It is a definition of a technical term used in the argument.
This is not descriptively accurate. It does not define a technical term. That occurs earlier in the stimulus.
C
It is a claim that is used to support a conditional conclusion drawn in the argument.
This claim is a premise that supports the conditional conclusion (if-then) of the argument.
D
It is a claim that is used to support the view that a culture should be understood as a totality of customs.
This is not descriptively accurate. There is no claim that culture *should* be understood as a totality of customs. This is just one proposed definition of culture.
E
It is a claim ascribed by the argument to some anthropologists but dismissed by the argument as trivial.
The claim is ascribed to some anthropologists, but the argument does not dismiss it as trivial.

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LSAT PrepTest 154 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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