LSAT 156 – Section 2 – Question 17

LSAT 156 - Section 2 - Question 17

July 2020

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT156 S2 Q17
+LR
Must be true +MBT
A
12%
149
B
12%
156
C
21%
151
D
51%
161
E
4%
152
145
156
168
 +Harder 145.275 +SubsectionEasier

To measure a small boat hull accurately, it is necessary to level the hull so that a baseline can be established. This does not require sophisticated tools, but it does require a leveling tool called a “line level.” When scientists discovered a small ninth-century boat, they wanted to record the dimensions of its hull accurately. None of the scientists, however, had any experience measuring hulls. Because of this they were not sure they had leveled the hull before establishing a baseline.

Summary
The stimulus can be diagrammed as follows:

Notable Valid Inferences
If you can measure a the hull of a small boat accurately, then you used a line level.

A
The scientists did not accurately measure the hull’s dimensions because they had no experience measuring hulls.
Could be false. We only know that the scientists weren’t sure they had leveled the hull; we don’t know definitively that they did not do so. Also, we do not have enough information to guarantee the causal claim that (A) makes.
B
The scientists accurately determined the hull’s dimensions, provided that they leveled the hull.
Could be false. (B) can be represented as “level the hull→ measure accurately,” which reverses the sufficient and necessary conditions given in the sitmulus.
C
If the scientists did not accurately determine the hull’s dimensions, it was because they did not have a line level.
Could be false. (C) makes a causal claim that we cannot justify from the information in the stimulus.
D
The scientists were able to accurately record the hull’s dimensions only if they used a line level.
Must be true. We know that using a line tool is a necessary condition of measuring accurately.
E
If the scientists had measured the hull’s dimensions accurately, then at least one of them would have had experience measuring hulls.
Could be false. Experience with measuring hulls isn’t a necessary condition of measuring accurately.

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LSAT PrepTest 156 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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