Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 10
January 24, 2019Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 86 - Section 4 - Question 16
January 22, 2019Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 16
January 22, 2019
Here, the editorial argues that Kramer’s conclusion is false simply because his support— that those companies did not invest significantly in other industries in the region— is weak. The editorial successfully weakens Kramer’s support, but this isn’t enough to prove that his conclusion is false. Maybe coal companies are still responsible for the region’s economic problems, even though they did invest in other industries.
A
concludes that one party is not to blame for a particular outcome merely on the grounds that another party is to blame for that outcome
B
concludes that a person’s statement is false merely on the grounds that, if accepted as true, it would impugn the reputation of an important industry
C
rejects an argument merely on the grounds that the person offering the argument has an ulterior motive for doing so
D
takes a sufficient condition for the coal companies’ having made significant investments in other industries in the region to be a necessary condition for their having done so
E
concludes that a person’s statement is false merely on the grounds that an inadequate argument has been given for it
Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 86 - Section 4 - Question 14
January 22, 2019Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 14
January 22, 2019Cora: It is natural for humans to use technology to effect changes on the environment—humans have used technology in that way for many thousands of years. Therefore, your criticism is misguided.
A
It is used to suggest that the alleged cause of terrible changes to the environment cannot be correctly described as unnatural.
B
It is used to suggest that humans have benefited from many of the changes that they have wrought on the environment.
C
It is used to suggest that Max’s conclusion that technology has wrought terrible changes on the environment has not been supported.
D
It is used to suggest that the conveniences of modern life will make it difficult for humans to return to a natural way of living.
E
It is used to suggest that it is a mistake to take the environmental changes caused by technology to be a moral issue.
Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 86 - Section 4 - Question 09
January 22, 2019Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 09
January 22, 2019Office manager: Every vacation an office worker takes significantly reduces the psychological exhaustion experienced on the job. Therefore, to reduce the amount of psychological exhaustion as much as possible over the course of a year, office workers should divide their vacation time into several short vacations spaced throughout the year, rather than into one or two long vacations.
Summarize Argument
The manager concludes that workers should take several short vacations throughout the year instead of one or two long ones to reduce psychological exhaustion as much as possible. She supports this by saying that each vacation a worker takes significantly reduces the psychological exhaustion experienced on the job.
Identify and Describe Flaw
Just because each vacation "significantly reduces" exhaustion doesn't mean they’re equally effective. If long vacations reduce exhaustion more than short ones, then one or two long vacations might actually be more effective than several short ones. In that case, the manager can't conclude that workers should take several short vacations to reduce exhaustion as much as possible.
A
It takes for granted that each short vacation taken by an office worker during a year reduces the psychological exhaustion experienced on the job by an equal amount.
Even if the manager did assume this, it wouldn’t affect her conclusion. Instead, her argument is vulnerable to criticism because she assumes that short vacations are equally as effective as long vacations at reducing exhaustion.
B
It overlooks the possibility that there are methods office workers can employ to reduce the amount of psychological exhaustion experienced on the job that are as effective as taking vacations.
The manager never assumes that vacations are the only methods that effectively reduce workers’ exhaustion. She just argues that workers should take several short vacations instead of one or two long ones to reduce exhaustion as much as possible.
C
It overlooks the possibility that individual office workers may differ substantially in the extent to which taking vacations reduces the amount of psychological exhaustion they experience on the job.
Even if vacations reduce exhaustion differently for each worker, it doesn’t change the manager’s argument that several short vacations are better than one or two long ones for reducing exhaustion. It doesn't matter if some workers experience more or less reduction.
D
It fails to consider that for office workers the total amount of vacation time taken over the course of a year may have a much greater effect on the amount of psychological exhaustion experienced on the job than does the number of vacations taken during the year.
The manager focuses on how vacation time is divided, not the total amount. More vacation time probably is better, but this doesn’t impact the argument that workers— regardless of their total vacation time— should take several short vacations instead of one or two long ones.
E
It fails to consider that a long vacation may reduce the psychological exhaustion an office worker experiences on the job much more than a short vacation does.
The manager fails to consider that long vacations might reduce exhaustion much more than short ones. If this is the case, then one or two long vacations might actually reduce exhaustion more than several short ones.
Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 86 - Section 4 - Question 08
January 22, 2019Sign up to star your favorites LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 08
January 22, 2019Quartzbrook Farms wanted to test all of its cattle for a rare disease so it could export beef to a country that requires such testing. However, the government of Quartzbrook’s country prohibited it from testing its cattle, on the grounds that there is no scientific evidence that the risk posed by the disease justifies such testing and that the public could be misled into thinking that the testing was scientifically warranted if Quartzbrook performed the tests.
Summary
Quartzbrook Farms wanted to test all of its cattle for a rare disease in order to export beef to a country that requires such testing. However, Quartzbrook’s government prohibited the farm from testing its cattle. The government claims there is no scientific evidence the risk posed by the disease justifies such testing, and the public could be misled into thinking the testing was scientifically warranted if the farm performed the tests.
Notable Valid Inferences
A government can prohibit testing if such testing is not justified by the risk posed to the public.
A
Governments can rightfully require product testing deemed necessary to protect public safety but cannot rightfully prohibit testing even if such testing is not justified by the risk involved.
Must be false. The stimulus tells us that Quartzbrook’s government did prohibit testing and did so on the grounds that the risks posed by the disease did not justify testing. Therefore governments can rightfully prohibit testing even if testing is not justified by the risks.
B
Governments should seek to determine when product safety testing is justified by the risk posed and should provide this information to companies that are considering such testing.
Could be true. It is possible that Quartzbrook’s government had already investigated if product safety testing was justified or not.
C
A government should not allow a company to perform unnecessary product safety tests if that company’s doing so will give consumers the impression that such tests should be performed.
Could be true. The consumers’ impression was the grounds for Quartzbrook’s government to prohibit the farm from testing their cattle.
D
A government should not spend taxpayers’ money performing product safety tests if the risk posed by the products does not justify the expense of the tests.
Could be true. The stimulus does not give us any information about the source of funding for the tests. It is possible that Quartzbrook Farms planned to pay for the testing privately without using taxpayer dollars.
E
It is fair for a country’s government to require foreign companies to test the products they export to that country as long as it requires domestic companies to perform the same tests.
Could be true. The stimulus does not give us any information about Quartzbrook’s government requiring foreign companies to test. It is possible that Quartzbrook’s government imposes the same standards on foreign companies as it did on Quartzbrook Farms.