LSAT 155 – Section 4 – Question 20

LSAT 155 - Section 4 - Question 20

November 2019

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT155 S4 Q20
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
A
70%
162
B
8%
150
C
2%
151
D
3%
150
E
17%
156
145
152
160
 +Medium 147.589 +SubsectionMedium

Political scientist: Democracy depends on free choices, and choices cannot be free unless they are made on the basis of well-reasoned opinions. In the Information Age, reading skills have become essential to forming well-reasoned opinions. Thus, in the Information Age, a highly literate society will be a democratic one.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that a highly literate society will be a democratic one. This is based on the following facts:

Democracy requires free choices.

Free choices require well-reasononed opinions.

Well-reasoning opinions require reading skills.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author confuses necessary conditions for sufficient conditions. Reading skills are necessary for well-reasoned opinions. But that doesn’t imply reading skills are enough for well-reasoned opinions. In addition, well-reasoned opinions are necessary for free choices, but that doesn’t imply they are sufficient for such choices. And free choices are necessary for democracy, but that doesn’t imply they are sufficient for democracy.

A
mistakes necessary conditions for sufficient conditions
The author confuses all of the necessary conditions described for sufficient conditions. This is why the author thinks a highly literate society (one with lots of reading skills) will be a democratic one.
B
fails to take into account that there are many means of forming well-reasoned opinions
Whether there are many ways to form well-reasoned opinion has no impact on the argument. We know reading skills are necessary for well-formed opinions. The author mistakenly believes having reading skills is sufficient for such opinions.
C
confuses the means of doing something with the reasons for doing it
The “reasons” for doing something — meaning, the motivations for doing something — are irrelevant. The flaw concerns a confusion of necessary and sufficient conditions. Why people take certain actions has no impact on the reasoning.
D
generalizes too hastily from one type of case to another
There’s no generalization. The author’s conclusion concerns the Information Age, and the premises also concern the Information Age.
E
takes for granted that a condition under which something occurs is a condition under which all its prerequisites occur
(E) doesn’t describe flawed logic. If X is a condition under which Y occurs, then X is also a condition under which prerequisites for Y occur (because prerequisites are necessary). In other words, if X implies Y, then it also implies everything necessary for Y.

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LSAT PrepTest 155 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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