LSAC LSAC Certifications LSAT-TEST Questions & Answers

• Question 431:

  The process by which nylon is manufactured releases large amounts of the gas nitrous oxide, which is harmful to the environment. Since the processing of cotton fiber does not release environmentally harmful gases, there would be less environmental damage done if cotton fiber rather than nylon were used to make products such as thread and rope.

  Which one of the following, if true, would weaken the argument?

  A. Even if the quantity of nitrous oxide released into the environment decreased, many environmental problems would remain unsolved.

  B. Even if only some of the thread and rope that is currently being made from nylon were instead made from cotton fiber, some environmental damage would be avoided.

  C. If cotton fiber replaced nylon in the production of thread and rope, there would be a resulting increase in the amount of nylon used in other manufactured products.

  D. If the quantity of nylon manufactured annually decreased substantially, the volume of several pollutants that are released into the environment during its manufacture would be reduced.

  E. If thread and rope continue to be made from nylon, the production of cotton fiber will not increase as rapidly as it would if all thread and rope were to be made from cotton fiber.

  Correct Answer: C

  Now we're out to weaken an argument, so it pays to note its components while looking for gaps and possible alternatives. Making nylon involves the release of a gas that damages the environment. Making cotton fiber doesn't release gases that harm the environment, so the author concludes that there would be less environmental damage if cotton were used for certain products instead of nylon. To weaken this, we're looking for something that suggests that switching to cotton for certain products would not necessarily be a boon for the environment.

• Question 432:

  Yuriko: Our city's campaign to persuade parents to have their children vaccinated ought to be imitated by your city. In the 16 months since the enactment of legislation authorizing the campaign, vaccinations in our city have increased by 30 percent. Susan: But the major part of that increase occurred in the first 6 months after that legislation was enacted, right after your city's free neighborhood health clinics opened, and before the vaccination campaign really got going.

  In responding to Yuriko, Susan does which one of the following?

  A. She denies Yuriko's assumption that Susan's city wants to increase the vaccination rate for children.

  B. She cites facts that tend to weaken the force of the evidence with which Yuriko supports her recommendation.

  C. She introduces evidence to show that the campaign Yuriko advocates is only effective for a short period of time.

  D. She advances the claim that a campaign such as Yuriko recommends is not necessary because most parents already choose to have their children vaccinated.

  E. She presents evidence to suggest that vaccination campaigns are usually ineffective.

  Correct Answer: B

  We begin with a dialogue Method of Argument question, so we need to focus on how Susan responds. Yuriko recommends that Susan's city adopt her city's policy of talking parents into having their kids vaccinated because since making that a law, vaccinations have increased significantly. Not surprisingly, Susan's response begins with "But..." (you know, just once we'd like to see the respondent say "you're right; we'll do that!"--but we suppose that wouldn't make for much of a question), and Susan goes on to point out that most of that increase seems to be related to the opening of a free clinic and not so much to the vaccination campaign. So Susan essentially brings up a likely alternative cause of the increase that suggests that Yuriko's recommendation may not be so hot after all.

• Question 433:

  There are exactly ten stores and no other buildings on Oak Street. On the north side of the street, from west to east, are stores 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9; on the south side of the street, also from west to east, are stores 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. The stores on the north side are located directly across the street from those on the south side, facing each other in pairs, as follows: 1 and 2; 3 and 4; 5 and 6; 7 and 8; 9 and 10. Each store is decorated with lights in exactly one of the following colors:

  green, red, and yellow. The stores have been decorated with lights according to the following conditions:

  No store is decorated with lights of the same color as those of any store adjacent to it.

  No store is decorated with lights of the same color as those of the store directly across the street from it.

  Yellow lights decorate exactly one store on each side of the street.

  Red lights decorate store 4.

  Yellow lights decorate store 5.

  Suppose that yellow lights decorate exactly two stores, not just one, on the south side of the street and

  decorate exactly one store on the north side.

  If all of the other conditions remain the same, then which one of the following statements must be true?

  A. Green lights decorate store 1.

  B. Red lights decorate store 7.

  C. Red lights decorate store 10.

  D. Yellow lights decorate store 2.

  E. Yellow lights decorate store 8.

  Correct Answer: D

  The new "suppose" doesn't affect the north side, but it means we have to rethink the south. We need two yellows there. With stores 4 and 6 red and green respectively, and since we're still unable to have adjacent yellows, the two yellows will be stores 2 and 8, or 2 and 10. You may have started to draw all of this out, but it is to be hoped that you quickly saw that we have just deduced that option [Yellow lights decorate store 2.] is true. Option [Green lights decorate store 1.] is false, the others possible only.

• Question 434:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  If Himalayans are not featured on day 7, which one of the following could be true?

  A. Greyhounds are featured on days 3 and 5.

  B. Newfoundlands are featured on day 3.

  C. Rottweilers are featured on day 6.

  D. Rottweilers are featured only on day 3.

  E. Rottweilers are featured on exactly three days.

  Correct Answer: D

  We got the same if-clause and deduced that the Himalayans must occupy days 2, 4, and 6. Having drawn that out, let's try our choices. The right answer is possible, remember. A.?1234567 m/sh___h___h___ GN/RG___GG/RN

• Question 435:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  Which one of the following could be true?

  A. There are exactly four breeds that are each featured on three days.

  B. Greyhounds are featured on every day that Himalayans are.

  C. Himalayans are featured on every day that Greyhounds are.

  D. Himalayans are featured on every day that Rottweilers are not.

  E. Rottweilers are featured on every day that Himalayans are not.

  Correct Answer: A

• Question 436:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  If Himalayans are not featured on day 7, then which one of the following pairs of days CANNOT feature

  both the same breed of kitten and the same breed of puppy?

  A. day 1 and day 3

  B. day 2 and day 6

  C. day 3 and day 5

  D. day 4 and day 6

  E. day 5 and day 7

  Correct Answer: B

  Here's another opportunity to turn negatives into positives. If Himalayans are not on day 7 - and we know that they're not on day 1 - then there's only one way to insert the three h's, namely days 2, 4, and 6. Since the question involves both rows simultaneously, we should work with both: 1234567 m/sh___h___h___ GN/R_________G/RN

• Question 437:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  Which one of the following could be true?

  A. Greyhounds and Siamese are both featured on day 2.

  B. Greyhounds and Himalayans are both featured on day 7.

  C. Rottweilers and Himalayans are both featured on day 4.

  D. Rottweilers and Manx are both featured on day 5.

  E. Newfoundlands and Manx are both featured on day 6.

  Correct Answer: D

• Question 438:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  If Himalayans are not featured on day 2, which one of the following could be true?

  A. Manx are featured on day 3.

  B. Siamese are featured on day 4.

  C. Rottweilers are featured on day 5.

  D. Himalayans are featured on day 6.

  E. Greyhounds are featured on day 7

  Correct Answer: B

  So there are no Himalayans on day 2, eh? Well, that should be helpful: We have three non-consecutive h's to place, and day 1 was already forbidden to them, so you might suspect that their placement is now pretty much of a done deal, and so it is. There's only one way to insert them: 1234567 m/s___h___h___h So let's check our choices.

• Question 439:

  On each of exactly seven consecutive days (day 1 through day 7), a pet shop features exactly one of three

  breeds of kitten -- Himalayan, Manx, Siamese -- and exactly one of three breeds of puppy -- Greyhound,

  Newfoundland, Rottweiler.

  The following conditions must apply:

  Greyhounds are featured on day 1.

  No breed is featured on any two consecutive days.

  Any breed featured on day 1 is not featured on day 7.

  Himalayans are featured on exactly three days, but not on day 1.

  Rottweilers are not featured on day 7, nor on any day that features Himalayans.

  Which one of the following could be the order in which the breeds of kitten are featured in the pet shop,

  from day 1 through day 7?

  A. Himalayan, Manx, Siamese, Himalayan, Manx,Himalayan, Siamese

  B. Manx, Himalayan, Siamese, Himalayan, Manx,Himalayan, Manx

  C. Manx, Himalayan, Manx, Himalayan, Siamese,Manx, Siamese

  D. Siamese, Himalayan, Manx, Himalayan, Siamese,Siamese, Himalayan

  E. Siamese, Himalayan, Siamese, Himalayan, Manx,Siamese, Himalayan

  Correct Answer: E

  This Acceptability question deals only with the top row, the kitten row, so we should start with what we know for sure, which is that day 1 is not a Himalayans day - meaning that option [Himalayan, Manx, Siamese, Himalayan, Manx,Himalayan, Siamese] can be crossed out. Next, we might scan for consecutive breeds, and that scan yields the S S situation that dooms option [Siamese, Himalayan, Manx, Himalayan, Siamese,Siamese, Himalayan]. Days 1 and 7 have to be different, a rule that option [Manx, Himalayan, Siamese, Himalayan, Manx,Himalayan, Manx] violates, so this option gets crossed out. And we need exactly three h's, something that option [Manx, Himalayan, Manx, Himalayan, Siamese,Manx, Siamese] ignores.

• Question 440:

  At a concert, exactly eight compositions -- F, H, L, O, P, R, S, and T -- are to be performed exactly once

  each, consecutively and one composition at a time. The order of their performance must satisfy the

  following conditions:

  T is performed either immediately before F or immediately after R.

  At least two compositions are performed either after F and before R, or after R and before F. O is

  performed either first or fifth. The eighth composition performed is either L or H. P is performed at some

  time before S. At least one composition is performed either after O and before S, or after S and before O.

  If P is performed third and S is performed sixth, the composition performed fifth must be either

  A. F or H

  B. F or O

  C. F or T

  D. H or L

  E. O or R

  Correct Answer: C