Section Types Logical Reasoning

LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 15

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 16

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 17

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 18

April 21, 2012

Note: This question is a veiled PSA question. How can we know this? Consider the question stem. It says that the argument's reasoning conforms to some principle. Stated another way, it means that some principle hiding in the answers is sustaining the reasoning. What would happen if you brought this principle (hiding in the answer) out into the light, explicitly? You would get a very strong premise. How strong? It turns out that in this case, so strong that it almost makes for a valid argument.

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LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 19

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 54 - Section 2 - Question 20

April 21, 2012

Correction at 3:16
I said, "How do we know that's true? Because of egg cartons. That's the type of food container made from recycled styrofoam that contacts the food it contains which is the whole egg."

That's wrong. The egg cartons do not contact the food contained inside. It was specified in the stimulus that the "actual food" is prevented from contacting the styrofoam because it is separated by the egg shells. (E) instead is supported because of the last line of the stimulus "other food containers". That's referencing things like styrofoam salad bowls and styrofoam plates from food carts, neither of which is specifically mentioned.

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LSAT 125 - Section 2 - Question 01

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 125 - Section 2 - Question 02

April 21, 2012

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LSAT 125 - Section 2 - Question 03

April 21, 2012

Statistics from the National Booksellers Association indicate that during the last five years most bookstores have started to experience declining revenues from the sale of fiction, despite national campaigns to encourage people to read more fiction. Therefore, these reading campaigns have been largely unsuccessful.

Summarize Argument

The author concludes that national reading campaigns encouraging people to read more fiction have been largely unsuccessful. This is because bookstore revenue from fiction sales has decreased over the last five years.

Notable Assumptions

Based solely on a correlation between the reading campaigns and bookstore fiction sales, the author concludes that the reading campaigns have failed to achieve their purpose. He therefore assumes that the reading campaigns haven’t mitigated what would’ve otherwise been an even steeper decline in fiction sales. The author also assumes that bookstore sales signal a decline in fiction sales. Thus, he believes that bookstore fiction sales haven’t been siphoned off by some other method (e.g. online) sales.

A

Mail order book clubs have enjoyed substantial growth in fiction sales throughout the last five years.

While bookstore fiction sales have decreased, mail order fiction sales have substantially increased. Thus, the national reading campaign may well have encouraged people to read more fiction. At the very least, the author can’t draw the conclusion that the campaign has failed.

B

During the last five years the most profitable items in bookstores have been newspapers and periodicals rather than novels.

Revenue from fiction sales at bookstores has decreased, regardless of how newspaper sales have changed. This doesn’t offset that fact in any way that would weaken the author’s argument.

C

Fierce competition has forced booksellers to make drastic markdowns on the cover price of best-selling biographies.

Biographies aren’t fiction. We don’t care.

D

Due to the poor economic conditions that have prevailed during the last five years, most libraries report substantial increases in the number of patrons seeking books on changing careers and starting new businesses.

These sorts of books aren’t fiction. We’re not interested.

E

The National Booksellers Association statistics do not include profits from selling novels by mail to overseas customers.

We care about the effects of the national reading campaign. Overseas customers don’t matter.

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LSAT 125 - Section 2 - Question 04

April 21, 2012

People who consume a lot of honey tend to have fewer cavities than others have. Yet, honey is high in sugar, and sugar is one of the leading causes of tooth decay.

"Surprising" Phenomenon

Why do people who consume a lot of honey tend to have fewer cavities than others even though honey is high in sugar, which is one of the leading causes of tooth decay?

Objective

The correct answer will help explain why people who eat a lot of honey tend to have fewer cavities than others even though honey is high in sugar. The correct answer will discuss outside factors that are typically true for people who eat a lot of honey that lead to them having fewer cavities or reasons that eating honey actually leads to fewer cavities even though it’s high in sugar.

A

People who eat a lot of honey tend to consume very little sugar from other sources.

It doesn’t matter how much sugar people who eat a lot of honey tend to consume from other sources. We know they consume a lot of sugar because of the amount of honey they eat.

B

Many people who consume a lot of honey consume much of it dissolved in drinks.

The way people who consume a lot of honey choose to consume that honey is irrelevant. Regardless of their consumption method, they’re ingesting a lot of sugar, so we want to know why they tend to have fewer cavities than others.

C

People’s dental hygiene habits vary greatly.

This is a nonfactor. We know nothing about the typical dental hygiene habits of people who eat a lot of honey or those who don’t, so (C) is irrelevant.

D

Refined sugars have been linked to more health problems than have unrefined sugars.

We’re not concerned with miscellaneous health problems. We want to know why those who consume large amounts of honey tend to have fewer cavities than others even though honey contains high levels of sugar.

E

Honey contains bacteria that inhibit the growth of the bacteria that cause tooth decay.

(E) provides a reason that eating honey can prevent cavities even though honey is high in sugar. The bacteria in honey that inhibit the growth of tooth-decaying bacteria could do more to prevent cavities than the sugar in honey contributes to cavities.

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