Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 122 - Section 4 - Question 22
April 21, 2012Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 122 - Section 4 - Question 23
April 21, 2012
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that people who refrain from comparing themselves to others will most likely be self-accepting and accepting of others. This is based on the fact that constantly comparing oneself with those one sees are more successful leads to self-disparagement. And, constantly comparing oneself with those one sees as less successful leads to be dismissive of others.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that there are no other ways to be self-disparaging and dismissive of others besides comparing oneself to those one sees as more successful or less successful. This overlooks the possibility that even if you stop comparing yourself to others, you might still self-disparage or dismiss others. The argument also assumes that if you’re not self-disparaging, you’ll be self-accepting, and that if you don’t dismiss others, you’ll accept others.
A
overlooks the possibility that one can compare oneself both to those one perceives to be more able and more successful than oneself and to those one perceives to be less able and less successful than oneself
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument. Perhaps someone can compare oneself both to people thought of as more successful and people thought of as less successful. The author’s conclusion concerns what happens if you stop comparing yourself to anybody at all.
B
overlooks the possibility that constantly comparing oneself to others may have beneficial effects that those who refrain from making such comparisons are deprived of
The conclusion is not a recommendation that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. It’s simply a description of what the author thinks will happen regarding self-acceptance and acceptance of others. Other benefits from comparison have no impact on this conclusion.
C
takes for granted that if one is both dismissive of others and self-disparaging, one will not be self-accepting and accepting of others
One assumption is that NOT being self-disparaging implies self-acceptance, and NOT being dismissive of others implies accepting others. (C) wrongly turns this into the idea that being self-disparaging implies NOT self-accepting, and being dismissive implies NOT accepting others.
D
overlooks the possibility that self-disparagement and being dismissive of others can result from something other than comparing oneself to others
If this possibility were true, the conclusion does not follow. Refraining from comparisons could not be expected to lead to avoidance of self-disparagement and dismissiveness if there were other things that caused these feelings. So overlooking this possibility is a flaw.
E
takes for granted that whenever one compares oneself to others one sees them as more successful and more able than oneself or less successful and less able than oneself
The author is open to the idea that not all comparisons involve people you think of as better/worse. The author simply asserts that if you don’t compare yourself to anyone, you’ll avoid things that we know result from comparing yourself to people you think of as better/worse.
Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 122 - Section 4 - Question 24
April 21, 2012Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 122 - Section 4 - Question 25
April 21, 2012
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do patrons tend to spend more time, on average, on visits to the art museum when the museum isn’t featuring a special exhibition?
Objective
The correct answer will be the only answer that doesn’t help explain the phenomenon where patrons tend to take longer trips to the art museum when the museum doesn’t feature a special exhibition. The correct answer must give us information that doesn’t affect our understanding of the phenomenon or information that makes the phenomenon more difficult to explain.
A
Visitors to the museum during special exhibitions tend to have narrower artistic interests, and do not view as many different exhibits during their visit.
The fewer exhibits that visitors view during their visit, the shorter their stay at the museum is likely to be. So during special exhibitions, the average length of visits is likely to be lower.
B
A plan to extend normal museum hours during special exhibitions was considered but not enacted during the period studied.
If the plan was never enacted, the museum’s hours didn’t change during the period studied. Knowing the museum’s hours didn’t change doesn’t help explain why patrons tend to take longer trips to the museum when the museum isn’t featuring a special exhibition.
C
Many people who go to special exhibitions go simply for the prestige of having been there.
If people only go to a special exhibition for the sake of attending, they have no reason to stay at the museum after seeing the exhibition. Therefore, these attendees are likely to lower the average amount of time spent on museum trips when a museum has a special exhibition.
D
Admission tickets to the special exhibitions at the museum are issued for a specific 1-hour period on a specific day.
If all tickets to the special exhibition are issued for a 1-hour period, the average visit length during periods with special exhibitions won’t be able to exceed an hour. This restriction could lower average visit times during a special exhibition.
E
Many people who go to special exhibitions are on organized tours and do not have the opportunity to browse.
When people can’t browse, their visit length is largely predetermined. Therefore, many of the special exhibition viewers will have greatly restricted visit lengths, likely lowering the average visit length during periods when the museum has a special exhibition.