LSAC LSAC Certifications LSAT-TEST Questions & Answers

• Question 391:

  The use of space-based satellites to study environmental conditions on Earth is an important development in the conservation movement's history. Environmental problems may now be observed long before they otherwise would be noticed, allowing for intervention before they reach the crisis stage. It is no wonder that environmentalists fail to consider both that spacecraft may damage the ozone layer and that this damage could be serious enough to warrant discontinuing spaceflight.

  The reasoning above most closely conforms to which one of the following principles?

  A. People tend to ignore possible objectionable consequences of actions that support their activities.

  B. A negative consequence of an activity may be outweighed by its great positive consequences.

  C. Technology usually has at least some negative impact on the environment, even if it is largely beneficial.

  D. Even well-intentioned attempts to solve problems sometimes make them worse.

  E. Attempts to employ technology often have unforeseen consequences that may be negative.

  Correct Answer: A

  Environmentalists rely on satellite data to help them anticipate environmental crises. That their indifference to the dangers posed by satellites "is no wonder" must have something to do with people's tunnel-vision concern with whatever serves their own interest. The data "support [environmentalists'] activities" and hence they "ignore possible objectionable consequences" of the data.

• Question 392:

  Expert witness: Ten times, and in controlled circumstances, a single drop of the defendant's blood was allowed to fall onto the fabric. And in all ten cases, the stained area was much less than the expected 9.5 cm2. In fact, the stained area was always between 4.5 and 4.8 cm2.1 conclude that a single drop of the defendant's blood stains much less than 9.5 cm2 of the fabric.

  Which one of the following, if true, most undermines the value of the evidence for the expert witness's conclusion?

  A. If similar results had been found after 100 test drops of the defendant's blood, the evidence would be even stronger.

  B. Expert witnesses have sometimes been known to fudge their data to accord with the prosecution's case.

  C. In an eleventh test drop of the defendant's blood, the area stained was also less than 9.5cm2--this time staining 9.3 cm".

  D. Another person's blood was substituted, and in otherwise identical circumstances, stained between 9.8 and 10.6 cm2of the fabric.

  E. Not all expert witnesses are the authorities in their fields that they claim to be.

  Correct Answer: C

  The task here is to weaken the conclusion that a single drop of this defendant's blood stains "much less than 9.5 square cm of the fabric." The evidence consists of 10 samples, each of which covered about of that area. But if an 11th sample covered almost the entire 9.5 square cm, as option [In an eleventh test drop of...] points out, then the witness' certainty about a droplet's being sure to stain "much less than 9.5" must be reduced to almost zero.

• Question 393:

  People who are good at playing the game Drackedary are invariably skilled with their hands. Mary is a very competent watchmaker. Therefore, Mary would make a good Drackedary player.

  The flawed pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to that in which one of the following?

  A. People with long legs make good runners. Everyone in Daryl's family has long legs. Therefore, Daryl would make a good runner.

  B. People who write for a living invariably enjoy reading. Julie has been a published novelist for many years. Therefore, Julie enjoys reading.

  C. All race car drivers have good reflexes. Chris is a champion table tennis player. Therefore, Chris would make a good race car driver.

  D. The role of Santa Claus in a shopping mall is often played by an experienced actor. Erwin has played Santa Claus in shopping malls for years. Therefore, Erwin must be an experienced actor.

  E. Any good skier can learn to ice-skate eventually. Erica is a world-class skier. Therefore, Erica could learn to ice-skate in a day or two.

  Correct Answer: C

  The stimulus conclusion "X would make a good Y" is only paralleled by options [People with long legs make good...] and [All race car drivers have good reflexes...]: the conclusions in [People who write for a living invariably] and [The role of Santa Claus in...] are flat-out assertions of fact, and option [Any good skier can learn to...] is is a vague speculation. Only [All race car drivers have good reflexes...] parallels the structure that we can express algebraically as: All X are Y. A particular individual is Z; therefore, that individual would make a good Y.

• Question 394:

  Notice to subscribers: In order for us to provide you with efficient and reliable newspaper service, please note the following policies. You will be billed for home delivery every four weeks, in advance. If you do not receive delivery, call us promptly to receive a replacement copy. Credit can be given only if the missed copy is reported to us within twenty-four hours and only if a replacement copy is unavailable. Request for temporary nondelivery must be made at least three days prior to the first day on which delivery is to stop. No subscription will be canceled unless the subscriber explicitly requests the cancellation beforehand and in writing. The Daily Gazette

  If The Daily Gazette denies each of the following subscriber's requests, each of the denials could be justified solely on the basis of the policy stated above EXCEPT:

  A. Mr. Rathanan did not send in his advance payment two weeks ago; he states that his inaction was intended as cancellation and requests that he not be charged for the past two weeks of delivery of The Daily Gazette.

  B. Dr. Broder called The Daily Gazette Monday morning to report that her Sunday edition had not been delivered; she requests credit instead of the offered replacement copy.

  C. The Daily Gazette was delivered to Ms. Herrera during her one-week vacation even though she called on a Wednesday to stop delivery the following Monday for the entire week; she requests credit for the

  full week's delivery.

  D. Although Ms. Jackson telephoned The Daily Gazette at the beginning of June requesting that her subscription be canceled on June 30, delivery was continued until July 3 when she called to complain; she requests that she not be charged for the papers delivered in July.

  E. Ms. Silverman was out of town on Sunday and Monday and when she returned on Tuesday she found that her Sunday edition had not been delivered; she called The Daily Gazette on Tuesday afternoon requesting credit for the undelivered copy.

  Correct Answer: C

• Question 395:

  After the United Nations Security Council authorized military intervention by a coalition of armed forces intended to halt civil strife in a certain country, the parliament of one UN member nation passed a resolution condemning its own prime minister for promising to commit military personnel to the action. A parliamentary leader insisted that the overwhelming vote for the resolution did not imply the parliament's opposition to the anticipated intervention; on the contrary, most members of parliament supported the UN plan.

  Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy presented above?

  A. The UN Security Council cannot legally commit the military of a member nation to armed intervention in other countries.

  B. In the parliamentary leader's nation, it is the constitutional prerogative of the parliament, not of the prime minister, to initiate foreign military action.

  C. The parliament would be responsible for providing the funding necessary in order to contribute military personnel to the UN intervention.

  D. The public would not support the military action unless it was known that the parliament supported the action.

  E. Members of the parliament traditionally are more closely attuned to public sentiment, especially with

  regard to military action, than are prime ministers.

  Correct Answer: B

  The paradox or "discrepancy" is that a country's parliament was all for the UN decision to send in an international peacekeeping force, yet censured its own prime minister for promising troops to that force. Option [In the parliamentary leader's nation...] resolves the dilemma by implying that it wasn't the promise of troops that irked the parliament, but rather the unconstitutional involvement of the prime minister in that promise. It's not at all paradoxical, in light of [In the parliamentary leader's nation...], for a parliament to say "We're in favor of sending troops, but we not you, prime minister, are supposed to make that judgment."

• Question 396:

  Ethicist: Studies have documented the capacity of placebos to reduce pain in patients who believe that they are receiving beneficial drugs. Some doctors say that they administer placebos because medically effective treatment reinforced by the placebo effect sometimes helps patients recover faster than good treatment alone. But administering placebos is nonetheless ethically questionable, for even if a placebo benefits a patient, a doctor might, for example, have prescribed it just to give the patient satisfaction that something was being done.

  The ethicist's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

  A. A patient's psychological satisfaction is not a consideration in administering medical treatment.

  B. The motivation for administering a placebo can be relevant to the ethical justification for doing so.

  C. Medical treatment that relies on the placebo effect alone is ethically indefensible.

  D. The pain relief produced by the placebo effect justifies the deception involved in administering a placebo.

  E. Administering a placebo is not ethically justified if that treatment is not prescribed by a doctor.

  Correct Answer: B

  The author comes down squarely on the ethical dubiousness of administering placebos on the grounds that, beneficial or not, the placebo may have been prescribed merely in order to placate the patient. For that evidence to lead to the conclusion, the author must be assuming that the ethics of placebo administration has something to do with the motivation behind prescribing placebos. If [The motivation for administering...] were false, the author could still question the ethics of prescribing placebos, but not on the grounds of a doctor's motives for doing so.

• Question 397:

  A nationwide poll of students, parents, and teachers showed that over 90 percent believe that an appropriate percentage of their school's budget is being spent on student counseling programs. It seems, then, that any significant increase in a school's budget should be spent on something other than student counseling programs.

  Which one of the following describes a flaw in the reasoning of the argument above?

  A. The argument confuses a mere coincidence with a causal relationship.

  B. The argument confuses the percentage of the budget spent on a program with the overall amount spent on that program.

  C. The argument fails to justify its presumption that what is true of a part of the budget is also true of the total budget.

  D. The argument fails to consider the possibility that money could be saved by training students as peer counselors.

  E. The argument fails to consider that if more money is spent on a program, then more money cannot also be used for other purposes.

  Correct Answer: B

  Why should any additional cash be applied to some area other than student counseling? Because almost everyone concerned believes that the right percentage of the budget is already going there. But percentage and amount are two different things, as option [The argument confuses the percentage of...] points out. If budget dollars were to go up but the percentage allotted to counseling were to remain the same, then fewer dollars would be spent on counseling, a state of affairs that might not please anybody. No causality, confused or otherwise, is described in the argument of [The argument confuses a mere...]. The author makes no such claim such as [The argument fails to justify its presumption that...] describes; to argue that a part of a whole is adequate is not necessarily to commit a part to whole fallacy. Option [The argument fails to consider the possibility...] raises a couple of issues irrelevant to the argument, namely saving money and the content of counseling programs. As for option [The argument fails to consider that if more money...], the argument pretty much does consider that money spent in one area takes money away from another, and anyway, that point isn't central to the logical error.

• Question 398:

  Researchers have discovered that caffeine can be as physically addictive as other psychoactive substances. Some people find that they become unusually depressed, drowsy, or even irritable if they do not have their customary dose of caffeine. This is significant because as many people consume caffeine as consume any one of the other addictive psychoactive substances.

  Which one of the following can be logically concluded from the information above?

  A. There is no psychoactive substance to which more people are physically addicted than are addicted to caffeine.

  B. A physical addiction to a particular psychoactive substance will typically give rise to diverse psychological symptoms.

  C. Not all substances to which people can become physically addicted are psychoactive.

  D. If one is physically addicted to a psychoactive substance, one will become unusually depressed when one is no longer ingesting that substance.

  E. If alcohol is a physically addictive psychoactive substance, there are not more people who consume alcohol than consume caffeine.

  Correct Answer: E

  E. is a straightforward inference from the last sentence. We're told that "as many people consume" caffeine as consume any "other physically addictive psychoactive substance." So assuming, as option [If alcohol is a physically addictive...] does, that alcohol qualifies as one such "other" substance, there may be the same number of consumers of caffeine as of alcohol, but the latter cannot possibly outnumber the former.

• Question 399:

  Art historian: Great works of art have often elicited outrage when first presented; in Europe, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring prompted a riot, and Manet's Dejeuner sur Vherbe elicited outrage and derision. So, since it is clear that art is often shocking, we should not hesitate to use public funds to support works of art that many people find shocking.

  Which one of the following is an assumption that the art historian's argument requires in order for its conclusion to be properly drawn?

  A. Most art is shocking.

  B. Stravinsky and Manet received public funding for their art.

  C. Art used to be more shocking than it currently vs.

  D. Public funds should support art.

  E. Anything that shocks is art.

  Correct Answer: D

  Assumptions often emerge when a term creeps into the conclusion but isn't mentioned in the evidence. The conclusion is the first and only place where we hear about public funding of art. In order to conclude that public funds should fund shocking art, the author first must assume that public funds should fund art, period -- which makes option [Public funds should...] correct. If option [Public funds should...] is false, then the entire argument is moot. That "art is often shocking" doesn't imply that "most art is shocking"; often and most are not identical concepts. Stravinsky and Manet [Stravinsky and Manet received...] make cameo appearances here solely to act as examples of creators of shocking art; as noted earlier, public funding isn't even mentioned until one sentence later. Option [Art used to be more...] raises a comparison with the past that is not so much as hinted at. As for [Anything that shocks is art.], the author is concerned with the funding of art that shocks, not things that shock in general.

• Question 400:

  The same task triggers different levels of awareness of one's surroundings, called environmental awareness, in different individuals. Mathematical puzzles, for example, cause most people to increase such an awareness. Some people -- those who formulate the answer visually, imagining the numbers in their mind's eye -- will, in an attempt to freeze the picture, experience a decrease in environmental awareness while solving the puzzle. Other people's environmental awareness may rise during the exercise, because their brains are signaling a rest at the end of every stage of problem solving.

  Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?

  A. There are some people for whom mathematical puzzles do not cause an increase in their level of environmental awareness.

  B. People who visually formulate answers differ from other problem solvers in that the former are aware of their surroundings.

  C. People tend to be more aware of their surroundings when solving mathematical problems than when solving nonmathematical problems.

  D. Mathematical problem solvers who rely on visual techniques become aware of their surroundings only during periods of rest.

  E. Mathematical problem solving requires frequent periods of rest in the form of increased awareness of the problem solver's surroundings.

  Correct Answer: A

  After defining the concept of environmental awareness and focusing on how that awareness is triggered, the stimulus goes on to explain that most people's is triggered by doing a math puzzle, but that some (we're in sentence 3 now) find it decreased.