Only about 1/3 of the number of pages in a typical LSAT Guide

Book is devoted to LOGICAL REASONING.

THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK DEDICATED ENTIRELY

TO THIS SUBJECT!

Again, the other guide books usually explain WHY A

PARTICULAR CHOICE IS THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE GIVEN
QUESTION ON AN EX POST FACTO REASONING.

They do not guide you step-by-step on HOW TO ARRIVE AT

THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE GIVEN QUESTION BY YOURSELF,
WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO DO WHEN YOU TAKE
THE TEST.

This book teaches you just that - THE STEP-BY-STEP

PROCESS OF ARRIVING AT THE CORRECT ANSWER, that too IN
THE QUICKEST POSSIBLE TIME!

AND WITH AUTHENTIC EXAMPLES OF THE SAME

PATTERNS AND LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY AS THOSE
ASKED IN LSAT!

THAT IS WHY THIS IS

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
TO LOGICAL REASONING
FOR LSAT!!
 CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction 3

Chapter 2: 'Conclusion' Questions 7

Chapter 3: 'Inference' Questions 23

Chapter 4: 'Assumption' Questions 34

Chapter 5: 'Weakens' Questions 50

Chapter 6: 'Strengthens' Questions 76

Chapter 7: 'Completion' Questions 92

Chapter 8: 'Evidence Analysis' Questions 96

Chapter 9: 'Relevance' Questions 100

Chapter 10: 'Argumentation' Questions 105

Chapter 11: 'Paradox' Questions 110

Chapter 12: 'Analogy' Questions 114

Chapter 13: 'Multiple' Questions 116

ANSWERS & ANALYSIS

Chapter 2: 'Conclusion' Questions 128

Chapter 3: 'Inference' Questions 142

Chapter 4: 'Assumption' Questions 149

Chapter 5: 'Weakens' Questions 160

Chapter 6: 'Strengthens' Questions 185

Chapter 7: 'Completion' Questions 198

Chapter 8: 'Evidence Analysis' Questions 201

Chapter 9: 'Relevance' Questions 203

Chapter 10: 'Argumentation' Questions 206

Chapter 11: 'Paradox' Questions 209

Chapter 12: 'Analogy' Questions 212

Chapter 13: 'Multiple' Questions 213

 LSAT - LOGICAL REASONING
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The multiple-choice sections of Law School Admission Test (LSAT) feature 3 different types of questions –
Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning and Logical Reasoning.
The following are the numbers of questions under each type:
Reading Comprehension: 26 or 27
Analytical Reasoning: 24
Logical Reasoning (2 sections): 25 or 26 each
There will be an additional section in each test containing questions from any of the above 3 types. Known
as the experimental or the variable section, the purpose of this additional section is to pretest questions for
possible inclusion in future tests. Your performance in this section is not taken into consideration for your
score. You will, however, not be told which among the 5 sections is the variable section, and you will have to
answer each of them with equal seriousness.
You are allowed 35 minutes to answer each section in LSAT..
Your score in LSAT is given in the range 120 to 200.

This book deals with the Logical Reasoning questions in LSAT.

These questions are all of ‘multiple choice’ type.

The purpose of these questions is NOT to test your proficiency in any specific subject such as mathematics,
physics, economics, psychology, politics etc.
What they seek to do broadly is to test your capacity to understand, analyze and evaluate arguments.
A specific question may be framed so as to test your capacity to recognize the point of an argument, recognize
the conclusions that may be drawn from an argument, recognize the assumption on which an argument is based,
evaluate an argument or a counterargument, analyze evidence and to recognize the logical pattern of an argument.

Each question starts with a short passage which may contain some facts, some opinions, some assumptions
or some conclusions, and is followed by a question that has a bearing on what is contained in that passage. You
have to choose the best answer to the question from among the five given choices.

The following are some typical questions under Critical Reasoning in LSAT.

1. Many people argue that tobacco advertising plays a crucial role in causing teen-agers to start or continue
smoking. In Norway, however, where there has been a ban on tobacco advertising since 1975, smoking is at least
as prevalent among teen-agers as it is in countries that do not ban such advertising.
Which of the following statements draws the most reliable conclusion from the information above?
(A) Tobacco advertising cannot be the only factor that affects the prevalence of smoking among teen-agers.
(B) Advertising does not play a role in causing teen-agers to start or continue smoking.
(C) Banning tobacco advertising does not reduce the consumption of tobacco.
(D) More teen-agers smoke if they are not exposed to tobacco advertising than if they are.
(E) Most teen-agers who smoked in 1975 did not stop when the ban on tobacco advertising was implemented.

2. Currently people in the United States eat, on the average, 1,431 pounds of food per year, 35 pounds more
than in 1980. This increase is, at least in part, because people between the ages of 15 and 64 have accounted for
an increasing share of the population.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage above?
(A) More than half of the current population of the United States is between the ages of 15 and 64.
(B) The population has risen since 1980.
(C) Children below the age of 15 require, on the average, more food than do people over the age of 64.
(D) Before 1980, children below the age of 15 outnumbered people between the age of 15 and 64.
(E) Individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 consume, on the average, more food than do those younger or
older.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
3. Child’s World, a chain of toy stores, has relied on a “supermarket concept” of computerized inventory
control and customer self-service to eliminate the category of sales clerks from its force of employees. It now
plans to employ the same concept in selling children’s clothes.
The plan of Child’s World assumes that
(A) supermarkets will not also be selling children’s clothes in the same manner
(B) personal service by sales personnel is not required for selling children’s clothes successfully
(C) the same kind of computers will be used in inventory control for both clothes and toys at Child’s World
(D) a self-service plan cannot be employed without computerized inventory control
(E) sales clerks are the only employees of Child’s World who could be assigned tasks related to inventory
control

4. Caterpillars of all species produce an identical hormone called “juvenile hormone” that maintains feeding
behavior. Only when a caterpillar has grown to the right size for pupation to take place does a special enzyme
halt the production of juvenile hormone. This enzyme can be synthesized and will, on being ingested by immature
caterpillars, kill them by stopping them from feeding.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the view that it would not be advisable to try to eradicate
agricultural pests that go through a caterpillar stage by spraying crop lands with the enzyme mentioned above?
(A) Most species of caterpillar are subject to some natural predation
(B) Many agricultural pests do not go through a caterpillar stage
(C) Many agriculturally beneficial insects go through a caterpillar stage
(D) Since caterpillars of different species emerge at different times, several sprayings would be necessary
(E) Although the enzyme has been synthesized in the laboratory, no large-scale production facilities exist as
yet

5. Corporations exist to make money for their shareholders. Corporations have no money to give away because
any excess funds belong to the shareholders. Therefore, corporations should not contribute to charities.
Which of the following most seriously weakens the reasoning in the argument above?
(A) Managers are being trained to consider the ethical, moral, and social effects of their decisions in addition
to the economic factors
(B) Some of the largest corporations in the country are known to be major contributors to philanthropic
organizations
(C) Shareholders tend to make larger individual donations to charities than do people who hold no shares in
corporations
(D) Most corporations contribute solely to large, well-known, and highly organized charitable organizations
rather than to individuals in need
(E) The favourable publicity and tax advantages gained by corporate charity often result in an increase in
profits greater than the actual costs of making the donations

6. According to an independent computer-industry analyst, the new Regent microcomputer is of high quality,
is fast, and costs less than any currently existing competing model. It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, as the
manufacturer’s prospectus does, that the Regent will quickly establish itself as a fast-selling, low-priced alternative
to currently available microcomputers.
Which of the following, if true, would LEAST weaken the argument above?
(A) Many retailers already carry one or more low-priced microcomputer models and are disinclined to carry
another.
(B) Several faster and lower-period models of microcomputers will soon be introduced by other computer
manufacturers.
(C) The Regent Corporation’s microcomputer can be used in conjunction with higher-priced microcomputers
manufactured by other companies.
(D) Most of those individuals and companies that could be expected to make up the potential market for the
Regent microcomputer have already filled their microcomputer needs.
(E) The independent computer-industry analyst whose assessment was incorporated in the prospectus has
used measures of quality that are not universally accepted by the computer-buying public.

7. The people who are most at risk of contracting a particular type of influenza are those who have never
previously contracted that type of influenza and have never been vaccinated for it. Cases of type A influenza
have been recently diagnosed again in the United States. Type A influenza was last found in the United States in
1950.
4
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Which of the following groups of people have the LEAST risk of contracting type A influenza?
(A) People who were not vaccinated for any type of influenza in 1950 and did not contract any type of influ-
enza
(B) People who have previously contracted a different type of influenza, but not type A
(C) People who were vaccinated for a different type of influenza in 1950, but not for type A
(D) People who had type A influenza in 1950, but were not vaccinated for it
(E) People born after 1950 who were exposed to different types of influenza, but who never contracted any
type of influenza

8. The United States imprisons more people, both in absolute numbers and per capita, than any other civi-
lized Western society. But it has a higher crime rate than any of them. This shows that imprisonment contributes
to a high incidence of crime.
Which of the following is the most serious weakness in the argument above?
(A) It may be confusing cause and effect
(B) It lacks substantiating statistics
(C) It fails to differentiate among various classes of crime
(D) It rests on the assumption that all Western societies are civilized
(E) It compares phenomena that may not be comparable

9. It is true that it is against international law to sell plutonium to countries that do not yet have nuclear
weapons. But if United States companies do not do so, companies in other countries will.
Which of the following is most like the argument above in its logical structure?
(A) It is true that it is against the police department’s policy to negotiate with kidnappers. But if the police
want to prevent loss of life, they must negotiate in some areas.
(B) It is true that it is illegal to refuse to register for military service. But there is a long tradition in the
United States of conscientious objection to serving in the armed forces.
(C) It is true that it is illegal for a government official to participate in a transaction in which there is an
apparent conflict of interest. But if the facts are examined carefully, it will clearly be seen that there was no
actual conflict of interest in the defendant’s case.
(D) It is true that it is against the law to burglarize people’s homes. But someone else certainly would have
burglarized that house if the defendant had not done so first.
(E) It is true that company policy forbids supervisors to fire employees without two written warnings. But
there have been many supervisors who have disobeyed this policy.

10. Which of the following best completes the passage below?

The computer industry’s estimate that it loses millions of dollars when users illegally copy programs without
paying for them is greatly exaggerated. Most of the illegal copying is done by people with no serious interest in
the programs. Thus, the loss to the industry is much smaller than estimated because .........
(A) many users who illegally copy programs never find any use for them
(B) most of the illegally copied programs would not be purchased even if purchasing them were the only way
to obtain them
(C) even if the computer industry received all the revenue it claims to be losing, it would still be experiencing
financial difficulties
(D) the total market value of all illegal copies is low in comparison to the total revenue of the computer
industry
(E) the number of programs that are frequently copied illegally is low in comparison to the number of programs
available for sale

You can notice that questions under this category are of various types:
Example 1: What is the conclusion that can be logically drawn from the given information?
Example 2: What is the inference that can be drawn from the given information?
Example 3: What is the assumption that has been made while coming to a particular conclusion based on
a set of facts?
Example 4: Which choice, if true, further strengthens the conclusion that has been drawn based on the
given facts?
Example 5: Which choice, if true, weakens the conclusion that has been drawn based on the given facts?
Example 6: Which of the choices least weakens the conclusion in the passage?
5
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Examples 7 and 8: These expect you to evaluate the information in the given passages in order to choose the
correct answer to the questions given under them.
Example 9: This asks you to identify the choice that has the same argumentative structure as the given
passage.
Example 10: This asks to complete the given passage logically by choosing the most appropriate phrase from
among the given choices.

(You may try to answer the questions by yourself even before studying the lesson that follows. These questions
are answered and analysed in the appropriate chapters later.)

There can be no theoretical ‘lesson’ on Logical or Critical Reasoning, because it is not a ‘subject’ such as
mathematics, physics or economics, but is a ‘skill’ that you must have developed over a period of years.

The examples in the following chapters, grouped under different heads, will help you hone that skill and
enable you to answer the Logical Reasoning questions in LSAT correctly when you sit for it.

Answering the questions on Logical Reasoning involves not merely the spotting of the correct choice, but
also the discarding of the wrong choices.
While analysing the questions in order to arrive at the correct answers, we shall also point out why the other
choices are wrong.
We shall also point out the usual types of errors that are built into the wrong choices under each type of
questions.

For an effective understanding of our analysis of each question in this volume, you will have to
refer back to the questions themselves repeatedly. In order to make this process convenient for you,
we have organized the answers and analysis to these questions as a separate volume.

6
 Chapter 2
'CONCLUSION' QUESTIONS
‘Conclusion questions’ in the Logical Reasoning section ask
you to identify the conclusion that can be logically arrived at
on the basis of the information in the given passage.
The ‘conclusion questions’ may be worded in many different
ways such as:
(i) Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn
from the statements above?
(ii) The statements above best support the conclusion that
....
(iii) If the statements above are true, which of the following
must also be true?
(iv) From the information above, it can be properly
concluded that ....
(v) The author of the above passage argues that ....
(vi) Which of the following is best supported by the passage
above?
We shall first give you a number of typical examples of
‘conclusion questions’ and also analyse them for your benefit
to guide you on how such questions should be tackled.
Try to answer these questions by yourself first before
reading the analyses below.
Example 1
During the month of July in City X, the humidity was
always 80 percent or higher whenever the temperature was
75½ F or higher. Temperatures during that month ranged from
65½ to 95½ F.
If the statements in the passage above are true, it can be
concluded which of the following CANNOT be an accurate
report of a temperature and humidity reading of City X in
July?
(A) 77½F, 81%
(B) 76½F, 80%
(C) 75½F, 79%
(D) 74½F, 78%
(E) 73½F, 77%
Analysis
The information given is that, whenever the temperature
in City X was 75½ or higher, the humidity was at least 80%.
We have, in effect, been asked to spot that choice which
contradicts this information.
(A) and (B) conform to the given information, and can be
discarded.
(C) contradicts this information and is the answer.
The given passage deals with only those cases where the
temperature is 75° F or higher. (D) and (E) refer to the days
when the temperature was lower than 75°, and are irrelevant
to the information in the passage.
So, we should choose (C) as the answer.
(Note that the question in this case itself is stated in the
negative. It asks you not to spot the choice which conforms to
the given conditions, but the choice which violates the given
conditions. Also note that two of the answer choices are wrong
because they conform to the given conditions, and two others
are wrong because they are irrelevant to the question. This
will be the general pattern of how the wrong choices
are constructed in such questions.)
7
Example 2
In the normal progression of life, people die approximately
in order of birth. Therefore, when a younger person
predeceases an older person, that death may be especially
painful to the survivor, who feels that a law of nature has
been violated.
The argument above best supports which of the following
conclusions?
(A) When children die before their parents, the loss is
perhaps more intensely felt than when the parents are the
first to die.
(B) It is perfectly normal for children whose parents
predecease them to feel little grief.
(C) Laws of nature are merely general descriptions, and
as such they offer little consolation to those whose loved ones
predecease them.
(D) When the older of two parents dies first, the grief of
the surviving parent and of the children is likely to be
especially intense.
(E) Parents should not feel guilty of neglect when their
children die before them.
Analysis
What the statement says is that when a younger person
dies, the grief of the older person who has survived would be
greater than if the older person had died first leaving the
younger person to mourn his death.
(A) is the only suitable illustration of this statement, and
is the answer.
The given statement does not mean that children will not
grieve at all when their parents die - what it means is that
the grief of parents when the children die is greater than the
grief of children when the parents die. So, (B) is not a valid
conclusion that can be drawn from the passage.
The given statement says that a death is 'especially painful'
to the survivor when the law of nature (of an older person
dying before a younger person) is violated. This implies that
when an older person dies before a younger person, the
grieving survivor consoles himself /herself with the realisation
that what has happened is in consonance with a law of nature
and could not have been avoided. (C) contradicts this
statement of the author, and is therefore not a conclusion
from it.
(D) directly contradicts the view of the author, and is not
the answer.
(E) is too general a statement which may not be applicable
to all cases of deaths of children. (For example, in a case where
the doctor says that the ailing child had been brought too
late to him and that he could have saved its life if only it had
been brought to him a day earlier, the bereaved parents may
well feel guilty of neglect.) In any case, (E) goes beyond the
scope of what is stated in the passage which talks only about
grief and not about neglect.
(Note that, among the choices, (B) and (E) are wrong
because they extend the scope of the author's premise much
beyond what he implies. Choices (C) and (D) contradict what
the author says in the passage.)
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Example 3
Macklin County’s mandatory driver-training program for
fifteen-year-old high school students was discontinued ten
years ago, and since then private driver-training program
enrollment has increased only slightly. During the same
period the county’s accident rate increased by 12 percent for
drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, even
though traffic conditions changed little.
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the
information above?
(A) Graduates of public driver-training programs tend to
be safer drivers than graduates of private driver-training
programs tend to be.
(B) Drivers between the ages of sixteen and twentyfive, on
average, have higher accident rates than do drivers over the
age of twenty-five.
(C) The majority of people who take some type of driver-
training program do not become involved in an accident when
they are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five
(D) Changes in traffic conditions affect the accident rate
of drivers over the age of twenty-five more than they do that
of drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five
(E) As a group, drivers between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-five become involved in fewer accidents if they
participate in a driver-training program than if they do not.
Analysis
(Mandatory means legally required or compulsory) The
first part of the first sentence gives the information that the
Macklin County’s compulsory driver-training program for 15-
year old students was discontinued ten years ago.
The second part of the sentence adds that, since then,
enrollment in the (voluntary) private driver-training program
in the County has shown only a slight increase.
The second sentence says that, during the last ten years
(after the discontinuance of the compulsory requirement), the
County’s accident rate for drivers between the ages of 16 and
25 increased by 12%, even though traffic conditions had
changed little.
We have been asked to identify the choice that forms the
conclusion best supported by the given information.
The obvious conclusion that can be drawn from the given
information is that, if there is a compulsory driver-training
program for 15 year old students, drivers between the ages
of 16 and 25 get involved in fewer accidents.
In other words, drivers between the ages of 16 and 25 who
had undergone a driver-training program get involved in
fewer accidents than those who had not undergone such a
program.
It is (E) which says this, and is the answer.
(A) would have been correct if the private driver-training
programs had attracted all the teenagers who would have
otherwise been trained by the compulsory public driver
training program. But the second part of the first sentence
of the narrative specifically states that private driver-training
program had attracted very few additional enrollments during
this period, implying that many of those who had been
involved in subsequent accidents had not undergone any
training programs at all. So, (A) is not a conclusion that is
warranted by the information in the narrative.
The narration compares the accident rates involving only
drivers between the ages of t6 and 25 before and after the
discontinuance of the mandatory driver-training program for
the 15-year old students. It does not compare the accident
rates for drivers younger than 25 with the accident rates for
8
drivers over the age of 25. So, (B) is not a conclusion that is
warranted by the information in the narrative.
The passage merely implies that youngsters who had
undergone a driver-training program are less likely to get
involved in accidents than are those who have not undergone
such a program. Choice (C) which states that 'a majority of
youngsters who take some type of driver-training program
do not get involved in accidents at all' goes much beyond the
scope of what is stated in the passage, and is wrong.
The narration specifically says that there had been little
change in the traffic conditions during the period covered by
the survey. (D), which refers to the contribution of changes
in traffic conditions to the accident rates, is irrelevant to the
information in the given passage, and is not the answer.
(Note that, in this example, (A), (B) and (C) are wrong
because they go beyond the scope of what is stated in the
passage, while (D) is wrong because it is irrelevant to the
information in the passage.)
Example 4
A group of subjects saw a film of two cars colliding.
Immediately afterward, half of the group were asked a set of
questions about the cars “bumping” into one another, while
the other half were asked the same questions, but with the
verb “smash” substituted for “bump”. In later descriptions of
the filmed collision, subjects in the latter half were more likely
to remember seeing broken glass.
The experiment described above best supports which of the
following conclusions about eye-witness testimony?
(A) A witness who is agitated at the time of an event is
likely to give less accurate testimony than is a calm witness.
(B) A witness’s perception of an event will be distorted if
inflammatory language is used by the questioner.
(C) The manner in which a witness is questioned after an
event can influence the recollection of the witness.
(D) Most eyewitness testimony can be assumed to contain
inaccurate elements.
(E) Special questioning techniques can be developed that
will be more conducive to eliciting accurate information from
witnesses than traditional techniques have been.
Analysis
(In this question, the word ‘subjects’ in the first line means
‘persons’) What the narrative states is that a number of
persons were first shown a film depicting the collision of two
cars. Subsequently, they were divided into two groups, and
those in the first group were given a questionnaire in which
the word 'bump' was used, while those in the second group
were given the same questionnaire with a single variation -
the word 'bump' having been substituted by the word 'smash'.
The narrative then states that the persons in the second
group, for whom the word ‘smash’ was suggested, were more
likely to remember seeing glass having been broken during
the collision.
What this means is that though two witnesses had seen
the same event, their recollection of that event can be
influenced by the manner in which questions are put to them.
So, (C) is the answer.
(A) talks of two different witnesses one of whom was
agitated at the time of seeing the event while the other was
calm. But the passage talks of a single group of persons who
were all shown the same film of two cars colliding. This single
group was only subsequently divided into two groups just for
the sake of being given two different questionnaires
containing just one significant variation. There is no evidence
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
in the passage that the first of these groups had been agi-
tated even while seeing the film while the other had remained
calm. So, (A) is irrelevant to the information in the passage.
Even assuming that the word 'smash' is more inflammatory
than the word 'bump', the result of the experiment described
in the passage is that those to whom the word 'smash' was
suggested were more likely to remember seeing broken glass,
implying that they would be more accurate than the other
group for whom the word 'bump' had been suggested. So, (B)
contradicts what is stated in the passage, and is not the
answer. (If the last sentence in the passage were, "In later
descriptions of the filmed collision, subjects in the latter half
were more likely to imagine seeing broken glass", this choice
would have been the correct answer.)
The statement in (D), "Most eyewitness testimony can be
assumed to contain inaccurate elements", is a sweeping
generalisation which cannot follow as a necessary conclusion
from a single experiment that is described in the passage.
(All 'conclusion' questions will be based on the narration of a
single event having a limited scope, and any such sweeping
generalisation in one of the choices is likely to render it wrong.)
(E) extends the scope of the result of the experiment much
beyond what is specifically stated in it. So, though what is
stated in (E) may be true, it does not follow immediately from
the given passage, and is not the answer.
(Note that, among the wrong choices in this example, (A)
is irrelevant to the information in the passage, (B) contradicts
the given information, (D) is an unwarranted and sweeping
generalisation and (E) extends the scope of the given
information beyond what can be reasonably inferred.)
Example 5
In a study of more than 8,000 people using ten beaches on
two of the Great Lakes, ecologists from the University of
Toronto determined that the rate of respiratory and
gastrointestinal illness among people who had been
swimming was 69.6 per 1000, whereas the respiratory and
gastrointestinal illness rate among those who had not been
swimming was only 29.5 per 1,000.
Which of the following conclusions can be most properly
drawn from the data above?
(A) People tend to underestimate the risks of swimming
in these lakes.
(B) Respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses occur at a
higher rate as a result of swimming in either of these lakes
than they do as a result of swimming in any other lake.
(C) Illnesses of kinds other than respiratory and
gastrointesinal are not likely to be associated with swimming
in either of these two lakes.
(D) The association between swimming in these lakes and
respiratory and gastrointestinal illness is some evidence for
a causal relationship between them.
(E) A large percentage of the people who swim in these
lakes are immune to the diseases that swimming may cause.
Analysis
(The Great Lakes of USA are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan
and Lake Huron.) The passage says that a sample study of
8,000 persons using ten beaches of two of the Great Lakes
showed that nearly 7% of the swimmers among them had
respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses, while only 3% of
the non-swimmers among them had these illnesses. We have
been asked to spot that choice which can be a logical
conclusion that can be validly drawn from this study.
From the given information, you may be tempted to
9
conclude that swimming in these lakes can cause respiratory
and intestinal illnesses. (You cannot conclude that swimming
in these lakes will cause these illnesses because, after all,
the increase in percentage of swimmers who are affected is a
mere 3%, and 93% of the swimmers are found to be not
suffering from these diseases.)
But you do not know how many beaches there are along
the shores of these two Great Lakes, how many thousands of
persons are using these beaches and whether 10 beaches and
8,000 people are large enough and representative samples
from which a conclusive inference can be drawn about all
those who swim in these lakes from all the other beaches along
their shores. (For example, if these 10 beaches are located
near factories which pollute the water in the region of the
lake near them, the phenomenon may be restricted to the
water near these beaches alone, and not to the entire
waterspread.)
Therefore we can, at best, conclude from the given data
that there is some evidence of a cause and effect relationship
between swimming in the two lakes and the incidence of
respiratory and intestinal diseases (implying that a further
detailed study may have to be undertaken before such a
relationship could be established as true).
(D) is what makes such a tentative statement, and is the
answer.
Even the sample study shows that, between non-swimmers
and swimmers in these lakes, the difference in the incidence
of respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses is only 3% and
that, even among the swimmers, nearly 93% are not affected
by these illnesses. Nor does the passage indicate that these
illnesses are serious in nature, as otherwise the affected
persons will not be continuing with their swimming.
Therefore, at least for a large percentage of the people,
swimming in these lakes does not constitute a risk at all , and
the question of people underestimating the risk does not arise.
So, (A) is a sweeping generalisation not warranted by the
information in the passage.
The sample study was conducted only among people who
were swimming from ten beaches on two of the three Great
Lakes. The findings of this study have no relevance to
swimmers in other lakes. (B) seeks to extend the scope of what
is stated in the passage beyond what immediately follows from
it, and is not the answer.
The study that is referred to was limited only to two specific
illnesses, and cannot throw any light on whether or not any
other illness is associated with swimming in these two Great
Lakes. (C) also seeks to extend the scope of what is stated in
the passage beyond what immediately follows from it, and is
not the answer.
(E) talks generally of 'diseases that swimming may cause'
whereas the study was restricted to only two diseases -
respiratory and gastrointestinal. So, (E) is in the nature of a
sweeping generalisation which is not warranted by the
information in the passage.
(Note that, among the wrong choices, two are sweeping
and unwarranted generalisations and two try to extend the
scope of what is stated in the passage.)
Example 6
“The hardest known mineral is diamond; the second
hardest is corundum.
A mineral can be scratched only by minerals as hard as or
harder than itself.”
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
be true of a known mineral that can be scratched by corundum?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
I. The mineral is not diamond.
II. The mineral is not corundum.
III. The mineral is not as hard as corundum.
(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III
Analysis
(This is a special type that is found occasionally among
Logical Reasoning / Critical Reasoning questions. )
The given passage means that a piece of corundum can
scratch (i) another piece of corundum, or (ii) a piece of another
mineral which is not as hard as corundum, but (iii) it cannot
scratch diamond.
So, if a known mineral can be scratched by corundum, we
can conclude that (i) it is not diamond; (ii) it may be another
piece of corundum or (iii) it is a mineral which is not as hard
as corundum.
Note that the question that is asked is ‘Which of the three
choices must be true?’
So, of the three given possibilities, I must necessarily be
true; II need not be true, because the piece could very well be
corundum; and III also need not be true, because the piece
could be corundum itself.
So, it is only I which must be true.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
Example 7
M is heavier than Q, but it is lighter than R.
S is heavier than Q and it is also heavier than R.
U is heavier than Q and it is also heavier than R.
If the statements above are true, one can conclude with
certainty that T is heavier than M if one knows in addition
that
(A) S weighs the same as U weighs
(B) S is heavier than T
(C) T is heavier than Q
(D) T is heavier than U
(E) U is heavier than M
Analysis
(Questions of the above type are easier to answer if you
rewrite the descriptive sentences using the mathematical signs
'>' to mean 'greater than' and '<' to mean 'less than'.)
For this question, let us use the ‘>’ symbol to denote
‘heavier than’, and the symbol ‘<‘ to denote ‘lighter than’.
Then, the first statement can be rewritten as M > Q, M <
R.
Since using two different symbols can lead to confusion,
rewrite the above information using only one symbol '>': M >
Q and R > M. These two can be combined as R > M > Q. (i)
The second statement can be written as S > Q and S > R.
(ii)
(These cannot be combined because we do not know whether
Q is heavier or lighter than R.)
The third statement can be written as U > Q and U > R.
(iii)
(We cannot combine these two because we do not know
whether Q is heavier or lighter than R.)
Since U > R according to (iii), we can combine (i) and (iii)
to write U > R > M > Q.
From (i), (ii) and (iii), we can deduce that each of S, U and
R is heavier than M.
So, if we know that T is heavier than any one of these three,
then we can conclude that T is heavier than M also.
(D) says that T is heavier than U, and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices will enable
us to conclude that T > M.

You can notice from the examples discussed above that even the wrong choices given underneath a question
are not arbitrarily worded, but follow a specific pattern.
Therefore, while evaluating each of the answer choices, ask yourself the questions:
(i) Does this choice contradict a specific information in the passage?
(ii) Does the choice extend the scope of what is stated in the passage beyond what can be immediately
inferred?
(iii) Does the choice make a sweeping generalisation from a single instance referred to in the passage?
(iv) Is the statement in this choice irrelevant to the information in the passage?
If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes', that choice is bound to be a wrong answer, and can
be discarded.

Most of the Logical Reasoning questions can be answered mentally without your having to do any rough
calculations on paper.
But, for answering some questions (such as those involving the use of ‘<‘ or ‘>’ signs, or a little bit of arithmetic),
you may have to use a pencil and a paper. You will be given blank sheets for this purpose in the examination
hall.

Logical Reasoning questions are carefully and tightly worded. Each word used in them, whether it occurs in
the initial narration or in the question or in the answer choices, is carefully chosen. You must, therefore, read
every word carefully and understand it before attempting to answer the question.
Questions in LSAT should not only be answered correctly, but should be answered within the given
time limit. Try to answer each set of 10 questions below within 20 minutes. Later, after you get used to
them, you should try to answer them within 15 minutes.
After answering each set, verify your answers with the correct answers in the companion volume, and also
read and understand the analysis underneath before attempting to answer the next set of questions.
10
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. A package is never accepted for delivery by the delivery
service unless it is within the established size limits. All
packages accepted for delivery by the delivery service have a
return address.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) The delivery service charges more for heavier packages
than for lighter packages.
(B) The delivery service will always accept for delivery a
package that is within the established size limits.
(C) If a package is within the established size limits and
has a return address, it will be accepted for delivery by the
delivery service no matter how heavy the package is.
(D) A package that is not within the established size limits
but has a return address is never accepted for delivery by the
delivery service.
(E) The delivery service does not charge for packages that
must be returned to the sender.
2. Each increase of 1 percent in real disposable personal
income per capita will increase the share of the electorate for
an incumbent by about 2.2 percentage points, other things
being equal. Since 1952 there has been a decline in real
disposable income during only one presidential election year.
The incumbent lost that election.
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn
from the statements above?
(A) When an incumbent runs for office, he or she is likely
to win.
(B) Political parties should take care to put forth a
candidate who seems prosperous.
(C) Presidential candidates should put their greatest efforts
into improving their public image.
(D) Because a presidential campaign requires the
expenditure of large amounts of money, it frequently
impoverishes a candidate and his or her supporters.
(E) The outcome of a presidential election is substantially
affected by factors other than the ideological positions of the
candidates.
3. A group of scientists studying sound patterns in certain
monkeys found that the adult monkeys had distinct alarm
calls for eagles, leopards, and snakes. The infant monkeys,
however, used the eagle alarm for any flying animal, the
leopard alarm for any walking animal, and the snake alarm
for any long, thin animal.
Which of the following is the most logically defensible
explanation of the monkeys’ behavior?
(A) Neither the adult monkeys nor the infant monkeys
observed in the experiment had speech of any sort
(B) The infant monkeys had yet to learn to distinguish
one kind of animal from another within the three groups
(C) The infant monkeys mimicked the adult monkeys with
no understanding of the significance of the three different
sounds
(D) The infant monkeys had not yet learned to make the
three alarm calls as well as the adult monkeys could
(E) Only the adult monkeys recognized that eagles,
leopards, and snakes posed dangers to them
4. Calcium consumed in recommended levels is stored by
bones and so helps increase bone mass, especially for teen-
11
agers. Beginning at age 35, the stored calcium is used without
being replenished. The more bone mass an individual has,
the less likely it is that the individual will develop
osteoporosis, a disease that makes bones brittle, especially
in people over age 50.
Which of the following is a conclusion that can be properly
drawn from the statements above?
(A) People who steadily increase the amount of calcium
they consume from age 35 on are less likely to suffer
osteoporosis than are people who do not steadily increase the
amount of calcium they consume from age 35 on.
(B) People should steadily increase the amount of calcium
they consume from ages 35 to 50 to prevent osteoporosis.
(C) People who consume the recommended levels of calcium
during their teen years are less likely to suffer osteoporosis
than are people who increase their consumption of calcium
to the recommended levels between the ages of 35 and 50.
(D) People who are at least 50 years old and who suffer
from osteoporosis can be cured by immediately increasing
the amount of calcium they consume.
(E) People who are at least 50 years old and who suffer
from osteoporosis did not consume calcium when they were
teen-agers
5. Carol is shorter than Juan, but she is taller than Ed.
Sandra is shorter than Juan, and she is shorter than Ed.
Wallie is taller than Sandra, but shorter than Juan.
If the statements above are true, one can validly conclude
that Bill is shorter than Carol if it is true that
(A) Carol is equal in height to Wallie
(B) Wallie is equal in height to Bill
(C) Bill is taller than Sandra, but shorter than Wallie
(D) Bill is shorter than Juan, but taller than Ed
(E) Wallie is taller than Bill, but shorter than Ed
6. Clay absorbs radiation with time, releasing it only when
heated. By heating a clay sculpture and measuring the
radiation it releases, experts can determine to within a
century when the sculpture was last heated. The original
firing of the finished sculpture might be the occasion of that
most recent heating.
Experts who obtain the year A.D. 1450 as an estimate for a
given sculpture using the method described above would
thereby most seriously undermine any claim that the sculpture
was made in
(A) A.D. 1000
(B) A.D. 1400
(C) A.D. 1450
(D) A.D. 1500
(E) A.D. 1900
7. “To be a good debater, one must be intelligent. Some
good debaters, however, are also contentious, and contentious
persons are always boring”
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn
from the statements above?
(A) All good debaters are boring
(B) All contentious persons are good debaters
(C) Only good debaters are contentious
(D) Some intelligent persons are boring
(E) Most intelligent persons are boring
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
8. “Dryden makes deliveries only if he has his employer’s
permission. Dryden’s employer permits Dryden to make
deliveries alone during day-light hours, but permits him to
make deliveries after dark, only if both Stan and Estey are
with him.”
Which of the following conclusions can be logically inferred
from the statements above?
(A) If it is dark and Estey is with Dryden, then Dryden
will make deliveries.
(B) If it is dark and Dryden is making deliveries, then Stan
is with him.
(C) If Stan is not with Dryden, then Dryden is not making
deliveries.
(D) If Dryden is making deliveries, then Stan and Estey
are with him.
(E) If Dryden is making deliveries alone, then it is before
6.00 p.m
9. After the national speed limit of 55 miles per hour was
imposed in 1974, the number of deaths per mile driven on a
highway fell abruptly as a result. Since then, however, the
average speed of vehicles on highways has risen, but the
number of deaths per mile driven on a highway has continued
to fall.
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn
from the statements above?
SET 2
1. Women generally do not receive lower pay for doing
precisely the same work as men. Rather, regardless of their
skills, women have disproportionately high representation
in jobs traditionally paying lower wages. If jobs paid according
to the skills and education required by them, this de facto
segregation would not exist.
If the statements above are true, which of the following is
most likely to be true?
(A) Some jobs performed by more men than women pay
higher wages than jobs requiring comparable skills, but
performed by more women than men
(B) Regardless of sex or occupation, a person should be
paid an amount sufficient to support his or her household
(C) As men enter a field, earnings tend to rise, not only for
men but also for the women in the field
(D) Little percentage gain has occurred in the number of
women holding jobs traditionally held by men
(E) Generally accepted methods are available for
evaluating the level of skill required in, and hence the
appropriate pay for, any job traditionally held by women
2. Marijuana has been blamed for causing apathy, loss of
motivation, narrowing of interests, and similar signs of
depression in people who use it heavily. There is no evidence
that the drug does indeed produce such an “a motivational
syndrome”. On the contrary, young people who are depressed
and have low expectations for themselves - and whose parents
expect little of them - are more likely than others to make
heavy use of marijuana.
Which of the following would provide the most logical
concluding sentence for the paragraph above?
(A) Therefore, it can be concluded that marijuana does not
produce an amotivational syndrome
(B) Hence, it can be concluded that the evidence concerning
the amotivational syndrome is at best inconclusive
12
(A) The speed limit alone is probably not responsible for
the continued reduction in highway deaths in the years after
1974
(B) People have been driving less since 1974
(C) Driver-education courses have been more effective since
1974 in teaching drivers to drive safely
(D) In recent years highway patrols have been less effective
in catching drivers who speed
(E) The change in the speed limit cannot be responsible
for the abrupt decline in highway deaths in 1974
10. The country’s continued existence as a nation depends
on its taking active measures to preserve national security.
Some of the measures may not be morally acceptable, but
they must be undertaken, nevertheless.
If the statements above are true, it follows that
(A) It is impossible to act morally in foreign policy.
(B) Each country is morally obliged to defend its own
security.
(C) Active measures to preserve national security must be
immoral.
(D) The pursuit of continued national existence is morally
justifiable.
(E) Adherence to morality is less important than ensuring
the country’s security.
(C) In fact, their parents’ low expectations for them often
are a major factor inducing young people to use marijuana
heavily
(D) In other words, heavy use may be a symptom of
depression and low self-esteem rather than a cause
(E) Moreover, some studies indicate that heavy users of
marijuana experience a broadening of interests and a gain of
motivation
3. The university constitution defines the powers of two
governing bodies. The general council, which currently retains
authority over constitutional matters, consists of all the
university’s living alumni. The twenty-member senate decides
routine matters by majority vote. A new proposal suggests
making a unanimous vote in the senate sufficient to change
the constitution.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
follow on the basis of them?
(A) The proposal will take effect only if it receives the
senate’s unanimous support.
(B) Currently each member of the senate has power of veto
over any proposal that comes before that body.
(C) Adopting the proposal would allow passage of
constitutional changes without the general council’s approval.
(D) Any of the university’s alumni can fill any one of the
twenty seats on the senate.
(E) Adapting the new proposal would increase the voice of
the alumni in the conduct of university affairs.
4. The greater the division of labor in an economy, the
greater the need for coordination. This is because increased
division of labor entails a larger number of specialized
producers, which results in a greater burden on managers
and, potentially, in a greater number of disruptions of supply
and production. There is always more division of labor in
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
market economies than in planned economies.
If all of the statements above are true, then which of the
following must also be true?
(A) Disruptions of supply and production are more frequent
in planned economies than in market economies.
(B) There are more specialized producers in planned
economies than in market economies.
(C) The need for coordination in market economies is
greater than in planned economies.
(D) A manager’s task is easier in a market economy than
in a planned economy.
(E) Division of labor functions more effectively in market
economies than in planned economies.
5. “Investigators studying the facial expressions of children
who are born both blind and deaf have found that certain
patterns of muscular movement, such as those involved in
smiling, are similar in form to the patterns of muscular
movement in the expressions shown by children without these
handicaps.”
Which of the following conclusions can most reliably be
drawn from the above information?
(A) Facial expressions are not part of the language of
gesture that is taught by each society to its children
(B) The facial expressions found to be similar are the same
in human beings everywhere.
(C) The facial expressions found to be similar are not
always learned by imitation of sight or sound.
(D) Facial expressions denoting positive emotions, such
as smiling, are more easily learned than those denoting
negative emotions.
(E) The children who smiled were classifiable as normal
for educational purposes.
6. “Joe: All Americans like ice-cream.
James: No, that is not true, I know a couple of Americans
who just love chocolates”.
From the above conversation, we can say that James has
misunderstood Joe to mean
(A) Only Americans like ice-cream
(B) Joe does not like ice-cream
(C) Americans like only ice-cream
(D) America does not produce chocolates
(E) Those who like ice-creams will not like chocolates
7. “If a car was built after 1965, it has harness-style seat
belts in the front seats”.
From which of the following choices does the statement
above logically follow?
(A) Harness-style seat belts first appeared in cars in the
late 1950’s.
(B) No seat belts other than harness-style seat belts were
used in front seats of cars after 1965, but, all cars built after
1965 were required to have seat belts in the front seats.
(C) Some cars built before 1965 have harness-style seat
belts in the front seats.
(D) Seat belts were not required in cars built before 1965,
but many people who had observed the benefits of seat belts
on racing cars had them installed.
(E) All cars built after 1960 were required to have seat
belts in the front seats, but not necessarily harness-style seat
13
belts.
8. Most canvases used by artists in the pre-industrial
United States were imported from Europe, but the wooden
stretchers on which the canvas was mounted were always
made from American wood. Retailers of art supplies, both in
the United States and Europe, often stamped blank canvases
with their names and addresses. Completed paintings brought
from Europe to America were frequently taken off their
European stretchers for shipping and remounted on American
stretchers after their arrival.
A cultural historian could legitimately use the information
in the passage above in establishing that a painting of that
era done on
(A) canvas sold by a European retailer and mounted on a
stretcher of American wood is probably an American painting
(B) canvas sold by an American retailer and mounted on a
stretcher of American wood is probably an American painting
(C) canvas sold by an American retailer and not mounted
on a stretcher is probably not an American painting
(D) unmarked canvas mounted on a stretcher of American
wood is probably an American painting
(E) unmarked canvas that is not mounted on a stretcher
is probably not an American painting
9. For a local government to outlaw all strikes by its
workers is a costly mistake, because all its labor disputes
must then be settled by binding arbitration, without any
negotiated public-sector labor settlements guiding the
arbitrators. Strikes should be outlawed only for categories of
public-sector workers for whose services no acceptable
substitute exists.
The statements above best support which of the following
conclusions?
(A) Where public-service workers are permitted to strike,
contract negotiations with those workers are typically settled
without a strike.
(B) Where strikes by all categories of public-sector workers
are outlawed, no acceptable substitutes for the services
provided by any of those workers are available.
(C) Binding arbitration tends to be more advantageous for
public-service workers where it is the only available means
of settling labor disputes with such workers.
(D) Most categories of public-sector workers have no
counterparts in the private sector.
(E) A strike by workers in a local government is unlikely
to be settled without help from an arbitrator.
10. If it is true that the streets and the sidewalks are wet
whenever it is raining, which of the following must also be
true?
I. If the streets and sidewalks are wet, it is raining.
II. If the streets are wet but the sidewalks are not wet, it
is not raining.
III. If it is not raining, the streets and sidewalks are not
wet.
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) II and III only
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 3
1. Dormitories range from two to six stories in height. If a
dormitory room is above the second floor, it has a fire escape.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) Second-floor dormitory rooms do not have fire escapes.
(B) Third-floor dormitory rooms do not have fire escapes.
(C) Only dormitory rooms above the second floor have fire
escapes.
(D) Fourth-floor dormitory rooms have fire escapes
(E) Some two story dormitories do not have fire escapes.
2. Although aspirin has been proven to eliminate moderate
fever associated with some illnesses, many doctors no longer
routinely recommend its use for this purpose. A moderate
fever stimulates the activity of the body’s disease-fighting
white blood cells and also inhibits the growth of many strains
of disease-causing bacteria.
If the statements above are true, which of the following
conclusions is most strongly supported by them?
(A) Aspirin, an effective painkiller, alleviates the pain and
discomfort of many illnesses
(B) Aspirin can prolong a patient’s illness by eliminating
moderate fever helpful in fighting some diseases
(C) Aspirin inhibits the growth of white blood cells, which
are necessary for fighting some illnesses
(D) The more white blood cells a patient’s body produces,
the less severe the patient’s illness will be
(E) The focus of modern medicine is on inhibiting the
growth of disease-causing bacteria within the body
3. The city’s public transportation system should be
removed from the jurisdiction of the municipal government,
which finds it politically impossible either to raise fares or to
institute cost-saving reductions in service. If public
transportation were handled by a private firm, profits would
be vigorously pursued, thereby eliminating the necessity for
covering operating costs with government funds.
The statements above best support the conclusion that
(A) the private firms that would handle public
transportation would have experience in the transportation
industry
(B) political considerations would not prevent private firms
from ensuring that revenues cover operating costs
(C) private firms would receive government funding if it
were needed to cover operating costs
(D) the public would approve the cost-cutting actions taken
by the private firm
(E) the municipal government would not be resigned to
accumulating merely enough income to cover costs
4. Praising a historian for factual accuracy in describing
events is like praising an architect for using well-seasoned
timber or properly mixed concrete in a building.
The author of this statement is arguing that
(A) nonhistorians can appreciate well-written historical
accounts, but they cannot judge the accuracy of a historian’s
version of events
(B) history is analogous to architecture in that both
disciplines build on foundations laid by other professions
(C) a good historian must have a thorough knowledge of
auxiliary sciences that help establish facts about events
(D) the credibility of a historian’s argument depends on
14
the amount of information the historian has available
(E) a historian has an obligation to be factually accurate,
but accuracy is not the historian’s most notable
accomplishment
5. “The “plain English” law requires that a contractual
agreement be stated in nontechnical language, if the parties
to the agreement are not represented by attorneys.
The Rent Stabilization code legally requires a contractual
agreement for renewing a housing lease to be upon the same
terms and conditions as the expiring lease.”
Which of the following conclusions can most properly be
drawn from the information above?
(A) If a contractual agreement for an expiring housing lease
is stated in technical language and cannot be stated in
nontechnical language, a landlord and a tenant not
represented by attorneys cannot satisfy all legal requirements
in renewing the lease.
(B) Since the two legal requirements are in conflict and
cannot be reconciled, the provisions of the “plain English”
law must be suspended for contractual agreements to renew
housing leases.
(C) When the renewal of a housing lease becomes necessary,
it will be necessary for both landlord and tenant to employ
attorneys to renegotiate the terms of the lease and to
formulate them in “plain English”.
(D) Contractual agreements to renew housing leases
cannot be upon the same terms and conditions as the expiring
leases, if the provisions of the “plain English” law are to be
enforced.
(E) Contractual agreements to renew housing leases must
be restated in nontechnical language.
6. Superficially, college graduates in 1982 resemble college
graduates of 1964; they are fairly conservative, well dressed,
and interested in tradition; they respect their parents. But
there is a deep-seated difference; a majority of the members
of the class of 1982 who were surveyed in their freshman
year stated that making a good income was an important
reason for their decision to go to college.
The statements in the passage above, if true, best support
which of the following conclusions?
(A) The concerns of college graduates of 1964 were
superficial compared to the financial worries of college
graduates of 1982.
(B) Fewer than half the students of the class of 1964
declared as freshmen that they entered college in order to
increase their earning potential.
(C) Educational background did not play as significant a
part in determining income in 1964 as it does in 1982.
(D) A majority of the members of the class of 1964 revised
their reasons for attending college between their freshman
year and college graduation.
(E) College graduates of 1964 were actually less
conservative than college graduates of 1982.
7. To produce seeds, plants must first produce flowers. Two
kinds of tarragon plants. Russian tarragon and French
tarragon, look very similar except that Russian tarragon
produces flowers and French tarragon does not. The leaves
of Russian tarragon, however, lack the distinctive flavor that
makes French tarragon a desirable culinary herb.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
If the information presented is true, which of the following
can most reliably be concluded on the basis of it?
(A) As a decorative plant, French tarragon is more desirable
than Russian tarragon
(B) The flowers of Russian tarragon plants are probably
not favorable
(C) Plants that grow from seeds sold in a packet labeled
“tarragon” are not French tarragon
(D) There are no other kinds of tarragon besides Russian
tarragon and French tarragon.
(E) Garden plants that have flavorful leaves generally do
not produce flowers
8. Wearing either a lap seat belt or a shoulder-and-lap seat
belt protects passengers from the major types of injuries
incurred in head-on automobile collisions. However,
passengers wearing lap seat belts alone frequently suffer
internal injuries caused by the seat belt itself. Such injuries
do not occur when shoulder-and-lap seat belts are worn.
Which of the following conclusions about passengers
involved in head-on automobile conclusions is best supported
by the statements above?
(A) No type of seat belt provides passengers with
adequate protection from injury.
(B) The injuries that passengers most frequently incur are
internal injuries.
(C) Head-on automobile collisions cause more injuries to
passengers than any other kind of automobile accident does.
(D) It is safer for passengers to wear a shoulder-and-lap
seat belt than to wear a lap seat belt alone.
(E) It is safer for passengers to wear no seat belt than to
SET 4
1. Nursing homes range from three to five stories in height.
If a nursing-home room is above the first floor, it has a fire
escape.
If the above statements are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) First-floor rooms in nursing homes do not have fire
escapes.
(B) Fire escapes are allowed but not required for first floor
rooms in nursing homes.
(C) Some nursing homes have no fire escapes.
(D) Not all nursing homes have proper fire escapes.
(E) Second-floor rooms in nursing homes have fire escapes.
2. Masterpieces of literature are “intertextual”, that is, they
tend to be written in response not to reality but to other works
of literature. To the extent that a writing is intertextual, it
becomes clouded as a mirror of social reality.
The statements above provide the most support for which
of the following conclusions?
(A) To the extent that a writing fails to mirror social reality,
the writing is intertextual.
(B) The author who wishes to write a masterpiece should
avoid being influenced by other works of literature.
(C) A writing that is not intertextual can have no significant
relationship to any other writings.
(D) Literary masterpieces of the past are suspect as sources
of information about the social reality of the past.
(E) A work of literature is not intertextual if it is
written in response to a writing that accurately mirrors
social reality.
15
wear a lap seat belt alone.
9. As soon as any part of a person’s conduct affects
prejudicially the interests of others, society has jurisdiction
over it, and the question of whether the general welfare will
or will not be promoted by interfering with it becomes open
to discussion. If a person’s conduct does not affect prejudicially
the interests of others, it should not come under the
jurisdiction of society in the first place.
The author in the passage above argues that
(A) society is independent of the actions of individuals
(B) the general welfare of a society is promoted when a
person’s conduct benefits others
(C) conduct that does not infringe on the interests of others
should not be under the jurisdiction of society
(D) interference with the actions of individuals does not
enhance the general welfare
(E) in general, the interests of persons are mutually
exclusive
10. X melts at a higher temperature than P melts.
Y melts at a lower temperature than P melts, but at a
higher temperature than Q melts.
If the statements above are true, it can be concluded with
certainty that S melts at a higher temperature than Y melts if
one knows in addition that
(A) Q and P melt at a higher temperature than S melts
(B) X melts at a higher temperature than S melts
(C) P melts at a lower temperature than S melts
(D) Q melts at the same temperature that S melts
(E) S melts at a higher temperature than Q melts
3. High levels of fertilizer and pesticides, needed when
farmers try to produce high yields of the same crop year after
year, pollute water supplies. Experts therefore urge farmers
to diversify their crops and to rotate their plantings yearly.
To produce governmental price-support benefits for a crop,
farmers must have produced that same crop for the past
several years.
The statements above, if true, best support which of the
following conclusions?
(A) The rules for governmental support of farm prices work
against efforts to reduce water pollution
(B) The only solution to the problem of water pollution
from fertilizers and pesticides is to take farmland out of
production.
(C) Farmers can continue to make a profit by rotating
diverse crops, thus reducing costs for chemicals, but not by
planting the same crop each year.
(D) New farming techniques will be developed to make it
possible for farmers to reduce the application of fertilizers
and pesticides.
(E) Governmental price supports for farm products are set
at levels that are not high enough to allow farmers to get out
of debt
4. “When and only when the apples are green, the peppers
are red, but the berries are not blue. When and only when
the berries are blue, the cherries are not ripe. When and
only when the cherries are not ripe, either the grass is brown
or the leaves are small or both.”
If the grass is brown, which of the following must be true?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
A. The apples are not green.
B. The berries are not blue.
C. The peppers are red.
D. The cherries are ripe.
E. The leaves are small.
5. “If George was born in New York State, then he is a
citizen of the United States”.
The statement above can be deduced logically from which
of the given statements?
(A) Everyone born in New York State is a citizen of the
United States.
(B) Every citizen of the United States is a resident either
of one of the States or of one of the territories.
(C) Some people born in New York State are citizens of
the United States.
(D) George was born either in New York or in Florida.
(E) George is a citizen either of the United States or of
the Dominican Republic.
6. Advertisement: Today’s customers expect high quality.
Every advance in the quality of manufactured products
raises customer expectations. The company that is satisfied
with the current quality of its products will soon find that
its customers are not. At Megacorp, meeting or exceeding
customer expectation is our goal.
Which of the following must be true on the basis of the
statements in the advertisement above?
(A) Megacorp’s competitors will succeed in attracting
customers only if those competitors adopt MegaCorp’s goal
as their own.
(B) A company that does not correctly anticipate the
expectations of its customers is certain to fail in advancing
the quality of its products.
(C) MegaCorp’s goal is possible to meet only if continuing
advances in product quality are possible.
(D) If a company becomes satisfied with the quality of its
products, then the quality of its products is sure to decline.
(E) MegaCorp’s customers are currently satisfied with the
quality of its products.
7. The pattern of scientific grants awarded by foundations
is changing as the number of worthy requests grows in the
face of cuts in federal spending. Many foundations, formerly
willing to fund innovative but risky projects, have begun to
support relatively conservative projects only.
From the passage above it can be most reasonably
concluded that which of the following was true when the
passage was written, as compared to preceding years?
(A) Foundations were being forced to recognize that they
could be more effective by granting smaller amounts of
money to a greater number of projects.
(B) The decision-makers at foundations tended to be more
politically conservative.
(C) Foundations had less money available to support
worthwhile projects because of the rising costs of other
activities.
(D) Foundations were increasingly allowing decisions
about which projects to fund to be based on a reluctance to
see projects they supported fail.
(E) Those programs that were more innovative than the
ones funded by foundations were supported by the limited
federal funds that were still available.
16
8. Dense snow cover can cause unusually harsh weather
patterns to persist. If a severe winter storm blankets the
Great Plains, the snow cover reflects the sun’s radiation back
into space and thus keeps the temperature of the ground
low. Consequently, cold air moving down from Canada
remains cold enough to cause more snowstorms.
Which of the following is a conclusion that can be properly
drawn from the information above?
(A) Winter weather on the Great Plains is the product of
unusual movements of air masses.
(B) The Great Plains are more likely than other areas to
suffer unusually harsh weather patterns.
(C) If the Great Plains get more snow than usual early in
the winter and the snow remains until the springthaw, the
winter is likely to be colder than usual.
(D) Even if the temperatures on the Great Plains are not
extremely cold but are just below freezing, a moderate snow-
storm will probably turn into a blizzard.
(E) The temperature of the ground depends primarily on
the thickness of the snow cover.
9. (This passage was written before 1997 when, according
to a treaty between China and Great Britain, Hong Kong,
which was then a Crown Colony of Great Britain, was to
become a part of China.) One analyst predicts that Hong
Kong can retain its capitalist ways after it becomes part of
mainland China in 1997 as long as a capitalist Hong Kong
is useful to China; that a capitalist Hong Kong will be useful
to China as long as Hong Kong is prosperous; and that Hong
Kong will remain prosperous as long as it retains its
capitalist ways.
If the predictions above are correct, which of the following
further predictions can logically be derived from them?
(A) If Hong Kong fails to stay prosperous, it will no longer
remain part of mainland China.
(B) If Hong Kong retains its capitalist ways until 1997, it
will be allowed to do so afterward.
(C) If there is a world economic crisis after 1997, it will
not adversely affect the economy of Hong Kong.
(D) Hong Kong will be prosperous after 1997.
(E) The citizens of Hong Kong will have no restrictions
placed on them by the government of mainland China.
10. Meteorite explosions in the Earth’s atmosphere as
large as the one that destroyed forests in Siberia, with
approximately the force of a twelve-megaton nuclear blast,
occur about once a century. The response of highly automated
systems controlled by complex computer programs to
unexpected circumstances is unpredictable.
Which of the following conclusions can most properly be
drawn, if the statements above are true, about a highly
automated nuclear-missile defense system controlled by a
complex computer program?
(A) Within a century after its construction, the system
would react inappropriately and might accidentally start a
nuclear war.
(B) The system would be destroyed if an explosion of a
large meteorite occurred in the Earth’s atmosphere.
(C) It would be impossible for the system to distinguish
the explosion of a large meteorite from the explosion of a
nuclear weapon.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(D) Whether the system would respond inappropriately
to the explosion of a large meteorite would depend on the
location of the blast.
SET 5
1. In the Southern United States in the early twentieth
century, the incidence of pellagra, a debilitating disease
caused by a deficiency of niacin and certain amino acids, was
inversely related to the price of cotton. The poverty of the
area and its dependence on a one-crop economy allowed most
of the population to buy only the cheapest food, which in the
worst years meant cornmeal and little else.
Which of the following is a conclusion that can logically be
drawn from the passage above?
(A) The most important crop in the Southern United States
in the early twentieth century was corn
(B) A diet consisting largely of cornmeal is deficient in some
essential nutrients
(C) As the price of cotton went down, the price of most
foodstuffs went up
(D) As the price of cotton went up, the incidence of pellagra
went up
(E) The Southern United States in the early twentieth
century was a poverty area because of its dependence on a
one-crop economy
2. In 1980, Japan’s income from exported goods totalled
$92 billion, three times more than the United States’ income
from exported goods. However, the 1980 United States
foreign-trade account, which balances a nation’s payments
for imported goods against the moneys received for its
exported goods, showed a $4 billion surplus while that of
Japan showed a deficit.
Which of the following is the most logical conclusion to be
drawn from the information above?
(A) The United States imports few goods from Japan
(B) The United States exports more goods than does Japan
(C) Japan imported more goods manufactured in the
United States in 1980 than ever before
(D) Japan’s payments for imported goods in 1980 far
exceeded United States' payments for imported goods in 1980
(E) The price of goods manufactured in the United States
is competitive with the price of those manufactured in Japan
3. When the chemical vianzone is applied to any clear
solution containing sodium chlorate, the solution becomes
cloudy, and when vianzone is applied to a clear solution
containing potassium nitrate, the solution becomes cloudy.
Vianzone does not alter the appearance of a clear solution
containing benzene. In a certain experiment, vianzone was
applied to a clear solution, and the solution remained clear.
It can be validly concluded that the clear solution used in
the experiment contained
(A) potassium nitrate
(B) both sodium chlorate and benzene
(C) no benzene
(D) no sodium chlorate
(E) neither potassium nitrate nor benzene
4. During the Second World War, fighter pilots watched
for enemies in the sky by direct visual perception. The pilots
had to turn their heads frequently in order to look to their
rear, and so calisthenics to develop neck muscles were part
17
(E) It is not certain what the system’s response to the
explosion of a large meteorite would be if its designers did
not plan for such a contingency.
of their training. Today, with electronic instruments, pilots
never need to look to the rear. Their ability to detect slight
changes on electronic dials and gauges is more significant
than their keenness of long-distance vision or their developed
musculature.
The information above best supports which of the following
conclusions?
(A) The reliance on increasingly sophisticated electronic
instruments in air combat situations will soon make human
pilots superfluous.
(B) Visual acuity is of little help in air combat today because
of the terrific speeds at which modern aircraft approach each
other.
(C) Fitness with regard to military service must always be
defined in terms of the demands combat situation place on
combatants.
(D) The performance of pilots will necessarily decline if
the strenuous physical conditioning programs employed in
the past are not continued.
(E) Revisions of military training programs at frequent
intervals can guarantee adaptability to the demands of future
combat situations.
5. Whenever the sun is shining and the windchill factor is
below zero, Susan wears her parka. Whenever it is raining
and the windchill factor is above zero, Susan wears her
raincoat. Sometimes it rains when the sun is shining.
If the above statements are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) If it is not raining and Susan is wearing her parka, the
sun is shining.
(B) If the windchill factor is below zero and Susan is not
wearing her parka, the sun is not shining.
(C) If the windchill factor is below zero and it is not raining,
Susan is wearing her parka.
(D) If the windchill factor is below zero and it is raining,
Susan is wearing her raincoat.
(E) If it rains while the sun is shining and the windchill
factor is zero, Susan wears her parka.
6. Many people argue that tobacco advertising plays a
crucial role in causing teen-agers to start or continue smoking.
In Norway, however, where there has been a ban on tobacco
advertising since 1975, smoking is at least as prevalent among
teen-agers as it is in countries that do not ban such
advertising.
Which of the following statements draws the most reliable
conclusion from the information above?
(A) Tobacco advertising cannot be the only factor that
affects the prevalence of smoking among teen-agers.
(B) Advertising does not play a role in causing teen-agers
to start or continue smoking.
(C) Banning tobacco advertising does not reduce the
consumption of tobacco.
(D) More teen-agers smoke if they are not exposed to
tobacco advertising than if they are.
(E) Most teen-agers who smoked in 1975 did not stop when
the ban on tobacco advertising was implemented.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
7. Laws requiring the use of headlights during daylight
hours can prevent automobile collisions. However, since
daylight visibility is worse in countries farther from the
equator, any such laws would obviously be more effective in
preventing collisions in those countries. In fact, the only
countries that actually have such laws are farther from the
equator than is the continental United States.
Which of the following conclusions could be most properly
drawn from the information given above?
(A) Drivers in the continental United States who used their
headlights during the day would be just as likely to become
involved in a collision as would drivers who did not use their
headlights.
(B) In many countries that are farther from the equator
than is the continental United States poor daylight visibility
is the single most important factor in automobile collisions.
(C) The proportion of automobile collisions that occur in
the daytime is greater in the continental Untied States than
in the countries that have daytime headlight laws.
(D) Fewer automobile collisions probably occur each year
in countries that have daytime headlight laws than occur
within the continental United States.
(E) Daytime headlight laws would probably do less to
prevent automobile collisions in the continental United States
than they do in the countries that have the laws.
8. The number of patents granted to inventors by the
United States Patent Office dropped from 56,000 in 1971 to
45,000 in 1978. Spending on research and development, which
peaked at 3% of the gross national product (GNP) in 1964,
was only 2.2% of the GNP in 1978. During this period, when
the United States percentage was steadily decreasing, West
Germany and Japan increased the percentage of their GNPs
spent on research and development to 3.2% and 1.6%
respectively.
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the
information above?
(A) There is a direct relationship between the size of a
nation’s GNP and the number of inventions it produces.
(B) Japan and West Germany spent more money on
research and development in 1978 than did the United States.
(C) The amount of money a nation spends on research and
development is directly related to the number of inventions
patented by that nation.
(D) Between 1964 and 1978, the United States consistently
spent a larger percentage of its GNP on research and
development than did Japan.
(E) Both West Germany and Japan will soon surpass the
United States in the number of patents granted to inventors.
SET 6
1. Even those buildings made of the best of materials are
being sloppily designed and constructed today. But many
flaws that are already part of the construction are made into
bigger and more costly problems by maintenance personnel
or other engineers because they do not take the time to study
the buildings for which they become responsible.
Which of the following, if it could be carried out, is most
likely to alleviate the difficulties stated in the passage?
(A) Buildings are made only of more costly materials that
have passed all safety requirements
(B) Maintenance personnel inform the tenants in their
buildings about any repairs that are needed
18
9. A study of the use of the polygraph, or lie detector, found
that when a trained examiner using approved questioning
techniques gave the test, information from the lie detector
was accurate for 70 to 90 percent of the responses in
determining whether the responses were truthful.
It can be reliably concluded from the results of the study
cited above that
(A) the lie detector gives accurate results only when
employed by a trained examiner using approved questioning
techniques
(B) with a trained examiner using approved questioning
techniques, the lie detector gave incorrect results in at least
one out of ten instances
(C) in at least 70 percent of the cases, a trained examiner
using approved questioning techniques can discriminate
between the questions for which the lie detector gives correct
results and those for which it does not
(D) the lie detector measures truth-telling objectively, and
the validity of its use does not depend on subjective
interpretation on the part of the examiner
(E) if a trained examiner using approved questioning
techniques asks a specific question and the lie detector
indicates that the answer was false, the respondent definitely
lied when giving that answer
10. Mass transit authorities in large cities are struggling
with deficits. Riders complain about delays and breakdown,
cuts in service, and fares higher than they are accustomed to
paying. For all these reasons and because the price of gasoline
is still not prohibitive, the number of passengers using public
transportation has fallen, adding to the deficits.
Which of the following statements about the relationship
between the number of riders using public transportation and
the price of gasoline is best supported by the passage above?
(A) As the price of gasoline rises, the number of riders using
public transportation rises.
(B) Even if the price of gasoline rises, the number of riders
using public transportation will continue to decline.
(C) If the price of gasoline rises to a prohibitive level, the
number of riders using public transportation will rise.
(D) The majority of riders using public transportation do
not use gasoline; hence, fluctuations in gasoline prices are
unlikely to affect the number of riders using public
transportation.
(E) The price of gasoline is always low enough to make
private transportation cheaper than public transportation;
hence, fluctuations in gasoline prices are unlikely to affect
the number of riders using public transportation.
(C) Engineers who were not responsible for the original
construction of the building supervise any structural
improvements in the building
(D) The design engineer oversees the maintenance of his
or her creation after construction is ended and the building
is occupied
(E) The plans of a design engineer are made available for
the scrutiny of the tenants of the building the engineer
designed
2. The following proposal to amend the bylaws of an
organization was circulated to its members for comment.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
“When more than one nominee is to be named for an office,
prospective nominees must consent to nomination and before
giving such consent must be told who the other nominees
will be”.
Which of the following comments concerning the logic of
the proposal is accurate if it cannot be known who the actual
nominees are until prospective nominees have given their
consent to be nominated?
(A) The proposal would make it possible for each of several
nominees for an office to be aware of who all of the other
nominees are
(B) The proposal would widen the choice available to those
choosing among the nominees
(C) If there are several prospective nominees, the proposal
would deny the last nominee equal treatment with the first
(D) The proposal would enable a prospective nominee to
withdraw from competition in favour of a specific person
without others knowing about such preference
(E) If there is more than one prospective nominee, the
proposal would make it impossible for anyone to become a
nominee
3. A violin constructed to have improved sound would sound
different from the best-sounding existing violins. To
professional violinists, a violin that sounds different from the
best-sounding existing violins sounds less like a violin and
therefore worse than the best-sounding existing violins.
Professional violinists are the only accepted judges of the
sound quality of violins.
If all of the statements above were true, which of the
following would be best supported by those statements?
(A) Only amateur violinists should be asked to judge the
sound quality of newly constructed violins.
(B) Professional violinists supervise the construction of
violins.
(C) The best-sounding existing violins have been in
existence for several centuries.
(D) It is currently impossible to construct a violin that the
only accepted judges will evaluate as having improved sound.
(E) It is possible to construct a violin that sounds better
than the best-sounding existing violins to everyone but
professional violinists.
4. When a polygraph test is judged inconclusive, this is no
reflection on the examinee. Rather, such a judgment means
that the test has failed to show whether the examinee was
untruthful or truthful. Nevertheless, employers will
sometimes refuse to hire a job applicant because of an
inconclusive polygraph test result.
Which of the following conclusions can most properly drawn
from the information above?
(A) Most examinees with inconclusive polygraph test
results are in fact untruthful.
(B) Polygraph tests should not be used by employers in
the consideration of job applicants.
(C) An inconclusive polygraph test result is sometimes
unfairly held against the examinee.
(D) A polygraph test indicating that an examinee is
untruthful can sometimes be mistaken.
(E) Some employers have refused to consider the results
of polygraph tests when evaluating job applicants.
5. The school bus always stops at the railroad tracks. When
the warning light is not flashing, it then proceeds directly
across if the tracks are clear. However, when the warning
19
light is not flashing and the tracks are not clear, the school
bus waits until they are clear and then proceeds immediately
across them.
If the statements above are true and it is true that the school
bus stops at the tracks and then does not proceed to cross them,
which of the following must also be true?
(A) The warning light is flashing and the tracks are clear.
(B) The warning light is flashing and the tracks are not
clear.
(C) The warning light is not flashing and the tracks are
not clear.
(D) The warning light is flashing, or the tracks are not
clear, or both.
(E) The warning light is not flashing, or the tracks are not
clear, or both.
6. If carbon dioxide gas is generated in large enough
quantities, it will collect in the atmosphere and cause an
unwelcome warming effect on climate. The decay of plants,
including trees, generates carbon dioxide, but in forests such
carbon dioxide is balanced by the carbon dioxide taken in by
living plants, which give off oxygen.
The use in industry of fuels derived from plants generates
a large amount of carbon dioxide; such fuel include wood,
coal, and oil.
If the statements above are true, which of the following can
properly be concluded from them?
(A) All of the carbon dioxide that can be generated in an
industrial society is attributable to plants, directly or
indirectly.
(B) An unwelcome warming effect on climate cannot be
avoided, since carbon dioxide is given off by the natural
processes of decay in plants.
(C) Forests contribute as much carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere as does the industrial use of fuel derived from
plants.
(D) A society that uses plant-based fuels in industry will
contribute a net surplus of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,
unless the gas is reabsorbed in some way.
(E) No matter which fuels are used by industry, there is
bound to be an increase in the total amount of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere and a consequent unwelcome warming
effect on climate.
7. Forty-five percent of all blood donated in the Unites
States is type O. Type O blood is essential for emergencies
where there is no time for determining the blood type of
victims because type O blood can be used for everyone. Type
O blood is unique in that it is compatible with blood of all
types; any recipient, regardless of blood type, can be given it.
But precisely because of this special usefulness, type O blood
is chronically in short supply.
If the statements in the passage above are true, which of
the following must also be true?
(A) The special usefulness of type O blood lies in the fact
that it matches the blood type of most people.
(B) Supplies of type O blood are continuously so low that
type O blood is unavailale for emergencies, where its
usefulness would be greatest.
(C) Forty-five percent of the total population of the United
States has type O blood, which makes type O the most
common blood type.
(D) Any decision to give blood of any type other than O
needs to be based on knowledge of the recipient’s blood type.
(E) Type O blood is the only blood that cannot be typed as
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
fast as needed in emergencies.
8. Most television viewers estimate how frequently a
particular type of accident or crime occurs by how extensively
it is discussed on television news shows. Television news
shows report more on stories that include dramatic pictures
such as fires and motor vehicle accidents than they do on
more common stories that have little visual drama such as
bookkeeping fraud.
If the statements above are true, it can be properly concluded
that which of the following is also true?
(A) The time that television news reporters spend
researching news stories is directly related to the number of
viewers who will be affected by events like those in the news
stories.
(B) It is easier for crimes such as bookkeeping fraud to go
unprosecuted than it is for crimes such as arson.
(C) The number of fires and motor vehicle accidents greatly
increases after each television news show that includes
dramatic pictures of a fire or motor vehicle accident.
(D) Viewers of television news shows tend to overestimate
the number of fires and motor vehicle accidents that occur
relative to the number of crimes of bookkeeping fraud.
(E) The usual selection of news stories for television news
shows is determined by the number of news reporters
available for assignment.
9. A dog hears higher pitches than a human hears; a cat
has a greater capacity to see in dim light than a human
normally has; a platypus picks up weak electric signals to
which a human is normally insensitive.
Which of the following conclusions can be properly drawn
SET 7 (Questions involving some arithmetic)
(Questions in Logical Reasoning / Critical Reasoning do not usually involve the use of arithmetic, but can be
answered using an argumentative process. But, occasionally, questions are asked which involve the use of basic
mathemetical principles. This set contains questions of this type.)
1. Between 1975 and 1985, nursing-home occupancy rates
averaged 87 percent of capacity, while admission rates
remained constant at an average of 95 admissions per 1000
beds per year. Between 1985 and 1988, however, occupancy
rates rose to an average of 92 percent of capacity, while
admission rates declined to 81 per 1000 beds per year.
If the statements above are true, which of the following
conclusions can be most properly drawn?
(A) The average length of time nursing-home residents
stayed in nursing homes increased between 1985 and 1988.
(B) The proportion of old people living in nursing homes
was greater in 1988 than in 1975.
(C) Nursing home admission rates rend to decline
whenever occupancy rates rise.
(D) Nursing homes built prior to 1985 generally had fewer
beds than nursing homes built between 1985 and 1988.
(E) The more beds a nursing home has, the higher its
occupancy rate is likely to be.
2. Husbands of wage-earning women spend, on the
average, the same amount of time on household work as do
husbands of women who do not earn wages: eleven hours per
week. Husbands of wage-earning women perform household
tasks on more occasions than do husbands of women who do
not earn wages.
20
from the statements above?
(A) Most animals have sensory capacities superior to those
demonstrated by humans.
(B) Some animals have sensory capacities that are
different from those of humans.
(C) During evolution the eyes and ears of human beings
were modified to make human sense perception less acute.
(D) Researchers should not be surprised to find that all
the sensory capacities of platypuses are greater than any of
those demonstrated by humans.
(E) Any human who can see in dim light does so less well
than any cat.
10. One theory of the Moon’s origin is that the Earth,
early in its development, was a rapidly rotating body of
molten rock in which most of the iron had settled to the
core; some of this fluid was cast off from the surface of the
spinning mass and later solidified to form the Moon.
Which of the following conclusions can best be supported
by the theory above of the Moon’s origin, if that theory is
correct?
(A) The moon is the only sizable heavenly body in orbit
around the earth.
(B) The Moon has proportionately less iron at its core than
the Earth does.
(C) The surface of the Moon solidified after the surface of
the earth did.
(D) Most of the fluid cast off from the Earth was dispersed
into outer space.
(E) The Moon, like the Earth, has a solid surface and a
molten core.
If the statements above are true, which of the following
conclusions can be properly drawn?
(A) Husbands of wage-earning women report a higher rate
of participation in household tasks than is actually the case,
because they overestimate the number of times they do
housework
(B) On the average, husbands of wage-earning women
allocate a little more time to housework per month than do
husbands of women who do not earn wages
(C) The average time spent per occasion of performing
individual household tasks is less for husbands of wage-
earning women than it is for husbands of women who do not
earn wages
(D) There is no difference in the patterns of time spent on
household tasks by husbands of wage-earning women and
by husbands of women who do not earn wages
(E) Husbands of wage-earning women participate more
often in tasks that are completed in a short time than they
do in tasks that take a long time to complete
3. Recent estimates predict that between 1982 and 1995
the greatest increase in the number of people employed will
be in the category of low-paying service occupations. This
category, however, will not increase its share of total
employment, whereas the category of high-paying service
occupations will increase its share.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
If the estimates above are accurate, which of the following
conclusions can be drawn?
(A) In 1982 more people were working in low-paying service
occupations than were working in high-paying service
occupations.
(B) In 1995 more people will be working in high-paying
service occupations than will be working in low-paying service
occupations.
(C) Nonservice occupations will account for the same share
of total employment in 1995 as in 1982.
(D) Many of the people who were working in low-paying
service occupations in 1982 will be working in high-paying
service occupations by 1995.
(E) The rate of growth for low-paying service occupations
will be greater than the overall rate of employment growth
between 1982 and 1995.
4. During the 1960’s only 15 percent of the growth in the
United States population was due to immigration. The other
85 percent was due to the amount by which the birthrate
was higher than the death rate. The population has grown
continuously since then, but today immigration accounts for
30 percent of population growth. Nonetheless, the number of
people immigrating each year has not changed significantly.
From the information above it can be properly concluded
that, as compared to the 1960’s, in the United States today
(A) the birthrate is lower
(B) population growth is roughly the same
(C) the population is growing more slowly
(D) the death rate is higher
(E) fewer people are emigrating
5. The 38 corporations that filed United States income tax
returns showing a net income of more than $100 million
accounted for 53 percent of the total taxable income from
foreign sources reported on all tax returns. Sixty percent of
the total taxable income from foreign sources came from the
200 returns reporting income from 10 or more countries.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) Most of the total taxable income earned by corporations
with net income above $100 million was earned from foreign
sources.
(B) Wealthy individuals with large personal incomes
reported 47 percent of the total taxable income from foreign
sources
(C) Income from foreign sources amounted to between 53
and 60 percent of all reported taxable income.
(D) Some of the corporations with net income above $100
million reported income from 10 or more countries.
(E) Most of the tax returns showing income from 10 or
more countries reported net income of more than $100 million
6. In a recent year California produced an orange crop equal
to only seventy-six percent of Florida’s orange crop. However,
when citrus crops as a group, including oranges, were
compared, the California crop was twentythree percent
greater than Florida’s crop for the same year.
If the information above is true, which of the following can
properly be concluded about the Florida and California citrus
crops in the year mentioned?
(A) Florida’s climate was suited only to growing oranges.
(B) Florida produced larger oranges than California did.
(C) California produced more oranges than it did non-
orange citrus.
21
(D) California’s proportion of non-orange citrus crops was
higher than Florida’s.
(E) California had more acreage that could be devoted to
agriculture than did Florida.
7. “Each year’s increase or decrease in productivity – that
is, in the amount of goods and services produced in an hour’s
paid working time – is calculated in relation to that of the
previous year. In 1982, the productivity of workers in nonfarm
private business was 5 percent higher than in 1981, while
overall private business productivity, when farming was
included, was 4.8 percent higher than in 1981. That 4.8
percent increase in 1982 was double the increase recorded in
1981.”
If the information above is accurate, which of the following
must be true?
(A) More workers left farming for work in nonfarm private
business in 1982 than in 1981.
(B) Average hourly wages of workers in nonfarm private
business in 1982 declined from 1981.
(C) In 1982, the increase in the productivity of nonfarm
private business was more than double the increase recorded
in 1981.
(D) In 1982, the increase, if any, in the profits of nonfarm
private business was smaller than the increase in the profits
of farming.
(E) In 1982, the increase, if any, in the productivity of
farming was smaller than the increase in nonfarm private
business productivity.
8. A three-hour movie replaced three regularly scheduled
television programs. The movie had only two equally long
breaks for advertisements instead of the five equal breaks
that normally interrupted the regular programs. However,
the total time used for advertisements during the movie
equaled the time usually used for advertisements during the
regular programs.
If the above statements are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) The average length of the advertisements shown during
the movie was shorter than that of the advertisements usually
shown during the regular programs.
(B) Only one sponsor’s advertisements were shown during
the movie, whereas more than one sponsor’s advertisements
were shown during the regular programs.
(C) The sponsors who advertised during the movie were
not the same as the sponsors who usually advertised during
the regular programs.
(D) Each of the interruptions for advertisements in the
movie was longer than each of the interruptions for
advertisements that usually occurred in the regular
programs.
(E) The advertisements during the movie focused on only
one kind of product, whereas the advertisements during the
regular programs focused on a variety of products.
9. Two hundred corporations with net incomes of more than
$122 million each accounted for 77 percent of total corporate
gifts to United States higher education in 1985. That year,
26 percent of total corporate gifts to United States higher
education came from 14 Japanese corporations, each of which
received income from 27 or more countries.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
also be true?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) Most of the net income earned by the 14 Japanese
corporations was earned outside of Japan.
(B) Individuals contributed 23 percent of total gifts to
United States higher education in 1985.
(C) Gifts from corporations accounted for more than half
of the total contributions to United States higher education
in 1985.
(D) One or more of the 200 corporations with more than
$122 million in net income received income from 27 or more
countries.
(E) Most of the 14 Japanese corporations earned more than
$122 million in net income in 1985.
10. For some women the cost of giving birth can be an
unexpectedly large burden. The average normal birth now
costs $3,200, and a birth with complications can cost
thousands of dollars more. Of women in the primary
childbearing age range of eighteen to twentyfour, who account
22
for about 40 percent of all births in this country annually,
more than 25% have no health-care insurance to pay
maternity costs.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must
also be true?
(A) Each year, about 75 percent of all births in this country
are to women who have health-care coverage of maternity
costs.
(B) Each year, about 60 percent of all births in this country
are to women who are younger than eighteen or older than
twenty-four.
(C) For an average birth, health-care insurance pays about
75% of $3,200.
(D) In this country, about 75 percent of the women who do
not have health-care coverage of maternity costs are younger
than eighteen or older than twentyfour.
(E) In this country, nearly 75 percent of the women in the
primary childbearing age give birth with no complications.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Chapter 3
'INFERENCE' QUESTIONS
Another type of questions under Logical Reasoning in LSAT
asks you to spot the choice which can be a logical inference
from the information contained in the given narration.
In ordinary English parlance, the nouns ‘conclusion’ and
‘inference’ are synonyms of each other as are the corresponding
verbs ‘conclude’ and ‘infer’.
Both ‘conclusion’ and ‘inference’ mean ‘something that can
be logically arrived at or deduced’.
The Logical Reasoning questions in LSAT use the word
‘inference’ in a slightly more restricted sense, to refer to a
statement which is not the principal conclusion from the given
information, but is one which is secondary, ancillary or
tangential to it.
Whereas only one ‘conclusion’ is normally possible from a
given set of information (and no conclusion at all in some
cases), many different ‘inferences’ are possible from the same
set of statements.
In some cases, the ‘conclusion’ itself will be found in the
given narration.
For example, read the statement below:
“The time is 5.30 now and the movie starts at 6.30. Unless
we leave home within the next 15 minutes, we shall be missing
its beginning”
The above statement is a simple one that we often hear in
day-to-day life. This statement itself contains the conclusion
that ‘unless we leave home within the next 15 minutes, we
shall be missing its beginning”.
One inference that we can make from this statement is
that the travel time between the speaker’s home and the movie
theater is about 45 minutes.
This inference is not a main conclusion by itself, but is one
that is secondary to the main conclusion that “unless we leave
home within the next 15 minutes, we shall be missing its
beginning”.
Another inference that is possible from the given sentence
(because of the use of the plural pronoun ‘we’) is that the
speaker is not going alone to the movie and will have at least
one companion.
The following statements, while they may be factually
correct, cannot be considered to be logical inferences from the
above statement, because they all extend the scope of that
statement beyond what immediately follows from it :
(A) The speaker is fond of going to movies.
(B) The movie has the speaker’s favourite star as the hero.
(C) The speaker never goes to a movie alone.
(D) The speaker will prefer to return home without seeing
the movie if he misses its beginning.
(E) The speaker prefers movies to plays.
The reasoning required for answering an ‘inference’
question is similar to the reasoning required for answering a
‘conclusion question’.
The errors in the wrong choices under ‘inference’ questions
will be similar to those under the ‘conclusion’ questions -
namely, contradicting a specific information in the given
passage; extending the scope of what is stated in the passage
beyond what immediately follows from it; making a sweeping
generalization from a single instance referred to in the
23
passage; or being irrelevant to what is stated in the passage.
We give below a number of examples of such questions of
the same types and levels of difficulty as those asked in LSAT
of previous years.
Example 1
Currently people in the United States eat, on the average,
1,431 pounds of food per year, 35 pounds more than in 1980.
This increase is, at least in part, because people between the
ages of 15 and 64 have accounted for an increasing share of
the population.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the
passage above?
(A) More than half of the current population of the United
States is between the ages of 15 and 64.
(B) The population has risen since 1980.
(C) Children below the age of 15 require, on the average,
more food than do people over the age of 64.
(D) Before 1980, children below the age of 15 outnumbered
people between the age of 15 and 64.
(E) Individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 consume,
on the average, more food than do those younger or older.
Analysis
The author attributes the increase in the average per-capita
consumption of food in US during the last decade partly to
the fact that the proportion of people in the age group 15 to
64 to the total population has increased during this period.
The obvious inference from this conclusion is that people
in the age group 15 to 64 consume relatively more food per
capita than people in other age groups. So, (E) is the answer.
What the given passage implies is that the proportion of
people in the age group 15 to 64 is greater now than it was in
1980. By stating that this proportion is more than 50%, (A)
extends the scope of the given statement beyond what is
immediately implied by it, and is wrong.
If the given narration had said that the total consumption
of food by people in the United States had increased since
1980, an inference could be that the population had risen
since that year. But what the narration says is that the per
capita consumption of food has increased by 30%. This
increase would have been possible even if the population had
decreased. Therefore, (B) is not a necessary inference from
the given information.
The given narration combines those below 15 and those
above 64 as a single group. Choices (C) and (D), which make
distinctions between them, extend the scope of the given
narration beyond its immediate implication, and are not
necessary inferences from it.
Example 2
Increases in the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in
the human bloodstream lower blood-stream-cholesterol levels
by increasing the body’s capacity to rid itself of excess
cholesterol. Levels of HDL in the bloodstream of some
individuals are significantly increased by a program of regular
exercise and weight reduction.
Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the
statements above?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) Individuals who are underweight do not run any risk
of developing high levels of cholesterol in the blood-stream.
(B) Individuals who do not exercise regularly have a high
risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream
late in life.
(C) Exercise and weight reduction are the most effective
methods of lowering bloodstream cholesterol levels in
humans.
(D) A program of regular exercise and weight reduction
lowers cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of some
individuals.
(E) Only regular exercise is necessary to decrease
cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of individuals of average
weight.
Analysis
The second sentence says that, in the case of some
individuals, regular exercise and weight reduction result in
higher HDL levels. The first sentence says that higher HDL
level in the bloodstream reduces cholesterol level in the body.
Reading the second statement first and the first statement
next as we have done above, we can infer that, in the case of
some individuals, regular exercise and weight reduction leads
to higher IDL levels and, therefore, a consequent reduction
in the cholesterol level in their bloodstream. It is (D) which
says this, and is the answer.
The given passage says that weight reduction can lead to
a reduction in blood cholesterol in the case of some individuals
only. Choice (A) makes a sweeping generalisation that any
individual who is underweight does not run the risk of
developing high levels of cholestrol in his blood stream, and
is not a necessary inference.
Again, the statement that some individuals can reduce
blood cholesterol levels by undertaking regular exercises
cannot lead to the sweeping generalisation that all individuals
who do not exercise regularly will inevitably suffer from high
cholesterol levels. So, (B) is wrong.
The passage merely says that regular exercise and weight
reduction can significantly increase the level of HDL in some
individuals. The passage does not rule out other methods
(such as medication) for increasing the HDL levels. By stating
that these two are the most effective methods of lowering HDL
levels in all humans, (C) extends the scope of the given
information beyond what follows immediately, and is not the
answer.
(E) also suffers from the same infirmity, and is wrong.
Example 3
The astronomer Aristarchus was born on the Greek island
of Samos. Somewhat arbitrarily, Greek officials decided that
1980 was as good a year as any to celebrate the twenty-three
hundredth anniversary of Aristarchus’ birth.
It can be inferred from the statements above that
(A) the exact date of Aristarchus’ birth is uncertain
(B) the officials were representatives from the island of
Samos
(C) Samos is not necessarily Aristarchus’ birthplace
(D) the Greek government had learned of Aristarchus’
astronomy only recently
(E) the celebration took place on the island of Samos
Analysis
The clue to the answer is in the phrase ‘somewhat
arbitrarily’, which means that there was no scientific reason
why 1980 was chosen to mark the twenty-three hundredth
24
anniversary of Aristarchus’ birth.
If the exact year of birth of this astronomer had been known
as 320 BC, there would have been no ‘arbitrariness’ in the
choice of the year 1980 for the celebration.
Therefore, it is (A) (‘the exact date of Aristarchus’ birth is
uncertain’) that we can infer from the given narration, and is
the answer.
The narration talks generally of Greek officials. By
speculating that the officials belonged to the island of Samos,
choice (B) extends the scope of the given information beyond
what immediately follows from it, and is wrong.
(C) contradicts the specific information in the first sentence
that Aristarchus was born in Samos, and is wrong.
(D) and (E) also extend the scope of the given information
beyond its immediate implications, and are wrong.
Example 4
Popular culture in the United States has become
Europeanized to an extent unimaginable twentyfive years
ago. Not many people then drank wine with meals, and no
one drank imported mineral water. No idea would have been
more astonishing than that Americans would pay to watch
soccer games. Such thoughts arise because of a report that
the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials has just adopted a proposal to develop
the country’s first comprehensive interstate system of routes
for bicycles.
Which of the following inferences is best supported by the
passage?
(A) Long-distance bicycle routes are used in Europe.
(B) Drinking imported mineral water is a greater luxury
than drinking imported wine.
(C) United States culture has benefited from exposure to
foreign ideas.
(D) Most Europeans make regular use of bicycles.
(E) The influence of the United States on European culture
has assumed unprecedented proportions in the last twenty-
five years.
Analysis
Drinking wine, drinking imported mineral water, and
watching soccer games on payment are mentioned as
instances of Europeanization of the United States’ popular
culture during the last twentyfive years, and these are
remembered by the author in the context of a proposal to
develop compehensive inter-state bicycle routes in the United
States.
We can therefore infer that the author considers long-
distance cycling as the most recent influence of European
culture on the United States population. This, in turn, implies
that long-distance cycling is popular in Europe and that there
are exclusive routes for long-distance cycling there.
(A) is what states this, and is the answer.
As instances of Europeanization, the author gives equal
weight to drinking wine and drinking imported mineral water.
The statement ‘drinking imported mineral water is a greater
luxury than drinking wine’ extends the scope of the author’s
statement beyond its immediate implication. So, (B) is wrong.
The given narration is restricted to just four instances of
European influence on American popular culture, and the
author does not imply that even this influence has been
beneficial to America. The statement in (C) that United States
culture has benefited from exposure to all foreign ideas is a
sweeping generalization not warranted by the given
information.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
The inference that long-distance cycling is popular in
Europe does not mean that most Europeans make regular
use of bicycles. So, (D) extends the scope of the given narration
beyond what is immediately implied by it, and is not a
necessary inference.
The narration is about European influence on American
culture, and not about American influence on European
culture. So, (E) is irrelevant to what is stated by the author,
and is not the answer.
Example 5
If an investment has produced no profit, tax relief
predicated on having made the investment is no help; any
corporate manager who fears that a new asset will not make
money is scarcely comforted by promises of reductions in taxes
the corporation will not owe.
Which of the following is the most reliable inference to draw
from the passage above?
(A) An effective way to discourage unprofitable corporate
investment is to predicate tax relief on the making of
profitable investments.
(B) Corporate managers are likely to ignore tax
considerations in deciding to invest in assets they believe will
be profitable.
(C) The promise of tax benefits for making new investments
will not in and of itself stimulate new investment.
(D) The less importance a corporate manager attaches to
tax considerations, the more likely it is that the manager
will accurately predict the profitability of an investment.
(E) The critical factor in a corporate investment decision
is likely to be a corporate manager’s emotional response to
perceived business conditions.
Analysis
In order to increase employment opportunities,
Governments periodically come out with incentive schemes
for fresh investments in business. These schemes generally
stipulate (or predicate) that there will be reduced rates of
taxes on the profits resulting from such fresh investments.
The author of the passage first says that this concession
will be illusory in the cases of investments which produce no
profits at all, and concludes that a corporate manager, who
fears that a new asset will not make any profit at all, will not
be swayed by such tax incentive while taking the decision on
whether to invest in that asset or not.
We can therefore infer that the promise of tax benefit will
not, by itself, stimulate new investments, unless the corporate
managers are independently convinced that the investments
will result in additional profits. It is (C) which states this,
and is the answer.
The purpose of the tax relief is to encourage profitable
investments, and not to discourage unprofitable investments.
(A) extends the scope of the given information, and is wrong.
What the author says is that corporate managers are likely
to ignore tax incentives when the believe that a particular
investment will not be profitable. He implies that the same
managers will be tempted by the tax incentives while deciding
to invest on assets which they believe will be profitable. (B)
contradicts this implication, and is not the answer.
(D) is a sweeping generalization not warranted by the given
information, and is wrong.
The narration talks of rational investment decisions taken
by corporate managers. (E), which refers to the ‘emotional’
responses of corporate managers is irrelevant to what is stated
in the narration.
25
Example 6
At Midwest University, there is no collusion between the
athletic office and the admissions office. Athletes must be
accepted for admission to the university on the basis of their
academic records before they can be offered financial
assistance on the basis of athletic ability. The university thus
hopes to avoid the kind of recruiting violations that have been
a problem at some other universities.
It can be inferred from the passage above that
(A) the admission policy described above is unique to
Midwest University
(B) some universities offer financial assistance to athletes
who would not be admitted to the university on the basis of
their academic records
(C) most student athletes in universities are admitted
solely on the basis of athletic ability
(D) admissions offices do not modify academic admission
requirements for any students except student athletes
(E) in many universities, athletic offices are often at odds
with admission offices
Analysis
(Many American Universities offer financial assistance for
higher studies to proven sportsmen.) The given passage says
that, by stipulating that athletes must first be accepted for
admission based on their academic records before they are
offered financial aid by the athletic office, the Midwest
University hopes to avoid problems that have arisen in some
other universities.
Obviously, the author implies that a practice is prevalent
in some other universities in which the athletic office offers
financial assistance to athletes who are not subsequently
found fit for admission by the admissions office on the basis
of their academic records. It is (B) which states this, and is
the answer.
The passage says that the problem of offering financial
assistance to athletes even before they are offered admission
is prevalent only in some other universities, meaning that
many other universities are already adopting the procedure
that Midwest University proposes to adopt now. By stating
that the new admission policy will be unique to Midwest
University, (A) contradicts what is specifically stated in the
narration, and is wrong.
The statements in the narration are restricted to Midwest
University and some other universities. (C) is a sweeping
generalization on the state of affairs in all universities, and
is not warranted by the information in the narration.
(D) also is a sweeping generalization relating to all
universities, and is not warranted by the information in the
narration.
By converting the given information about ‘some’
universities into information about ‘many’ universities, (E)
extends the scope of the given narration without sufficient
justification, and is wrong.
Example 7
John Cleland, best known for his novel Fanny Hill, is
becoming the Vivaldi of eighteenth-century literature in that
his cult is promoted by people who do not much care for the
period as a whole and who cheerfully ignore the works of its
greatest masters.
It can be inferred that the author of the passage above
believes which of the following?
(A) Cleland was more esteemed as a writer in his own time
than he is in ours.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(B) Few people know much about the period in which
Cleland wrote.
(C) Most eighteenth-century novels deserve more attention
than Fanny Hill.
(D) The cult of Vivaldi has developed more recently than
that of Cleland.
(E) Vivaldi was not one of the greatest masters of his time.
Analysis
(Cult means an excessive admiration for a person.) The
author of the passage first says that John Cleland is becoming
the Vivaldi of eighteenth-century literature, and then explains
why he says so - that Cleland’s cult is being promoted by
people who do not much care for the period as a whole, and
who cheerfully ignore the works of its greatest masters.
We have been asked to spot the choice which can be inferred
as the author’s belief in making this statement.
The author compares John Cleland to Vivaldi only for the
reason (as is indicated by his use of the phrase ‘in that’) that
Cleland’s cult is being promoted by people ‘who do not much
care for his period as a whole and cheerfully ignore the work
of the greatest masters of his time’. So, we can infer that the
author believes that Vivaldi was not one of the greatest masters
of his time. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
Since the author’s statements “John Cleland is becoming
the Vivaldi of eighteenth century literature”, and “his cult is
promoted by people who do not much care....” are in the present
tense, we can conclude that Cleland is more esteemed now
than he was during his own time. (A) contradicts this, and is
therefore wrong.
The author himself says that Cleland is becoming the
Vivaldi of eighteenth century. So, it is clear that the period in
which Cleland wrote was the eighteen century, and that there
is no mystery about it. So, (B) also contradicts a specific
statement in the given narration, and is wrong.
The last line complains that those who are promoting the
cult of John Cleland are ignoring “the works of its (eighteenth
century’s) greatest masters”. This only implies that some
works of eighteenth century’s greatest masters deserve more
attention than Fanny Hill, and not that most eighteenth
century novels deserve more attention than Fanny Hill. So,
(C) extends the scope of what is stated in the passage, and is
wrong.
If the cult of Cleland is presently developing like the cult of
Vivaldi, it means that the cult of Vivaldi had developed earlier.
(D) states just the opposite of this, and is not the answer.
26
Example 8
Rural households have more purchasing power than do
urban or suburban households at the same income level, since
some of the income that urban and suburban households use
for food and shelter can be used by rural households for other
needs.
Which of the following inferences is best supported by the
statement made above?
(A) The average rural household includes more people than
does the average urban or suburban household.
(B) Rural households have lower food and housing costs
than do either urban or suburban households.
(C) Suburban households generally have more purchasing
power than do either rural or urban households.
(D) The median income of urban and suburban households
is generally higher than that of rural households.
(E) All three types of households spend more of their income
on food and housing than on all other purchases combined.
Analysis
The passage says that rural households at the same income
level as urban or suburban households have more purchasing
power because they can use for other needs some of the income
used by the urban or suburban households for food and shelter.
This obviously implies that the rural households spend
less money on food and shelter than urban or suburban
households.
It is (B) which says this, and is the answer.
If (A) is true, rural households will have to spend more on
food than do the urban and suburban households. Thus, (A)
contradicts what is stated in the passage, and is wrong.
The given passage combines urban and suburban
households into a single group and contrasts it with the rural
households. (C), which combines urban and rural households
into a single group and contrasts it with suburban households,
is irrelevant to what is stated in the passage.
While (D) may be a factual statement, it does not follow
immediately from the given information.
(E) is an uncalled-for generalization not warranted by the
information in the passage.
In the following pages, we are giving four sets of 10
‘inference questions’ each.
Try to answer each set within 12 minutes by yourself before
referring to its analysis.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. A company’s two divisions performed with remarkable
consistency over the past three years: in each of those years,
the pharmaceuticals division has accounted for roughly 20
percent of dollar sales and 40% percent of profits, and the
chemicals division of the balance.
Which of the following can properly be inferred regarding
the past three years from the statement above?
(A) Total dollar sales for each of the company’s divisions
have remained roughly constant.
(B) The pharmaceuticals division has faced stiffer
competition in its markets than has the chemicals division.
(C) The chemicals division has realized lower profit per
dollar of sales than has the pharmaceuticals division.
(D) the product mix offered by each of the company’s
divisions has remained unchanged.
(E) Highly unprofitable products accounted for a higher
percentage of the chemical division’s sales than those of the
pharmaceuticals division.
2. Large national budget deficits do not cause large trade
deficits. If they did, countries with the largest budget deficits
would also have the largest trade deficits. In fact, when deficit
figures are adjusted so that different countries are reliably
comparable to each other, there is no such correlation.
If the statements above are all true, which of the following
can properly be inferred on the basis of them?
(A) Countries with large national budget deficits tend to
restrict foreign trade.
(B) Reliable comparisons of the deficit figures of one
country with those of another are impossible.
(C) Reducing a country’s national budget deficit will not
necessarily result in a lowering of any trade deficit that
country may have.
(D) When countries are ordered from largest to smallest
in terms of population, the smallest countries generally have
the smallest budget and trade deficits.
(E) Countries with the largest trade deficits never have
similarly large national budget deficits.
3. Jack: Jim has been arrested for stealing.
Bob: He and I are good friends, so I know he’s innocent.
From the conversation above, it can be inferred that
(A) Bob knows Jim is innocent.
(B) Bob thinks Jack is lying.
(C) Jack saw Jim being arrested.
(D) Jack thinks Jim is guilty.
(E) Bob thinks Jim is innocent.
4. Antonio: Modern Art is a hoax. A child could scribble a
better picture than most modern artists.
Belinda: But I’m sure that they’ve all spent many years
studying and training.
We can infer from the above conversation that Belinda has
misunderstood Antonio to mean that modern artists
(A) have no talent.
(B) refuse to consider the public’s taste in art
(C) are not sufficiently qualified for their work
(D) deceive the public with hastily executed designs.
(E) are concerned only with commercial success.
5. “According to a recent historical study, capital
punishment deters murder only during weeks when well-
publicized executions take place. During such weeks,
27
homicides fall to a level below average. The yearly murder
rate, however, is not affected by the number of well-publicized
executions”
If the above passage is true, which of the following can be
validly inferred from it?
(A) In the period studied, the number of well-publicized
executions remained virtually the same from year to year.
(B) For at least one week during any years in which there
were well-publicized executions, murder rates were above
average.
(C) During some weeks of each year of the study, an
extraordinary number of public executions took place.
(D) In the past, newspapers considered capital punishment
important news and devoted extensive coverage to all
executions.
(E) Many executions that took place during the period
studied were not reported objectively by the media.
6. “Weeds and trees illustrate extreme opposites of
ecological adaptation. Weeds put most of their energy into
production and dispersal of the season’s seeds and then die.
Trees put most of their energy into sustaining their own
growth and competitive ability over a long life span, while
each season’s seed production is relatively moderate”.
It can be inferred from the passage above that the author
uses which of the following criteria in judging weeds and trees
to be opposites?
(A) The time it takes weed seeds and tree seeds,
respectively, to germinate
(B) The total number of seeds that weeds and trees scatter
over a given area in their respective habitats
(C) The differential dependence of weeds and trees on
climatic stability from growing season to growing season
(D) The ratio between a season’s seed production and
overall life span for weeds and trees respectively
(E) The ratio between seeds that are produced and seeds
that develop into mature specimens
7. “If Wanda visits Albuquerque on a trip, she will also
visit Santa Fe, Phoenix and Tucson on that trip”
We can infer from the above statement that
(A) if Wanda visits Santa Fe, Phoenix and Tucson on a
trip, she will also visit Albuquerque on that trip.
(B) if Wanda visits Phoenix and Tucson on a trip, she will
also visit Santa Fe on that trip.
(C) if Wanda visits Tucson on a trip, she will also visit
Phoenix on that trip
(D) If Wanda does not visit Tucson on a trip, she will not
visit Santa Fe on that trip.
(E) If Wanda does not visit Phoenix on a trip, she will not
visit Albuquerque on that trip.
8. Butterfat gets its yellowish color from carotene, the fat-
soluble vitamin, a precursor that is also responsible for the
color of carrots. Not all butter-fat, however, is equally yellow.
Some breeds of cows are more efficient than others at
converting carotene to the colorless vitamin A.
If butter made from the milk of holstein cows is much paler
than that made from the milk of jersey or guernsey cows, then
the facts above suggest that
(A) there is less butterfat in the milk of holsteins than in
the milk of jerseys or guernseys
(B) there is more vitamin A in the butterfat of holsteins
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
than in the butterfat of jerseys or guernseys
(C) there is more carotene in the butterfat of holsteins than
in the butterfat of jerseys of guernseys
(D) holsteins are less efficient converters of carotene than
are jerseys or guernseys
(E) the carotene in the milk of holsteins is less fat-soluble
than the carotene in the milk of jerseys or guernseys
9. According to a recent study, fifteen corporations in the
United States that follow a credo of social responsibility are
also very profitable. Because of their credos, these fifteen
corporations give generously to charity, follow stringent
environmental-protection policies, and have vigorous
affirmative-action programs.
Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the
statements above?
(A) Following a credo of social responsibility helps to make
a corporation very profitable.
(B) It is possible for a corporation that follows a credo of
social responsibility to be very profitable.
(C) A corporation that gives generously to charity must be
doing so because of its credo of social responsibility.
(D) Corporations that are very profitable tend to give
generously to charity.
SET 2
1. Experienced pilots often have more trouble than novice
pilots in learning to fly the newly developed ultralight
airplanes. Being accustomed to heavier aircraft, experienced
pilots, when flying ultralight craft, seem not to respect the
wind as much as they should.
The passage implies that the heavier aircraft mentioned
above were
(A) harder to land than ultralight aircraft
(B) not as popular with pilots as ultralight aircraft
(C) not as safe as ultralight aircraft
(D) more fuel-efficient than ultralight aircraft
(E) easier to handle in wind than ultralight aircraft
2. A placebo is a chemically inert substance prescribed more
for the mental relief of a patient than for its effect on the
patient’s physical disorder. It is prescribed in the hope of
instilling in the patient a positive attitude toward prospects
for his or her recovery. In some cases, the placebo actually
produces improvement in the patient’s condition. In
discussing the use and effect of placebos, a well-known
medical researcher recently paid physicians the somewhat
offbeat compliment of saying that physicians were the
ultimate placebo.
By comparing a physician to a placebo, the researcher
sought to imply that
(A) physicians should always maintain and communicate
an optimistic attitude toward their patients, regardless of
the prognosis
(B) the health of some patients can improve simply from
their knowledge that they are under a physician’s care
(C) many patients actually suffer from imagined illnesses
that are best treated by placebos
(D) physicians could prescribe less medication and achieve
the same effect
(E) it is difficult to determine what, if any, effect a
physician’s behavior has on a patient’s condition
3. In a certain code, the digits from 0 to 9 inclusive are
each represented by a different letter of the alphabet and
28
(E) Corporations that have vigorous affirmative-action
programs also tend to follow stringent environmental-
protection policies.
10. Sales taxes tend to be regressive, affecting poor people
more severely than wealthy people. When all purchases of
consumer goods are taxed at a fixed percentage of the
purchase price, poor people pay a larger proportion of their
income in sales taxes than wealthy people do.
It can be correctly inferred on the basis of the statements
above that which of the following is true?
(A) Poor people constitute a larger proportion of the tax-
paying population than wealthy people do
(B) Poor people spend a larger proportion of their income
on purchases of consumer goods than wealthy people do
(C) Wealthy people pay, on average, a larger amount of
sales taxes than poor people do
(D) The total amount spent by all poor people on purchases
of consumer goods exceeds the total amount spent by all
wealthy people on consumer goods
(E) The average purchase price of consumer goods bought
by wealthy people is higher than that of consumer goods
bought by poor people
each letter always represents the same digit. If the sum
ALMA
+ T I A
= JU AN
holds when expressed in digits, all of the following can
properly be inferred EXCEPT:
(A) A cannot be 0.
(B) A must be less than 5.
(C) N must be even.
(D) L + T must be greater than 8.
(E) J must be greater than A by 1.
4. “Although historical research and anthropological
research often complement one another, the two disciplines
retain important distinctions because of the fundamental
questions that each pose. Historians are mainly interested
in why change occurred, whereas anthropologists are
concerned with the meanings of actions and systems”
Which of the following is implied in the passage above?
(A) The meanings of actions and systems do not fully
explain why change occurred.
(B) the distinctions between life and art are diminishing.
(C) Actions and systems are usually subject to historical
change.
(D) Anthropological research is not concerned with change.
(E) The questions posed by the two disciplines share certain
assumptions about human behavior.
5. “Ken and Lou will eat together at a restaurant only if
Jan comes along with them. Jan will go only to restaurants
in her neighbourhood, which is several miles from the
downtown area. Manuel will go to a restaurant only if Ken
also goes.”
From the statements above, we can reasonably infer
(A) Manuel does not eat at a restaurant with Jan.
(B) Lou does not eat at a restaurant with Manuel and Jan.
(C) Ken, Manuel, and Lou do not eat together at a
restaurant.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(D) Manuel does not eat at a restaurant in the downtown
area.
(E) Ken and Lou do not eat together at a restaurant in the
downtown area.
6. “In a political system with only two major parties, the
entrance of a third-party candidate into an election race
damages the chances of only one of the two major candidates.
The third-party candidate always attracts some of the voters
who might otherwise have voted for one of the two major
candidates, but not the voters who support the other
candidate. Since a third-party candidacy affects the two major
candidates unequally, for reasons neither of them has any
control over, the practice is unfair and should not be allowed”.
If the factual information in the above passage is true, which
of the following can be most reliably inferred it?
(A) If the political platform of the third party is a
compromise position between that of the two major parties,
the third party will draw its voters equally from the two major
parties.
(B) If, before the emergence of the third party, voters were
divided equally between the two major parties, neither of the
major parties is likely to capture much more than one-half of
the vote.
(C) A third-party candidate will not capture the votes of
new voters who have never voted for candidates of either of
the two major parties.
(D) The political stance of a third party will be more radical
than that of either of the two major parties.
(E) The founders of a third party are likely to be a coalition
consisting of former leaders of the two major parties.
7. Biochemists select for experimental study those types
of organisms that are most suitable for solving the scientific
problems that are of current interest to them. For this reason,
it was not until recently that biochemists began to give
considerable attention to the biochemistry of insects.
In the passage above, the author implies that
(A) there was a recent shift in the scientific problems of
interest to biochemists
(B) scientists have recently made new contributions to
knowledge by studying the biochemistry of insects
(C) biochemists recently changed their primary criterion
for selecting the type of organism to be studied
(D) there was a recent increase in the number of individual
organisms that biochemists use in their experiments
(E) biochemists would today have less interest in studying
insects if they had given more attention in the past to the
biochemistry of insects
8. Computer programs are unusual in that they are
virtually the only products that have been protected both by
patent and by copyright. Patents protect the idea behind an
innovation, whereas copyrights protect the expression of that
idea. However, in order to win either protection, the idea must
be clearly distinguished from its expression.
29
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the
statements above?
(A) The idea behind some computer programs can be
distinguished from the expression of that idea.
(B) Anyone who writes a computer program is the inventor
of the idea of that program.
(C) Most products that are copyrighted are expressions of
ideas that are patented.
(D) Few inventors are owners of both patents and
copyrights.
(E) A patent for a computer program is no more difficult to
win than a copyright.
9. The disparity between the location of jobs and the
location of affordable housing has been growing throughout
the country in recent years. Housing availability has not kept
up with the growth of jobs in suburban regions; the
consequences are long commutes from rural and urban areas
for middle-income workers and inaccessibility of job
opportunities for lower-income workers.
Which of the following is the most reliable inference that
can be drawn from the passage above?
(A) Lower-income workers cannot afford the expense of
long commutes to jobs
(B) Suburban housing is becoming less expensive
(C) Middle-income workers tend to live closer to their places
of work than do lower-income workers
(D) Housing availability for workers has been an important
factor in decisions to relocate businesses
(E) Affordable housing in urban areas has become less
available in recent years
10. Radio interferometry is a technique for studying details
of celestial objects that combines signals intercepted by
widely-spaced radio telescopes. This technique requires
ultraprecise timing, exact knowledge of the locations of the
telescopes, and sophisticated computer programs. The
successful interferometric linking of an Earth-based radio
telescope with a radio telescope on an orbiting satellite was
therefore a significant technological accomplishment.
Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the
statements above?
(A) Special care was taken in the launching of the satellite
so that the calculations of its orbit would be facilitated.
(B) The signals received on the satellite are stronger than
those received by a terrestrial telescope.
(C) The resolution of detail achieved by the satellite-Earth
interferometer system is inferior to that achieved by
exclusively terrestrial systems.
(D) The computer programs required for making use of
the signals received by the satellite required a long time for
development.
(E) The location of an orbiting satellite relative to locations
on Earth can be well enough known for interferometric
purposes.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 3
1. For large farms to be as productive as they can be, their
owners need to invest heavily in expensive machinery. This
typically requires them to go into considerable debt, and
interest on this debt is then a significant fixed cost. This high
fixed cost makes those farmers vulnerable to operating losses
if the prices of their products drop.
The information above best supports which of the following
inferences about large farms?
(A) They can be highly productive without being profitable
(B) They tend to be so highly productive that they drive
down market prices
(C) They tend to be consistently profitable if their owners
borrow at low interest rates
(D) They respond to operating losses by increasing their
productivity
(E) They cannot be profitable if their owners depend on
credit
2. The nuclear polyhedrosis virus helps control gypsy moth
populations by killing the moth’s larvae. The virus is always
present in the larvae, but only every sixth or seventh year
does the virus seriously decimate the number of larvae,
thereby drastically setting back the gypsy moth population.
Scientists believe that the virus, ordinarily latent, is triggered
only when the larvae experience biological stress.
If the scientists mentioned above are correct, it can be
inferred that the decimation of gypsy moth larvae populations
by the nuclear polyhedrosis virus would be most likely to be
triggered by which of the following conditions?
(A) A shift from drought conditions to normal precipitation
in areas infested by gypsy moths
(B) The escalating stress of defoliation sustained by trees
attacked by gypsy moths for the second consecutive year
(C) Predation on larvae of all kinds by parasitic wasps and
flies
(D) Starvation of the gypsy moth larvae as a result of
overpopulation
(E) Spraying of areas infested by gypsy moths with
laboratory-raised nuclear polyhedrosis virus
3. Consider three fish swimming together in a school. The
space within which each fish can be seen by predator Y is
defined by a sphere centered on the fish and having a radius
that is the maximum distance Y can see. The school is
vulnerable to attack when Y is within one of the three spheres.
The spheres overlap to a great extent, since the fish are in a
compact group.
Which of the following is a reliable inference to be drawn
from the passage above?
(A) The vulnerability to attack of the school as a whole is
not much greater than the vulnerability to attack of any one
fish in the school.
(B) There is less chance that predator Y will attack a school
of four fish than that it will attack a school of three fish.
(C) Fish who swim in schools are less likely to be devoured
by predators than are fish who do not swim in schools.
(D) The maximum distance at which an individual fish is
visible depends less on the size of the fish than on whether
the fish is swimming in a school.
(E) The maximum distance at which predator Y can see
its prey is increased if Y is itself swimming in a school of Y’s.
30
4. A ten-year comparison between the United States and
the Soviet Union in terms of crop yields per acre revealed
that when only planted acreage is compared, Soviet yields
are equal to 68 percent of United States yields. When total
agricultural acreage (planted acreage plus fallow acreage) is
compared, however, Soviet yield is 114 percent of United
States yield.
From the information above, which of the following can be
most reliably inferred about United States and Soviet
agriculture during the ten-year period?
(A) A higher percentage of total agricultural acreage was
fallow in the United States than in the Soviet Union.
(B) The United States had more fallow acreage than
planted acreage.
(C) Fewer total acres of available agricultural land were
fallow in the Soviet Union than in the United States.
(D) The Soviet Union had more planted acreage than fallow
acreage.
(E) The Soviet Union produced a greater volume of crops
than the United States produced.
5. “Scientists do not live or work in isolation from the rest
of the world. They toil in government laboratories, universities
and industry. Yet they espouse only what scientific evidence
convinces them to be true, not what the public wants to hear.
In fact, nothing ruins scientific research faster than mixing
it with political considerations”
It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes
that
(A) the public has no faith in the discoveries of scientists.
(B) scientists cannot be effective politicians.
(C) scientific conclusions have few political implications.
(D) political aims are likely to be irrelevant to scientific
research.
(E) scientific research should be apolitical.
6. By analyzing the garbage of a large number of average-
sized households, a group of modern urban anthropologists
have found that a household discards less food the more
standardized – made up of canned and prepackaged foods –
its diet is. The more standardized a household’s diet is,
however, the greater the quantities of fresh produce the
household throws away.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the
passage?
(A) An increasing number of households rely on a highly
standardized diet
(B) The less standardized a household’s diet is, the more
nonfood waste the household discards
(C) The less standardized a household’s diet is, the smaller
is the proportion of fresh produce in the household’s food waste
(D) The less standardized a household’s diet is, the more
canned and prepackaged foods the household discards as
waste
(E) The more fresh produce a household buys, the more
fresh produce it throws away
7. The rush to use distilled grains as petroleum substitutes
poses potential market problems. By 1965, the value of corn
as alcohol will exceed the value of corn as food. Alcohol
produced from grain will displace some imported oil, and the
price of oil will begin to dictate the price of corn.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
If the claims made in the passage above are true, which of
the following draws the most reliable inference about the effect
of a reduction in the price of imported oil after 1985?
(A) Some corn would be diverted from energy markets into
food markets
(B) A downward pressure would be exerted on the price of
corn
(C) An upward pressure would be exerted on the world-
wide demand for corn
(D) Farmers would have an incentive to grow more corn
(E) Energy companies would have an incentive to produce
more domestic oil
8. As a tool for public health policy, the epidemiological
study of disease has one major advantage over experiments
studying the effects of toxic substances on animals: there is
never any call for extrapolating inferences across species in
epidemiology.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage
above?
(A) In epidemiology, extrapolating inferences across species
is only an auxiliary tool
(B) Epidemiology is a very precise science
(C) In epidemiology, human populations are studied
directly
(D) Toxicological experimentation on animals is more
expensive than are epidemiological studies
(E) Toxicological experimentation on animals yields results
less quickly than do epidemiological studies
9. One of the truisms of the advertising industry is that it
is rarely necessary to say something of substance in an
SET 4
1. A man charged with theft of cable television services
said, “They even want restitution of $662 they claim I owe
them, which is ridiculous, because I didn’t enjoy some of those
shows at all.”
From the man’s assertion, we can infer that he
(A) owes the money the cable service claims he owes
(B) did watch programs that were shown on the cable
service
(C) does owe the cable service an amount of money, but
less than $662
(D) was aware that his hookup to the cable service was
unauthorized
(E) is willing to pay a moderate price for the cable service
2. When a high-pressure front meets a low-pressure front,
some form of precipitation usually occurs. Meteorologists are
able to predict precipitation by measuring the speed at which
two fronts are traveling toward one another and determining
when and where they will meet.
It can be inferred from the passage above that
(A) high-pressure fronts are a sign of rain
(B) the chief function of meteorologists is to predict
precipitation
(C) some predictions of precipitation are based on typical
reactions of pressure fronts
(D) precipitation can occur without the presence of some
kind of low-pressure front
(E) low-pressure fronts always travel in the direction of
high-pressure fronts
31
advertisement in order to boost sales. Instead, one only needs
to attract the potential customer’s attention; memory does
the rest, for it is more important for sales that people know
of a product than that they know something about it.
Which of the following is implied by the passage above?
(A) People can remember a product without having much
information about it
(B) Advertisements, in their own way, function to improve
people’s memories
(C) Attracting a potential customer’s attention is a simple
matter
(D) The advertising industry knows little of substance
about the products it promotes
(E) Advertisements seldom tell the truth about a product
10. Rule 1 of Game X provides that anyone who refuses to
become a player in Game X shall at the moment of refusal be
assessed a ten-point penalty in the game.
Which of the following claims is implicit in Rule 1?
(A) All those who agree to play Game X will achieve scores
higher than the scores of those who were assessed a penalty
under Rule 1.
(B) A person can avoid a ten-point penalty by initially
agreeing to become a player and then withdrawing after the
game is under way.
(C) The rules of Game X supply a procedure for determining
when the game is over.
(D) A person who refuses to play Game X cannot be declared
a loser in the game.
(E) A person can at the same time decline to play Game X
and yet be a part of the game.
3. At the end of the Second World War the number of women
in their childbearing years was at a record low. Yet for almost
twenty years they produced a record high number of children.
In 1957 there was an average of 3.72 children per family.
Now the postwar babies are producing a record low number
of babies. In 1983 the average number of children per family
was about 1.79 – two children fewer than the 1957 rate and
lower even than the 2.11 rate that a population needs to
replace itself.
It can properly be inferred from the passage that
(A) for the birth rate to be high, there must be a relatively
large number of women in their childbearing years
(B) the most significant factor influencing the birth rate is
whether the country is engaged in a war
(C) unless there are extraordinary circumstances, the birth
rate will not dip below the level at which a population replaces
itself
(D) for the birth rate to be low, there must be a relatively
small number of women in their childbearing years
(E) the birth rate is not directly proportional to the number
of women in their childbearing years
4. The expression ‘the doctrine of unshakable foundations’
was once used by a critic in an effort to illuminate the
dogmatic nature of certain economic and political philosophies
whose adherents, when confronted with the failure of a policy
designed to put their philosophy into practice, can conceive
of only one reaction: to design another, different policy for
putting it into practice.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
It can be inferred from the passage above that the critic
would approve if the adherents
(A) had the courage to try a failed policy again without
any changes.
(B) had refrained from trying to put any of their
philosophies into practice
(C) allowed failure of a policy to lead them to question the
underpinnings of their philosophies
(D) concluded from the failure of a policy of theirs that the
policy must not have reflected their philosophy adequately
(E) carefully analyzed those traits of a failed policy that
appear promising despite the overall failure.
5. Speakers of a language rely on their general knowledge
of the world in order to make sense of statements they hear
or read. Computers can easily be ‘taught’ the formal rules of
a human language, but supplying them with this general
knowledge is another matter. It is extremely difficult to
develop computers that can extract the meaning of ordinary
sentences.
Which of the following can be validly inferred from the
passage above?
(A) The interpretation of the meaning of ordinary sentences
is dependent on a general knowledge of the world.
(B) Computers that can be ‘taught’ the rules of a human
language can understand statements in that language.
(C) It is futile to try to ‘teach’ computers the formal rules
of any language.
(D) Speakers of a language often must reject the formal
rules of that language in order to understand simple
sentences.
(E) Computers that can understand ordinary sentences
have all the basic capabilities necessary to become ‘speakers’
of the language.
6. The chief executive officer of one of the country’s most
successful steel manufacturing firms is amused at the
publicity her management practices have attracted. She
thinks managers get too much of the credit for upswings in
their businesses. “A fickle public assumes too easily that
managers are brilliant when demand is strong and idiotic
when it is weak,” she asserts.
It can be inferred from the statement made by the chief
executive officer that she believes which of the following?
(A) A successful manager should attempt to control public
opinion.
(B) There are no managers who can justifiably be said to
be brilliant.
(C) Her own management practices are likely to be of little
value to other businesses.
(D) The role of managers becomes less important during
economic downturns than it is in relatively prosperous times.
(E) The level of demand for the products of manufacturing
firms cannot be completely controlled by the managers of the
firms.
7. To many environmentalists, the extinction of plants -
accompanied by the increasing genetic uniformity of species
of food crops - is the single most serious environmental
problem. Something must be done to prevent the loss of wild
food plants or no longer-cultivated food plants. Otherwise,
the lack of genetic diversity could allow a significant portion
of a major crop to be destroyed overnight. In 1970, for
example, southern leaf blight destroyed approximately 20
percent of the United States corn crop, leaving very few
32
varieties of corn unaffected in the areas over which the disease
had spread.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage
above?
(A) Susceptibility to certain plant disease is genetically
determined.
(B) Eighty percent of the corn grown in the United States
is resistant to southern leaf blight.
(C) The extinction of wild food plants can be almost every
case be traced to destructive plant diseases.
(D) Plant breeders focus on developing plants that are
resistant to plant disease.
(E) Corn is the only food crop threatened by southern leaf
blight.
8. A population study based on a ‘microdate sample’, a
sample just large enough to allow reasonably accurate
projections, found that in 1984 there had been a dramatic
reversal of a twenty-year tendency toward migration of United
States residents older than sixty to small towns and rural
regions, both within and across state boundaries. This finding
turns out to have been in error. The problem was that people
who had moved to the United States from abroad were
accidentally counted as part of interstate migration that year.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage
above?
(A) In 1984 the majority of people coming to the United
States from abroad were over the age of sixty.
(B) In 1984 fewer United States residents over the age of
sixty changed residence than in any of the twenty years prior
to 1984.
(C) People over the age of sixty who in 1984 came to the
United States from abroad did not settle predominantly in
small towns and rural regions.
(D) The microdata sample for 1984 that was used in the
demographic study cited was too small to allow any
meaningful projections.
(E) The twenty-year trend mentioned in the passage was
due chiefly to moves over relatively short distances, mostly
within the same state.
9. Since the recent takeover of publishing concerns by
communications-entertainment firms, management’s new
methods have increased the financial profits of commercial
publishing, at the price of narrowing the range of books made
available to the public and by catering to the vulgar tastes of
the new buyers of books. Business has boomed; but the losers
are the majority of authors or aspiring writers, and all
discriminating readers.
If the statement above is true, which of the following can
also be inferred to be true?
(A) Profitable business practices are relatively new in the
publishing industry.
(B) Commercial publishing is now catering to a different
community of book readers than the book business has served
in the past.
(C) The new profits from methods introduced by
communications-entertainment management will encourage
writers of literary talent to persevere against the odds.
(D) The narrowed range of books coming to the public is
directed toward a more discriminating audience.
(E) The public is unaware of the trend in the publishing
industry to specialize in books that produce blockbuster sales.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
10. The average after-tax income for a household was 2.4
percent higher in 1983 than in 1982. At the same time,
average after-tax income declined for households at the lower-
income and middle-income levels.
Which of the following can be reasonably inferred from the
information above?
(A) There were more households overall in 1983 than in
1982.
(B) There were fewer households at the upper-income level
in 1983 than in 1982.
(C) Total after-tax income for all households at the lower-
income and middle-income levels was higher in 1983 than in
1982.
(D) Average after-tax income for households at the upper-
income level rose by more than 2.4 percent between 1982
and 1983.
(E) Average after-tax income for households at the lower-
income and middle-income levels was declining prior to 1982.

33
 Chapter 4
'ASSUMPTION' QUESTIONS
Even in day-to-day life, when you come to a particular
conclusion on any matter, you may mention the overt reasons
for it to a third person to justify its soundness.
But, if you examine the issue carefully, you will find that,
in addition to the stated reasons, there were other unstated
reasons which played an equally important role in your
arriving at that conclusion.
As an example, let us recall the statement we had used to
explain the ‘inference’ questions.
“The time is 5.30 now and the movie starts at 6.30. Unless
we leave home within the next 15 minutes, we shall be missing
its beginning”
The conclusion of the speaker in this case is that, unless
he starts before 5.45 for the movie which commences at 6.30,
he would miss its beginning.
This statement also implies that, if he starts before 5.45,
he will not miss its beginning.
A relevant reason for his conclusion but which is not
specifically stated by the speaker, is that he either thinks or
knows that the travelling time between his house and the movie
house is 45 minutes.
If the travelling time is, in fact, 75 minutes, his conclusion
that leaving home before 5.45 will enable him to watch the
movie from the beginning would be unsound.
On the other hand, if the travelling time is only 15 minutes,
his conclusion that he would miss the movie’s beginning if he
does not start before 5.45 would again be wrong - because
even if he leaves by 6.15 he will not miss the beginning.
Therefore, the soundness of the speaker’s conclusion
depends on the assumption that the travelling time from his
house to the movie house is 45 minutes.
In the parlance of LSAT, such an unstated reason which is,
nevertheless, relevant to the soundness of a given conclusion
is known as an assumption.
Every day-to-day decision of ours depends upon a number
of such unstated assumptions.
In the above illustration, the speaker makes the following
further assumptions while stating his conclusion:
(i) There will be no traffic jam on the way that will lengthen
the travelling time beyond 45 minutes today.
(ii) The movie will start at 6.30, and neither earlier nor
later.
(iii) The tickets for the movie show have not been sold out.
(iv) His companion is equally interested in seeing the movie
from the beginning.
The following statements cannot be considered to be
relevant assumptions made by him while coming to his
conclusion:
(i) There will be no rain on the way. (He may be travelling
by car, or may have an umbrella.)
(ii) The movie will last exactly two hours.
(iii) There have been adverse reviews of the movie in film
magazines.
The touchstone for a particular statement to be
considered a valid assumption for a stated conclusion
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is: If what is contained in the statement is not true, the
stated conclusion will not be valid.
To be considered a valid assumption, the statement must
have a direct, and not an indirect, nexus to the given
conclusion.
For example, the assumption “The tickets for the movie
show have not been sold out” has a direct nexus to the
conclusion that, if the speaker leaves home within 15 minutes,
he will be able to see the movie from the beginning.
Because, if the above assumption is not valid, he will not
be able to see the movie at all, and his conclusion would be
wrong.
Now, consider the statement, “There have been
unfavourable reviews of the movie in film magazines”.
You may be tempted to infer from this statement that,
therefore, there is not likely to be heavy demand for tickets
for the movie and, therefore, the tickets for the show will be
available, and, therefore, the speaker’s conclusion that he will
be able to see the movie from the beginning if he reaches the
theater before 6.30 is valid.
This statement requires two inferences in a sequence to
render the conclusion valid and, therefore, does not have a
direct nexus to the given conclusion.
Therefore, if this statement is given as one of the choices,
you should not identify it as a valid assumption.
Let us now apply the touchstone mentioned earlier: Even
if this statement (‘There have been unfavourable reviews of
the movie in the film magazines”) is not true, the speaker’s
conclusion that he will miss the beginning of the movie if he
does not start within 15 minutes will still be valid.
This confirms that this statement is not a necessary
assumption for the speaker’s conclusion.
The narration in an ‘assumption’ question in Logical
Reasoning / Critical Reasoning will give (i) one or two stated
reasons (or premises) and (ii) a conclusion that the author
has drawn therefrom, and will ask you to spot, from among
the given five choices, a further assumption that has been
made by him for reaching that conclusion.
Among the five choices, only one will constitute such an
assumption while the other four will be irrelevant to the
conclusion, and you have select it as the answer.
In another variant of the ‘assumption’ question, four of
the five given choices will be necessary assumptions, and you
will be asked to spot the only choice that is not a necessary
assumption.
The synonyms of the word ‘assumption’ are ‘presumption’,
‘presupposition’, ‘supposition’ and ‘belief’.
Their verb forms are ‘assume’, ‘presume’, ‘presuppose’,
‘suppose’ and ‘believe’.
The ‘assumption’ questions therefore may take the
following forms:
1. The conclusion above depends on which of the following
assumptions?
2. Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing
the conclusion above?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
3. In coming to the above conclusion the author presumes
that .....
4. Which of the following is an assumption that will render
the above conclusion logically correct?
5. Which of the following is a presupposition of the argument
above?
6. The conclusion above would be more reasonably drawn
if which of the following were inserted into the argument?
7. A plausible explanation of the researcher’s strategy is
that he believes that .....
8. The company’s plan as described above assumes each of
the following EXCEPT
We shall now give you a number of typical examples of
‘assumption’ questions and analyse them for your better
understanding of how they should be answered.
Example 1
“There is no reason to rule out the possibility of life on
Uranus. We must, then, undertake the exploration of that
planet”.
The argument above assumes that
(A) life exists on Uranus
(B) Uranus is the only other planet in the solar system
capable of supporting life
(C) Uranian life would be readily recognizable as life
(D) the search for life is a sufficient motive for space
exploration
(E) no one has previously proposed the exploration of
Uranus
Analysis
From the only stated premise “There is no reason to rule
out the possibility of life in Uranus”, the speaker comes to
the conclusion that “we must undertake the exploration of
that planet”.
So, he assumes that the search for life is a sufficient reason
for the exploration of other planets.
It is (D) which is closest to this statement, and is the
answer.
The speaker only guesses that there may be life on Uranus.
(A) raises the scope of his belief to the level of a certainty, and
is wrong.
The speaker’s statement is confined to Uranus, and there
is no reference in it to the possibility or impossibility of life in
any other planet in the solar system. So, (B) also extends the
scope of his statement beyond what immediately follows from
it, and is wrong.
Apart from speculating that there may be life on Uranus,
the speaker does not speculate on how it will look like. So,
(C) also extends the scope of the speaker’s statement, and is
wrong. (If there is indeed life on Uranus, it may have
thousands of different forms as it does on earth, and not just
a single form!)
While it may be true that noone has previously explored
Uranus, the statement that noone has earlier proposed the
exploration of Uranus also extends the scope of what the
speaker says, and is not a necessary assumption for his
conclusion.
Example 2
Marketing director: There is a possibility that children will
use our new grape juice packaging as a toy and will spill juice
on their parents’ furniture and carpets. The best way to find
out is to assemble small groups of children in our laboratories
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and observe their behavior with the new packaging.
The marketing director’s conclusion depends on which of
the following assumptions?
(A) If children playing with the new packaging spill juice
on their parents’ furniture and carpets, the juice company
will be legally liable
(B) If children’s behavior with the new packaging is
observed, company personnel will be able to predict the sales
volume of the new packaging
(C) The children’s behavior with the new packaging in the
company’s laboratories will be a good indicator of children’s
behavior with the packaging at home
(D) Children playing in small groups will be less likely to
use the new packaging as a toy than will a child playing alone
(E) The new packaging will be an improvement over
previous packaging of grape juice if children do not use it as
a toy.
Analysis
The Marketing Director first says that there is a possibility
that children will use the new grape juice packaging proposed
to be introduced by the Company as a toy, and will spill juice
on their parents’ furniture and carpets.
(His concern, obviously, is that, if this happens, no parent
will buy the juice in the new package a second time, and it
will affect the company’s sales.)
He then says that the best way to find out (whether this
possibility is likely to happen) is to assemble small groups of
children in the Company’s laboratories and observe their
behavior with the new packaging.
Obviously, what the Marketing Director assumes (while
talking of the ‘best way’ to find out about the possibility) is
that, if small groups of children who are assembled at the
company’s laboratories use the new packaging as a toy and
spill the juice on the furniture and the carpets, they are likely
to do the same in their own houses also.
In other words, he assumes that the children’s behaviour
with the new packaging in the company’s laboratories will be
a good indicator of their behaviour with the packaging at home
also.
It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
The Marketing Director’s immediate aim is to find out,
through an experiment, whether children are likely to use
the new packaging as a toy and spill juice on their parents’
furniture and carpets. The legal liability, if any, will arise
only as a subsequent consequence of the new packaging being
sold in the market and the children using it as a toy. So, (A)
does not have an immediate and direct nexus to the Marketing
Director’s proposal to conduct an experimental study, and is
not a necessary assumption by him.
The prediction of the sales volume of the new packaging
will also arise as a subsequent consequence of children using
it as a toy and spilling juice on their parents’ furniture and
carpets, and does not have a direct and immediate nexus to
the proposal to conduct an experimental study. So, (B) is not
the answer.
(D) implies that the behaviour of the children playing in
small groups is not representative of their behaviour while
playing alone. This assumption would nullify the very purpose
of conducting the proposed experiment with small groups of
children. So, (D) contradicts the thinking of the Marketing
Director, is not an assumption by him.
(E) is in the nature of another conclusion by the Marketing
Director, which will be drawn after the result of the
experiment is known. It is not his assumption while proposing
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
the experiment itself.
Example 3
If the laws of biology are ultimately based on the laws of
physics and chemistry, then the laws of biology hold for living
organisms wherever they may be found in the galaxy and
the universe.
The conclusion above logically depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) The science of biology is not as precise as the sciences
of physics and chemistry
(B) The sciences of biology, physics, and chemistry are
ultimately a single science
(C) The laws of physics and chemistry explain a narrower
range of phenomena than do the laws of biology
(D) The laws of physics and chemistry hold throughout
the universe
(E) A scientific law is necessarily universal
Analysis
The premise in this case is that the laws of biology are
ultimately based on the laws of physics and chemistry.
The conclusion drawn is that laws of biology should,
therefore, hold good for living organisms wherever they are
found in the universe.
Obviously, the author of this sentence assumes that the
laws of physics and chemistry hold good throughout the galaxy
and the universe. (D) says just this, and is the answer.
The statement that the biology is not as precise as physics
and chemistry is a sweeping statement that is not borne out
by the information in the given sentence. So, (A) is wrong.
The statement that ‘biology, physics and chemistry are
ultimately a single science’ extends the scope of the given
statement that ‘biology is ultimately based on physics and
chemistry’ beyond its immediate implication. So, (B) is not a
necessary assumption by the author.
(C) is also an unwarranted extension of the scope of the
statement that the laws of biology are based on the laws of
physics and chemistry.
If (E) were the assumption, the author could straight-away
have stated that the laws of biology, being scientific laws,
hold good throughout the universe. He need not have
mentioned the dependence of laws of biology on laws of physics
and chemistry for coming to his conclusion. So, (E) is wrong.
Example 4
We know that Harry is sick much of the time because
whenever we get a letter from him he tells us that he is home
from the office with the flu, a cold, or an injury.
The logical assumption made in the passage above is that
(A) Harry’s work cannot be done at home
(B) Harry is not sick when he is at the office
(C) Harry writes long letters
(D) Harry writes frequently
(E) being home from the office is equivalent to being sick
Analysis
The second part of the statement says that whenever Harry
writes a letter, he mentions that he has not gone to office but
is at home because of flu, a cold or an injury.
From this fact the speaker comes to the conclusion that
Harry is sick much of the time.
If Harry writes letters only rarely, say, once in six months
or once a year, and he mentions in them that he is at home
because of illness, one cannot come to the conclusion that he
36
is sick much of the time.
So, the assumption underlying the conclusion that Harry
is sick much of the time is that Harry writes letters frequently,
and, in each of these, he mentions that he is sick.
So, (D) is the answer.
The statement that ‘Harry’s work cannot be done at home’
is an unwarranted extension of the scope of the given
information, and is not a necessary assumption in coming to
the speaker’s conclusion. So, (A) is wrong.
The statement ‘Harry is not sick when he is at the office’
could be another conclusion from the given information, and
is not an assumption for concluding that he is sick much of
the time. So, (B) is wrong.
That Harry writes long letters is an unwarranted extension
of the scope of the statement that, whenever he writes a letter,
he says that he is sick. This is not a necessary assumption in
this case. So, (C) is wrong.
(E) is a sweeping generalization not confined to Harry but
to everybody, and is wrong for that reason alone.
Example 5
Comparison of the growth rings of ancient trees enables
scientists to determine from a piece of timber the year in
which the tree used for the timber was felled. Hence, by
analyzing the growth rings in timber surviving from ancient
buildings, archaeologists can determine precisely when those
buildings were constructed.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the
argument depends?
(A) The timber used for construction purposes in ancient
times was made from very old trees.
(B) The timber that was used in ancient building
construction had not, prior to being used in the construction
of the buildings, lain unused for an indeterminable amount
of time.
(C) The growth rings of any tree felled in a given year are
identical to the growth rings of any other tree felled in that
year.
(D) The oldest of the ancient buildings that survive to the
present day were constructed of the most durable woods.
(E) Ancient builders did not use more than one type of
wood for the construction of a given building.
Analysis
The first sentence says that a study of the growth rings in
timber can enable scientists to determine the year in which a
tree was felled.
From this information, the second sentence draws the
conclusion that an analysis of the growth rings of the timber
used in an ancient building can enable scientists to precisely
determine the year in which the building was constructed.
Obviously, the author is making the assumption that there
was no long lapse of time between the time the tree was felled
and the time when it was used in the construction of the
building. It is (B) which states this, and is the answer. (If the
timber had been used in the building, say, 20 years after it
was felled, equating the age of the building to the age of the
timber would give an inaccurate result.)
(A) is an obvious fact, but does not by itself lead to the
conclusion that the building’s age can be precisely determined
from the timber used in it. So, it is not the answer.
The conclusion is about determining the age of an ancient
building in which a piece of timber has been used. (C), which
does not even mention the building, is not an assumption that
can lead to that conclusion.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
The phrase ‘timber surviving from ancient buildings’ im-
plies that some of the timber used in these buildings has
already perished. So, (D) contradicts the information in the
given passage, and is not the answer.
Since the age of any timber can be determined by studying
the growth rings in it, whether only one type or more than
one type of timber was used in an ancient building is irrelevant
to the given conclusion. So, (E) is not a necessary assumption
in this case.
Example 6
The federal government expects hospitals to perform
10,000 organ transplants next year. But it is doubtful that
this many donor organs will be available, since the number
of fatalities resulting from car and motorcycle accidents has
been dropping steadily over the past decade.
The argument above makes which of the following
assumptions?
(A) The number of car and motorcycle accidents will
increase significantly during the next year.
(B) No more than 10,000 people will be in need of organ
transplants during the next year.
(C) A significant number of the organs used in transplants
come from people who die in car and motorcycle accidents.
(D) In the past the federal government’s estimates of the
number of organ transplants needed during a given year have
been very unreliable.
(E) For any given fatality resulting from a car or motorcycle
accident, there is a hospital in the vicinity in need of an organ
for a transplant.
Analysis
(Fatalities means deaths.) The only reason why the author
doubts whether sufficient number of donor organs will be
available to meet the estimated 10,000 organ transplants in
hospitals next year is that the number of fatalities resulting
from car and motorcycle accidents has been dropping steadily
over the past decade.
Obviously, the author assumes that donor organs used in
transplants mostly come from persons who die in car and
motorcycle accidents. Choice (C) says just this, and is the
answer.
The author’s argument is based on a continuing decrease
in the number of fatalities in car and motorcycle accidents.
An assumption about an increase in the number of car and
motorcycle accidents is not relevant to his argument. So, (A)
is not the answer.
The number 10,000 is mentioned to be an estimate of the
government. Therefore, according to the passage, the actual
figure could be a few more or a few less than this number.
The assertion that it will not be more than 10,000 contradicts
this information, and is not a necessary assumption for the
stated conclusion.
The argument of the author is not based on the assumption
that the estimate of the need for 10,000 transplants is wrong.
In fact, he presumes that this estimate is correct, but argues
that this many number of organs are not likely to be available
for transplant. (D) thus contradicts a specific information in
the narration, and is not the answer.
The author does not state or even imply that proximity of
the site of a fatal accident to a hospital is a prerequisite for
the successful transplant of an organ from a deceased person
to a patient needing it.
So, (E) is not relevant to the argument of the author, and
is not the answer.
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Example 7
A famous singer recently won a lawsuit against an
advertising firm for using another singer in a commercial to
evoke the famous singer’s well-known rendition of a certain
song. As a result of the lawsuit, advertising firms will stop
using imitators in commercials. Therefore, advertising costs
will rise, since famous singers’ services cost more than those
of their imitators.
The conclusion above is based on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Most people are unable to distinguish a famous singer’s
rendition of a song from a good imitator’s rendition of the
same song.
(B) Commercials using famous singers are usually more
effective than commercials using imitators of famous singers.
(C) The original versions of some well-known songs are
unavailable for use in commercials.
(D) Advertising firms will continue to use imitators to
mimic the physical mannerisms of famous singers.
(E) The advertising industry will continue to use well-
known renditions of songs in commercials.
Analysis
The narration concludes that, because of the court’s order
that imitators cannot be used in advertisement commercials
to sing well-known renditions of songs by famous singers,
advertising costs will go up, because famous singers will
charge more for singing these songs than the imitator.
Obviously, this conclusion will be valid only if an
assumption is made that the advertising industry will
continue to use well-known renditions of songs in their
commercials, and have to necessarily commission the famous
singers to sing them, thereby incurring a higher cost.
(E) is what states this, and is the answer.
(If, on the other hand, the industry discontinues the use of
such songs and takes to some other cheaper method of
advertising, there will be no additional advertising cost
arising out of the result of the lawsuit.)
None of the other choices can logically lead to the conclusion
that the advertising costs will go up because of the decision in
the lawsuit referred to.
Example 8
In March, 300 college students turned out in Washington
to protest against proposed cuts in student loan funds.
Another 350,000 collegians flocked to Florida’s sun-drenched
beaches during March for “spring break”. Since the Florida
sun-seekers were more numerous, they were more
representative of today’s students than those who protested
in Washington, and therefore Congress need not heed the
appeals of the protesting students.
The argument above makes which of the following
assumptions?
(A) The students who vacationed in Florida did not oppose
the cutting of student loan funds by Congress.
(B) The students who vacationed in Florida were not in
agreement with the opinion of the majority of United States
citizens about the proposed cut in loan funds.
(C) The students who protested in Washington were more
seriously concerned about their education than the students
who vacationed in Florida.
(D) The students who neither protested in Washington in
March nor vacationed in Florida in March are indifferent to
governmental policies on education.
(E) The best way to influence congressional opinion about
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
a political issue is to communicate with one’s elected repre-
sentative in Washington.
Analysis
From the fact that the number of college students who
vacationed in Florida beaches (350,000) was much larger than
the number of college students who protested in Washington
against proposed cuts in student loan funds (300), the author
comes to the conclusion that the Congress need not listen to
the appeal of the protesting students.
We have been asked to locate the choice which forms an
assumption in the above argument.
If the 300 students who participated in the protest
demonstration had, in fact, acted as the representatives of
the 350,000 students who had gone to the Florida beach, and
had in fact reflected the views of such a large number of
students, the conclusion of the author would be wrong.
So, what the author is assuming while coming to his
conclusion is that the 350,000 students who were vacationing
in Florida beach did not oppose the cutting of loan funds, and
the 300 demonstrators did not reflect their views. It is (A)
which states this, and is the answer.
(B) says that not only the 300 students, but a majority of
the United States citizens, were against the proposed cut in
student loan funds. Since the author’s conclusion in the
passage is based on her assertion that Congress should heed
majority opinion, (B) would mean that Congress should
withdraw the proposed cut in student loan funds. This would
contradict, and will not form the basis for, the author’s
conclusion. So, (B) is wrong.
(C), (D) and (E) neither corroborate, nor contradict, the
author’s conclusion, and are not relevant to it.
Example 9
In the early nineteenth century, industrialists preferred
to hire people with no weaving experience to work in their
new textile mills. Evidence of this is that, when more than
2,000 people applied to work at one New England mill, only
30 of the 150 who were hired had previous experience in
weaving.
The statistics cited above provide no evidence supporting
the author’s contention unless it is assumed that
(A) some of the unsuccessful applicants to the textile mill
had experience in weaving
(B) the nature of the work at the new textile mills made
previous experience in weaving of no advantage in a worker
(C) the 30 successful applicants with weaving experience
had no experience of weaving in textile mills
(D) the industrialists’ preference for workers without
previous experience was economically motivated
(E) prior to the nineteenth century, there was no weaving
done on a large industrial scale
Analysis
The conclusion that industrialists preferred to hire persons
with no weaving experience to work in their factories will be
valid only if persons experienced in weaving were available
for employment but were not selected.
The statistics cited by the author is that 2000 people had
applied for the jobs; 150 of them were selected, and only 30
persons among these 150 had experience in weaving.
If, among all the 2000 applicants, only these 30 had
experience in weaving and all of them had been selected for
employment, the author’s conclusion will be wrong.
So, what the author necessarily assumes while asserting
38
his conclusion is that at least some among the 1850
unsuccessful applicants had previous experience in weaving
but were still not selected. It is (A) which states this, and is
the answer.
If the author’s assertion is true, (B) will constitute a
probable reason for the industrialists’ preference. But (B) by
itself is not a necessary assumption that relates the evidence
quoted by the author to his conclusion. So, (B) is not the
answer.
The author talks of “weaving experience” in general terms
(including experience in one’s own household handloom) and
does not limit it to weaving experience in a textile mill.
Therefore, (C) does not form a necessary nexus between the
evidence cited by him and his conclusion. So, (C) is not the
answer.
From the evidence cited by him, the author merely draws
the conclusion that industrialists preferred inexperienced
candidates, without trying to speculate on the reasons for
such preference by them. Since there could be many reasons
other than economic for such preference (such as (i) the
difference in the type of work between household looms and
mill-looms, (ii) the inexperienced candidates being younger
and healthier, (iii) the inexperienced persons being more
obedient etc), (D) is not a necessary assumption for the author
in coming to his conclusion. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) may be a historical fact, and may constitute one reason
why most of the applicants for the job had no previous weaving
experience. But there were household looms prior to the
nineteenth century and these produced weavers with
experience, though not in large numbers. But (E) does not
form a nexus between the author’s evidence and his conclusion
that industrialists ‘preferred’ inexperienced candidates to
experienced weavers So, (E) is not the answer.
Example 10
An electric-power company gained greater profits and
provided electricity to consumers at lower rates per unit of
electricity by building larger-capacity, more efficient plants
and by stimulating greater use of electricity within its area.
To continue these financial trends, the company planned to
replace an old plant by a plant with triple the capacity of its
largest plant.
The company’s plan as describe above assumed each of the
following EXCEPT:
(A) Demand for electricity within the company’s area of
service would increase in the future
(B) Expenses would not rise beyond the level that could be
compensated for by efficiency or volume of operation, or both
(C) The planned plant would be sufficiently reliable in
service to contribute a net financial benefit to the company
as a whole
(D) Safety measures to be instituted for the new plant
would be the same as those for the plant it would replace
(E) The tripling of capacity would not result in insuperable
technological obstacles to efficiency
Analysis
This question is of a type different from the previous ones.
In this question, four of the five given choices represent
assumptions necessarily made by the company while
formulating its plan, and only one of them does NOT represent
such a necessary assumption.
We have been asked to spot this particular choice.
On the basis of its past experience that its profitability
and the standard of its service improved when it increased
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
its capacity, efficiency and the market, the electric-power com-
pany wishes to triple the capacity of one of its plants.
Obviously the company assumes that it will be able to sell
the additional power generated by the new plant (stated in
A); that it will be able to control its expenditure so as to
continue to maintain and increase its profits (stated in B);
that the new plant will reliably continue to produce the
estimated additional power (stated in C); and that its three-
fold capacity increase will not result in inefficiency in
operation (stated in E).
(D) is not a necessary assumption in this context, since
the company may even think of improving the safety
standards. Additionally, while the other choices have a direct
nexus to the continuance of the financial trends mentioned
in the last sentence, ‘safety measures’, in spite of their
importance, do not have a direct nexus to the financial trends.
So, it is (D) which is not a necessary assumption for the
investment decision, and is the answer.

In the following pages, we give you a number of sets of 'Assumption' questions

which you can answer by yourself!

39
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. To prevent some conflicts of interest, Congress could
prohibit high-level government officials from accepting
positions as lobbyists for three years after such officials leave
government service. One such official concluded, however,
that such a prohibition would be unfortunate because it would
prevent high-level government officials from earning a
livelihood for three years.
The official’s conclusion logically depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) Laws should not restrict the behavior of former
government officials.
(B) Lobbyists are typically people who have previously been
high-level government officials.
(C) Low-level government officials do not often become
lobbyists when they leave government service.
(D) High-level government officials who leave government
service are capable of earning a livelihood only as lobbyists.
(E) High-level government officials who leave government
service are currently permitted to act as lobbyists for only
three years.
2. Two groups of laboratory mice were injected with
cancerous cells. One group’s cages were rotated in a
disorienting manner. Two-thirds of these mice developed
cancers. One-tenth of the mice in stationary cages developed
cancers. The researchers concluded that stress enhances the
development of cancer in laboratory mice.
The researchers’ conclusion logically depends on which of
the following assumptions?
(A) Rotating the cages in a disorienting manner produced
stress in the mice in those cages.
(B) The injections given to the two groups of mice were not
of equal strength.
(C) Injecting the mice with cancerous cells caused stress
in the mice.
(D) Even without the injections the mice in the rotated
cages would have developed cancers.
(E) Even the rotation of cages in a manner that is not
disorienting is likely to produce stress in mice in those cages.
3. Even though most universities retain the royalties from
faculty members’ inventions, the faculty members retain the
royalties from books and articles they write. Therefore, faculty
members should retain the royalties from the educational
computer software they develop.
The conclusion above would be more reasonably drawn if
which of the following were inserted into the argument as an
additional premise?
(A) Royalties from inventions are higher than royalties
from educational software programs.
(B) Faculty members are more likely to produce
educational software programs than inventions.
(C) Inventions bring more prestige to universities than do
books and articles.
(D) In the experience of most universities, educational
software programs are more marketable than are books and
articles.
(E) In terms of the criteria used to award royalties,
educational software programs are more nearly comparable
to books and articles than to inventions.
4. The sharp decline in the mortality rate since 1941 shows
that those who argue that the introduction of new chemicals
40
has caused severe health problems are mistaken. From 1940-
1979, the average life expectancy for the entire United States
population increased from 63.6 years to 73.6 years, and the
total age-adjusted death rate declined by fortyfive percent,
including declines in every age, sex and racial group. These
were also the years in which there was a dramatic increase
in the use of new chemicals in this country. Clearly, then,
these modern aids to industry have no adverse effects on the
general health of the society.
Which of the following is an assumption underlying the
conclusion of the passage above?
(A) The increase in life expectancy would not have been
greater if there had not been an increase in the use of
chemicals.
(B) The increase in life expectancy in the United States
was paralleled by corresponding increases in other countries.
(C) The growth in the average life expectancy in the United
States cannot be attributed to any single factor, but is a
general phenomenon.
(D) The increase in the use of new chemicals did not begin
until 1940
(E) Growth in the use of chemicals was a crucial factor in
the development of industry from 1940 to 1979.
5. Spending on research and development by United States
businesses for 1984 showed an increase of about 8 percent
over the 1983 level. This increase actually continued a
downward trend evident since 1981 - when outlays for
research and development increased 16.4 percent over 1980
spending. Clearly, the 25 percent tax credit enacted by
Congress in 1981, which was intended to promote spending
on research and development, did little or nothing to stimulate
such spending.
The conclusion of the argument above cannot be true unless
which of the following is true?
(A) Business spending on research and development is
usually directly proportional to business profits.
(B) Business spending for research and development in
1985 could not increase by more than 8.3%.
(C) Had the 1981 tax credit been set higher than 25%,
business spending for research and development after 1981
would have increased more than it did.
(D) In the absence of the 25% tax credit, business spending
for research and development after 1981 would not have been
substantially lower than it was.
(E) Tax credits marked for specific investments are rarely
effective in inducing businesses to make those investments.
6. In an attempt to reverse the deterioration of the postal
service in at least some respects, the government has raised
the prices of postage stamps. This effort will be effective since
reducing the number of persons using the postal system
should result in a corresponding reduction in the percentage
of letters lost.
The author of the passage above makes which of the
following assumptions?
I. Fewer people will buy postage stamps if they are more
expensive
II. The percentage of letters lost by the postal service has
been evidence of the deterioration of the postal system
III. The government will improve the efficiency of the
postal service with revenues from higher priced stamps
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I and III only
7. The marketing researcher was interested only in the
attitude that those interviewed had toward vacationing in
Florida. Yet, in an effort to obtain valid information, she did
not reveal that Florida’s Bureau of Tourism was sponsoring
her research; she asked participants in the interview to give
opinions on and express preferences among many places for
vacationing, a technique that yielded as much information
on Europe and California as on Florida.
A plausible explanation for the researcher’s strategy is that
she assumed that the participants
(A) were from a variety of backgrounds and hence had a
variety of opinions about vacationing
(B) had attitudes toward Florida that were more easily
predicted than were their opinions on their places for
vacationing
(C) would tend to express favourable opinions when they
thought such responses would please the sponsor of the
research
(D) would speak honestly about places for vacation only
during direct questioning
(E) were more knowledgeable and candid about Europe
and California than about Florida
8. Buying credit may induce many consumers to buy things
they do not really want, but it also allows them to take
advantage of bargains when they are short of cash. Anyone
who takes advantage of this latter possibility saves money
by buying on credit.
Which of the following is an assumption made in the
passage above?
(A) Credit is available to everyone who wants it
(B) The cost of credit does not exceed the savings on
purchases that credit made possible
(C) Consumers who use credit wisely buy only bargains
with it
(D) Most unnecessary purchases are made on credit
(E) It is difficult to use credit with restraint if it is available
to consumers at bargain rates
SET 2
1. Studies show that treatment of stress-related disorders
with psychotherapy can dramatically cut a person’s need for
medical treatment for those disorders. Insurance companies
could, therefore, lower their costs by subsidizing
psychotherapy and thereby encouraging people who have
stress-related disorders and are not now using psychotherapy
to do so.
The plan above depends on the assumption that
(A) people who have stress-related disorders tend to have
little faith in psychotherapy
(B) any person with a stress-related disorder can be
effectively treated with psychotherapy
(C) the projected cost to insurance companies of medical
treatment for stress-related disorders exceeds the cost of the
proposed subsidies for psychotherapy for those disorders
(D) any stress-related disorder that cannot be treated
effectively with conventional medical treatment can be treated
41
9. A study of illusionistic painting inevitably begins with
the Greek painter Zeuxis. In an early work, which is the basis
for his fame, he painted a bowl of grapes that was so lifelike
that birds pecked at the fruit. In an attempt to expand his
achievement to encompass human figures, he painted a boy
carrying a bunch of grapes. When birds immediately came to
peck at the fruit, Zeuxis judged that he had failed.
Zeuxis’ judgment that he had failed in his later work was
based on an assumption. Which of the following can have
served as that assumption?
(A) People are more easily fooled by illusionistic techniques
than are birds.
(B) The use of illusionistic techniques in painting had
become commonplace by the time Zeuxis completed his later
work.
(C) The grapes in later painting were even more realistic
than the ones in the earlier work.
(D) Birds are less likely to peck at fruit when they see that
a human being is present.
(E) After the success of his early work, Zeuxis was unable
to live up to the expectations of the general public.
10. From a certain farming region, trucks can carry
vegetables to markets in New Mexico in two days for a total
cost of $300. A train will carry the vegetables there in four
days for $200. If reducing time in transit is more important
to the owner of the vegetables than is reducing the shipping
bill, he or she will send the vegetables by truck.
Which of the following is an assumption made in the
passage above?
(A) Vegetables can be sold more profitably when shipped
by train than by truck.
(B) Other than speed and cost, there are no significant
differences between truck and train transportation from the
farming region to New Mexico.
(C) The time required to ship vegetables by train from the
farming region to New Mexico could be reduced to two days
if the price for this service were raised.
(D) Most owners of vegetables in the region are more
concerned with shipping costs than with the time involved in
shipping vegetables to market.
(E) Transportation of vegetables by truck is worth at least
$200 per day to owners of the vegetables in the farming
region.
effectively with psychotherapy
(E) few people who have medical insurance are treated for
stress-related disorders
2. Many of those who advocate trimming hospital costs
argue that the federal money saved by such cuts could be
utilized for important social purposes: rebuilding the cities,
reducing safety hazards in the workplace, preserving the
environment, improving schooling, or developing better
sources of energy. Their enthusiasm would be dampened if
the savings were diverted to other objectives: expanding the
military, balancing the budget, revitalizing the space program,
or cutting capital gains taxes. One cannot be confident that
any useful result would be obtained by diverting funds from
the hospital system.
The author of the passage above assumes that
(A) those who favor government expenditure for some social
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
purposes oppose government expenditure in other areas
(B) federal money should not be used for rebuilding the
cities and other social purposes
(C) hospital costs are not excessive
(D) hospital costs should be trimmed after the projected
savings have been allocated for specific purposes
(E) trimming hospital costs will decrease the quality of
hospital care
3. While a quota on imported cars might protect jobs in
the domestic automobile industry, it also means fewer
inexpensive imported cars and less money for those buying
cars to spend on other things. Therefore, such a quota will
ultimately result in fewer jobs in domestic industries
unrelated to the automobile industry than there would be
without a quota.
Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing
the conclusion above?
(A) The number of car purchases will decrease if a quota
is imposed on imported cars
(B) Most car buyers prefer inexpensive imported cars to
inexpensive domestic cars
(C) Without a quota, money that car buyers would save by
buying inexpensive imported cars would be spent on goods
produced by unrelated domestic industries
(D) With a quota, the domestic automobile industry will
employ more people than it currently does
(E) A quota on imported cars would cause the price of
particular models of imported cars to rise
4. Some geologists argue that if oil is as common in
unsampled areas of the world as it is in those already sampled,
our current estimate of reserves that exist underground must
be multiplied by a factor of 10,000. From this we can conclude
that we can meet the oil needs of the entire world for at least
five centuries, even assuming that future consumption grows
at an accelerating rate.
To reach the stated conclusion, the author must assume
which of the following?
(A) It is possible to recover the oil contained in unexplored
areas of the world.
(B) The consumption rate for oil will not grow rapidly.
(C) Oil will remain an important energy source for at least
500 years.
(D) The world will achieve and maintain zero population
growth.
(E) New technology will make oil discovery and drilling
more feasible than ever before.
5. A child watching television experiences a procession of
sights and sounds that flash from the screen just long enough
for the eyes and ears to take them in. Unlike the pages of a
book, which can be read as slowly or as quickly as the child
wishes, television images appear with a relentless velocity
that stunts rather than enhances the child’s powers of
imagination.
The view expressed above is based on an assumption. Of
the following, which can best serve as that assumption?
(A) When allowed to choose a form of entertainment,
children will prefer reading to watching television.
(B) A child’s imagination cannot be properly stimulated
unless the child has access both to television and to books.
(C) A child’s imagination can develop more fully when the
child is able to control the pace of its entertainment.
(D) Children should be taught to read as soon as they are
42
able to understand what they see on television.
(E) A child’s reaction to different forms of sensory stimuli
cannot be predicted, since every child is different.
6. I. Neither Peter nor Sarah has any common sense.
II. Neither Peter nor Sarah is able to run the factory.
Statement II will follow from Statement I if which of the
following assumptions is additionally made?
(A) Neither Peter nor Sarah has any experience in running
factories.
(B) Even a person who lacks common sense would be able
to run a factory if he or she had taken courses in factory
management.
(C) To be able to run a factory, a person must have common
sense.
(D) Peter and Sarah, working with someone who has good
common sense, would be able to run the factory.
(E) If Sarah had any common sense, she and Peter would
be able to run the factory.
7. One of the world’s most celebrated paintings, The Man
with the Golden Helmet, long attributed to Rembrandt, is not
a Rembrandt after all. So say several art experts who base
their conclusion on an analysis of stylistic features, especially
details both of shading and of brushwork. In order to ascertain
who really painted the well-known masterpiece, the experts
have begun a series of sophisticated new tests, including one
that involves the activation of neutrons. These tests yield
patterns for any painter that are as distinctive as a good set
of fingerprints.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the
conclusion of the art experts depends?
(A) The Man with the Golden Helmet was not painted
during Rembrandt’s lifetime.
(B) If even The Man with the Golden Helmet is of
questionable attribution, then any supposedly authentic
Rembrandt has now become suspect.
(C) The painting known as The Man with the Golden
Helmet is a copy of a Rembrandt original.
(D) The original ascription of The Man with the Golden
Helmet to Rembrandt was a deliberate fraud.
(E) There are significant consistencies among authentic
Rembrandts in certain matters of style.
8. Some insects are able to feed on the leaves of milkweed,
a toxic plant, by first cutting and draining the vein that
secretes the toxin. This method of detoxification guarantees
that some insects will always be able to eat milkweed, because
the plant could never evolve to produce a toxin that is lethal
in the trace amounts left after the vein is cut.
The conclusion drawn in the passage above depends on
which of the following assumptions?
(A) The insects that successfully detoxify milkweed are
not able to undergo the evolutionary changes necessary to
allow them to detoxify other plants.
(B) Unlike milkweed, other kinds of toxic plants would be
able to overcome their vulnerabilities to predators through
evolutionary changes.
(C) The toxin-carrying veins of the milkweed plant can
never evolve in such a way that insects cannot cut through.
(D) The method of detoxification used by insect predators
of milkweed would not successfully detoxify other kinds of
toxic plants.
(E) There are insects that use means other than draining
the toxin in order to feed on toxic plants.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
9. A researcher discovered that people who have low levels
of immune-system activity tend to score much lower on tests
of mental health than do people with normal or high immune-
system activity. The researcher concluded from this
experiment that the immune system protects against mental
illness as well as physical disease.
The researcher’s conclusion depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) High immune-system activity protects against mental
illness better than normal immune-system activity does.
(B) Mental illness is similar to physical disease in its effects
on body systems.
(C) People with high immune-system activity cannot
develop mental illness.
(D) Mental illness does not cause people’s immune-system
activity to decrease.
(E) Psychological treatment of mental illness is not as
effective as medical treatment.
10. The technological conservatism of bicycle
manufacturers is a reflection of the kinds of demand they
are trying to meet. The only cyclists seriously interested in
innovation and willing to pay for it are bicycle racers.
SET 3
1. Child’s World, a chain of toy stores, has relied on a
“supermarket concept” of computerized inventory control and
customer self-service to eliminate the category of sales clerks
from its force of employees. It now plans to employ the same
concept in selling children’s clothes.
The plan of Child’s World assumes that
(A) supermarkets will not also be selling children’s clothes
in the same manner
(B) personal service by sales personnel is not required for
selling children’s clothes successfully
(C) the same kind of computers will be used in inventory
control for both clothes and toys at Child’s World
(D) a self-service plan cannot be employed without
computerized inventory control
(E) sales clerks are the only employees of Child’s World
who could be assigned tasks related to inventory control
2. A weapons-smuggling incident recently took place in
country Y. We all know that Y is closed society. So Y’s
government must have known about the weapons.
Which of the following is an assumption that would make
the conclusion above logically correct?
(A) If a government knows about a particular weapons
smuggling incident, it must have intended to use the weapons
for its own purposes
(B) If a government claims that it knew nothing about a
particular weapons-smuggling incident, it must have known
everything about it
(C) If a government does not permit weapons to enter a
country, it is a closed society
(D) If a country is a closed society, its government has a
large contingent of armed guards patrolling its borders
(E) If a country is a closed society, its government has
knowledge about everything that occurs in the country
3. Therapists find that treatment of those people who seek
help because they are unable to stop smoking or overeating
is rarely successful. From these experiences, therapists have
concluded that such habits are intractable, and success in
43
Therefore, innovation in bicycle technology is limited by what
authorities will accept as standard for purposes of competition
in bicycle races.
Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing
the conclusion above?
(A) The market for cheap, traditional bicycles cannot
expand unless the market for high-performance competition
bicycle expands.
(B) High-performance bicycles are likely to be improved
more as a result of technological innovations developed in
small workshops than as a result of technological innovations
developed in major manufacturing concerns.
(C) Bicycle racers do not generate a strong demand for
innovations that fall outside what is officially recognized as
standard for purposes of competition.
(D) The technological conservatism of bicycle
manufacturers results primarily from their desire to
manufacture a product that can be sold without being altered
to suit different national markets.
(E) The authorities who set standards for high-performance
bicycle racing do not keep informed about innovative bicycle
design.
breaking them is rare. As surveys show, millions of people
have dropped the habit of smoking, and many people have
successfully managed a substantial weight loss.
If all of the statements above are correct, an explanation of
their apparent contradiction is provided by the hypothesis that
(A) there have been some successes in therapy, and those
successes were counted in the surveys
(B) it is easier to stop smoking than it is to stop overeating
(C) it is easy to break the habits of smoking and overeating
by exercising will power
(D) the group of people selected for the survey did not
include those who failed to break their habits even after
therapy
(E) those who succeed in curing themselves do not go for
treatment and so are not included in the therapists’ data
4. Until 1984 only aspirin and acetaminophen shared the
lucrative nonprescription pain-reliever market. In 1984,
however, ibuprofen was expected to account for fifteen percent
of all nonprescription pain-reliever sales. On that basis
business experts predicted for 1984 a corresponding fifteen
percent decrease in the combined sales of aspirin and
acetaminophen.
The prediction mentioned in the last sentence above was
based on which of the following assumptions?
(A) Most consumers would prefer ibuprofen to both aspirin
and acetaminophen.
(B) Aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen all relieve
headache pain and muscular aches, but aspirin and ibuprofen
can also cause stomach irritation.
(C) Before 1984 ibuprofen was available only as a
prescription medicine.
(D) The companies that manufacture and sell aspirin and
acetaminophen would not also manufacture and sell
ibuprofen.
(E) The introduction of ibuprofen would not increase total
sales of nonprescription pain relievers.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
5. Some United States psychologists have concluded that
one specific set of parental behaviors toward children always
signifies acceptance and a second set always signifies
rejection, for there is remarkable agreement among
investigators about the maternal behaviors designated as
indicative of these parental attitudes.
The conclusion of the psychologists mentioned above
logically depends on the assumption that
(A) most maternal behaviors have been interpreted as
conveying either acceptance or rejection.
(B) the maternal behaviors indicating acceptance or
rejection are exhibited by fathers as well
(C) the behaviors of fathers toward children have been
studied as carefully as have the behaviors of mothers
(D) acceptance and rejection are the easiest to recognize
of all parental behaviors
(E) parental attitudes are best conveyed through behaviors
that the parents have consciously agreed on
6. Last year, support for the social and behavioral sciences
represented only about three percent of the government’s total
budget for research funds in the United States. Thus, the
particularly sharp reductions imposed on such programs this
year seem dictated not by financial constraints but by social
philosophy.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the
conclusion of the passage above is based?
(A) The government funds allocated for research in the
social and behavioral sciences are not sufficient for the work
that needs to be done.
(B) The social and behavioral sciences are as valuable as
the physical and biological sciences.
(C) The current reductions will stop research in the social
and behavioral sciences.
(D) Government funding is the primary source of research
money in the United States.
(E) Three percent is an insignificant portion of the
government’s total budget for research funds.
7. Some doomsayers are warning that long-range warming
or cooling trends in weather patterns will drastically reduce
grain production. More optimistic reports, however, point
out that, even if such drifts in average temperature do occur,
we should expect little change in grain production because
there is little evidence that changes in rainfall patterns will
occur. Moreover, for most crops, climate-induced yield trends
will be masked by both the year-to-year fluctuation of yields
and by the enhancement of yields because of technological
factors.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the more
optimistic reports mentioned in the passage are based?
(A) Long-range changes in weather patterns cannot be
accurately predicted.
(B) The growing of grain is so highly dependent on
technological factors that improvements in yield are unlikely,
regardless of climatic conditions.
(C) Trends in rainfall patterns are more difficult to isolate
than are trends in temperature.
(D) Long-range warming or cooling trends are more
damaging to grain production if they are accompanied by
changes in rainfall patterns than if they are not.
(E) Long-range cooling trends are potentially more
44
destructive to grain production than are long-range warming
trends.
8. In any negotiations between a party with limited aims
and an opposing party with unlimited aims, the party with
limited aims is bound to lose. This is so because the scope of
a negotiating party’s aims determines the energy and the
perseverance that will be brought to the negotiations by that
party.
Which of the following is an assumption implicit in the
passage above?
(A) The intensity with which parties conduct negotiations
affects the outcome of those negotiations.
(B) Negotiations almost always pit against one another
parties whose aims differ in scope.
(C) The outcome of negotiations cannot be correctly
predicted in advance.
(D) A negotiator who has exceptionally high aims needs
exceptional perseverance in order to avoid losing.
(E) Negotiating parties are typically not aware of the scope
of each other’s aims until the outcome is no longer in doubt.
9. The overall operating costs borne by many small farmers
are reduced when the farmers eliminate expensive
commercial chemical fertilizers and pesticides in favor of crop
rotation and the twice-yearly use of manure as fertilizer.
Therefore, large farmers should adopt the same measures.
They will then realize even greater total savings than do the
small farmers.
The argument above assumes that
(A) it is more cost-effective for small farmers to eliminate
the use of commercial fertilizers and pesticides than it is for
large farmers to do so
(B) a sufficient amount of manure will be available for the
fields of large farmers
(C) large farmers would not realize similar cost benefits
by using treated sewage sludge instead of commercial
chemical fertilizers
(D) large farmers generally look to small farmers for
innovative ways of increasing crop yields or reducing
operating costs
(E) the smaller the farm, the more control the farmer has
over operating costs
10. A compelling optical illusion called illusion of velocity
and size makes objects appear to be moving more slowly the
larger the objects are. Therefore, a motorist’s estimate of the
time available for crossing a highway with a small car
approaching is bound to be lower than it would be with a
large truck approaching.
The conclusion above would be more properly drawn if it
were made clear that the
(A) truck’s speed is assumed to be lower than the car’s
(B) truck’s speed is assumed to be the same as the car’s
(C) truck’s speed is assumed to be higher than the car’s
(D) motorist’s estimate of time available is assumed to be
more accurate with cars approaching than with trucks
approaching
(E) motorist’s estimate of time available is assumed to be
more accurate with trucks approaching than with cars
approaching
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 4
1. Of those persons who became teachers in 1968 and who
later left the profession, 30 percent today earn salaries above
$35,000 a year; of those who became teachers in 1968 and
have remained in the profession, only 15 percent today earn
salaries above $35000 a year. These figures indicate how
underpaid teachers are today.
The argument above depends on which of the following
assumptions about the persons for whom statistics are cited?
(A) At least one-third of the group of persons who have
remained in teaching would today be earning more than
$35,000 a year if they had left teaching.
(B) The group of persons who left teaching and the group
who did not are comparable in terms of factors that determine
how much people outside the teaching profession are paid.
(C) Most of those persons who left teaching did so entirely
because of the low salaries teachers earn.
(D) As a group, those persons who have remained in
teaching are abler and more dedicated than the group of
persons who left teaching.
(E) The group of persons who left teaching and who today
earn more than $35,000 a year were more capable teachers
than the group who remained in the profession.
2. Instead of blaming an airline accident on pilot error,
investigators should find out why the error was made by
analyzing airplane design, airline management, and pilot-
training programs. For only then can changes be made to
ensure that the same type of error does not recur and cause
another accident.
Which of the following is a presupposition of the argument
above?
(A) Pilot error is not a contributing factor in most airline
accidents.
(B) Airline companies themselves should be the agents who
investigate airline accidents.
(C) Stricter government regulation of airline companies
will make air travel significantly safer.
(D) Investigators of airline accidents should contribute to
the prevention of future accidents
(E) Most pilots who make errors in flying will repeat their
errors unless they are retrained.
3. The president of a consulting firm analyzed the decisions
made about marketing by her clients and concluded that the
decisions were correct only about half of the time.
The conclusion above depends on the presupposition that
(A) companies can be successful even when about half of
the decisions they make about marketing prove to be wrong
(B) companies hiring her consulting firm make no more
incorrect marketing decisions than do companies in general
(C) executives consistently making correct marketing
decisions rarely enlist the aid of a consulting firm
(D) marketing decisions are just as likely to be correct as
they are to be incorrect
(E) it is possible to classify a marketing decision properly
as being either right or wrong.
4. In recent years many cabinetmakers have been winning
acclaim as artists. But since furniture must be useful,
cabinetmakers must exercise their craft with an eye to the
practical utility of their product. For this reason, cabinet
making is not art.
Which of the following is an assumption that supports
45
drawing the conclusion above from the reason given for that
conclusion?
(A) Some furniture is made to be placed in museums, where
it will not be used by anyone.
(B) Some cabinetmakers are more concerned than others
with the practical utility of the products they produce.
(C) Cabinetmakers should be more concerned with the
practical utility of their products than they currently are.
(D) An object is not an art object if its maker pays attention
to the object’s practical utility.
(E) Artists are not concerned with the monetary value of
their products.
5. Traditionally, decision-making by managers that is
reasoned step-by-step has been considered preferable to
intuitive decision-making. However, a recent study found
that top managers used intuition significantly more than did
most middle-or lower-level managers. This confirms the
alternative view that intuition is actually more effective than
careful, methodical reasoning.
The conclusion above is based on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Methodical, step-by-step reasoning is inappropriate for
making many real-life management decisions.
(B) Top managers have the ability to use either intuitive
reasoning or methodical, step-by-step reasoning in making
decisions.
(C) The decisions made by middle-and lower-level
managers can be made as easily by using methodical
reasoning as by using intuitive reasoning.
(D) Top managers use intuitive reasoning in making the
majority of their decisions.
(E) Top managers are more effective at decision-making
than middle-or lower-level managers.
6. The financial value of any particular painting is at best
only indirectly connected with its own aesthetic merit. This
is demonstrated by the enormous difference in financial value
that always exists between two paintings that are
indistinguishable by the naked eye when one of them is a
forgery of the other.
The conclusion above can most reliably be inferred when
which of the following assumptions is made?
(A) The authenticity of a painting does not contribute to
its aesthetic merit
(B) Accurate forgeries of valuable paintings are not
particularly rare
(C) Paintings are forged because of the originals’ financial
value
(D) Even experts are frequently incapable of determining
the authenticity of certain paintings
(E) It is as easy to determine a painting’s aesthetic merit
as it is to determine its financial value.
7. In elections in the United States, the proper role of the
press is to cover only those factors in the campaign which
bear on the eventual outcome. Since the outcome is invariably
a victory for the candidate of one of the two major parties,
the press should not cover the campaigns of candidates of
minor parties.
The argument above relies on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) The press has an obligation to cover the candidates of
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
the two major parties because these candidates are likely
to be better known to the public than are candidates of minor
parties
(B) It is unlikely that there will be more than three
candidates in any given race
(C) Many eligible voters do not bother to vote, and of those
who do not vote, some would probably have supported a
candidate of a minor party
(D) The number of votes cast for a candidate of a minor
party is not likely to affect the outcome of the contest between
the candidates of the two major parties
(E) Supporters of candidates of minor parties are less likely
to be influenced by the press than are supporters of candidates
of the two major parties.
8. Hittite tablets corroborate many of the descriptions of
ancient life that appear in the Iliad and even list Greek cities
that reportedly sent ships to Troy. What this means is that
the Iliad is not creative literature, as is commonly believed,
and hence not a matter for literary discussion. It is history
and should be examined by historical science.
The author of the passage above makes which of the
following assumptions?
I. A work cannot be classified as creative literature if that
work records historical fact
II. The Hittite tablets record actual events rather than
legends
III. Cities and events mentioned in the Iliad but not in the
tablets are fictitious
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III
(D) I and II only
(E) II and III only
9. Recent data from the Center for Disease Control indicate
a decline in the reported instances of disease Q. This decline
SET 5
1. When limitations were in effect on nuclear-arms testing,
people tended to save more of their money, but when nuclear-
arms testing increased, people tended to spend more of their
money. The perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe, therefore,
decreases the willingness of people to postpone consumption
for the sake of saving money.
The argument above assumes that
(A) the perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe has
increased over the years
(B) most people supported the development of nuclear arms
(C) people’s perception of the threat of nuclear catastrophe
depends on the amount of nuclear-arms testing being done
(D) the people who saved the most money when nuclear-
arms testing was limited were the ones who supported such
limitations
(E) there are more consumer goods available when nuclear-
arms testing increases
2. Harry: If I am reading a good book, I become so absorbed
that if someone calls me, I am not aware of it and hear nothing.
James: If you are not able to hear anything, you could not
know that anyone was calling you!
James’s response shows that he makes which of the
following assumptions?
46
is surprising, because it follows a period in which the formerly
obscure Q received a great deal of publicity in the news media.
Which of the following, if assumed by the author to be true,
would provide the most logical explanation of the author’s
surprise at the reported decline?
(A) Increased public awareness of a disease usually
stimulates efforts to eradicate the disease
(B) Increased public awareness of a disease usually leads
to an increase in reported instances of the disease
(C) An obscure disease may sometimes receive a great deal
of publicity even though doctors have begun to suspect that
the disease no longer exists
(D) The Center for Disease Control typically concerns itself
only with diseases that are of public importance
(E) It is unusual for the reported instances of a disease to
decline sharply after a long period of stability
10. The theoretical principle of democracy is majority rule,
but at least in presidential politics, majority rule has never
triumphed. In every presidential election, more people of
voting age failed to vote than voted for the eventual winner.
“None of the above” is evidently the perennially favorite
candidate of most citizens.
The conclusion of the passage is based on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) Non-Presidential elections are less worthy of study than
are presidential elections
(B) People of voting age who fail to vote in presidential
elections do so to express their dissatisfaction with the
candidates
(C) A presidential candidate need not receive votes from a
majority of those who actually vote in order to win an election
(D) The ratio of voters to non-voters among those of voting
age indicates the relative popularity of the competing
candidates
(E) The principle of majority rule has never been correctly
defined
(A) When Harry is absorbed in reading a good book, nobody
is calling him
(B) Harry cannot know someone has called him unless he
heard that call
(C) When Harry is not absorbed in reading a good book,
someone often calls him
(D) Harry is even more absorbed than he claims to be
(E) Harry reads good books and he is called, but not at the
same time
3. A study of twentieth-century data on volcanic eruptions
shows a slow sustained rise in reported eruptions, with sharp
drops that coincide with the two world wars. The most
reasonable interpretation of these data is that volcanic
activity in this century has held at a steady level throughout.
Which of the following is most likely to be an assumption
underlying the interpretation of the data described?
(A) The slow rise in reported volcanic eruptions in the
twentieth century can reasonably be expected to be sustained
for the remainder of this century
(B) Volcanic eruptions constitute only a small percentage
of the sum total of volcanic activity, but they tend to get
recorded more faithfully than other volcanic activity
(C) The fact that the sharp drops in reports of volcanic
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
eruptions occurred during the two wars is attributable to
random fluctuations in the data
(D) The variations in the frequency of reports of volcanic
eruptions can reasonably be attributed to factors impinging
on the reporting activity itself
(E) Pre-twentieth-century data are too unsystematic to
support any reasonably firm conclusions about long-term
levels of volcanic activity
4. Much of what passes for political dialogue in this country
is really a veiled discussion of whether the distribution of
wealth in our society is equitable. If it is not equitable, we
should consider how much and how quickly the situation can
be changed. If the issue were phrased thus, complicated
questions of economic policy, which are now beyond the
attention span of most voters, could be addressed
The major assumption made in the passage above is that
(A) political dialogue in this country is a simplistic attempt
to address complex issues
(B) the economic policy of this country is not fair to all its
citizens
(C) economic policy is too complex to be understood by most
voters
(D) economic policy has implications for the distribution
of wealth
(E) political dialogue is a result of the short attention span
of most voters
5. Although historical research and anthropological
research often complement one another, the two disciplines
retain important distinctions because of the fundamental
questions that each poses. Historians are ultimately
interested in why change occurred, whereas anthropologists
are concerned with the meanings of actions and systems.
Which of the following is implied in the passage above?
(A) The meanings of actions and systems do not fully
explain why change occurred
(B) The distinctions between life and art are diminishing
(C) Actions and systems are not usually subject to historical
change
(D) anthropological research is not concerned with change
(E) The questions posed by the two disciplines share certain
assumptions about human behavior
6. That social institutions influence the formation of
character has become a generally accepted proposition. This
doctrine views individuals as but compliant recipients of social
influence: personalities are entirely the products of society,
and at any point in life an individual’s personality can be
changed by management of the social world. Crime is said to
exist only because society has in some ways failed in its
responsibility to give every person the resources to lead a
productive life. However, whereas it is true that extreme
poverty forces some people to steal, it is obvious that some
persons will commit crimes no matter how well society treats
them.
Which of the following is implied by the “doctrine” (line 3)
described in the passage above?
(A) Social institutions may reflect personality as much as
they shape it.
(B) Social influence on personality is most strongly felt by
the affluent.
(C) The concentration of wealth in the hands of a privileged
few accounts for the existence of crime.
(D) Bringing about social reform is the most likely means
47
of curtailing crime.
(E) Less severe punishment of crime would be likely to
result in more crime.
7. The sense of delayed gratification, of working now for
later pleasure, has helped shape the economic behavior of
our society. However, that sense is no longer nurtured as
consistently in our children as it once was. For example, it
used to take a bit of patience to put together the toys that
children got in cereal boxes; now the toys come from the boxes
whole.
Which of the following is an assumption of the passage
above?
(A) The toys in cereal boxes have changed partly because
the economic conditions of our society have improved.
(B) The influence of promotion grimmicks on the economic
behavior of our society has increased over the years.
(C) The toys that used to come in cereal boxes were put
together by the same children who played with them.
(D) Part of the pleasure of any toy lies in putting the toy
together before playing with it.
(E) Today’s children do not expect a single toy to provide
pleasure for a long period of time.
8. The best argument for the tenure system that protects
professional employment in universities is that it allows
veteran faculty to hire people smarter than they are and yet
remain secure in the knowledge that unless they themselves
are caught in an act of moral turpitude – a concept that in
the present climate almost defies definition – the younger
faculty cannot turn around and fire them. This is not true in
industry.
Which of the following assumptions is most likely to have
been made by the author of the argument above?
(A) Industry should follow the example of universities and
protect the jobs of managers by instituting a tenure system.
(B) If no tenure system existed, veteran faculty would be
reluctant to hire new faculty who might threaten the veteran
faculty’s own jobs.
(C) The traditional argument that the tenure system
protects scholars in universities from being dismissed for
holding unconventional or unpopular beliefs is no longer
persuasive.
(D) If a stronger consensus concerning what constitutes
moral turpitude existed, the tenure system in universities
would be expendable.
(E) Veteran faculty will usually hire and promote new
faculty whose scholarship is more up-to-date than their own.
9. Some people assert that prosecutors should be allowed
to introduce illegally obtained evidence in criminal trials if
the judge and jury can be persuaded that the arresting officer
was not aware of violating or did not intend to violate the
law while seizing the evidence. This proposed “good-faith
exception” would weaken everyone’s constitutional protection,
lead to less careful police practices, and promote lying by law
enforcement officers in court.
The argument above for maintaining the prohibition
against illegally obtained evidence assumes that
(A) defendants in criminal cases should enjoy greater
protection from the law than other citizens do
(B) law enforcement authorities need to be encouraged to
pursue criminals assiduously
(C) the legal system will usually find ways to ensure that
real crimes do not go unprosecuted
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(D) the prohibition now deters some unlawful searches and
seizures
(E) courts should consider the motives of law enforcement
officers in deciding whether evidence brought forward by the
officers is admissible in a trial
10. Unlike other forms of narrative art, a play, to be
successful, must give pleasure to its immediate audience by
reflecting the concerns and values of that audience. A novel
can achieve success over months or even years, but a play
must be a hit or perish. Successful drama of the Restoration
period, therefore, is a good index to the typical tastes and
SET 6
1. After a rebellion in a certain country was put down, the
country’s parliament debated how to deal with the defeated
rebels.. One side proposed that all the rebels be imprisoned
in order to deter those who might be strongly tempted to rebel
in the future. The other side argued against imprisonment
because it would only discourage future insurrectionists from
surrendering.
Both positions logically depend on the assumption that
(A) imprisonment is a harsh penalty
(B) a rebel will prefer a sentence of imprisonment to death
(C) there will be no future rebellion in the country
(D) it is unlikely that future rebels will surrender
(E) resistance to authority is weakened by harsh threats
2. Although many brands of gasoline are sold on Haibei
Islands, gasoline companies there get all of the refined
gasoline they sell from Haibei seaport’s only storage tank,
which is always refilled with the same quality of gasoline.
Therefore, the brands of gasoline for sale on Haibei may be
different in name and price, but they are identical in quality.
The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) Consumers are usually unaware of variations in the
quality of the gasoline they buy unless those variations are
announced by the gasoline companies
(B) When tankers make gasoline deliveries at Heibei’s
seaport, the storage tank on Haibei always receives the same
quality of gasoline as that in the preceding delivery
(C) There is wide variation in the prices at which the
different brands of gasoline on Haibei are sold
(D) If any gasoline company on Haibei alters the quality
of its gasoline before sale, the other gasoline companies also
alter the quality in the same manner
(E) The gasoline storage tank on Haibei is large enough to
meet the needs of all of Haibei’s different gasoline companies
3. The world’s annual food production slightly exceeds the
amount of food required to provide a minimally adequate diet
for the world’s population. To predict that insufficient food
production will cause a hunger crisis in the future is nonsense.
Any hunger crisis will result from a distribution problem
rather than a production problem.
The statement above assumes which of the following?
(A) The world’s food requirements are greater than they
will be in the future.
(B) A shortfall in the world’s food production can be
prevented by a better distribution system.
(C) The world’s food production will continue to be sufficient
to meet or exceed needs.
(D) The distribution of the world’s existing food supply will
48
attitudes of its time.
The author of the passage above assumes that
(A) plays written for Restoration audiences do not appeal
to modern audiences
(B) plays are superior to novels as a form of narrative art
(C) Restoration audiences were representative of the whole
population of their time
(D) playgoers and novel readers are typically distinct and
exclusive groups.
(E) Restoration drama achieved popular success at the
expense of critical success
be improved in the future.
(E) The world hunger crisis will not exist in the future.
4. Konstantin Stanislavski’s justly praised method for
training actors arose from Stanislavski’s own awkwardness
and susceptibility to theatrical clichés as a young actor. The
“method” must be understood in terms of Stanislavski’s
personal search for release from the temptations of stock
gestures, well-tried vocal intonations, and standard emotional
formulas. Despite the pretensions of certain of his disciples
in the United States, the Russian director never intended to
formulate a textbook of rigid solutions to acting problems.
It can be inferred that the author of the preceding statements
about Stanislavski’s method holds which of the following
opinions about acting?
(A) Acting is essentially spontaneous emotional expression,
with which systematic training usually interferes.
(B) The Stanislavski method has lost some of its flexibility
and exploratory qualities as it has been used by some followers
of Stanislavski in the United States.
(C) The Stanislavski method has misled those actors in
the United States who have adopted it.
(D) Virtually the only advice young actors need be given is
that they must systematically suppress theatrical clichés in
their performances.
(E) The Stanislavski method is useful primarily for young
actors who must overcome artificiality and immaturity in
their performances.
5. It has been hypothesized that much of the matter in the
universe is “dark”: i.e., unseen. Studies have shown that
galaxies in many galaxy clusters are moving faster with
respect to one another than they would if visible stars
constituted all their mass. The studies suggest that the
galaxies are moving under the gravitational influence of
unseen mass in considerable quantity.
Which of the following is an assumption underlying the
passage above?
(A) Measurements of the speed of moving galaxies are
extremely unreliable.
(B) The workings of gravitational forces are not particularly
well understood.
(C) The aggregate mass of visible stars in the galaxies
mentioned above can be estimated with some confidence.
(D) The general composition of unseen matter in the
universe has been determined.
(E) Without exception, the galaxies mentioned above move
toward one another.
6. New Jersey has one of the lowest motor vehicle fatality
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
rates in the country, and it is one of the few states that
require extensive annual automobile safety inspections.
Therefore, all states should adopt similar safety inspection
procedures.
The argument above is based on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Most states tend to impose few rules and regulations
on the automobile drivers operating within those states.
(B) Most states are skeptical that annual automobile safety
inspections can reduce fatality rates.
(C) Annual automobile safety inspections contribute
significantly to holding down New Jersey’s fatality rate.
(D) Drivers in New Jersey are more safety conscious than
are drivers in other parts of the country.
(E) A smaller number of people die on the roads in New
Jersey than in most other states.
7. When people evade income taxes by not declaring taxable
income, a vicious cycle results. Tax evasion forces lawmakers
to raise income tax rates, which causes the tax burden on
nonevading taxpayers to become heavier. This, in turn,
encourages even more taxpayers to evade income taxes by
hiding taxable income.
The vicious cycle described above could not result unless
which of the following is also assumed?
(A) An increase in tax rates tends to function as an
incentive for taxpayers to try to increase their pretax incomes.
(B) Some methods of detecting tax evaders, and thus
recovering some tax revenue lost through evasion, bring in
more than they cost, but their success rate varies from year
to year.
(C) When lawmakers establish income tax rates in order
to generate a certain level of revenue, they do not allow
adequately for revenue that will be lost through evasion.
(D) Noone who routinely hides some taxable income can
be induced by a lowering of tax rates to stop hiding such
income unless fines for evaders are raised at the same time.
(E) Taxpayers do not differ from each other with respect
to the rate of taxation that will cause them to evade taxes.
8. According to the new office smoking regulations, only
employees who have enclosed offices may smoke at their
desks. Virtually all employees with enclosed offices are at
the professional level, and virtually all secretarial employees
lack enclosed offices. Therefore, secretaries who smoke should
be offered enclosed offices.
Which of the following is an assumption that enables the
conclusion above to be properly drawn?
49
(A) Employees at the professional level who do not smoke
should keep their enclosed offices.
(B) Employees with enclosed offices should not smoke at
their desks, even though the new regulations permit them to
do so.
(C) Employees at the secretarial level should be allowed
to smoke at their desks, even if they do not have enclosed
offices.
(D) The smoking regulations should allow all employees
who smoke an equal opportunity to do so, regardless of an
employee’s job level.
(E) The smoking regulations should provide equal
protection from any hazards associated with smoking to all
employees who do not smoke.
9. The greatest chance for the existence of extra-terrestrial
life is on a planet beyond our solar system. The Milky Way
galaxy alone contains 100 billion other suns, many of which
could be accompanied by planets similar enough to Earth to
make them suitable abodes of life.
The statement above assumes which of the following?
(A) Living creatures on another planet would probably have
the same appearance as those on Earth.
(B) Life cannot exist on other planets in our solar system.
(C) If the appropriate physical conditions exist, life is an
inevitable consequence.
(D) More than one of the suns in the galaxy is accompanied
by an Earth-like planet.
(E) It is likely that life on another planet would require
conditions similar to those on Earth.
10. A small dose of a widely used tranquilizer allows people
to lie during lie detector tests without being discovered. The
stress responses that lie detector tests measure can be
inhibited by the drug without noticeable side effects. One of
the implications of this fact is that the drug can also be
effective in reducing stress in everyday situations.
An assumption of the passage is that
(A) tranquilizers are always an effective treatment for
stress
(B) the inhibition of stress responses increases subjective
stress
(C) stress as measured by a lie detector is similar to
everyday stress
(D) persons who lie during a lie detector test always display
signs of stress
(E) it is not desirable to reduce stress in everyday situations
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Chapter 5
'WEAKENS' QUESTIONS
Another, and most frequently asked, type of questions on
Critical Reasoning will mention (in the initial narration) a
set of premises and the conclusion drawn therefrom, and will
then ask you to spot that statement from among the five given
choices which, if true, will weaken the soundness of that
conclusion.
In other words, this choice will contradict, directly or
indirectly, one of the premises on which the conclusion is
based, or will contain some additional information that will
nullify the force of one of the premises on which the conclusion
was based.
To explain the above in simpler terms, let us go back to
the example from day-to-day life which we had used in the
previous chapters.
“The time is 5.30 now and the movie starts at 6.30. Unless
we leave home within the next 15 minutes, we shall be missing
its beginning”
Suppose that the speaker’s watch is running fast and it is
showing 5.30 when the real time is only 5.15. If this is true,
he will be able to watch the beginning of the movie even if he
leaves home within the next 30 minutes. Therefore, the
statement, “The speaker’s watch is running fast by 15
minutes” will weaken his conclusion that he will miss the
beginning of the movie if he does not leave home within the
next 15 minutes.
Now consider the statement: “There was a projector
breakdown during the afternoon show in the movie theater,
because of which that show will end only at 7.00”.
If this is true, the next show will not begin at least until
7.00, and the speaker will not miss the beginning even if he
leaves home within the next 45 minutes.
So this statement will also weaken the conclusion of the
speaker that he will miss the beginning of the movie if he
does not leave home within the next 15 minutes.
Consider the statement: “The speaker’s watch is running
slow by 10 minutes”.
This means that the real time just now is 5.55 and not
5.45. This will not weaken, but will strengthen, the speaker’s
conclusion that he will miss the beginning of the movie if he
does not leave within 15 minutes.
Consider the statement: “The local mayor is expected to
see the movie during the evening show”.
Obviously, this statement neither weakens nor strengthens
the speaker’s conclusion that he will miss the beginning of
the movie if he does not leave home within the next 15 minutes,
and is irrelevant to it.
The various choices in the ‘weakens’ question will be of
the above types.
Among the choices given under a ‘weakens’ question, only
one will weaken the given conclusion (and will be the answer),
while each of the others will either strengthen it or will be
irrelevant to it.
The ‘weakens’ questions may be worded in a number of
50
different ways such as:
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion drawn above?
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt
on the conclusion drawn above?
Which of the following statements identifies a flaw in the
logical coherence of the statement above?
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging
to the argument above?
Which of the following, if true, constitutes the most serious
objection to the analysis above?
Which of the following, if it were discovered, would be
pertinent evidence against the speculation above?
Which of the following, if true, would be most likely to
cause the above prediction to be inaccurate?
Which of the following statements, if true, would help to
refute the above claim?
Which of the following, if true, best counters the argument
presented above?
Which of the following, if true, most seriously jeopardizes
the validity of the above conclusion?
Which of the following, if true, most forcefully undermines
the argument of the passage above?
In a variant of the ‘weakens’ question that is occasionally
asked, four of the five choices, if true, will weaken the given
conclusion, while the fifth will either strengthen it or will be
irrelevant to it, and you will be asked to select this choice as
your answer.
Such questions will take the form:
Each of the following, if true, would weaken the conclusion
drawn above EXCEPT
The largest percentage of Critical Reasoning questions
are under the ‘weakens’ category.
We are giving below a number of solved examples of this
type, following by 12 sets of 10 questions each for your
practice.
Example 1
Neighboring landholders: Air pollution from the giant
aluminium refinery that has been built next to our land is
killing our plants.
Company spokesperson: The refinery is not to blame, since
our study shows that the damage is due to insects and fungi.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion drawn by the company spokesperson?
(A) The study did not measure the quality of pollutants
emitted into the surrounding air by the aluminium refinery
(B) The neighboring landholders have made no change in
the way they take care of their plants
(C) Air pollution from the refinery has changed the
chemical balance in the plants’ environment, allowing the
harmful insects and fungi to thrive
(D) Pollutants that are invisible and odorless are emitted
into the surrounding air by the refinery
(E) The various species of insects and fungi mentioned in
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
the study have been occasionally found in the locality during
the past hundred years
Analysis
The accusation of the landholders is that air pollution from
the aluminium refinery is responsible for the damage to their
plants.
The refinery’s spokesperson admits that the plants are
getting damaged, but says that the studies undertaken by
the refinery found that the damage to the plants was, in fact,
being caused by insects and fungi. He therefore concludes
that air pollution from the refinery is not responsible for the
damage to the plants.
We have been asked to spot the argument which would
weaken the spokesperson’s statement.
Obviously, his conclusion would be most weakened if it is
found that the growth of insects and fungi in the area was
itself facilitated by the air pollution caused by the refinery.
In this case, it is the refinery which would be indirectly,
even if not directly, responsible for the damage to the plants.
This is what is stated in (C), which is the answer.
It is easy to see that none of the other choices logically
connects (a) air pollution by the refinery, (b) growth of insects
and fungi, and (c) damage to the plants.
(In this example, all the four wrong choices are irrelevant
to the conclusion in the passage.)
Example 2
To entice customers away from competitors, Red Label
supermarkets have begun offering discounts on home
appliances to customers who spend $50 or more on any
shopping trip to Red Label. Red Label executives claim that
the discount program has been a huge success, since cash
register receipts of $50 or more are up thirty percent since
the beginning of the program.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
claim of the Red Label executives?
(A) Most people who switched to Red Label after the
program began to spend more than $50 each time they shop
at Red Label
(B) Most people whose average grocery bill is less than
$50 would not be persuaded to spend more by any discount
program
(C) Most people who received discounts on home
appliances through Red Label’s program will shop at Red
Label after the program ends
(D) Since the beginning of the discount program, most of
the people who spend $50 or more at Red Label are people
who have never before shopped there and whose average
grocery bill has always been higher than $50
(E) Almost all of the people who have begun spending $50
or more at Red Label since the discount program began are
longtime customers who have increased the average amount
of their shopping bills by making fewer trips
Analysis
(In this question, ‘Red Label’ is the name of a Supermarket
chain. ‘Cash register receipts’ mean the amounts received for
purchases by the billing staff in the supermarket) The purpose
of the discount scheme is ‘to entice customers away from
competitors’. This means that, for the scheme to be considered
successful, the supermarket chain must have attracted more
new customers after the discount started.
The Red Label executives’ claim that the scheme has been
a huge success is based only on the fact that single purchases
51
of $50 or more has increased by 30% since the beginning of
the scheme.
This claim regarding the success of the scheme (the basic
aim of which is to get new customers) would be weakened if it
is proved that these purchases have been made only by
traditional customers of Red Label who have now combined
their many purchases into a single one just in order to benefit
from the discount, and not by new customers.
(E) is what states this, and is the answer.
(A) would strengthen and not weaken the claim of the
executives, because it would mean that Red Label had indeed
attracted new customers, and these new customers were
making big purchases just to get the benefit of the discount.
If (B) is true, then there would have been no spurt in the
sales of items above $50, and this contradicts the information
given in the passage.
(C) and (D) would both strengthen, and not weaken, the
executives’ claim that the scheme has been a grand success.
(In this example three of the wrong choices strengthen the
given conclusion, while one contradicts the information given
in the passage.)
Example 3
This year the New Hampshire Division of Company X
set a new record for annual sales by that division. This record
is especially surprising since the New Hampshire Division
has the smallest potential market and the lowest sales of
any of Company X’s divisions.
Which of the following identifies a flaw in the logical
coherence of the statement above?
(A) If overall sales for Company X were sharply reduced,
the New Hampshire Division’s new sales record is irrelevant
to the company’s prosperity
(B) Since the division is competing against its own record,
the comparison of its sales record with that of other divisions
is irrelevant
(C) If this is the first year that the New Hampshire
Division has been last in sales among Company X’s divisions,
the new record is not surprising at all
(D) If overall sales for Company X were greater than usual,
it is not surprising that the New Hampshire Division was
last in sales
(E) Since the New Hampshire Division has the smallest
potential market, it is not surprising that it had the lowest
sales
Analysis
The first sentence merely means that, this year, the New
Hampshire Division of the Company has beaten its own
previous record for the highest annual sales. This does not
mean that it has exceeded the sales figure of any other division
of the Company having a higher market potential.
So, the ‘special surprise’ expressed in the second sentence
of the passage (comparing it with the sales in other divisions
with higher market potentials) is unwarranted.
This flaw in the logical coherence of the given statement
is best expressed by (B), which is the answer.
The other choices do not bring out the lack of coherence in
the line of argument in the given statement.
Example 4
Lark Manufacturing Company initiated a voluntary
Quality Circles program for machine operators. Independent
surveys of employee attitudes indicated that the machine
operators participating in the program were less satisfied with
their work situations after two years of the program’s
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
existence than they were at the program’s start. Obviously,
any workers who participate in a Quality Circles program
will, as a result, become less satisfied with their jobs.
Each of the following, if true, would weaken the conclusion
drawn above EXCEPT:
(A) The second survey occurred during a period of
recession when rumors of cutbacks and layoffs at Lark
Manufacturing were plentiful
(B) The surveys also showed that those Lark machine
operators who neither participated in Quality Circles nor
knew anyone who did so reported the same degree of lessened
satisfaction with their work situations as did the Lark
machine operators who participated in Quality Circles
(C) While participating in Quality Circles at Lark
Manufacturing, machine operators exhibited two of the
primary indicators of improved job satisfaction: increased
productivity and decreased absenteeism
(D) Several workers at Lark Manufacturing who had
participated in Quality Circles while employed at other
companies reported that, while participating in Quality
Circles in their previous companies, their work satisfaction
had increased
(E) The machine operators who participated in Quality
Circles reported that, when the program started, they felt
that participation might improve their work situations
Analysis
(Note the question carefully because attempting to answer
it. The question implies that four of the five given choices will
weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage, while one will
either strengthen it or will have no relevance to it. We have
been asked to spot this particular choice.) The conclusion
reached in the illustration, as a result of observations in a
specific case, is that any worker who participates in a Quality
Circles program will get less satisfied with his job as time
goes by.
(A) implies that the unhappiness of the workers brought
out by the survey was attributable to extraneous causes, and
not to their participation in the Quality Circles. It will thus
weaken the given conclusion, and is not the answer.
(B) also implies that the unhappiness of the workers was
not caused by Quality Circles, but by some other causes. This
will also weaken the stated conclusion that their
dissatisfaction was caused by their participation in Quality
Circles, and is not the answer.
(C) and (D) mean that the workers who participated in
Quality Circles actually benefited by it, and were not
dissatisfied with it. These not merely weaken the stated
conclusion, but contradict it.
The primary purpose of Quality Circles is to increase the
efficiency of operation, and not an improvement in the working
conditions of the workers (though the latter may be an
incidental benefit in some cases). If, as stated in (E), the
workers had presumed that participation in Quality Circles
would improve their working conditions, but this did not
happen, then they would be disappointed, and therefore would
be less satisfied with their present working conditions than
they were at the outset.
So it is (E), if true, that will not weaken the conclusion in
the passage, but will strengthen it, and is the answer.
Example 5
An investigator divided 84 adults into two distinct groups
(low and high consumption) based on each person’s daily
caffeine consumption. A significantly larger percentage of the
52
high-consumption group than of the low-consumption group
demonstrated a high level of anxiety. The investigator
concluded that it was greater caffeine consumption that
resulted in higher anxiety.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion above?
(A) Some subjects in the high-consumption group
experienced lower levels of anxiety than did other subjects in
the high-consumption group
(B) Some subjects in the low-consumption group did not
experience any anxiety
(C) High levels of anxiety when consuming large amounts
of caffeine were the reason some subjects restricted their
intake of caffeine
(D) Some subjects consumed caffeine by drinking coffee
and tea, but others consumed caffeine by taking medication
that contained caffeine
(E) High levels of anxiety caused some subjects to consume
large amounts of caffeine
Analysis
(Caffeine is the substance in coffee which makes it a mild
stimulant. A ‘subject’ means a person whose behaviour has
been studied during the experiment.) From the fact that a
larger percentage of those in the high-caffeine consumption
group also showed a high level of anxiety, the investigator
has drawn the conclusion that greater caffeine consumption
results in higher anxiety.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
would weaken the investigator’s conclusion.
Given that higher level of caffeine consumption and higher
level of anxiety occur together, the investigator has jumped
to the conclusion that the former is the cause and the latter is
the effect. He has not considered the possibility that the higher
level of anxiety may be the cause and the higher level of
caffeine consumption may be its effect. This is therefore the
weakness in his conclusion. (E), which points out such a
possibility, is the answer.
(Watch out for this type of question in which two related
phenomena are mentioned, and one is straightaway presumed
to the cause and the other its effect, without considering the
possibility that the latter could be the cause and the former
its effect. We have come across similar cases under ‘conclusion’,
‘inference’ and ‘assumption’ questions also.)
The second sentence of the narration, “A significantly
larger percentage of the high-consumption group than of the
low-consumption group demonstrated a high level of anxiety”
means that, in each group, some people felt a higher level of
anxiety while some others felt a lower level of anxiety. So, (A)
corroborates what is stated in the narration, and does not
weaken it.
(B) strengthens, and does not weaken, the conclusion of
the researcher relating higher consumption of caffeine to
higher level of anxiety.
(C) also strengthens the researcher’s finding that higher
consumption of caffeine leads to higher levels of anxiety, and
does not weaken it.
The study was to find the correlation between the
consumption levels of caffeine by different individuals to their
anxiety levels. The method of intake of the caffeine was
irrelevant to the study. (D) neither weakens nor strengthens
the researcher’s conclusion, but is irrelevant to it.
(In this instance, three of the wrong choices strengthen
the conclusion, while the fourth is irrelevant to it.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Example 6
The cost of flood damage since 1980 has been greater in
areas that have adopted flood-control measures than in those
that have not. Thus, flood-control projects are expensive
engineering mistakes and a substantial waste of resources.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging
to the argument above?
(A) Those areas that had not suffered flood damage before
1980 are the only ones that have not adopted flood-control
measures
(B) Since 1980, those areas that have taken flood-control
measures have suffered greater flood damage than they did
in the previous decade
(C) The cost of flood damage had increased every year
since 1980
(D) Faulty engineering has not been the only cause of the
failure of flood-control projects
(E) The amount of rainfall since 1980 has been
substantially greater than normal
Analysis
The given argument is that, since areas that had adopted
flood-control measures have suffered more flood damage since
1980 than those areas which had not taken such measures,
the expenditure on flood control in the former has been a
waste.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will be
most damaging to this argument.
The only reason given for the author’s conclusion that flood
control projects are a substantial waste of resources is that
the cost of flood damage since 1980 has been greater in areas
that have adopted flood-control measures than in those that
have not.
If it is a fact, as stated in (A), that it is only those areas
which had not suffered flood damages before 1980 that have
not adopted flood-control measures since then, it implies that
these areas are not prone to flood damage at all. Comparing
the absence of damage in non-flood-prone areas to the damage
in flood-prone areas where flood-control measures were needed
is therefore illogical, and is most damaging to the argument
of the author.
So, (A) is the answer.
(B) will strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s
conclusion, and is not the answer.
(C) talks generally of the ‘cost of flood damage’, without
comparing the relative figures in areas where flood control
measured had been implemented and where they had not
been implemented. So, it neither strengthens nor weakens the
given conclusion, and is irrelevant to it.
By stating that faulty engineering was not the only cause
for the failure of the flood control projects, (D) concedes that
it was one of the causes, and thereby strengthens the given
argument.
(E) also talks generally of rainfall, and does not distinguish
between the amount of rain that fell in areas where flood
control measures had been implemented and the areas where
such measures had not been implemented. Thus (E) neither
strengthens nor weakens the given conclusion, and is
irrelevant to it.
Example 7
Of the countries that were the world’s twenty largest
exporters in 1953, four had the same share of total world
exports in 1984 as in 1953. These countries can therefore
serve as models for those countries that wish to keep their
53
share of the global export trade stable over the years.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt
on the suitability of those four countries as models in the sense
described?
(A) Many countries wish to increase their share of world
export trade, not just keep it stable
(B) Many countries are less concerned with exports alone
than with the balance between exports and imports
(C) With respect to the mix of products each exports, the
four countries are very different from each other
(D) Of the four countries, two had a much larger, and two
had a much smaller, share of total world exports in 1970 than
in 1984
(E) The exports of the four countries range from 15 percent
to 75 percent of the total national output
Analysis
From the fact that the four countries had the same share
of total world exports in 1984 as they had in 1953, the author
comes to the conclusion that they can be adopted as models
by other countries which wish to keep their share of the global
export trade stable over the years.
The author’s recommendation applies only to countries
which wish to have a stable share in the world export trade,
and not to those countries which either wish to increase their
share of the trade, or those whose primary aim is to have a
balance between exports and imports. So, (A) and (B) neither
strengthen nor weaken the conclusion of the author, and are
irrelevant to it.
(C) and (E) will both strengthen the author’s
recommendation, because these models themselves cover
different situations, and can apply to countries with different
mixes of products and different percentages of exports.
By citing these four countries as models for countries
which wish to keep their share of the global export trade stable
over the years, the author obviously presumes that the share
of these four countries in the global export trade had remained
almost the same in each year between 1953 and 1984. If this
is not true, and if there had been wide fluctuations in these
shares year by year (and that it was merely accidental that
the share in 1984 was the same as the share in 1953), the
suitability of these four countries as models by countries
which wish to have stable export trade share would be belied.
(D) says that, in one of the intermediate years 1970, two of
these four countries had a much larger share of the world
exports than they had in 1984, and the other two had a much
smaller share of the world exports than they had in 1984. If
this is true, these four countries obviously cannot be models
for other countries which wish to keep their share of the global
export trade stable over the years.
Thus, (D) casts the most serious doubt about the validity
of the given conclusion, and is the answer.
(Note that, in this example, two of the four wrong choices
strengthen the conclusion, while two are irrelevant to it.)
Example 8
Reviewer: The book Art’s Decline argues that European
painters today lack skills that were common among European
painters of preceding centuries. In this the book must be
right, since its analysis of 100 paintings, 50 old and 50
contemporary, demonstrates convincingly that none of the
contemporary paintings are executed as skillfully as the older
paintings.
Which of the following points to the most serious logical
flaw in the reviewer’s argument?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) The paintings chosen by the book’s author for analysis
could be those that most support the book’s thesis
(B) There could be criteria other than the technical skill
of the artist by which to evaluate a painting
(C) The title of the book could cause readers to accept the
book’s thesis even before they read the analysis of the
paintings that supports it
(D) The particular methods currently used by European
painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used
by painters in other parts of the world
(E) A reader who was not familiar with the language of
art criticism might not be convinced by the book’s analysis of
the 100 paintings
Analysis
There are two arguments mentioned in the narrative. The
first is the argument of the author of the book ‘Art’s Decline’
that European painters of today lack the skills that were
common among European painters of preceding centuries.
The second is the argument of the reviewer that what is
stated in the book must be right, because its analysis of 100
paintings (50 old and 50 contemporary) convincingly
demonstrates that none of the contemporary paintings are
executed as skillfully as the older paintings.
The question is about the reviewer’s argument, and we
have been asked to locate the choice which points out the
most serious logical flaw in it.
The 50 old paintings and the 50 contemporary paintings
have been chosen by the author of the book himself. It is quite
likely that, as the representatives of old paintings, he had
deliberately chosen those which showed high skills and, as
the representatives of contemporary paintings, he had
deliberately chosen those which showed only minimum skills.
If this were the case, the author had not arrived at his
conclusion on the basis of objective evidence, but had come to
his conclusion first and tailored the evidence to suit that
conclusion. If so, his conclusion certainly cannot be considered
to be right as is asserted by the reviewer.
(A) points out this flaw, and is the answer.
The argument in both the book and the review is about
the skills of the artists, and not about general evaluation of
paintings based on any other criteria. The question is also
about the skills only. So, even if (B) were true, it does not
constitute a logical flaw in the argument about their skills.
Thus (B) neither strengthens nor weakens the reviewer’s
conclusion, and irrelevant to it.
The question is about the argument of the reviewer. The
view of other readers of the same book are irrelevant to the
question. So, (C) is not the answer,
(D) compares today’s European painters with today’s
painters in other parts of the world, whereas the book and
the review compare today’s European painters with the
European painters of the preceding centuries. So, (D) is
irrelevant to the argument.
(E) also talks about the views of a reader, and is not relevant
to the issue why the reviewer’s argument is flawed.
(Note that all the four wrong choices in this example are
irrelevant to the given conclusion.)
Example 9
Because postage rates are rising, Home Decorator
magazine plans to maximize its profits by reducing by one
half the number of issues it publishes each year. The quality
of articles, the number of articles published per year, and the
subscription price will not change. Market research shows
54
that neither subscribers nor advertisers will be lost if the
magazine’s plan is instituted.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest
evidence that the magazine’s profits are likely to decline if the
plan is instituted?
(A) With the new postage rates, a typical issue under the
proposed plan would cost about one-third more to mail than
a typical current issue would
(B) The majority of the magazine’s subscribers are less
concerned about a possible reduction in the quantity of the
magazine’s articles than about a possible loss of the current
high quality of its articles
(C) Many of the magazine’s long-time subscribers would
continue their subscriptions even if the subscription price
were increased
(D) Most of the advertisers that purchase advertising
space in the magazine will continue to spend the same amount
on advertising per issue as they have in the past
(E) Production costs for the magazine are expected to
remain stable
Analysis
The problem faced by the magazine is the rise in the
postage rates. In order to maximize its profits, the magazine
wants to reduce its expenses on postage. To achieve this end,
it wants to reduce by one half the number of issues it produces
every year.
For example, if the magazine is a monthly now and postage
has to be incurred 12 times a year, the new proposal will make
it a bi-monthly so that postage has to be incurred only 6 times
a year.
The decision of the management that the number of
articles or their quality or the annual subscription rate will
not change implies that each of the new issues will have nearly
double the number of pages that the present issues have, and
each new issue will be priced at twice the present price.
The narrative also says that the market research has
shown that neither subscribers nor advertisers will be lost if
the new plan is implemented.
Having been given all this information, we are asked to
spot that choice which implies that the magazine’s profits
are likely to decline if the plan is implemented in spite of the
projected saving on postage.
(A) implies that, if the cost of posting each current monthly
issue is 10 cents, the cost of posting each new bi-monthly
issue will be 13 cents. So, the annual postage expense for
each subscriber will be only 78 cents (6 x13) hereafter, as
against 120 cents at present. So, the profits will increase and
not decline. So, (A) is not the answer.
If (B) is true, each new issue need not have twice the
number of articles that each old issue had, and each new
issue can therefore have less number of pages than two old
issues together, thereby reducing the expenses on paper,
printing and postage. So, in this case, the profits will increase,
and not decline. So, (B) is not the answer.
If subscription rate is increased and all old subscribers
continue to buy the magazine, the profits will increase and
not decline. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) implies that, if the advertising revenue from each old
issue was $x, the advertising revenue from each new issue
will also be $x. This means that, as against the earlier annual
advertisement revenue of $12x, the new annual
advertisement revenue will be only $6x. So, if (D) is true, and
the saving in postage is less than $6x, the magazine’s profits
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
will decline. So, (D) is the answer.
If production costs remain stable, but the postage expenses
come down, the profit will increase and not decline. So, (E) is
not the answer.
Example 10
Some analysts maintain that an embargo by country
Litora on the export of a strategic metal to country Zenda, if
imposed, would drive up the price of the metal in Zenda at
least tenfold. They note that few other countries export the
metal and that, with an embargo, Zenda might have to depend
on as-yet-unexploited domestic sources of the metal.
Which of the following, if true, constitutes the most serious
objection to the analysis above?
(A) Litora’s economy depends heavily on foreign currency
earned by the export of the strategic metal to other countries.
(B) There are foreign-policy steps that Zenda could take
to appease Litora and avoid being subjected to an embargo
on the metal.
(C) Geologists believe that additional deposits of the metal
could possibly be found within the territory of Litora.
(D) Only a small proportion of Zenda’s import expenditures
is devoted to the import of the metal from Litora.
(E) In case of an embargo, Zenda could buy the metal
indirectly from Litora on the world market at a less than-
one-third increase in cost.
Analysis
The facts that we can note from the passage are: (i)
Country Zenda needs a particular strategic metal; (ii) Though
it has some deposits of this metal, it has not so far exploited
them; (iii) it has so far been depending mainly on imports of
this metal from another country Litora, because few other
countries export this metal; (iv) Litora is presently planning
to impose an embargo on the export of this metal to Zenda.
The passage then says that some analysts point out that
such embargo, if imposed, is likely to push up the price of
this metal in Zenda at least tenfold.
We have been asked to spot that choice which, if true, will
weaken the view of these analysts.
(A) is not the answer because the proposed embargo is
not against all exports of this metal from Litora, but against
the export of the metal to Zenda alone. So, Litora can continue
to earn most of its needed foreign exchange even after the
proposed embargo comes into operation.
(B) is not the answer, because the analysts’ views relate
to the consequences on Zenda if the proposed embargo comes
into effect, and will not be not relevant to a situation in which
the embargo is avoided completely through diplomatic means.
(C) is not the answer because, if the embargo comes into
effect, the discovery of additional deposits of the metal in
Litora will be of no use to Zenda.
(D) is not the answer, because the speculation of the
analysts is not on the consequences of the embargo on Zenda’s
overall economy, but is limited to the possible steep spurt in
the price of this metal alone.
If (E) is true, the spurt in the import price of this metal by
Zenda will be only about 33%, and will not be tenfold or 1000%
as speculated by the analysts. So, it is (E) which will constitute
the most serious objection to their analysis, and is the answer.
Example 11
It was long thought that a now-rare disease of the joints,
alkaptonuria, was epidemic in Egypt 2,500 years ago.
Evidence came from the high proportion of mummies from
55
that period showing symptoms of the disease. Recently,
however, chemical analyses of skeletons have led scientists
to propose that the joint damage was actually caused by
chemicals used by Egyptian embalmers.
Which of the following, if true, would additionally weaken
the traditional view that alkaptonuria afflicted many Egyptian
2,500 years ago?
(A) X-rays of the mummies showed shadows that clearly
suggested joint damage, and recent inspection of the skeletons
has confirmed that hypothesis.
(B) Although alkaptonuria is a disease that can be
inherited, it did not appear in the descendants of the Egyptian
population in which the symptoms were found.
(C) Egyptian embalming methods were highly secret, and
scientist are still not certain of the nature of some of the
chemicals that were used.
(D) Possible evidence of alkaptonuria has been pointed
out in pictures representing the human figure found on
artifacts left by other Middle Eastern cultures of that period.
(E) Some mummies of that period show no evidence of
joint damage at all.
Analysis
(“Embalmer” is a person who chemically treats dead bodies
in order to preserve them from decomposing. Egyptian
mummies are dead bodies which have been so preserved for
over 2500 years). The recent evidence, according to scientists,
has shown that the Egyptians whose bodies have been
preserved as mummies did not have the disease alkaptonuria
when they were alive, and the damage to the joints in the
mummies was actually caused by the chemicals used by the
embalmers after the death of the persons.
We have been asked to identify the argument among the
choices which further weakens the view that many Egyptians
had suffered from the disease when they were alive.
(B) says that the disease is one that can be inherited. So,
if this disease had been an epidemic among Egyptians 2500
years back, then some at least of their descendants in the
present generation must have this disease now. So, (B) which
says that this disease did not appear in any of the descendants,
will weaken the view that this was an epidemic in Egypt at
one time. So (B) is the answer.
(A) merely confirms that mummies have joint damage,
and neither strengthens nor weakens the earlier assumption
that these persons had joint damage when they were alive.
(D) will strengthen and not weaken the original hypothesis
that the disease was prevalent among ancient Egyptians.
(C) will neither strengthen nor weaken the earlier or the
new hypothesis, and is irrelevant to the case.
(E) is already implied in the second sentence in the passage
that “a high proportion of mummies” and not all of them,
showed the symptoms of the disease, and is not a new
information. It neither strengthens nor weakens the new or
the old hypothesis.
(Note that, in this example, one of the wrong choices
strengthens the earlier hypothesis, while the three others are
irrelevant to that hypothesis.)
Example 12
Researchers studying sets of identical twins who were
raised apart in dissimilar environments found that in each
case the twins were similar in character, medical history, and
life experiences. The researchers saw these results as
confirmation of the hypothesis that heredity is more
important than environment in determining human
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
personalities and life histories.
The existence of which of the following would tend to
weaken the support for the hypothesis above most seriously?
(A) A set of identical twins raised together who are shown
by appropriate tests to have very similar value systems
(B) A pair of identical twins raised apart who differ
markedly with respect to aggressiveness and other
personality traits
(C) A younger brother and older sister raised together who
have similar personalities and life experience
(D) A mother and daughter who have the same profession
even though they have very different temperaments
(E) A pair of twins raised together who have similar
personality traits but different value systems
Analysis
The first sentence says that, in a study of identical twins
raised separately in dissimilar environments, the twins
showed similarities in character, medical history and life
experiences. The researchers felt that this study confirmed
the hypothesis that heredity is more important than
environment in determining human personalities and life
histories.
We have been asked to spot the choice which, if true, would
We shall now give a large number of ‘weakens’ questions for you practice on.
56
most seriously weaken the hypothesis stated above.
We should therefore look for that choice which states that,
in another experiment, identical twins raised in dissimilar
environments showed markedly different personality traits.
It is (B) which says this, and is the answer.
(A) will strengthen, and not weaken the hypothesis, and is
not the answer.
(C) mentions a case in which both the heredity and the
environment of growing were the same. It can therefore
neither strengthen nor weaken the stated hypothesis.
A mother could have grown up in an environment that
was totally different from the one in which her daughter grows
up. Moreover, some of the hereditary traits of the daughter
could have come from her father. So, the fact that a mother
and daughter exhibited different temperaments would neither
strengthen nor weaken the hypothesis that heredity plays a
more important role than environment in shaping one’s
personality traits. So, (D) is not the answer.
The hypothesis is about personality traits and not about
value systems. So, (E) would also neither strengthen nor
weaken the stated hypothesis.
(In this example, one of the choices strengthens the
hypothesis, while three others are irrelevant to it.)
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. Corporations exist to make money for their shareholders.
Corporations have no money to give away because any excess
funds belong to the shareholders. Therefore, corporations
should not contribute to charities.
Which of the following most seriously weakens the reasoning
in the argument above?
(A) Managers are being trained to consider the ethical,
moral, and social effects of their decisions in addition to the
economic factors
(B) Some of the largest corporations in the country are
known to be major contributors to philanthropic organizations
(C) Shareholders tend to make larger individual donations
to charities than do people who hold no shares in corporations
(D) Most corporations contribute solely to large, well-
known, and highly organized charitable organizations rather
than to individuals in need
(E) The favourable publicity and tax advantages gained
by corporate charity often result in an increase in profits
greater than the actual costs of making the donations
2. Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century writer known for his
study of democracy in the United States, believed that a
government that centralizes power in one individual or
institution is dangerous to its citizens. Biographers claim that
Tocqueville disliked centralized government because he
blamed Napoleon’s rule for the poverty of his childhood in
Normandy.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious
doubt on the biographers’ claim?
(A) Although Napoleon was popularly blamed at the time
for the terrible living conditions in Normandy, historians now
know that bad harvests were really to blame for the poor
economic conditions.
(B) Napoleon was notorious for refusing to share power
with any of his political associates.
(C) Tocqueville said he knew that, if his father had not
suffered ill health, his family would have had a steady income
and a comfortable standard of living.
(D) Although Tocqueville asserted that United States’
political life was democratic, the United States of the
nineteenth century allowed political power to be concentrated
in a few institutions.
(E) Tocqueville once wrote in a letter that, although his
childhood was terribly impoverished, it was not different from
the experience of his friends and neighbors in Normandy.
3. Found in caves with the bones of australopithecines,
which are thought by some to be ancient ancestors of the
human species, were great collections of animal bones. From
the frequencies of types of bones, it can be seen that many
bones represented only parts of animals that must have died
elsewhere. The australopithecines thus must have been
mighty hunters, to have brought home so much meat.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion drawn above?
(A) The australopithecines sometimes moved from cave to
cave for shelter and did not remain in one cave for a lifetime.
(B) The australopithecine bones found in the caves were
those of adult males, adult females, and juveniles.
(C) Evidence of the use of fire was absent from the caves
in which the collections of bones were found.
(D) Marks on the bones, including the bones of the
australopithecines, are consistent with teeth marks of large
57
catlike animals of the period.
(E) The bones in the cave did not include bones of an
elephantlike animal that existed in the area at the time of
the australopithecines.
4. A research study reports that a particular educational
program has improved the prospects for success in later
schooling for those children aged three to five who were
subjects of the study. It follows, then, that introducing similar
programs for all children aged three to five will improve their
chances for success in later schooling.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
argument above?
(A) The parents of pre-school children in the United States
are attracted to educational fads and do not have a clear idea
of what sorts of early education programs might benefit their
children.
(B) The cognitive abilities of children are constantly
changing between ages three and five.
(C) The researchers unwittingly included a substantial
number of children who had been previously exposed to
another educational enrichment program.
(D) Many parents erroneously presume that early formal
instruction takes up time that children could better spend
exploring their worlds independently.
(E) It would require extraordinary public expense to
establish such educational enrichment programs on a national
basis.
5. Most archaeologists have held that people first reached
the Americas less than 20,000 years ago by crossing a land
bridge to North America. But recent discoveries of human
shelters in South America dating from 32,000 years ago have
led researchers to speculate that people arrived in South
America first after voyaging across the Pacific, and then
spread northward.
Which of the following, if it were discovered, would be
pertinent evidence against the speculation above?
(A) A rock shelter near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, contains
evidence of use by human beings 19,000 years ago.
(B) Some North American sites of human habitation
predate any sites found in South America.
(C) The climate is warmer at the 32,000-year-old South
American site than at the oldest known North American site.
(D) The site in South America that was occupied 32,000
years ago was continuously occupied until 6,000 years ago.
(E) The last Ice Age, between 11,500 and 20,000 years ago,
considerably lowered worldwide sea levels.
6. Some who favour putting governmental enterprises into
private hands suggest that conservation objectives would in
general be better served if private environmental groups were
put in charge of operating and financing the national park
system, which is now run by the government.
Which of the following, assuming that it is a realistic
possibility, argues most strongly against the suggestion above?
(A) Those seeking to abolish all restrictions on exploiting
the natural resources of the parks might join the private
environmental groups as members and eventually take over
their leadership.
(B) Private environmental groups might not always agree
on the best ways to achieve conservation objectives.
(C) If they wished to extend the park system, the private
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
environmental groups might have to seek contributions from
major donors and the general public.
(D) There might be competition among private
environmental groups for control of certain park areas.
(E) Some endangered species, such as the California condor,
might die out despite the best efforts of the private
environmental groups, even if those groups are not hampered
by insufficient resources.
7. The Commerce Department recently put limits on
machine-tool imports from two countries whose exports of
machine tools into the United States have been substantial.
As a result of these restrictions, analysts predict that domestic
sales of machine tools manufactured in the United States
are bound to rise considerably, starting in the very near future.
Which of the following, if true, would be most likely to cause
the analysts’ prediction to be inaccurate?
(A) A new tax bill that, if passed, would discourage
investment in capital equipment such as machine tools is
being studied and debated seriously in the United States
Congress.
(B) United States companies’ orders for metal-cutting
machines, which account for 75 percent of sales by the
machine-tool industry, rose faster than orders for other types
of machine tools during the past year.
(C) Worldwide orders for machine tools made in the United
States dropped by more than 10 percent during the past year.
(D) Substantial inventories of foreign made machine tools
were stockpiled in the United States during the past year.
(E) Companies in the industrial sectors of many countries
showed a significantly expanded demand for machine tools
during the past year.
8. Throughout the 1950’s, there were increases in the
numbers of dead birds found in agricultural areas after
pesticide sprayings. Pesticides manufacturers claimed that
the publicity given to bird deaths stimulated volunteers to
look for dead birds, and that the increase in numbers reported
was attributable to the increase in the number of people
looking.
Which of the following statements, if true, would help to
refute the claim of the pesticide manufacturers?
(A) The publicity given to bird deaths was largely regional
and never reached national proportions
(B) Pesticide sprayings were timed to coincide with various
phases of the life cycles of the insects they destroyed
SET 2
1. The average normal infant born in the United States
weighs between twelve and fourteen pounds at the age of
three months. Therefore, if a three-month-old child weighs
only ten pounds, its weight gain has been below the United
States average.
What is the flaw in this argument?
(A) Weight is only one measure of normal infant
development
(B) Some three-month-old children weigh as much as
seventeen pounds
(C) It is possible for a normal child to weigh ten pounds at
birth
(D) The phrase “below average” does not necessarily mean
insufficient
(E) Average weight gain is not the same as average weight
58
(C) No provision was made to ensure that a dead bird would
not be reported by more than one observer
(D) Initial increases in bird deaths had been noticed by
agricultural workers long before any publicity had been given
to the matter
(E) Dead birds of the same species as those found in
agricultural areas had been found along coastal areas where
no farming took place
9. Politician: The governor claims that the state’s economy
is prospering. Yet during her term of office the state has lost
26,000 manufacturing jobs. Clearly, the state’s economy is
not doing very well.
Which of the following, if it occurred during the four years
of the governor’s term of office, most seriously weakens the
politician’s conclusion?
(A) An influx of non-manufacturing industries led to a net
gain of 200,000 new jobs in the state
(B) The average hourly wage paid for jobs in the state kept
up with inflation
(C) The average level of training required for entry level
jobs in the state increased
(D) The governor’s budgets increased state spending on
services for health, education, poor people, and senior citizens
(E) Statewide opinion polls indicated that a majority of
the state’s employed workers were reasonably well-satisfied
with the governor’s performance.
10. Some soil scientists have asserted that decaying matter
on the forest floor is a far greater source of the acidity in
mountain lakes than is the acid rain that falls on these lakes.
Therefore, they contend, reducing acid rain will not
significantly reduce the acidity levels of mountain lakes.
Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously
weakens the argument above?
(A) It is natural for mountain lakes to have acidity levels
higher than those of other lakes.
(B) The harmful effects of increased acidity levels in lakes
have been greatly underestimated.
(C) Acid rain is found in urban and heavily industrialized
regions of the country.
(D) There is much disagreement among soil scientists about
the causes of acid rain.
(E) While plant life remains, acid rain significantly
increases the amount of decaying organic matter in natural
environments.
2. The increased concentration of salt in the bay, which is
the result of recent drought and high temperatures, will cause
many fish to die. Shrimp, however, can tolerate high salt
levels; the shrimp industry will not, therefore, be hurt by the
increased concentration of salt.
Which of the following statements, if true, would weaken
the argument above?
(A) Some fish will migrate to areas that have lower
concentrations of salt.
(B) Lack of rainfall for extended periods of time lowers the
water level of bays.
(C) The organisms on which young shrimp feed cannot
survive in such salty waters.
(D) Increased water temperature often causes shrimp to
multiply more quickly.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(E) Shrimp are more abundant in areas of the bay that
are sparsely populated by fish.
3. Teen-agers are often priced out of the labor market by
the government-mandated minimum-wage level because
employers cannot afford to pay that much for extra help.
Therefore, if Congress institutes a sub-minimum wage, a new
lower legal wage for teenagers, the teen-age unemployment
rate, which has been rising since 1960, will no longer increase.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
argument above?
(A) Since 1960, the teen-age unemployment rate has risen
when the minimum wage has risen
(B) Since 1960, the teen-age unemployment rate has risen
even when the minimum wage remained constant
(C) Employers often hire extra help during holidays and
warm-weather seasons
(D) The teen-age unemployment rate rose more quickly in
the 1970’s than it did in the 1960’s
(E) The teen-age unemployment rate has occasionally
declined in the years since 1960
4. Industries can and will build new plants in a world of
high environmental standards. But in a world of uncertainty,
where the environmental standards that must be met can
change and construction that was once acceptable can be
halted because it conflicts with newly passed regulations, new
factories simply will not be built.
Which of the following proposals, if accepted, would work
most to reduce the threat to the construction of new factories
described in the passage above?
(A) Environmental cases involving construction should be
heard and decided by the courts as quickly as possible
(B) Environmental regulations should be published widely
as soon as they are established
(C) The government should pay for all recently completed
factories to be brought up to new environmental standards
(D) Industries should conform to strict environmental
standards without delay
(E) Environmental standards for any factory should not
be altered once construction is underway
5. Public education suffers from what can be diagnosed as
the sickness of an overgoverned society. This sickness denies
many parents control over the kind of education their children
receive. The power once held by parents has gravitated to
professional educators. The sickness has been aggravated by
increasing centralization and bureaucratization of schools.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken the claim
that there is continuing erosion of parents’ control over their
children’s education?
(A) As a result of community pressure, growing numbers
of school administrators follow recommendations made by
parents.
(B) The number of professional educators has risen sharply
over the last decade even though the number of students has
declined.
(C) Parents’ organizations that lobby for changes in school
curriculums are generally ineffectual.
(D) More members of school boards are appointed by school
administrators than are elected by the public.
(E) The use of state-wide curriculum programs increased
in the United States during the past two decades.
59
6. Nonprescription sunglasses shield the wearer’s eyes from
damaging ultraviolet sunlight. Squinting, however, provides
protection from ultraviolet rays that is at least as good as the
protection from nonprescription sun-glasses. There is,
therefore no health advantage to be gained by wearing
nonprescription sunglasses rather than squinting.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
support for the conclusion above?
(A) Many opticians offer prescription sunglasses that not
only screen out ultraviolet sunlight but also provide corrective
vision.
(B) Some nonprescription sunglasses provide less
protection from ultraviolet sunlight than does squinting.
(C) Squinting strains facial muscles and causes headaches
and fatigue.
(D) Many people buy sunglasses because they feel that
sunglasses are fashionable.
(E) Some people squint even when they are wearing
sunglasses.
7. A common misconception is that university hospitals
are better than community or private hospitals. In fact,
university hospitals have a lower survival rate for patients
than do other hospitals. From this it seems clear that the
quality of care at university hospitals is lower than that at
other hospitals.
Which of the following, if true, most forcefully undermines
the argument of the passage above?
(A) Many doctors divide their working hours between a
university and a community or private hospital.
(B) Doctors at university hospitals often earn less than
doctors at private hospitals.
(C) University and community hospitals often cannot afford
the elaborate facilities of private hospitals.
(D) The emphasis at many university hospitals is on pure
research rather than on the treatment and care of patients.
(E) The patients who seek help at university hospitals are
usually more seriously ill than those at private or community
hospitals.
8. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) was established to protect workers from accidents
and unsafe conditions on the job. There has actually been an
increase in the number of job-related accidents under OSHA.
This demonstrates the agency’s ineffectiveness.
Which of the following, if true concerning the period during
which the increase occurred, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) A number of job categories, excluded from the
jurisdiction of OSHA in the legislation originally establishing
the agency, have continued to be outside OSHA’s jurisdiction.
(B) OSHA has been assigned a greater number of kinds of
workplace activities to monitor.
(C) There has been an increase in the total number of
people at work, and the ratio of work-related deaths and
injuries to the size of the work force has fallen in OSHA-
supervised occupation.
(D) Regulations issued by OSHA have met with political
criticism from elected officials and the mass media.
(E) The increase in job-related accidents has occurred
mainly in a single job category, whereas the number of job-
related accidents has remained approximately constant in
other categories.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
9. Treatment for hypertension forestalls certain medical
expenses by preventing strokes and heart disease. Yet any
money so saved amounts to only one-fourth of the
expenditures required to treat the hypertensive population.
Therefore, there is no economic justification for preventive
treatment for hypertension.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the
conclusion above?
(A) The many fatal strokes and heart attacks resulting
from untreated hypertension cause insignificant medical
expenditures but large economic losses of other sorts.
(B) The cost, per patient, of preventive treatment for
hypertension would remain constant even if such treatment
were instituted on a large scale.
(C) In matters of health care, economic considerations
should ideally not be dominant.
(D) Effective prevention presupposes early diagnosis, and
programs to ensure early diagnosis are costly.
(E) The net savings in medical resources achieved by some
preventive health measures are smaller than the net losses
attributable to certain other measures of this kind.
SET 3
1. The recent decline in the value of the dollar was triggered
by a prediction of slower economic growth in the coming year.
But that prediction would not have adversely affected the
dollar had it not been for the government’s huge budget deficit,
which must therefore be decreased to prevent future currency
declines.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the conclusion about how to prevent future currency declines?
(A) The government has made little attempt to reduce the
budget deficit.
(B) The budget deficit has not caused a slowdown in
economic growth.
(C) The value of the dollar declined several times in the
year prior to the recent prediction of slower economic growth.
(D) Before there was a large budget deficit, predictions of
slower economic growth frequently caused declines in the
dollar’s value.
(E) When there is a large budget deficit, other events in
addition to predictions of slower economic growth sometimes
trigger declines in currency value.
2. If athletes want better performances, they should train
at high altitudes. At higher altitudes, the body has more red
blood cells per unit volume of blood than at sea level. The red
blood cells transport oxygen, which will improve performance
if available in greater amounts. The blood of an athlete who
trains at high altitudes will transport more oxygen per unit
volume of blood, improving the athlete’s performance.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to
the argument above, provided that the athlete’s heart rate is
the same at high and low altitudes?
(A) Scientists have found that an athlete’s heart requires
a period of time to adjust to working at high altitudes.
(B) Scientists have found that the body’s total volume of
blood declines by as much as 25 percent at high altitudes.
(C) Middle-distance runners who train at high altitudes
sometimes lose races to middle-distance runners who train
at sea level.
(D) The performances of athletes in competitions at all
altitudes have improved markedly during the past 20 years.
60
10. A study of the medical records of people below the age
of forty found that those whose spouses have died have a
significantly lower chance of surviving to forty than do those
with living spouses. This suggests that the emotional stress
of being widowed severely affects widows’ and widowers’
health.
Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on this
study’s support for the conclusion suggested above?
(A) Even before the study was made, it was generally
acknowledged that the emotional trauma of being widowed
is associated with deterioration in health
(B) The study did not exclude deaths caused by accidents
in which both members of a married couple received fatal
injuries
(C) A similar, though less severe, effect on health is
observed in the immediate aftermath of divorce or separation
(D) Many of the widows and widowers whose records were
studied showed little susceptibility to stress before their
spouses’ deaths
(E) Medical examinations of newly widowed people
generally show them to be no less healthy than the population
at large.
(E) At altitudes above 5,500 feet, middle-distance runners
often better their sea-level running times by several seconds.
3. During the War of 1812, the United States Congress
licensed privateers (armed pirates) who were empowered to
plunder enemy ships. Those privateers financed their
ventures through the sale of the seized cargo. A Florida man
has petitioned Congress to license modern privateers to mount
a private “war-for-profit” against seagoing smugglers of illegal
drugs.
Which of the following, if true, is a drawback to the Florida
man’s proposal?
(A) Modern ships are much faster than those of the
nineteenth century.
(B) Although the United States Constitution still
authorizes the licensing of privateers, no licenses have been
issued for over 150 years.
(C) Modern privateers would be unable to finance their
operations by selling the seized cargo without being in
violation of the law.
(D) The 1812 privateers were plundering ships that
belonged to citizens of another country.
(E) Most of the ships used by drug smugglers are modified
fishing boats.
4. The difficulty with the proposed high-speed train line is
that a used plane can be bought for one-third the price of the
train line, and the plane, which is just as fast, can fly
anywhere. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we
live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and in
which consumers choose the free-wheel system (cars, buses,
aircraft) which do not have fixed routes. Thus a sufficient
market for the train will not exist.
Which of the following, if true, most severely weakens the
argument presented above?
(A) Cars, buses, and planes require the efforts of drivers
and pilots to guide them, whereas the train will be guided
mechanically.
(B) Cars and buses are not nearly as fast as the high-speed
train will be.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(C) Planes are not a free-wheel system because they can
fly only between airports, which are less convenient for
consumers than the high-speed train’s stations would be.
(D) The high-speed train line cannot use currently
underutilized train stations in large cities.
(E) For long trips, most people prefer to fly rather than to
take ground-level transportation.
5. Opponents of laws that require automobile drivers and
passengers to wear seat belts argue that, in a free society,
people have the right to take risks as long as the people do
not harm others as a result of taking the risks. As a result,
they conclude that it would be each person’s decision whether
or not to wear a seat belt.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion drawn above?
(A) Many new cars are built with seat belts that
automatically fasten when someone sits in the front seat.
(B) Automobile insurance rates for all automobile owners
are higher because of the need to pay for the increased injuries
or deaths of people not wearing seat belts.
(C) Passengers in airplanes are required to wear seat belts
during takeoffs and landings.
(D) The rate of automobile fatalities in states that do not
have mandatory seat belt laws is greater than the rate of
fatalities in states that do have such laws.
(E) In automobile accidents, a greater number of
passengers who do not wear seat belts are injured than are
passengers who do wear seat belts.
6. A proposed ordinance requires the installation in new
homes of sprinklers automatically triggered by the presence
of a fire. However, a home builder argued that because more
than ninety percent of residential fires are extinguished by a
household member, residential sprinklers would only
marginally decrease property damage caused by residential
fires.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the home builder’s argument?
(A) Most individuals have no formal training in how to
extinguish fires.
(B) Since new homes are only a tiny percentage of available
housing in the city, the new ordinance would be extremely
narrow in scope.
(C) The installation of smoke detectors in new residences
costs significantly less than the installation of sprinklers.
(D) In the city where the ordinance was proposed, the
average time required by the fire department to respond to a
fire was less than the national average.
(E) The largest proportion of property damage that results
from residential fires is caused by fires that start when no
household member is present
7. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and unusual weather
have caused many more natural disasters adversely affecting
people in the past decade than in previous decades. We can
conclude that the planet Earth as a natural environment has
become more inhospitable and dangerous, and we should
employ the weather and earth sciences to look for causes for
this trend.
The conclusion drawn above is most seriously weakened if
which of the following is true?
(A) The weather and earth sciences have provided better
early warning systems for natural disasters in the past decade
than in previous decades.
61
(B) International relief efforts for victims of natural
disasters have been better organized in the past decade than
in previous decades.
(C) There are records for major earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, droughts, landslides, and floods occurring in the
distant past, as well as in the recent past.
(D) Population pressures and poverty have forced
increasing numbers of people to live in areas prone to natural
disasters.
(E) There have been no changes in the past decade in
people’s land-use practices that could have affected the
climate.
8. Red blood cells in which the malarial-fever parasite
resides are eliminated from a person’s body after 120 days.
Because the parasite cannot travel to a new generation of
red blood cells, any fever that develops in a person more than
120 days after that person has moved to a malaria-free region
is not due to the malarial parasite.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion above?
(A) The fever caused by the malarial parasite may resemble
the fever caused by flu viruses.
(B) The anopheles mosquito, which is the principal insect
carrier of the malarial parasite, has been eradicated in many
parts of the world.
(C) Many malarial symptoms other than the fever, which
can be suppressed with anti-malarial medication, can
reappear within 120 days after the medication is discontinued.
(D) In some cases, the parasite that causes malarial fever
travels to cells of the spleen, which are less frequently
eliminated from a person’s body than are red blood cells.
(E) In any region infested with malaria-carrying
mosquitoes, there are individuals who appear to be immune
to malaria.
9. Traditionally, the Supreme Court has published only
one majority and one minority opinion with each ruling. Some
judicial experts are disturbed by the Court’s recent tendency
to publish multiple opinions with its rulings on controversial
cases. This new “splintering” of opinions, they argue, creates
serious problems for lower courts and other branches of
government that need guidance.
Statements that if true would weaken the claim of the
judicial experts include which of the following?
I. The Court’s ruling on a case constitutes a sufficient guide,
regardless of the opinions that accompany it
II. The Court is no more divided than the nation as a whole
on controversial issues
III. When the justices offer multiple opinions, the
differences among them are usually complex and highly
technical
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) I and III only
10. Noting that the number of crimes committed in a
certain city had decreased in 1982 by 5.2 percent in
comparison with 1981, the police chief of the city said, “We
see here the result of the innovative police program put into
effect in the city at the beginning of 1982.”
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion drawn by the police chief?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) Several cities that have recently increased spending
for police programs experienced no decrease in crime in 1982,
as compared with 1981.
(B) The number of crimes committed in the city is
estimated, by the same method each year, from the number
of crimes reported.
(C) The number of crimes committed in the suburban areas
surrounding the city rose by about 5 percent in 1982 over the
SET 4
1. The popular notion that teachers are generally apathetic
about microcomputer technology is false, or at least dated: a
recently published survey indicates that 86 percent of 5,000
teachers who responded to survey questionnaires expressed
a high level of interest in microcomputers.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to
the argument above?
(A) No attempt was made in the survey to determine
whether the teachers who received questionnaires had any
previous experience with microcomputers.
(B) Teachers who are interested in microcomputer
technology were more likely than others to complete and
return their questionnaires.
(C) Questionnaires were sent to teachers without regard
to their areas of subject-matter expertise or teaching
experience.
(D) There have been several important developments in
the classroom applications of microcomputer technology since
the survey results were tabulated.
(E) The survey was conducted as part of a marketing study
by a company that manufactures and sells microcomputers.
2. Private ownership of services traditionally considered
to be the responsibility of the government will typically
improve those services. The turnpike system in the United
States of the nineteenth century demonstrates the truth of
this principle. The system, which had previously been
controlled by the government, became a more reliable system
when taken over by private organizations.
Which of the following describes a significant flaw in the
author’s argument above?
(A) The author defends the conclusion by appealing to a
person of authority.
(B) The author distorts an opposing view in trying to show
its weaknesses.
(C) The author defends what the author perceives as a
wrong action by pointing out another perceived wrong action.
(D) The author generalizes from a sample not
representative enough to establish the conclusion.
(E) The author attributes two very different meanings to
the same word.
3. Recently a court ruled that current law allows companies
to reject a job applicant if working in the job would entail a
90 percent chance that the applicant would suffer a heart
attack. The presiding judge justified the ruling, saying that
it protected both employees and employers.
The use of the court ruling as part of the law could not be
effective in regulating employment practices if which of the
following were true?
(A) The best interests of employers often conflict with the
interests of employees.
(B) No legally accepted methods exist for calculating the
risk of a job applicant’s having a heart attack as a result of
62
figure for 1981 and were nearly equal in number to those in
the city in 1982.
(D) The number of crimes committed in the city in 1982
was 10 percent higher than the number committed in 1972.
(E) The size of the age-group most likely to commit crimes
decreased considerably in the city in 1982, as against 1981,
because of a declining birth rate.
being employed in a particular occupation.
(C) Some jobs might involve health risks other than the
risk of heart attack.
(D) Employees who have a 90 percent chance of suffering
a heart attack may be unaware that their risk is so great.
(E) The number of people applying for jobs at a company
might decline if the company, by screening applicants for risk
of heart attack, seemed to suggest that the job entailed high
risk of heart attack.
4. Most consumers do not get much use out of the sports
equipment they purchase. For example, seventeen percent
of the adults in the United States own jogging shoes, but only
forty-five percent of the owners jog more than once a year,
and only seventeen percent jog more than once a week.
Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the claim
that most consumers get little use out of the sports equipment
they purchase?
(A) Joggers are most susceptible to sports injuries during
the first six months in which they jog.
(B) Joggers often exaggerate the frequency with which they
jog in surveys designed to elicit such information.
(C) Many consumers purchase jogging shoes for use in
activities other than jogging.
(D) Consumers who take up jogging often purchase an
athletic shoe that can be used in other sports.
(E) Joggers who jog more than once a week are often active
participants in other sports as well.
5. Lists of hospitals have been compiled showing which
hospitals have patient death rates exceeding the national
average. The data have been adjusted to allow for differences
in the ages of patients.
Each of the following, if true, provides a good logical ground
for hospitals to object to interpreting rank on these lists as
one of the indices of the quality of hospital care EXCEPT:
(A) Rank order might indicate insignificant differences,
rather than large differences, in numbers of patient deaths
(B) Hospitals that keep patients longer are likely to have
higher death rates than those that discharge patients earlier
but do not record deaths of patients at home after discharge
(C) Patients who are very old on admission to a hospital
are less likely than younger patients to survive the same types
of illnesses or surgical procedures
(D) Some hospitals serve a larger proportion of low-income
patients, who tend to be more seriously ill when admitted to
a hospital
(E) For-profit hospitals sometimes do not provide intensive-
care units and other expensive services for very sick patients
but refer or transfer such patients to other hospitals
6. Unlike the wholesale price of raw wool, the wholesale
price of raw cotton has fallen considerably in the last year.
Thus, although the retail price of cotton clothing at retail
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
clothing stores has not yet fallen, it will inevitably fall.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) The cost of processing raw cotton for cloth has increased
during the last year
(B) The wholesale price of raw wool is typically higher than
that of the same volume of raw cotton
(C) The operating costs of the average retail clothing store
have remained constant during the last year
(D) Changes in retail prices always lag behind changes in
wholesale prices
(E) The cost of harvesting raw cotton has increased in the
last year
7. Researchers have recently argued that ancient Greek
coins, seals, and gems with elaborate miniature engravings
were produced by artisans whose nearsightedness enabled
them to do such intricate work. They also suggest that since
nearsightedness is hereditary, guilds and families specializing
in this work may have favored the recurrence of
nearsightedness.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken the
researchers’ argument?
(A) Roman artisans were influenced by their Greek
predecessors and often translated designs of Greek miniature
engravings into Roman designs
(B) Nearsighted individuals are less able than those with
ordinary vision to identify objects that are at a great distance
from them
(C) Magnifying glass was not used as a visual aid until
the thirteenth century, when Roger Bacon invented eyeglasses
(D) Artisans today are unable to reproduce the miniature
engravings of ancient Greek artisans without the aid of high-
powered magnifying lenses, first produced in the thirteenth
century
(E) The eyesight of nearsighted individuals and those with
ordinary vision is not significantly different if the objects
viewed are less than a few feet away
8. Athletic director: “Members of our sports teams included,
for the fall season, 80 football players and 40 cross-country
runners; for the winter season, 20 wrestlers and 40 swimmers;
for the spring season, 50 track-team members and 20 lacrosse
players. Each team athlete participates in his or her sport
five days a week for the whole three-month season, and no
athlete is on two teams during any one season. Therefore,
adding these figures, we find that our team sports program
serves 250 different individual athletes.”
In drawing the conclusion above, the athletic director fails
to consider the relevant possibility that
(A) athletes can be on more than one team in a single
SET 5
1. Six months or so after getting a video recorder, many
early buyers apparently lost interest in obtaining videos to
watch on it. The trade of businesses selling and renting videos
is still buoyant, because the number of homes with video
recorders is still growing. But, clearly, once the market for
video recorders is saturated, businesses distributing videos
face hard times.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the conclusion above?
(A) The market for video recorders would not be considered
63
season
(B) athletes can be on teams in more than one season
(C) some of the team sports require a larger number of
athletes on the team than no others
(D) more athletes participate in team sports during one
season than during another
(E) an athlete might not participate in every one of the
practice sessions and athletic contests in his or her sport
9. It is important to teach students to use computers
effectively. Therefore, students should be taught computer
programming in school.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument
above?
(A) Only people who use computers effectively are skilled
at computer programming.
(B) Only people skilled at computer programming use
computers effectively.
(C) Some people who use computers effectively cannot write
computer programs.
(D) Some schools teach computer programming more
effectively than others.
(E) Most people who are able to program the computers
use computers effectively.
10. A year after the start of an experiment to decrease crime
in two high-crime subway stations by the installation of
closed-circuit televisions, the experiment is being
discontinued. City officials say the program has led to an
increase in crime, citing the fact that following the
installation, both stations showed increases in the number
of crimes reported.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
claim of the city officials that ‘the program has led to an
increase in crime”?
(A) The two subway stations had been chosen on the basis
of high frequency of crime and were not typical subway
stations.
(B) The rate of increase in crimes reported for the two
subway stations was higher than that of other high-crime
subway stations not equipped with closed-circuit television.
(C) The percentage of all crimes committed at the two
subway stations that were reported rose as a result of
increased instances of observations of crime on the closed-
circuit televisions.
(D) The year in which the experiment was conducted was
a year in which the total number of crime reported in the city
fell.
(E) Closed-circuit televisions installed in shops and stores
throughout the city have proved to be useful in the prevention
of shoplifting and burglaries.
saturated until there was one in 80 percent of homes
(B) Among the items handled by video distributors are
many films specifically produced as video features
(C) Few of early buyers of video recorders raised any
complaints about performance aspects of the new product
(D) The early buyers of a novel product are always people
who are quick to acquire novelties, but also often as quick to
tire of them
(E) In a shrinking market, competition always intensifies
and marginal businesses fail
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
2. Identical twins tend to have similar personalities; if
environment outweighs heredity in personality development,
twins raised together should presumably have more similar
personalities than those raised apart. A recent study of
identical twins in both situations measured 11 key traits
through a questionnaire, and concluded that 7 of the 11 are
primarily products of heredity.
Which of the following, if established, would cast the most
doubt on the study’s results?
(A) Fewer than half of the pairs of twins studied were raised
separately.
(B) The ages of all of the twins studied fell within a 10-
year range.
(C) Some of the traits that the study attributed to heredity
developed in the separately raised twins because those pairs
all grew up in similar families.
(D) Although over half the traits measured were
determined to be linked to heredity, the nature of those traits
varied widely.
(E) The 11 traits that were measured constitute a
representative sample of a larger, generally accepted pool of
key personality traits.
3. The number of people diagnosed as having a certain
intestinal disease has dropped significantly in a rural county
this year, as compared to last year. Health officials attribute
this decrease entirely to improved sanitary conditions at
water-treatment plants, which made for cleaner water this
year and thus reduced the incidence of the disease.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the health officials’ explanation for the lower incidence of the
disease?
(A) Many new water-treatment plants have been built in
the last five years in the rural county.
(B) Bottled spring water has not been consumed in
significantly different quantities by people diagnosed as
having the intestinal disease, as compared to people who did
not contract the disease.
(C) Because of a new diagnostic technique, many people
who until this year would have been diagnosed as having the
intestinal disease are now correctly diagnosed as suffering
from intestinal ulcers.
(D) Because of medical advances this year, far fewer people
who contract the intestinal disease will develop severe cases
of the disease.
(E) The water in the rural county was brought up to the
sanitary standards of the water in neighboring counties ten
years ago.
4. The imposition of quotas limiting imported steel will
not help the big American steel mills. In fact, the quotas will
help “mini-mills” flourish in the United States. Those small
domestic mills will take more business from the big American
steel mills than would have been taken by the foreign steel
mills in the absence of quotas.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious
doubt on the claim made in the last sentence above?
(A) Quality rather than price is a major factor in
determining the type of steel to be used for a particular
application.
(B) Foreign steel mills have long produced grades of steel
comparable in quality to the steel produced by the big
American mills.
(C) American quotas on imported goods have often induced
other countries to impose similar quotas on American goods.
64
(D) Domestic “mini-mills” consistently produce better
grades of steel than do the big American mills.
(E) Domestic “mini-mills” produce low-volume, specialized
types of steels that are not produced by the big American
steel mills.
5. Tropical forests produce a large percentage of the Earth’s
supply of oxygen. Continued destruction of these forests is
likely to reduce the Earth’s oxygen supply to levels that will
threaten the existence of all oxygen-dependent life on Earth.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
prediction above?
(A) All of the oxygen produced by the Earth’s tropical forests
is consumed by bacteria and animals living in those forests
(B) Some of the oxygen produced by the Earth’s tropical
forests escapes through the upper atmosphere without being
consumed
(C) The oxygen produced by tropical forests is consumed
by animals all over the Earth
(D) The Earth’s tropical forests are being destroyed at a
rate of hundreds of acres every day
(E) Tropical forests contain the most diverse selection of
oxygen-dependent animals on the earth
6. The link between cigarette advertising and increased
cigarette consumption is tenuous at best. In Italy, for instance,
where cigarette advertising is prohibited, cigarette
consumption among teen-agers has continued to rise.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the argument above?
(A) Most Italian teen-agers are aware of the debilitating
effect that cigarette smoking has on a person’s health
(B) Most Italian teen-agers watch television channels that
broadcast from countries where cigarette advertising is legal
(C) Most Italian teen-agers who smoke cigarettes have at
least one parent who also smokes cigarettes
(D) Italian teen-agers who smoke cigarettes regularly tend
to miss more days of school than those who do not smoke
(E) Italian teen-agers tend to respond more strongly to
advertising than do teen-agers in other European countries
7. Corporate management’s increasing neglect of long-term
growth is a result of pressures brought by investors holding
large blocks of stock in a corporation who want to see
concentration on long-term growth sacrificed in order to
increase stock value over the short term.
Which of the following, if true and known to all investors,
would most seriously weaken the explanation above?
(A) Investors who hold large blocks of stock tend to sell
whenever the stock’s value drops
(B) Investors who hold large blocks of stock in a corporation
often have direct access to that corporation’s top management
(C) A corporation’s stock decreases in value when the
corporation’s short-term prospects are poor
(D) A corporation’s stock increases in value when investors
buy large amounts of it
(E) A corporation’s stock increases in value over the short
term only when the corporation’s long-term growth prospects
are good
8. Injections of bovine growth hormone, which is normally
produced in small amounts by a cow’s pituitary gland, have
been shown to increase milk production in cows from ten to
forty percent with only a modest increase of feed. The United
States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to consider
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
licensing commercial producers of the hormone.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the strongest
criticism of the FDA’s plan?
(A) Increased milk production increases the susceptibility
of cows to a variety of diseases
(B) The FDA intends to employ stringent requirements
when issuing permits for producing bovine growth hormone
(C) The chemical companies that will be producing the
hormone will obtain large short-term profits
(D) Bovine growth hormone will not hurt the chances for
survival of the family dairy farm, which typically has about
fifty cows
(E) Many small dairy farms are going out of business
because they cannot charge prices high enough to cover their
costs
9. A greater number of newspapers are sold in Town S than
in Town T. Therefore, the citizens of Town S are better
informed about major world events than are the citizens of
Town T.
Each of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above
EXCEPT:
(A) Town S has a larger population than Town T.
(B) Most citizens of Town T work in Town S and buy their
newspapers there.
(C) The average citizen of Town S spends less time reading
newspapers than does the average citizen of Town T.
(D) A weekly newspaper restricted to the coverage of local
events is published in Town S.
SET 6
1. In Diersville the new Environmental Action party won
two seats on the seven-member town council in 1988. It lost
both of those seats in the 1992 election, even though the
party’s pro-environment platform had essentially remained
unchanged. This decline in the party’s fortunes clearly
demonstrates that, in Diersville, environmental concerns
faded in significance between 1988 and 1992.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument?
(A) Between 1998 and 1992, the number of eligible voters
in Diersville rose, but not the percentage who actually voted.
(B) Between 1988 and 1992, Diersville’s leading political
party revised its platform, adopting the policies of the
Environmental Action party.
(C) The parties that ran candidates in the 1992 election in
Diersville were the same as those that had done so in the
1988 election.
(D) In 1992 the Environmental Action party won fewer
votes in Diersville than it had won in 1988.
(E) Between 1988 and 1992, some measures intended to
benefit the environment had been adopted by the town
council, but with inconclusive results.
2. A program instituted in a particular state allows parents
to prepay their children’s future college tuition at current
rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the
child at any of the state’s public colleges in which the child
enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means
of decreasing the cost of their children’s college education.
Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate
reason for parents not to participate in the program?
(A) The parents are unsure about which public college in
65
(E) The average newsstand price of newspapers sold in
Town S is lower than the average price of newspapers sold in
Town T.
10. In the United States, the financing of industrial
research by private industrial firms remained steady as a
percentage of sales during the period between 1968 and 1978
(after correcting for inflation). But slowdowns in the growth
of industrial productivity also occurred during that period, a
fact that refutes the notion that the growth of industrial
productivity is directly proportional to the amount invested
in industrial research.
Which of the following, if true for the United States, most
weakens the argument above?
(A) Federal funds, which constituted a significant portion
of the support for industrial research from 1968 to 1978, fell
annually and substantially during that period
(B) The inflation that occurred between 1968 and 1978
was more severe than leading economists had expected
(C) Industrial executives generally favor investing an
appreciably larger portion of corporate funds in short-term
product development than in basic research
(D) The scientists and engineers who worked in industry
from 1968 to 1978 were, as a group, more experienced in their
jobs than were those who worked in industry during the
previous ten-year period
(E) Corporate financing of industrial research increased
in several of the years immediately following 1978 (after
correcting for inflation)
the state the child will attend.
(B) The amount of money accumulated by putting the
prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will
be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public
colleges when the child enrolls.
(C) The annual cost of tuition at the state’s public colleges
is expected to increase at a faster rate than the annual
increase in the cost of living.
(D) Some of the state’s public colleges are contemplating
large increases in tuition next year.
(E) The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room
and board at any of the state’s public colleges.
3. To produce a pound of protein, herbivorous sea creatures
such as abalones require relatively little plant food, whereas
carnivores such as tuna feed on herbivores and thus require
the conversion of thousands of pounds of plant food. Hence it
would be better for ecological balance if people ate abalone
instead of tuna.
Which of the following, if true, is the best criticism of the
argument above?
(A) Abalone costs much more per pound than tuna does
(B) Tuna is much easier to harvest, than abalone is
(C) Abalones mature so slowly that meeting market
demands would exhaust the stock
(D) Human beings would require the same amount of
protein from either abalone or tuna
(E) The average specimen of abalone is much smaller than
the average specimen of tuna
4. Last year, health insurance paid $111 billion of the $162
billion spent on health care. It is thus indispensable for a
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
health-care provider to be eligible for reimbursement by a
patient’s insurer. As a result, it is the insurers who decide
who is a healer in modern society.
Which of the following, if true, weakens the argument above?
(A) The kinds of health services not covered by health
insurance are relatively inexpensive
(B) Health insurance companies must reimburse any
provider licensed by state agencies that regulate health care
(C) Patients sometimes choose to receive a particular
treatment from a familiar practitioner even if that treatment
is not eligible for reimbursement
(D) Many of the health-care services demanded by insured
patients are unnecessary
(E) A significant portion of uninsured patients forgo needed
treatment because they are unable to afford the high cost
5. In a recent study, sedentary middle-aged men who drink
more than two cups of coffee a day were found more likely
than other sedentary middle-aged men to have a high blood
level of cholesterol, which is a factor increasing the risk of
heart disease. Cholesterol can reach the blood from food and
drink but is not contained in coffee.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens a
conclusion from the study that for sedentary middle-aged men
coffee increases the risk of heart attack?
(A) A sedentary style of life increases levels of cholesterol
in the blood.
(B) Coffee contains caffeine, which acts as a stimulant that
increases heart rate.
(C) The men studied drank their coffee without milk or
cream, which contain cholesterol.
(D) In both groups, the men were likely to be over-weight,
and excess weight is a factor that increases the risk of heart
disease.
(E) The men who drank more than two cups of coffee a day
also ate more foods high in cholesterol.
6. Biological functions of many plants and animals vary in
cycles that are repeated every 24 hours. It is tempting to
suppose that alteration in the intensity of incident light is
the stimulus that controls these daily biological rhythms. But
there is much evidence to contradict this hypothesis.
Which of the following, if known, is evidence that
contradicts the hypothesis stated in lines 2-5 above?
(A) Human body temperature varies throughout the day,
with the maximum occurring in the late afternoon and the
minimum in the morning.
(B) While some animals, such as the robin, are more active
during the day, others, such as mice, show greater activity at
night.
(C) When people move from one time zone to another, their
daily biological rhythms adjust in a matter of days to the
periods of sunlight and darkness in the new zone.
(D) Certain single-cell plants display daily biological
rhythms even when the part of the cell containing the nucleus
is removed.
(E) Even when exposed to constant light intensity around
the clock, some algae display rates of photosynthesis that
are much greater during daylight hours than at night.
7. Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, major airline
companies in the United States have cut their employee ranks
by more than 3,000 persons. Thus, although deregulated
competition has afforded consumers dramatically lower fares,
the economy of the United States has been harmed by the
66
deregulation of the airlines.
The argument above would be most seriously weakened if
it were true that
(A) a poll of people in the Unites States expressed
exceptionally strong support for airline deregulation
(B) fewer passengers now travel on commercial airlines
than traveled on them in 1978, with the consequence that
fewer employees are needed to operate the airlines than were
needed in 1978
(C) airlines now fly a more restricted regular schedule of
routes than they did in 1978, with the consequence that the
industry is more highly concentrated and competitive than
it was before 1978
(D) several major airlines now enjoy significantly higher
profits and levels of employment than they did in the years
preceding the Deregulation Act
(E) smaller carriers of passengers have thrived as a result
of deregulation and now provide more new jobs than the major
airlines have eliminated since 1978
8. In mammals it is the secondary palate that permits
breathing while eating. Clearly, breathing while eating is
necessary to maintain the high rate of metabolism of
mammals.
The author’s assertions would be most weakened by the
discovery of a mammalian species that had a
(A) high rate of metabolism and the ability to breathe while
eating
(B) low rate of metabolism and the ability to breathe while
eating
(C) low rate of metabolism and no ability to breathe while
eating
(D) high rate of metabolism and no secondary palate
(E) low rate of metabolism and a secondary palate
9. The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) in a
large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO’s in
those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight
years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded
that CEO’s in general tend to be older now.
Which of the following casts the most doubt on the
conclusion drawn above?
(A) The dates when the CEO’s assumed their current
positions have not been specified.
(B) No information is given concerning the average number
of years that CEO’s remain in office.
(C) The information is based only on companies that have
been operating for at least 20 years.
(D) Only approximate information is given concerning the
average age of the CEO’s 20 years ago.
(E) Information concerning the exact number of companies
in the sample has not been given.
10. A government agency that reimburses its clients for
bills they have paid for medical care has had this year’s budget
cut. To save money without cutting reimbursements or
otherwise harming clients financially, it plans to delay
reimbursements to clients for forty days, thereby earning $180
million per year in interest on the reimbursement money.
Which of the following, if true, is the best criticism of the
agency’s plan?
(A) Hospitals and physicians typically hold patients
responsible for the ultimate payment of their bills.
(B) The agency cannot save money by cutting staff because
it is already understaffed.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(C) Some clients borrow money to pay their medical bills;
they will pay forty extra days of interest on these loans.
(D) Some clients pay their medical bills immediately, but
they often take more than forty days to file with the agency
SET 7
1. W: The rapid rise in the rate of unemployment is a
serious economic problem; it will undoubtedly cost the
majority party votes in the coming election
Z: I disagree. Statistics for the past 40 years show that
there is no significant relationship between the prevailing
level of unemployment and political gains or losses by the
party that happens to be in the majority at election time.
Which of the following most seriously weakens the force of
Z’s counter argument?
(A) Z fails to cite any actual figures
(B) Z’s decision to consider a time span of 40 years seems
arbitrary
(C) Z relies on conventional criteria for the notion of a
significant relationship
(D) Z’s statistics focus on level of unemployment, rather
than direction of change
(E) Z assumes that there is no connection between economic
and political trends
2. Corporate Officer: Last year was an unusually poor one
for our chemical division, which has traditionally contributed
about 60 percent of the corporation’s profits. It is therefore
encouraging that there is the following evidence that the
pharmaceutical division is growing stronger: it contributed
45 percent of the corporation’s profits, up from 20 percent
the previous year.
On the basis of the facts stated, which of the following is
the best critique of the evidence presented above?
(A) The increase in the pharmaceutical division’s
contribution to corporation profits could have resulted largely
from the introduction of a single, important new product.
(B) In multi-divisional corporations that have
pharmaceutical divisions, over half of the corporation’s profits
usually comes from pharmaceuticals.
(C) The percentage of the corporation’s profits attributable
to the pharmaceutical division could have increased even if
that division’s performance had not improved.
(D) The information cited does not make it possible to
determine whether the 20 percent share of profits cited was
itself an improvement over the year before.
(E) The information cited does not make it possible to
compare the performance of the chemical and pharmaceutical
divisions in terms of the percent of total profits attributable
to each.
3. Certain messenger molecules fight damage to the lungs
from noxious air by telling the muscle cells encircling the
lungs’ airways to contract. This partially seals off the lungs.
An asthma attack occurs when the messenger molecules are
activated unnecessarily, in response to harmless things like
pollen or household dust.
Which of the following, if true, points to the most serious
flaw of a plan to develop a medication that would prevent
asthma attacks by blocking receipt of any messages sent by
the messenger molecules referred to above?
(A) Researchers do not yet know how the body produces
the messenger molecules that trigger asthma attacks.
67
for reimbursement.
(E) The agency’s budget was cut by more than $180 million
last year.
(B) Researchers do not yet know what makes one person’s
messenger molecules more easily activated than another’s.
(C) Such a medication would not become available for
several years, because of long lead times in both development
and manufacture.
(D) Such a medication would be unable to distinguish
between messages triggered by pollen and house-hold dust
and messages triggered by noxious air.
(E) Such a medication would only be a preventive and
would be unable to alleviate an asthma attack once it had
started.
4. Ms. Friedman noticed that average productivity fell for
day-shift workers at about 3:00 p.m. Since that is the time
many children leave school, she hypothesized that the cause
of the problem was employees’ minds turning to their children
instead of being focused on the job.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the
truth of Ms. Friedman’s hypothesis?
(A) About one-third of all children in the United States
between the ages of 6 and 13 are home alone for some period
after school
(B) After-school and day-care facilities are inadequate to
serve all of the children in need of such facilities
(C) Employers have found that the provision of after-school
and day-care facilities is an excellent incentive in recruiting
and retaining workers
(D) Some differences in average daily productivity have
been found between employees with one child and employees
with several children
(E) No average differences in productivity after 3:00 p.m.
have been found between employees with children and
employees without children.
5. People rarely recognize the fact that being underweight
is as dangerous to health as being overweight. But the death
rate for individuals who are ten percent underweight, like
that for those thirty percent overweight, is almost twice what
it is for individuals of normal weight.
The dangers of being underweight supported by the
statistics above appear less serious if which of the following is
true?
(A) Many of the underweight persons studied had lost
weight as a result of illness or disease
(B) Conceptions of underweight and overweight varied
widely among those studied
(C) The sample of persons studied represented a variety
of age groups
(D) The demands of jobs and life-styles were comparable
for persons in both groups studied
(E) The definition of normal weight in the study was
narrower than definitions generally accepted
6. Researchers conducting a long-term study of drug
abusers, who initially demonstrated no serious psychiatric
illnesses, observed that after six years a significant number
of amphetamine abusers had become schizophrenic, whereas
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
many of those using depressants suffered from severe
depression. The researchers concluded that particular drugs,
if abused, cause specific psychiatric illnesses.
Which of the following, if true, weakens the researchers’
conclusion?
(A) Preexisting undetected personality disorders lead drug
abusers to choose particular drugs
(B) Regular use of drugs that are typically abused hastens
the development of psychiatric disorders
(C) Constant tampering with the brain’s chemistry causes
permanent as well as temporary changes
(D) The use of drugs other than amphetamines and
depressants may mask a number of underlying psychiatric
problems
(E) Persons used to taking a particular kind of drug
involuntarily change their behavior to mimic the effect of the
drug
7. Only a member of the Regionalist Party would oppose
the bill for a new recycling law that would protect the
environment from industrial interests. Ellen cannot be a
member of the Regionalist Party because she supports the
bill.
Which of the following statements points out why the
conclusion above is invalidly drawn?
(A) Regionalist party members have organized to oppose
industrial interests on several other issues.
(B) Industrial interests need not oppose the protection of
the environment.
(C) Past attempts to protect the environment through
recycling laws have failed.
(D) It is possible that some Regionalist Party members
may not oppose the bill for a new recycling law.
(E) Ellen has attended programs and distributed literature
prepared by the Regionalist Party.
8. Roberta was born in 1967 and so, in 1976, she was nine
years old. It is clear from this example that the last two digits
of a person’s birth year will be the same as the last two digits
of the year of that person’s ninth birthday, except that the
position of the digits will be reversed.
Which of the following is the best criticism of the assertions
made above?
(A) The generalization is valid only for those birth years
that do not end in two zeroes.
(B) The example does not exhibit the same principle as is
expressed in the generalization based on it.
(C) The generalization is valid only for those birth years
SET 8
1. As a practical matter, the copper available for industrial
use should not be thought of as limited by the quantity of
copper deposits, known or unknown. The transmutation of
one chemical element into another is a modern reality,
through the methods of nuclear physics. Therefore, the
quantity of a natural resource such as copper cannot be
calculated even in principle, because copper can be made from
other metals.
Which of the following, if true, is the strongest argument
against the conclusion above?
(A) Although it is possible that additional deposits of copper
will be found, geological considerations strongly indicate that
they will not amount to more than a fifty-year supply.
68
in which the last digit is one greater than the second-to-last
digit.
(D) The example cannot be shown to be correct unless the
truth of the generalization is already presupposed.
(E) The generalization is valid only for those birth years
in which the last digit is greater than five.
9. The excessive number of safety regulations that the
federal government has placed on industry poses more serious
hardships for big businesses than for small ones. Since large
companies do everything on a more massive scale, they must
alter more complex operations and spend much more money
to meet governmental requirements.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
argument above?
(A) Small companies are less likely than large companies
to have the capital reserves for improvements.
(B) The operations of small companies frequently rely on
the same technologies as the operations of large companies.
(C) Safety regulation codes are uniform, established
without reference to size of company.
(D) Large companies typically have more of their profits
invested in other businesses than do small companies.
(E) Large companies are in general more likely than small
companies to diversify their markets and products.
10. New regulations in Mullentown require manufacturers
there to develop five-year pollution-reduction plans. The
regulations require that each manufacturer develop a detailed
plan for reducing its released pollutants by at least 50 percent.
Clearly, the regulations will not result in significant pollution
reduction, however, since the regulations do not force
manufacturers to implement their plans.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the above
argument?
(A) Mullentown’s manufacturing plants are not the only
source of pollution there
(B) Detailed plans would reveal that measures to reduce
released pollutants would also reduce manufacturers’ costs
for materials, waste disposal, and legal services
(C) Pollutants that manufacturing processes create but
that are not released directly into the environment must
nonetheless be collected and prepared for disposal
(D) Any reductions in pollutants released from
Mullentown’s manufacturing plants would not be noticeable
for at least five years
(E) Each manufacturer will be required to submit its plan
to a committee appointed by Mullentown’s officials
(B) The production of copper from other metals in industrial
quantities would be prohibitively expensive in energy and
materials.
(C) Synthetic materials have been discovered that can
serve as practical substitutes for copper in most of its uses.
(D) It will be impractical, in the foreseeable future, to mine
any deposits of metal that may exist on the Moon or on other
planets.
(E) Methods for estimating the amount of copper available
in currently known deposits have become very sophisticated
and have proved quite accurate.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
2. The ratio of divorces to marriages has increased since
1940. Therefore, there must be a greater proportion of
children living with only one natural parent than there was
in 1940.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly weakens the
inference drawn above?
(A) The number of marriages entered into by women
twenty-five to thirty-five years old has decreased since 1940.
(B) When there is a divorce, children are often given the
option of deciding which parent they will live with.
(C) Since 1940 the average number of children in a family
has remained approximately steady and has not been subject
to wide fluctuations.
(D) Before 1940 relatively few children whose parents had
both died were adopted into single-parent families.
(E) The proportion of children who must be raised by one
parent because the other has died has decreased since 1940
as a result of medical advances.
3. Our words are meaningless and cannot be distinguished
from their opposites, as can be proved by an example. People
think that they know the difference between the meanings of
“bald” and “having hair”. Suppose an average person twenty-
one years of age has N hairs on his or her head. We say that
person is not bald but has hair. But surely one hair less would
make no difference, and a person with N–1 hairs on his or
her head would be said to have hair. Suppose we kept on,
with one hair less each time. The result would be the same.
But what would be the difference between someone who had
one hair and someone who had none? We call them both
bald. Nowhere can we make a distinction between “bald”
and “having hair”.
Which of the following statements best counters the
argument above?
(A) The word “bald” can be translated into other languages.
(B) A word can have more than one meaning.
(C) A word such as “cat” can be applied to several animals
that differ in some respects.
(D) Words can lack precision without being meaningless.
(E) People cannot think clearly without using words.
4. In respectable periodicals, books are given reviewing
space in inverse proportion to the likely size of their sales.
Airport and supermarket bookstalls stock only books that
are expected to sell in large numbers. Consequently, those
who buy books at such bookstalls have to do so without any
guidance whatever from the book reviewers whose work is
published in respectable periodicals.
Which of the following is a valid criticism of the argument
above?
(A) Bookstalls like those found at airports and in super-
markets are designed to induce people to buy books on
impulse.
(B) The assortment of books available at airport book stalls
is different from the assortment of books available at
supermarket bookstalls.
(C) The fact that a book is expected to sell well does not
guarantee that actual sales will be large.
(D) Many who later come to be respected as book reviewers
start their careers by writing for trashy magazines.
(E) The conclusion that respectable periodicals never
publish reviews of projected bestsellers is unwarranted.
69
5. According to an independent computer-industry analyst,
the new Regent microcomputer is of high quality, is fast, and
costs less than any currently existing competing model. It is
reasonable to conclude, therefore, as the manufacturer’s
prospectus does, that the Regent will quickly establish itself
as a fast-selling, low-priced alternative to currently available
microcomputers.
Which of the following, if true, would LEAST weaken the
argument above?
(A) Many retailers already carry one or more low-priced
microcomputer models and are disinclined to carry another.
(B) Several faster and lower-period models of
microcomputers will soon be introduced by other computer
manufacturers.
(C) The Regent Corporation’s microcomputer can be used
in conjunction with higher-priced microcomputers
manufactured by other companies.
(D) Most of those individuals and companies that could be
expected to make up the potential market for the Regent
microcomputer have already filled their microcomputer needs.
(E) The independent computer-industry analyst whose
assessment was incorporated in the prospectus has used
measures of quality that are not universally accepted by the
computer-buying public.
6. It is true that unionized women earn, on average, more
than a third more than non-unionized women do. But the
unionized women work in industries where wages happen to
be high; their non-unionized counterparts in these industries
earn about as much as they do. Therefore unionization does
not raise women’s wages.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) Besides wage increases, unions bargain for benefits
such as medical insurance and workplace safety.
(B) The most highly paid women are in executive positions,
which are not unionized.
(C) Wages in many industries vary from one part of the
country to another, regardless of whether workers are
unionized or not.
(D) Non-unionized women in an industry often receive
income increases as a result of increases won by unions
representing women who work for other employers in the
same industry.
(E) The unionization of women who work for one employer
in a given industry frequently prompts the unionization of
women who work for other employers in the same industry.
7. The price the government pays for standard weapons
purchased from military contractors is determined by a
pricing method called “historical costing”. Historical costing
allows contractors to protect their profits by adding a
percentage increase, based on the current rate of inflation,
to the previous year’s contractual price.
Which of the following statements, if true, is the best basis
for a criticism of historical costing as an economically sound
pricing method for military contracts?
(A) The government might continue to pay for past
inefficient use of funds.
(B) The rate of inflation has varied considerably over the
past twenty years.
(C) The contractual price will be greatly affected by the
cost of materials used for the products.
(D) Many taxpayers question the amount of money the
government spends on military contracts.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(E) The pricing method based on historical costing might
not encourage the development of innovative weapons.
8. Agrostis tenuis, a wild grass, grows abundantly in
unpolluted pastures near coal mines. It grows sparsely in
areas covered by mine waste where the soil is contaminated
by heavy metals. A geneticist determined that the plants
growing in the contaminated areas are “tolerant” - they are
exceptional individuals that have a tolerance for the heavy
metals. A mining company therefore decided to plant Agrostis
on contaminated areas and turn them into cow pastures,
planning to sell dairy products from the cows.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly suggests that
the mining company’s plan will fail?
(A) When tolerant Agrostis grows in soil contaminated by
heavy metals, it does not grow as fast as when it grows in
unpolluted pastures
(B) Most species of wild grass have no tolerance for heavy
metals and therefore will not grow at all in contaminated
areas
(C) Dairy products from cows that eat Agrostis grown in
contaminated areas contain levels of heavy metals so high
that the products cannot be sold
(D) In normal soil nontolerant Agrostis grows at the same
rate as does tolerant Agrostis, but cows prefer to eat
nontolerant Agrostis
(E) Established colonies of Agrostis are of significant value
in preventing erosion and therefore help prevent the spread
of contaminants into ground water.
9. People who marry have a longer average life span than
do people who never marry. Therefore, marry and live longer.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious
doubt on the advice given above?
SET 9
1. Under a proposed program to conserve the genetic
diversity of soybean seeds, all known varieties of soybean
seeds would be collected and centrally stored. Then the stored
seeds, which eventually become infertile, would be replanted
at the storage center, as needed, to produce new seeds.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most
strongly indicate that the program, even if carried out as
planned, would not achieve its intended result?
(A) A single variety of high-yield soybean seed is
increasingly replacing the wide variety of soybean seeds
traditionally planted by farmers
(B) The cost of collecting all known varieties of soybean
seeds will exceed the cost of storing and replanting the seeds
(C) Although some varieties of soybean seeds can be stored
for a long period of time without becoming infertile, other
varieties can be stored for only a short period of time
(D) An extended program of storing and then replanting
soybean seeds in a single environment can eventually lead to
the loss of genetic traits
(E) Most other programs to conserve the genetic diversity
of seeds have focused on seeds that are less genetically diverse
than are soybean seeds.
2. The Supreme Court is no longer able to keep pace with
the tremendous number of cases it agrees to decide. The Court
schedules and hears 160 hours of oral argument each year,
and 108 hours of next year’s term will be taken up by cases
left over form this year. Certainly the Court cannot be asked
70
(A) The group of people who never marry includes people
who died before they were old enough to get married
(B) The group of people who never marry includes men
and women in roughly equal proportions
(C) The group of people who marry includes people who
have been married more than once.
(D) The group of people who marry includes people who
have since become divorced
(E) The group of people who marry is larger than the groups
of people who never marry.
10. Although the surge in consumer spending over the last
two years has mostly benefited foreign companies because
United States consumers purchased imported products, some
United States service industries have benefited as well.
Payments to medical doctors, for example, have increased
significantly in the past year after a lengthy fall.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
author’s assertion that the medical doctors have benefited from
the recent surge in consumer spending?
(A) Consumers of medical care in the United States tend
to postpone treatment for minor medical problems during
periods of economic recession
(B) Increases in the cost of malpractice insurance have
required doctors to increase their fees accordingly
(C) Preventive measures against catastrophic illnesses
such as heart disease have generally improved the health of
United States consumers
(D) The number of nonprofit, publicly owned hospitals in
the United States has increased over the last year.
(E) The average proportion of each medical bill paid by
individuals rather than by medical insurance has decreased
over the last year.
to increase its already burdensome hours. The most
reasonable long-range solution to this problem is to allow
the Court to decide many cases without hearing oral
argument; in this way the Court might eventually increase
dramatically the number of cases it decides each year.
Which of the following, if true, could best be used to argue
against the feasibility of the solution suggested above?
(A) The time the Court spends hearing oral argument is
only a small part of the total time it spends deciding a case.
(B) The Court cannot legitimately avoid hearing oral
argument in any case left over from last year.
(C) Most authorities agree that 160 hours of oral argument
is the maximum number that the Court can handle per year.
(D) Even now the Court decides a small number of cases
without hearing oral argument.
(E) In many cases, the delay of a hearing for a full year
can be extremely expensive to the parties involved.
3. Fossilized animal bones marked with scratches other
than tooth marks were discovered in the sand near some stone
tools. When bones were scratched using similar tools, the
resulting scratches resembled the scratches found on the
fossils. Therefore, stone tools had probably been used on the
animal bones that became fossilized.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines
the argument?
(A) The fossilized bones with scratches are not as old as
nearby fossilized bones found to have tooth marks.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(B) Trampling on sand in which a bone is buried produces
scratches on that bone that are similar to those on the fossils.
(C) Stone tools have been found in areas where nearby
fossilized bones were not scratched.
(D) The stone tools were too hard to be scratched by animal
bones.
(E) Modern microscopes can clearly reveal the differences
between tooth marks and other kinds of scratches.
4. Manufacturers of household appliances in the United
States are introducing an array of computerized technologies
in the work of many of their factories in an effort to regain a
lead eroded by international competition. On the basis of
changes that have already taken place, experts predict a
golden age for the consumers of better-designed and better-
built products.
Which of the following, if true, would LEAST support the
experts’ claim that appliances produced by computerized
technologies will be better built?
(A) Computerized inventory procedures ensure that parts
are ordered in sufficient quantities and that production moves
smoothly and consistently.
(B) Computer-directed machines carry out repetitive tasks
with the result that errors due to human fatigue are
eliminated.
(C) Computer-controlled ultrasound devices are better able
to detect hidden flaws and defects that require repair than
are human inspectors.
(D) The flow of heat used to weld parts together is more
consistent when directed by computer programs and results
in a more accurate and uniform weld.
(E) Computer-driven screwdrivers ensure that screws used
in appliances will be consistently tight.
5. According to a newspaper article, a customs inspector
believed that he could always tell if people were trying to
deceive him. He based this belief on the fact that, in ten
years of experience, in cases where he suspected that a tourist
was carrying contraband, he was always right. Careful
inspections of the luggage and persons of the suspects always
turned up the contraband goods.
Which of the following points up a logical flaw in the
inspector’s reasoning?
(A) The tourists who passed through the inspector’s
checkpoint could have known that they might be searched.
(B) Only a small percentage of the tourists passing through
the inspector’s checkpoint could be expected to be
intentionally carrying contraband.
(C) Other customs inspectors at the same checkpoint
caught tourists carrying contraband just as often as this
inspector did.
(D) Some tourists whom the inspector decided not to search
could have knowingly carried contraband.
(E) Some tourists who passed through the checkpoint
without being searched could have been carrying contraband
unwittingly.
6. Being an only child has little to do with a child’s social
development. A recent study that followed thirty only children
and thirty-five first-born children to the age of three found
that the two groups of children behaved very similarly to each
other toward their peers, their parents, and other adults.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the conclusion
drawn above?
71
(A) The groups being compared did not contain the same
number of children.
(B) More time was spent observing the interactions of
children with their mothers than with their fathers.
(C) Most of the researchers involved in the study were
persons who had no brothers or sisters.
(D) The first-born children were, on the average, nearly
three when their parents has second children.
(E) The “other adults” described in the study consisted
mainly of members of the research team.
7. Geographers and historians have traditionally held the
view that Antarctica was first sighted around 1820, but some
sixteenth-century European maps show a body that resembles
the polar landmass, even though explorers of the period never
saw it. Some scholars, therefore, argue that the continent
must have been discovered and mapped by the ancients,
whose maps are known to have served as models for the
European cartographers.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the
inference drawn by the scholars?
(A) The question of who first sighted Antarctica in modern
times is still much debated, and no one has been able to
present conclusive evidence.
(B) Between 3,000 and 9,000 years ago, the world was
warmer than it is now, and the polar landmass was
presumably smaller.
(C) There are only a few sixteenth-century global maps
that show a continental landmass at the South Pole.
(D) Most attributions of surprising accomplishments to
ancient civilizations or even extraterrestrials are eventually
discredited or rejected as preposterous.
(E) Ancient philosophers believed that there had to be a
large landmass at the South Pole to balance the northern
continents and make the world symmetrical.
8. A group of children of various ages was read stories in
which people caused harm, some of those people doing so
intentionally, and some accidentally. When asked about the
appropriate punishments for those who had caused harm,
the younger children, unlike the older ones, assigned
punishments that did not vary according to whether the harm
was done intentionally or accidentally. Younger children, then,
do not regard people’s intentions as relevant to punishment.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the conclusion above?
(A) In interpreting these stories, the listeners had to draw
on a relatively mature sense of human psychology in order to
tell whether harm was produced intentionally or accidentally.
(B) In these stories, the severity of the harm produced was
clearly stated.
(C) Younger children are as likely to produce harm
unintentionally as are older children.
(D) The older children assigned punishment in a way that
closely resembled the way adults had assigned punishment
in a similar experiment.
(E) The younger children assigned punishments that
varied according to the severity of the harm done by the agents
in the stories.
9. The cities with densest population have the highest ratio
of police officers to citizens. Such cities also have the lowest
rates of property crime without contact between perpetrator
and victim. Thus, maintaining a high ratio of police officers
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
to citizens can serve as an effective deterrent to at least certain
kinds of property crime.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) The quality of training that police receive varies from
city to city.
(B) High population density itself makes it difficult to
commit a property crime that involves no contact between
perpetrator and victim.
(C) Many nonviolent crimes in large cities are drug-related.
(D) A majority of the perpetrators of property crimes in
densely populated cities are not apprehended by the police.
(E) Property crimes without contact between perpetrator
and victim represent only a small proportion of overall crime.
10. In an effort to go beyond resumes as tools in its search
for executives, one leading company has resorted to
SET 10
1. It often happens that, as a recession deepens, the stock
market soars. Later, after the economy has become stronger,
the market often appears to become shaky. For these reasons,
many have concluded that the market is a poor indicator of
economic trends.
Which of the following, if true, best counters the argument
presented above?
(A) Stock prices do not reflect the current state of the
economy, but rather the expert judgment of investors about
the future strength of the economy
(B) Brokers and analysts say that stock prices are
sometimes inconsistent when business is beginning to emerge
from a slump
(C) The crash of the stock market in 1929 preceded a
prolonged and severe depression
(D) Economists note that sharp gains in the stock market
have sometimes been recorded in the worst months of a
recession
(E) Some brokers and analysts believe that the stock
market is a useful index of economic trends because it is
updated more frequently than other indicators
2. Banning cigarette advertisements in the mass media
will not reduce the number of young people who smoke. They
know that cigarettes exist and they know how to get them.
They do not need the advertisements to supply that
information.
The above argument would be most weakened if which of
the following were true?
(A) Seeing or hearing an advertisement for a product tends
to increase people’s desire for that product
(B) Banning cigarette advertisements in the mass media
will cause an increase in advertisements in places where
cigarettes are sold
(C) Advertisements in the mass media have been an
exceedingly large part of the expenditure of the tobacco
companies
(D) Those who oppose cigarette use have advertised against
it in the mass media ever since cigarettes were found to be
harmful
(E) Older people tend to be less influenced by mass media
advertisements than younger people tend to be
3. Passengers must exit airplanes swiftly after accidents,
since gases released following accidents are toxic to humans
72
interviewing the top candidates for a position all together in
a single group. This technique is supposed to afford a direct
comparison of the candidates with respect to some personal
qualities that cannot be gleaned from a resume.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt
on the value of the simultaneous interview technique?
(A) Resumes do sometimes allow reliable inferences to be
made about a candidate’s personal qualities.
(B) The simultaneous interview could become cumbersome
if there were a great many candidates for a position.
(C) The more perceptive the interviewer, the more revealing
the simultaneous interview is apt to be.
(D) There are certain personal qualities that only an
extended simultaneous interview can bring out.
(E) The simultaneous interview distorts each candidate’s
response style by inducing stresses unlike any an executive
position induces.
and often explode soon after being released. In order to
prevent passenger deaths from gas inhalation, safety officials
recommend that passengers be provided with smoke hoods
that prevent inhalation of the gases.
Which of the following, if true, constitutes the strongest
reason not to require implementation of the safety officials’
recommendation?
(A) Test evaluations showed that putting on the smoke
hoods added considerably to the overall time it took
passengers to leave the cabin
(B) Some airlines are unwilling to buy the smoke hoods
because they consider them to be prohibitively expensive
(C) Although the smoke hoods protect passengers from the
toxic gases, they can do nothing to prevent the gases from
igniting
(D) Some experienced flyers fail to pay attention to the
safety instructions given on every commercial flight before
takeoff
(E) In many airplane accidents, passengers who were able
to reach emergency exits were overcome by toxic gases before
they could exit the airplane
4. A study of marital relationships in which one partner’s
sleeping and waking cycles differ from those of the other
partner reveals that such couples share fewer activities with
each other and have more violent argument than do couples
in a relationship in which both partners follow the same
sleeping and waking patterns. Thus, mismatched sleeping
and waking cycles can seriously jeopardize a marriage.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) Married couples of whom both spouses follow the same
sleeping and waking patterns also occasionally have
arguments that can jeopardize the couple’s marriage
(B) The sleeping and waking cycles of individuals tend to
vary from season to season
(C) The individuals who have sleeping and waking cycles
that differ significantly from those of their spouses tend to
argue little with colleagues at work
(D) People in unhappy marriages have been found to
express hostility by adopting a different sleeping and waking
cycle from that of their spouses
(E) According to a recent study, most people’s sleeping and
waking cycles can be controlled and modified easily
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
5. The ice on the front windshield of the car had formed
when moisture condensed during the night. The ice melted
quickly after the car was warmed up the next morning
because the defrosting vent, which blows only on the front
windshield, was turned on full force.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously jeopardizes
the validity of the explanation for the speed with which the
ice melted?
(A) The side windows had no ice condensation on them
(B) Even though no attempt was made to defrost the back
window, the ice there melted at the same rate as did the ice
on the front windshield.
(C) The speed at which ice on a window melts increases as
the temperature of the air blown on the window increases.
(D) The warm air from the defrosting vent for the front
windshield cools rapidly as it dissipates throughout the rest
of the car.
(E) The defrosting vent operates efficiently even when the
heater, which blows warm air toward the feet or faces of the
driver and passengers, is on.
6. A conservation group in the United States is trying to
change the long-standing image of bats as frightening
creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and
persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active
only at night.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious
doubt on the accuracy of the group’s contention?
(A) Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such
as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more
developed areas for roosting.
(B) Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and
thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant
for humans.
(C) Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in
the United States but also in Europe, Africa and South
America.
(D) Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night;
yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.
(E) People know more about the behavior of other greatly-
feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and snakes,
than they do about the behavior of bats.
7. Spiritualism, the doctrine that it is possible to
communicate with the spirits of the deceased through
specially talented persons called mediums, is fraudulent. As
long ago as the 1870’s Professor Edwin Lankester showed
that the purported “spirit writing” of the famed medium
Henry Slade was present on a slate before the “spirits” were
supposed to have begun writing on it. This example
demonstrates that the doctrine of spiritualism is worthless.
If the example above is correctly reported, which of the
following is the best argument against the conclusion drawn
above?
(A) There cannot be proof that the spirits of the deceased
do not exist
(B) The conclusion depends on a historical report, and such
reports of past events do not recount all of the circumstances
(C) The cited evidence presupposes what is to be proved
(D) A single instance of fraud cannot show that the doctrine
is false in general
(E) The correctness of the report depends on the veracity
of anti-spiritualists, who may be expected to be biased
73
8. A diet that contains polyunsaturated fats and is low in
saturated fats reduces the risk of heart disease. Fish are an
excellent source of omega-3, a polyunsaturated fat they obtain
by eating the green plant cells of plankton. But cows and
other ruminants obtain omega-3 polyunsaturates when they
eat grass. Therefore, a diet rich in beef and a diet rich in fish
should be equally effective in reducing the risk of heart
disease.
Which of the following, if true, would weaken the conclusion
above?
(A) The diet of beef cattle can be monitored far more
accurately than can the diet of fish.
(B) Consuming polyunsaturates reduces the amount of
cholesterol produced by the liver and reduces the chance of
blockage in coronary blood vessels.
(C) Studies have shown that people who eat fish only once
a week have a lower risk of heart disease than do people who
never eat fish.
(D) Medical researchers are expected soon to make a
synthetic form of omega-3 that can be injected into beef.
(E) Cows and other ruminants convert most of the omega-
3 polyunsaturates they consume into saturated fats.
9. Studies of workplace safety in construction and
manufacturing firms have found that the rate of injuries tends
to rise when the firms’ work loads increase. Since
inexperienced workers are often hired by these firms when
work loads increase, the higher rate of injuries is undoubtedly
due to a higher accident rate for inexperienced workers.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most
weaken the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Many of the inexperienced workers hired when the
firms’ work loads increase are hired only for temporary
positions.
(B) The studies of workplace safety were focused only on
injuries that resulted in lost workdays.
(C) There is a much higher rate of injury in construction
firms than in manufacturing firms.
(D) The accident rate for experienced workers tends to
increase whenever the firms’ work loads increase.
(E) Firms that hire inexperienced workers for potentially
dangerous jobs are required to provide them with training.
10. Although the human population around the forest land
in Middlesex County has increased, the amount of forest land
has not been reduced. Therefore, the decrease in the county’s
songbird population cannot be attributed to the growth in
the county’s human population.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
conclusion above?
(A) As the human population of Middlesex County has
grown, there has been an increase in the number of shopping
malls built.
(B) The presence of more garbage cans resulting from the
increase in the county’s human population ensures the
survival of more raccoons, which prey on songbird eggs
whenever available.
(C) There has recently been a decrease in the amount of
rain-forest land in Central and South America, where
songbirds spend the winter months.
(D) Although several species of songbirds are disappearing
from Middlesex County, these species are far from being
endangered.
(E) The disappearance of songbirds, which eat insects, often
results in increased destruction of trees by insects.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 11
1. Since the mayor’s publicity campaign for Greenville’s
bus service began six months ago, morning automobile traffic
into the midtown area of the city has decreased seven percent.
During the same period, there has been an equivalent rise in
the number of persons riding buses into the midtown area.
Obviously, the mayor’s publicity campaign has convinced
many people to leave their cars at home and ride the bus to
work.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt
on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Fares for all bus routes in Greenville have risen an
average of five percent during the past six months.
(B) The mayor of Greenville rides the bus to City Hall in
the city’s midtown area.
(C) Road reconstruction has greatly reduced the number
of lanes available to commuters in major streets leading to
the midtown area during the past six months.
(D) The number of buses entering the midtown area of
Greenville during the morning hours is exactly the same now
as it was one year ago.
(E) Surveys show that longtime bus riders are no more
satisfied with the Greenville bus service than they were before
the mayor’s publicity campaign began.
2. On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population,
many colleges now anticipate increasingly smaller freshman
classes each year. Surprised by a 40% increase in qualified
applicants over the previous year, however, administrators
at Nice College now plan to hire more faculty for courses taken
by all freshmen.
Which of the following statements about Nice College’s
current qualified applicants, if true, would strongly suggest
that the administrators’ plan is flawed?
(A) A substantially higher percentage than usual plan to
study for advanced degrees after graduation from college.
(B) According to their applications, their level of
participation in extracurricular activities and varsity sports
is unusually high.
(C) According to their applications, none of them lives in a
foreign country.
(D) A substantially lower percentage than usual rate Nice
College as their first choice among the colleges to which they
are applying.
(E) A substantially lower percentage than usual list
mathematics as their intended major.
3. A drug that is highly effective in treating many types of
infection can, at present, be obtained only from the bark of
the ibora, a tree that is quite rare in the wild. It takes the
bark of 5,000 trees to make one kilogram of the drug. It
follows, therefore, that continued production of the drug must
inevitably lead to the ibora’s extinction.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument above?
(A) The drug made from ibora bark is dispensed to doctors
from a central authority.
(B) The drug made from ibora bark is expensive to produce.
(C) The leaves of the ibora are used in a number of medical
products.
(D) The ibora can be propagated from cuttings and grown
under cultivation.
(E) The ibora generally grows in largely inaccessible areas.
74
4. A certain mayor has proposed a fee of five dollars per
day on private vehicles entering the city, claiming that the
fee will alleviate the city’s traffic congestion. The mayor
reasons that, since the fee will exceed the cost of round-trip
bus fare from many nearby points, many people will switch
from using their cars to using the bus.
Which of the following statements, if true, provides the best
evidence that the mayor’s reasoning is flawed?
(A) Projected increases in the price of gasoline will increase
the cost of taking a private vehicle into the city.
(B) The cost of parking fees already makes it considerably
more expensive for most people to take a private vehicle into
the city than to take a bus.
(C) Most of the people currently riding the bus do not own
private vehicles.
(D) Many commuters opposing the mayor’s plan have
indicated that they would rather endure traffic congestion
than pay a five-dollar-per-day fee.
(E) During the average workday, private vehicles owned
and operated by people living within the city account for
twenty percent of the city’s traffic congestion.
5. Sales of telephones have increased dramatically over
the last year. In order to take advantage of this increase,
Mammoth Industries plan to expand production of its own
model of telephone, while continuing its already very
extensive advertising of this product.
Which of the following, if true, provides most support for
the view that Mammoth Industries cannot increase its sales
of telephones by adopting the plan outlined above?
(A) Although it sells all of the telephones that it produces,
Mammoth Industries’ share of all telephone sales has declined
over the last year.
(B) Mammoth Industries’ average inventory of telephones
awaiting shipment to retailers has declined slightly over the
last year.
(C) Advertising has made the brand name of Mammoth
Industries’ telephone widely known, but few consumers know
that Mammoth Industries owns this brand.
(D) Mammoth Industries’ telephone is one of three brands
of telephone that have together accounted for the bulk of the
last year’s increase in sales.
(E) Despite a slight decline in the retail price, sales of
Mammoth Industries’ telephones have fallen in the last year.
6. Dental researchers recently discovered that
toothbrushes can become contaminated with bacteria that
cause pneumonia and strep throat. They found that
contamination usually occurs after toothbrushes have been
used for four weeks. For that reason, people should replace
their toothbrushes at least once a month.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
conclusion above?
(A) The dental researchers could not discover why
toothbrush contamination usually occurred only after
toothbrushes had been used for four weeks.
(B) The dental researchers failed to investigate
contamination of toothbrushes by viruses, yeasts, and other
pathogenic microorganisms.
(C) The dental researchers found that, among people who
used toothbrushes contaminated with bacteria that cause
pneumonia and strep throat, the incidence of these diseases
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
was no higher than among people who used uncontaminated
toothbrushes.
(D) The dental researchers found that people who rinsed
their toothbrushes thoroughly in hot water after each use
were as likely to have contaminated toothbrushes as were
people who only rinsed their toothbrushes hurriedly in cold
water after each use.
(E) The dental researchers found that, after six weeks of
use, greater length of use of a toothbrush did not correlate
with a higher number of bacteria being present.
7. Although migraine headaches are believed to be caused
by food allergies, putting patients on diets that eliminate
those foods to which the patients have been demonstrated to
have allergic migraine reactions frequently does not stop
headaches. Obviously, some other cause of migraine
headaches besides food allergies must exist.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the
conclusion above?
(A) Many common foods elicit an allergic response only
after several days, making it very difficult to observe links
between specific foods patients eat and headaches they
develop.
(B) Food allergies affect many people who never develop
the symptom of migraine headaches.
(C) Many patients report that the foods that cause them
migraine headaches are among the foods that they most enjoy
eating.
(D) Very few patients have allergic migraine reactions as
children and then live migraine-free adult lives once they
have eliminated from their diets foods to which they have
been demonstrated to be allergic.
(E) Very rarely do food allergies cause patients to suffer a
symptom more severe than that of migraine headaches.
8. Robot satellites relay important communications and
identify weather patterns. Because the satellites can be
repaired only in orbit, astronauts are needed to repair them.
Without repairs, the satellites would eventually malfunction.
Therefore, space flights carrying astronauts must continue.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken
the argument above?
(A) Satellites falling from orbit because of malfunctions
burn up in the atmosphere.
(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the
identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also
make some use of computer projections to identify weather
patterns.
(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has
decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money
into social welfare programs.
75
(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which
adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying
astronauts into orbit.
(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes
repairing them more costly and less practical than sending
new, improved satellites into orbit.
9. In an attempt to promote the widespread use of paper
rather than plastic, and thus reduce nonbiodegradable waste,
the council of a small town plans to ban the sale of disposable
plastic goods for which substitutes made of paper exist. The
council argues that since most paper is entirely biodegradable,
paper goods are environmentally preferable.
Which of the following, if true, indicates that the plan to
ban the sale of disposable plastic goods is ill-suited to the
town council’s environmental goals?
(A) Although biodegradable plastic goods are now available,
members of the town council believe biodegradable paper
goods to be safer for the environment.
(B) The paper factory at which most of the townspeople
are employed plans to increase production of biodegradable
paper goods.
(C) After other towns enacted similar bans on the sale of
plastic goods, the environmental benefits were not discernible
for several years.
(D) Since most townspeople prefer plastic goods to paper
goods in many instances, they are likely to purchase them in
neighbouring towns where plastic goods are available for sale.
(E) Products other than those derived from wood pulp are
often used in the manufacture of paper goods that are entirely
biodegradable.
10. Since the deregulation of airlines, delays at the nation’s
increasingly busy airports have increased by 25 percent. To
combat this problem, more of the takeoff and landing slots at
the busiest airports must be allocated to commercial airlines.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the
effectiveness of the solution proposed above?
(A) The major causes of delays at the nation’s busiest
airports are bad weather and overtaxed air traffic control
equipment.
(B) Since airline deregulation began, the number of
airplanes in operation has increased by 25 percent.
(C) Over 60 percent of the takeoff and landing slots at the
nation’s busiest airports are reserved for commercial airlines.
(D) After a small midwestern airport doubled its allocation
of takeoff and landing slots, the number of delays that were
reported decreased by 50 percent.
(E) Since deregulation the average length of delay at the
nation’s busiest airports has doubled.
 Chapter 6
'STRENGTHENS' QUESTIONS
The ‘strengthens’ questions in Logical Reasoning in LSAT
have a form which is just the converse of that of the ‘weakens’
questions.
Questions of this type will mention (in the initial narra-
tion) a set of premises and a conclusion drawn therefrom,
and will then ask you to spot that statement from among the
five given choices which, if true, will strengthen the sound-
ness of that conclusion.
The correct choice will either contain some additional
information which will support, directly or indirectly, one of
the premises on which the conclusion is based, or will give
one more relevant premise that will support the conclusion
itself.
Let us now revert to the example from day-to-day life which
we had used in the previous chapters:
“The time is 5.30 now and the movie starts at 6.30. Unless
we leave home within the next 15 minutes, we shall be missing
its beginning”.
Suppose that the speaker’s watch is running slow by 10
minutes, and that it is showing 5.30 when the time is really
5.40. If this is true, he must leave home even within the next
five minutes if he wishes to see the movie from the beginning.
So, the statement, “The speaker’s watch is running slow
by 10 minutes” will strengthen the given conclusion that he
will miss the beginning of the movie if he doesn’t leave home
within the next 15 minutes.
Consider the statement, “Very often there is a traffic jam
at a road junction on the way from the speaker’s home to the
movie theater which could hold up traffic for upto 10 minutes
at a time”.
This statement also strengthens the speaker’s conclusion
that he will miss the beginning of the movie if he does not
leave home within 15 minutes.
Consider the statement, “The speaker’s watch is running
fast by 15 minutes”.
This means that the real time now is only 5.30 and not
5.45. So, the speaker will not miss the beginning of the movie
even if he leaves home within the next 30 minutes. So, this
statement weakens the speaker’s conclusion that he will miss
the beginning of the movie if he does not leave within the
next 15 minutes.
Consider the statement, “The movie that the speaker is
planning to see has been nominated for an Oscar Award”.
Obviously, this statement by itself neither strengthens nor
weakens the speaker’s conclusion that he will miss the
beginning of the movie if he does not leave home within the
next 15 minutes. This statement is therefore irrelevant to
the speaker’s conclusion.
The various choices under the ‘strengthens’ questions will
be of the above types.
Among the choices given under the question, only one will
strengthen the given conclusion (and will be the answer), while
each of the others will either weaken that conclusion or be
irrelevant to it.
76
The ‘strengthens’ questions may be worded in a number of
different ways such as:
Which of the following, if true, most significantly strength-
ens the conclusion above?
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the
above argument / claim / conclusion / hypothesis?
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the
above hypothesis / preference?
Which of the following, if true, provides or contributes to
an explanation for the above result?
The above conclusion would be most strengthened if which
of the following were true?
The argument above would be more persuasive if it were
true that .....
Which of the following may be cited as a piece of additional
evidence for the soundness of the above plan?
All the following are valid objections to the above plan
EXCEPT
In one variant of the ‘strengthens’ question that is
occasionally asked, four of the five choices will strengthen
the given conclusion, while the fifth will either weaken it or
will be irrelevant to it. You will be asked to select this odd-
one-out as your answer.
Such questions will take the form:
Each of the following, if true, will strengthen the conclusion
drawn above EXCEPT
Which of the following, if true, least supports the above
conclusion?
In another variation of this type, the conclusion will not
be found in the narration, but will be incorporated as part of
the question itself, as in Examples 3 and 5 below.
We are giving below a number of solved examples of this
type, followed by 6 sets of 10 questions each for your practice.
These are of the same types and levels of difficulty as those
asked in LSAT.
Example 1
Many companies now have employee assistance programs
that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their
physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop
smoking. These programs increase worker productivity,
reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee
health care. Therefore, these programs benefit the company
as well as the employee.
Which of the following, if true, most significantly
strengthens the conclusion above?
(A) Physical fitness programs are often the most popular
services offered to employees
(B) Studies have shown that training in stress
management is not effective for many people
(C) Regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart disease
and provides them with increased energy
(D) Physical injuries sometimes result from entering a
strenuous physical fitness program too quickly
(E) Employee assistance programs require companies to
hire people to supervise the various programs offered
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Analysis
The conclusion in the passage is that the employee assist-
ance program (which enables employees to improve their
physical fitness, reduce stress and learn ways to stop smok-
ing) benefit the company as well as the employee.
We have been asked to locate the choice which strengthens
this conclusion.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
the program is beneficial both to the company and to the
employee.
(C) says that regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart
disease (beneficial to the employee) and provides them with
increased energy (which will benefit the company in which
they are working). So, it is (C) which says that the program is
beneficial both to the company and the employee, and is the
answer.
(A) mentions that such programs are popular with
employees, but does not indicate how they are beneficial to
the company as well as the employee, and is not the answer.
(B), in fact, contradicts the conclusion that the program
benefits all employees, and is not the answer.
(D) also contradicts the conclusion that the program
benefits employees, and is not the answer.
(E) does not mention any benefit that accrues to the
employees because of the program. On the contrary, it says
that it may cause additional expenditure to the company,
meaning that it does not benefit the company either. So, (E)
contradicts, and does not strengthen, the conclusion, and is
not the answer.
Example 2
The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new
drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs
can be recouped in later sales, the current 20 years of
protection provided by patents should be extended in the case
of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries, new-
product development continues despite high development
costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the
pharmaceutical industry’s argument against the challenge
made above?
(A) No industries other than the pharmaceutical industry
have asked for an extension of the 20-year limit on patent
protection
(B) Clinical trials of new drugs, which occur after the patent
is granted and before the new drug can be marketed, often
now take as long as 10 years to complete
(C) There are several industries in which the ratio of
research and development costs to revenues is higher than it
is in the pharmaceutical industry
(D) An existing patent for a drug does not legally prevent
pharmaceutical companies from bringing to market
alternative drugs, provided they are sufficiently dissimilar
to the patented drug
(E) Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in
products - for example, in the computer and electronics
industries - for which patent protection is often very
ineffective
Analysis
(The grant of patent to its inventor for a product implies
that no other manufacturer can make the same product
commercially during the period of the patent’s validity.) The
pharmaceutical industry’s argument is that, in order to enable
it to recoup the huge expenditure incurred in developing the
77
new drugs through their subsequent sales, the period of
patent protection for newly developed drugs should be
extended beyond 20 years. The industry points out that,
otherwise, new drugs will not be developed at all.
Having mentioned the drug industry’s demand, the author
of the narrative challenges it. (A last sentence starting with
‘however’ usually gives the opinion of the author contradicting
what is stated earlier.) He argues that industries other than
pharmaceuticals, for whom the period of protection is the
same twenty years, also continue to incur high development
costs on new inventions, and that there is therefore no need
for extension of this period in the case of pharmaceutical
industry alone.
We have been asked to spot that choice which supports the
pharmaceutical industry’s plea for the extension of the patent
period beyond twenty years.
(A) merely repeats what the author says, and does not
strengthen the drug industries’ plea. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) points out that, after a patent is granted for a new drug,
it has to undergo clinical trials for as long as ten years before
it can be marketed. This implies that, even though there is
patent protection for twenty years for a drug, the effective
period of monopolistic sale of the product available to its
inventor is only ten years, and the pharmaceutical industry
has to recoup the cost of development within this shorter
period. This is a special situation applicable to only the
pharmaceutical industry and not to any of the other
industries, all of which can enjoy full twenty years of sale for
recouping their costs. So, (B) gives a valid argument why the
pharmaceutical industry should be treated on a special
footing, and is the answer.
(C) only strengthens the author’s challenge, and weakens
the pharmaceutical industry’s claim.
(D) neither strengthens nor weakens the pharmaceutical
industry’s plea, and is not the answer.
(E) refers to industries other than drugs, and neither
strengthens nor weakens the plea of the drug industry.
Example 3
Caterpillars of all species produce an identical hormone
called “juvenile hormone” that maintains feeding behavior.
Only when a caterpillar has grown to the right size for
pupation to take place does a special enzyme halt the
production of juvenile hormone. This enzyme can be
synthesized and will, on being ingested by immature
caterpillars, kill them by stopping them from feeding.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the
view that it would not be advisable to try to eradicate
agricultural pests that go through a caterpillar stage by
spraying crop lands with the enzyme mentioned above?
(A) Most species of caterpillar are subject to some natural
predation
(B) Many agricultural pests do not go through a caterpillar
stage
(C) Many agriculturally beneficial insects go through a
caterpillar stage
(D) Since caterpillars of different species emerge at
different times, several sprayings would be necessary
(E) Although the enzyme has been synthesized in the
laboratory, no large-scale production facilities exist as yet
Analysis
(Pupation means the process of a caterpillar evolving into
a pupa.) The narrative first says that caterpillars of all species
produce an identical hormone called ‘juvenile hormone’ which
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
maintains their feeding behaviour. When the caterpillar has
grown old enough to evolve into a pupa, a special enzyme is
produced in its body which stops the production of the ‘juvenile
hormone’. The caterpillar will then stop eating, go into
hibernation and develop into a pupa.
The narrative then says that it is possible to produce this
special enzyme artificially and expose the immature
caterpillars to them. When they eat this enzyme, their bodies
will stop producing the juvenile hormone, and the immature
caterpillars will stop eating even before they attain the pupa
stage, and will die of starvation, and their further propagation
will thereby by arrested.
One may therefore be inclined to think that, if agricultural
crops are sprayed with this enzyme, agricultural pests that
go through caterpillar stage can be eradicated, and the
spraying will therefore be beneficial to the crops.
The question, however, asks us to spot that choice which
would support the view that it is not advisable to use this
method for eradicating agricultural pests.
If, as stated by (C), many agriculturally beneficial insects
(such as butterflies which help in pollination) also go through
a caterpillar stage, the spraying of the enzyme on the
agricultural crop will destroy these beneficial insects also along
with harmful pests. This will be detrimental to the growth of
the crops. So, it is (C) which implies that the spraying of the
enzyme is not an advisable practice from the overall point of
view of crop growth, and is the answer.
(‘Predation’ means killing of a living being by a stronger
being) (A) does not say that all agricultural pests are
destroyed through natural predation. It only says that ‘most
species’ of caterpillar are subject to ‘some’ natural predation.
So, (A) is not a valid argument for not using the enzymes for
destroying the pests.
The question is whether the enzyme should be used to
eradicate agricultural pests which go through the caterpillar
stage. The fact that many pests do not go through this stage is
not an argument against using the enzyme against those pests
which go through that stage. So, (B) is not the answer.
The fact that several sprayings may be necessary does not
make such spraying inadvisable. So, (D) is not the answer.
The fact that the enzyme is not being produced on a
commercial scale now is not a reason why its use is
inadvisable. If its use is found advisable, it can be produced
on a commercial basis in future. So, (E) is not a valid reason
for arguing that the use of enzymes is not advisable.
Example 4
In 1984, Exco, which sells its products only through mail-
order catalogs, began distributing its catalog to people who
had never purchased Exco’s products, while it continued to
distribute the catalog to previous customers. Total dollar sales
increased in 1984, but Exco’s profits that year were smaller
than in 1983.
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an
explanation of Exco’s smaller profits in 1984, as compared to
1983?
(A) There was a two percent increase in 1984 in the sales
tax that consumers had to pay on all purchases from the
catalog.
(B) A greater number of catalogs were sent to previous
customers than to people who never purchased products from
Exco.
(C) In 1984 Exco’s product-manufacturing costs increased
by a smaller amount than the products’ selling prices
increased.
78
(D) Customers who never previously purchased products
from Exco purchased, on the average, fewer products in 1984
than did previous customers.
(E) The increase between 1983 and 1984 in the cost of
mailing the catalogs was greater than the increase in sales
from 1983 to 1984.
Analysis
What the passage states is that there was an increase in
the volume of sales by Exco between 1983 and 1984, but the
profit during 1984 was less than the profit in 1983.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
explain such a reduction in profit despite the increased sales
volume.
Normally, if the profit margin remains the same, increase
in sales must result in simultaneous increase in profits. So, if
there has been a reduction in profit in spite of increase in
sales, it means that the profit margin had come down. Now,
the profit margin in selling an article is equal to “(sale price)
- (cost of the article + cost of marketing)”. So, the reduction in
profit margin could have resulted from either an increase in
the basic cost of the article sold, or an increase in the marketing
cost.
We must therefore look for that choice which mentions
either that the cost of the articles had increased or that the
cost of marketing had increased between 1983 and 1984.
(A) states that the sales tax had to be paid by the consumers,
and not by Exco. So, an increase in the rate of sales tax could
not have affected the profits of Exco. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) implies that it was the previous customers of Exco who
had contributed more to the increased sales in 1984, but it
does not give any explanation as to why the profits had come
down.
If (C) is true, it implies that the profit margin per article
had increased. In this case, the overall profits must have
increased between 1983 and 1984, and not decreased. So, (C),
in fact, contradicts, and does not explain, why the profits had
come down in 1984.
(D) only implies that a greater proportion of the increased
sales in 1984 was accounted for by old customers, and throws
no light on the reason for the reduction in the overall profits.
(E) contains information which makes us conclude that
the marketing cost during 1984 was more than the increase
in sales registered during that year. If this is true, it perfectly
explains why the overall profits had come down during 1984.
So, (E) is the answer.
Example 5
In order to reverse a downward trend in occupancy rates,
many hospitals are now turning to advertising and are also
offering, for an extra fee, new amenities such as gourmet
meals, luxury rooms, and valet parking.
Which of the following, if it were the reason that the beds
in the hospitals involved were being left empty, would increase
the likelihood that the marketing technique mentioned above
would be effective?
(A) The population of the areas around the hospitals is
generally healthier than in the past
(B) Hospital costs are prohibitively high for many people
(C) Patients have been choosing other hospitals offering
better amenities than those previously available in the
hospitals involved
(D) Many medical procedures that once required
hospitalization are now done in doctors’ offices or in clinics
with limited facilities
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(E) The hospitals involved do not offer important medical
services that are available elsewhere
Analysis
The passage implies that the problem faced by many
hospitals is the downward trend in the rate of occupancy of
the beds in them. These hospitals are trying to reverse this
trend through advertising, and by offering new amenities such
as good food, luxury rooms and parking by chauffeurs.
We have been asked to identify a possible reason for the
downward trend in the occupancy of these hospitals, which
can be set right through the measures proposed to be adopted
by them.
No healthy person would like to spend time and money
occupying hospital rooms, merely because good food,
comfortable rooms and chauffeurs are available there.
Therefore, while formulating the new schemes, the
presumption that has been made is that there are people
living in the neighbourhood who require hospitalization, but
who have been preferring other hospitals where the facilities,
now proposed by these hospitals, are already available.
So, if these hospitals now introduce equal or better
amenities than those available in those other hospitals and
also give publicity to these amenities, these patients may
change their option. It is (C) which implies this, and is the
answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices mentions
a cause which can be rectified by the proposed amenities of
these hospitals and the publicity given to them.
Example 6
Recent surveys show that many people who seek medical
help are under a great deal of stress. Medical research also
shows that stress can affect an individual’s immune system,
which is responsible for combating many infections. Thus
when a person is under stress, he or she is more likely to
become ill.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the
conclusion above?
(A) Many businesses that provide health insurance for their
employees also provide seminars on stress management.
(B) Many businesses report a significant decrease in
absenteeism during periods when employees feel pressured
by management.
(C) There is a marked decrease in the number of complaints
presented at college infirmaries during vacation time.
(D) There is a marked increase in the number of illnesses
treated at college infirmaries around the time of
examinations.
(E) Most people report that being in a hospital or an
infirmary is a stressful situation.
Analysis
The conclusion in the passage is that “when a person is
under stress, he or she is more likely to become ill”.
We should therefore look for that choice which gives an
instance of stress leading to more instances of hospitalisation.
It is (D) which gives such an instance, and is the answer.
(Infirmary means hospital)
(A) neither strengthens nor weakens the given conclusion,
and is irrelevant to it.
(B) says that employees attend office more regularly when
they are under pressure from the management. This,
obviously, contradicts the given conclusion that persons are
more likely to fall ill when they are under stress, and is not
79
the answer.
(C) may be the result of less number of students staying in
the university premises during vacation time, and may have
nothing to do with stress or lack of stress. So, (C) is not
relevant to the given conclusion, and is not the answer.
The given conclusion is that a stressful situation causes
illness that leads to hospitalization. (E) reverses this
conclusion by stating that it is hospitalization that causes a
condition of stress! So, (E) is not the answer.
Example 7
Scientists have found that inserting genes from a plant
virus into the genes of a plant susceptible to that virus
increases the plant’s resistance to the virus. Because viral
diseases account for a significant proportion of crop losses,
such genetic alterations, even if carried out on only a modest
scale, will significantly reduce crop losses.
Each of the following, if true, strengthens the conclusion
above EXCEPT
(A) In areas where two successive crops are raised per year,
protecting the first crop from a virus will generally protect
the second crop from that virus as well.
(B) By repeatedly attacking plants that are genetically
altered to become virus-resistant, the virus often becomes
less lethal to plants that are not genetically altered in that
way.
(C) Plants that are genetically altered to become virus-
resistant often pass virus-resistant genes on to their offspring.
(D) Plants that are made genetically resistant to one kind
virus often acquire resistance to related viral strains as well.
(E) Plants that are made genetically resistant to one kind
of virus are often more susceptible to infection by unrelated
viruses.
Analysis
(Note that, in this example, four of the five given choices
strengthen the given conclusion, while only one does not. We
have been asked to spot this particular choice.)
Plants are often susceptible to a number of viruses and, if
attacked by them, may die or become sick, thereby giving a
much lower crop yield to the farmer. The given narration says
that inserting a gene of a virus in the gene of a plant
susceptible to it makes the plant immune to that virus, and
recommends the adoption of this procedure for reducing crop
losses.
(A) strengthens the recommendation because it will result
in reduced crop losses in the second season also.
(B) says that even the plants which are not subjected to
gene manipulation would be benefited by the recommended
procedure. The crop loss will thereby diminished still further.
So, (B) also strengthens the recommendation.
(C) says that the gene manipulation will make the plant
immune to the virus for many generations. Obviously, this
also strengthens the recommendation.
(D) says that the genetically manipulated plants will be
resistant not only to the specific virus strain but also to other
related virus strains. This will reduce crop losses still further.
So, (D) also strengthens the recommendation.
(E) points out that plants which have been immunized
against one virus through gene manipulation become more
susceptible to be attacked by other unrelated viruses. If this is
true, there could be more loss of crop than there would have
been if there had been no immunization. So, (E) does not
strengthen, but actually weakens the given recommendation.
So, (E) is the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Example 8
Kale has more nutritional value than spinach. But since
collard greens have more nutritional value than lettuce, it
follows that kale has more nutritional value than lettuce.
Any of the following, if introduced into the argument as an
additional premises, makes the argument above logically
correct EXCEPT
(A) Collard greens have more nutritional value than kale
(B) Spinach has more nutritional value than lettuce
(C) Spinach has more nutritional value than collard greens
(D) Spinach and collard greens have the same nutritional
value
(E) Kale and collard greens have the same nutritional value
Analysis
Let us denote ‘more nutritional value’ by the symbol >.
From the premises that K > S, and C > L, it is concluded
that K > L.
Obviously, the first two inequalities do not lead to the given
conclusion, and there has to be one or more relevant premises
which will render the conclusion valid.
(A) says C > K. Now we have two pieces of information: C
> K and C > L. We cannot conclude therefrom that K > L.
(B) says S > L. We can therefore form the combined
inequality K > S > L, from which it follows that K > L. So, (B)
strengthens the given conclusion.
(C) says S > C. From the resulting combined inequality K
> S > C > L, it follows that K > L. So, (C)also strengthens the
given conclusion.
(D) says S = C. The combined inequality now is K > S = C
> L, from which it follows that K > L. So, So, (D)also
strengthens the given conclusion.
(E) says K = C. So, from the given information C > L, we
can say that K > L. So, (E) also strengthens the given
conclusion.
Among the choices, it is only (A) which does not lead to the
conclusion K > L. So, (A) is the answer.
Example 9
The dinosaurs may have been destroyed when the Earth
was struck by a huge meteorite whose impact threw a mass
of pulverized meteorite debris into the atmosphere. This dust
cut off sunlight so depleting plant life that the plant-eating
dinosaurs perished; the meat-eating dinosaurs, who preyed
on the plant-eaters, then starved to death.
We shall now give you 6 sets of ‘strengthens’ questions for your practice.
80
Which of the following, if true, best supports the theory
above?
(A) Modern volcanic explosions have sent enough dust into
the atmosphere to change the color of sunsets around the
world for several years
(B) Meteorite craters are abundant in several areas of the
Southwest where numerous dinosaur fossils have also been
found
(C) Recent studies of bone structure suggest that dinosaurs
were quite agile beasts, rather than the ponderous, awkward
animals they were once throughout to be
(D) The Earth’s sedimentary rock strata that were formed
from atmospheric dust at the time the dinosaurs vanished
contain minerals and other trace elements in proportions
characteristic of meteorites
(E) Several meat-and plant-eating species of mammals that
coexisted with the dinosaurs continue to exist today, although
their appearance is considerably modified
Analysis
The theory propounded in the given passage is that the
extinction of dinosaurs was consequent to a huge meteorite
striking the earth.
(A) talks of the change in the colour of sunsets because of
volcanic explosions, and this is not relevant to the extinction
of dinosaurs due to a meteorite hit on the earth. So, (A) is not
the answer.
The given passage refers to the impact of a single meteorite
on the earth which was huge enough to give out a debris that
blocked sunlight for a long time. The existence of a large
number of small meteorite craters in the Southwest is not
relevant to the conclusion in the given passage. So, (B) is not
the answerw.
(C) contradicts the information in the passage because, if
it were true, the dinosaurs could have moved out from the
areas where plant life got extinguished to those areas where
they were still available.
(D) implies that the extinction of the dinosaurs was
contemporaneous with the impact of a meteorite which was
large enough to give out atmospheric dust. If this is true, it
strengthens the conclusion in the passage. So, (D) is the
answer.
(E) contradicts the information in the passage that both
the plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs were destroyed
when the meteorite struck the earth.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. “In a civilized society, personal merit will not serve you
as well as money will. You may make the experiment. Go into
the street and give one person a lecture on morality and
another a dollar, and see which will respect you more”.
The argument above would be more persuasive if it were
true that
(A) Personal merit is a characteristic that is not readily
apparent
(B) Lecturing on morality is a strong indication of personal
merit
(C) Most people profess to value money because they are
expected to
(D) Giving money to strangers is itself a sign of personal
merit
(E) Social behaviour can be investigated with scientific rigor
2. “Offshore blasting in oil exploration does not hurt fishing;
blasting started this year, and this year’s salmon catch has
been the largest in a long time.”
All of the following statements, if true, are valid objections
to the argument EXCEPT:
(A) The salmon is only one of the many species of fish that
might be affected by the blasts.
(B) The rapid changes of water pressure caused by the
blasts make salmon mate more frequently.
(C) The noise of the blasts interferes with the food chain
salmon depend on.
(D) Factors that have nothing to do with the well-being of
salmon may significantly affect the size of one year’s catch.
(E) Vibrations from the blasts destroy fish eggs.
3. A recent spate of launching and operating mishaps with
television satellites led to a corresponding surge in claims
against companies underwriting satellite insurance. As a
result, insurance premiums shot up, making satellites more
expensive to launch and operate. This, in turn, has added to
the pressure to squeeze more performance out of currently
operating satellites.
Which of the following, if true, taken together with the
information above, best supports the conclusion that the cost
of television satellites will continue to increase?
(A) Since the risk to insurers of satellites is spread over
relatively few units, insurance premiums are necessarily very
high.
(B) When satellites reach their orbit and then fail, the
causes of failure are generally impossible to pinpoint with
confidence.
(C) The greater the performance demands placed on
satellites, the more frequently those satellites break down.
(D) Most satellites are produced in such small numbers
that no economies of scale can be realized.
(E) Since many satellites are built by unwieldy
international consortia, inefficiencies are inevitable.
4. “The Declaration of Independence says that everyone is
entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When
the state legislature forbade the use of fireworks, the entire
population was denied liberty and happiness. This is
dictatorship.”
All of the following, if true, are valid objections to the
argument above EXCEPT:
A. Relatively few people derive happiness from fireworks.
B. The legislature does, if indirectly, represent the people.
81
C. The use of fireworks deprives many people of their lives.
D. Fireworks are not essential to the spirit of the
Declaration.
E. Few legislators profit financially from the sale of
fireworks.
5. “In 1930 there were, on the average, 4.1 persons reported
as living in each household. By 1950 there were 3.5, and by
1970 there were 3.1. Today there are 2.8 persons reported
per household, and it appears that the trend toward smaller
households is continuing.”
Each of the following, if true, could help to account for this
trend EXCEPT:
A. The divorce rate has increased
B. The birth rate has decreased
C. Institutional geriatric care has become more widely
practiced.
D. Tax advantages for claiming resident dependents have
decreased.
E. The enrollment of children at day-care centers has
increased.
6. A cost-effective solution to the problem of airport
congestion is to provide high-speed ground transportation
between major cities lying 200 to 500 miles apart. The
successful implementation of this plan would cost far less
than expanding existing airports and would also reduce the
number of airplanes clogging both airports and airways.
Which of the following, if true, could the proponents of the
plan above most appropriately cite as a piece of evidence for
the soundness of their plan?
(A) An effective high-speed ground transportation system
would require more repairs to many highways and mass-
transit improvements.
(B) One-half of all departing flights in the nation’s busiest
airport head for a destination in a major city 225 miles away.
(C) The majority of travelers departing from rural airports
are flying to destinations in cities over 600 miles away.
(D) Many new airports are being built in areas that are
presently served by high-speed ground-transportation
systems.
(E) A large proportion of air travelers are vacationers who
are taking long-distance flights.
7. Airline: Newly developed collision-avoidance systems,
although not fully tested to discover potential malfunctions,
must be installed immediately in passenger planes. Their
mechanical warnings enable pilots to avoid crashes.
Pilots: Pilots will not fly in planes with collision-avoidance
systems that are not fully tested. Malfunctioning systems
could mislead pilots, causing crashes.
The pilots’ objection is most strengthened if which of the
following is true?
(A) It is always possible for mechanical devices to
malfunction.
(B) Jet engines, although not fully tested when first put
into use, have achieved exemplary performance and safety
records.
(C) Although collision-avoidance systems will enable pilots
to avoid some crashes, the likely malfunctions of the not-fully-
tested systems will cause even more crashes.
(D) Many airline collisions are caused in part by the
exhaustion of overworked pilots.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(E) Collision-avoidance systems, at this state of
development, appear to have worked better in passenger
planes than in cargo planes during experimental flights made
over a six-month period.
8. Extinction is a process that can depend on a variety of
ecological, geographical, and physiological variables. These
variables affect different species of organisms in different
ways, and should, therefore, yield a random pattern of
extinctions. However, the fossil record shows that extinction
occurs in a surprisingly definite pattern, with many species
vanishing at the same time.
Which of the following, if true, forms the best basis for at
least a partial explanation of the patterned extinctions revealed
by the fossil record?
(A) Major episodes of extinction can result from widespread
environmental disturbance that affect numerous different
species.
(B) Certain extinction episodes selectively affect organisms
with particular sets of characteristics unique to their species.
(C) Some species become extinct because of accumulated
gradual changes in their local environments.
(D) In geologically recent times, for which there is no fossil
record, human intervention has changed the pattern of
extinctions.
(E) Species that are widely dispersed are the least likely
to become extinct.
9. Male bowerbirds construct elaborately decorated nests,
or bowers. Basing their judgment on the fact that different
local populations of bowerbirds of the same species build
bowers that exhibit different building and decorative styles,
researchers have concluded that the bowerbirds’ building
styles are a culturally acquired, rather than a genetically
transmitted, trait.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the
conclusion drawn by the researchers?
(A) There are more common characteristics than there are
SET 2
1. Two decades after the Emerald River Dam was built,
none of the eight fish species native to the Emerald River
was still reproducing adequately in the river below the dam.
Since the dam reduced the annual range of water temperature
in the river below the dam from 50 degrees to 6 degrees,
scientists have hypothesized that sharply rising water
temperatures must be involved in signaling the native species
to begin the reproductive cycle.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most
strengthen the scientists’ hypothesis?
(A) The native fish species were still able to reproduce only
in side streams of the river below the dam where the annual
temperature range remains approximately 50 degrees.
(B) Before the dam was built, the Emerald River annually
overflowed its banks, creating backwaters that were critical
breeding areas for the native species of fish.
(C) The lowest recorded temperature of the Emerald River
before the dam was built was 34 degrees, whereas the lowest
recorded temperature of the river after the dam was built
has been 43 degrees.
(D) Non-native species of fish, introduced into the Emerald
River after the dam was built, have begun competing with
the declining native fish species for food and space.
(E) Five of the fish species native to the Emerald River
are not native to any other river in North America.
82
differences among the bowerbuilding styles of the local
bowerbird population that has been studied most extensively.
(B) Young male bowerbirds are inept at bowerbuilding and
apparently spend years watching their elders before becoming
accomplished in the local bower style.
(C) The bowers of one species of bowerbird lack the towers
and ornamentation characteristic of the bowers of most other
species of bowerbird.
(D) Bowerbirds are found only in New Guinea and
Australia, where local populations of the birds apparently
seldom have contact with one another.
(E) It is well known that the song dialects of some songbirds
are learned rather than transmitted genetically.
10. Bats emit sounds and generally use the echoes of these
sounds highly efficiently to detect, locate, and catch their prey.
However, it is claimed that the characteristic efficiency of
this process is reduced by moths able to hear the sounds
emitted by insect-eating bats.
Which of the following statements, if true, best supports
the claim above?
(A) Those moths that cannot hear the sounds emitted by
insect-eating bats live longer on the average than those that
can hear such sounds when both kinds of moth are in an
environment continuously free of such bats.
(B) Those moth species that hear the sounds emitted by
insect-eating bats are among the species of insects that are
most likely to be caught by such bats.
(C) When a moth changes its speed or direction of flight,
there is a change in the sound pattern generated by the moth’s
wing movements.
(D) Moth species that can hear the sounds emitted by
insect-eating bats are less likely to be caught by such bats
than are moth species that cannot hear these sounds.
(E) Moths that are capable of hearing the sounds emitted
by insect-eating bats differ in their abilities to use evasive
action to escape capture by such bats.
2. Since the routine use of antibiotics can give rise to
resistant bacteria capable of surviving antibiotic
environments, the presence of resistant bacteria in people
could be due to the human use of prescription antibiotics.
Some scientists, however, believe that most resistant bacteria
in people derive from human consumption of bacterially
infected meat.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most
significantly strengthen the hypothesis of the scientists?
(A) Antibiotics are routinely included in livestock feed so
that livestock producers can increase the rate of growth of
their animals.
(B) Most people who develop food poisoning from
bacterially infected meat are treated with prescription
antibiotics.
(C) The incidence of resistant bacteria in people has tended
to be much higher in urban areas than in rural areas where
meat is of comparable quality.
(D) People who have never taken prescription antibiotics
are those least likely to develop resistant bacteria.
(E) Livestock producers claim that resistant bacteria in
animals cannot be transmitted to people through infected
meat.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
3. Professor Panovich argues that, since dinosaur teeth
exhibit annual growth rings like those found in the teeth of
modern crocodiles, dinosaurs, like crocodiles, were cold-
blooded. But the teeth of desert bighorn sheep also exhibit
growth rings, and everyone knows bighorn sheep are warm-
blooded
Which of the following, if true, strengthens Panovich’s
argument?
(A) Structures in dinosaurs that are apparently similar to
structures in modern species of reptiles do not always serve
the same functions that such structures do in modern species
(B) Dinosaurs were so diverse that some species could have
been cold-blooded and others warm-blooded
(C) Several modern species of animals, some cold- blooded,
have teeth with annual growth rings
(D) Annual growth rings in warm-blooded animals are
caused by extreme seasonal variations in temperatures, but
this could not have been the case for dinosaurs, who lived in
constant climates
(E) The small number of fossilized remains of dinosaurs
cannot be assumed to represent the most typical species of
dinosaurs
4. The chemical process of converting sugarcane to ethanol
requires more energy than that of converting corn to ethanol.
It is surprising, then, that most ethanol producers prefer to
use sugarcane as their raw material.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the
preference of the producers?
(A) The price of any source of ethanol fluctuates seasonally,
whereas the cost of the conversion process is relatively
constant.
(B) The production of ethanol from corn requires less time
than the production of ethanol from sugarcane.
(C) The quality of ethanol produced varies less with the
grade of corn converted than with the grade of sugarcane
converted.
(D) Conversion of sugarcane into processed sugar or other
foodstuffs is a lengthy procedure.
(E) Energy for the process of conversion to ethanol can be
supplied by burning residue from the sugarcane but not from
corn.
5. The plant called the scarlet gilia can have either red or
white flowers. It had long been thought that humming birds,
which forage by day, pollinate its red flowers and that
hawkmoths, which forage at night, pollinate its white flowers.
To try to show that this pattern of pollination by colors exists,
scientists recently covered some scarlet gilia flowers only at
night and others only by day: plants with red flowers covered
at night became pollinated; plants with white flowers covered
by day became pollinated.
Which of the following, if true, would be additional evidence
to suggest that hummingbirds are attracted to the red flowers
and hawkmoths to the white flowers of the scarlet gilia?
(A) Uncovered scarlet gilia flowers, whether red or white,
became pollinated at approximately equal rates.
(B) Some red flowers of the scarlet gilia that remained
uncovered at all times never became pollinated.
(C) White flowers of the scarlet gilia that were covered at
night became pollinated with greater frequency than white
flowers of the scarlet gilia that were left uncovered.
(D) Scarlet gilia plants with red flowers covered by day
and scarlet gilia plants with white flowers covered at night
remained unpollinated.
83
(E) In late August, when most of the hummingbirds had
migrated but hawkmoths were still plentiful, red scarlet gilia
plants produced fruit more frequently than they had earlier
in the season.
6. In the 1980 Unites States census, marital status was
described under one of five categories: single, now married
(but not separated), separated, divorced, widowed. In the
category “separated”, including both those who were legally
separated and those who were estranged and living apart
from their spouses, one million more women than men were
counted.
Which of the following, if true, provide(s) or contributes to
an explanation for this result?
I. There are more women of marriageable age than men of
marriageable age in the United States.
II. More of the separated men than separated women in
the United States could not be found by the census takers
during the census.
III. Many more separated men than separated women left
the United States for residence in another country.
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) II and III only
7. Luis has just seen two ravens; therefore, the next bird
Luis sees will be a raven.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the
argument above?
(A) Ravens tend to move in flocks.
(B) Ravens generally build their nests at a considerable
distance from the nests of other ravens.
(C) Luis is in California, and ravens are occasionally seen
in California.
(D) Luis has seen ravens in other places than the place
where he is now.
(E) Luis is actively looking for birds.
8. The Wheat Farmers Alliance, a political action
committee, attracts 70 percent of its contributors from an
advertisement requesting contributions placed only in the
September, October, and November issues of the Grange
Report, a monthly newsletter for wheat farmers. The
president of the Wheat Farmers Alliance, to increase the
number of contributors, decides to advertise in each of the
monthly issues of the Grange Report. She expects that, as a
result of the additional Grange Report advertisements, the
number of contributors will be increased to at least double
the present number.
Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support
the president’s expectation?
(A) The September, October, and November advertisements
were noticed by fewer than one-third of those readers of
Grange Report who would be willing to contribute to the
Wheat Farmers Alliance.
(B) Wheat farmers traditionally repay their bank loans in
late summer after the winter wheat crop has been harvested
and sold.
(C) The majority of the readers of the Grange Report with
a great enough interest in the Wheat Farmers Alliance to
contribute have already responded to the advertisements.
(D) Most of those who contribute to the Wheat Farmers
Alliance in the course of a year do so in response to
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
advertisements in the Grange Report.
(E) The total number of readers of the Grange Report is
stable from year to year.
9. The numbers of retired people will grow as the
population becomes older, and their political power will
expand even faster than their numbers.
Which of the following, if true, LEAST supports the
statement about the growth of the political power of retirees?
(A) Those retired people who had supported political
parties while they were in the work force are more likely to
support parties after retirement than are those retired people
who had not done no previously
(B) Retired people devote more time to political activities
than do members of the work force
(C) The adult children of retired people tend to vote in
ways that support the interests of their parents even though
such actions may not be in the children’s own economic
interest
(D) Retired people are more likely to vote than are members
of the work force
SET 3
1. Y has been believed to cause Z. A new report, noting
that Y and Z are often observed to be preceded by X, suggests
that X, not Y, may be the cause of Z.
Which of the following further observations would best
support the new report’s suggestion?
(A) In cases where X occurs but Y does not, X is usually
followed by Z
(B) In cases where X occurs, followed by Y, Y is usually
followed by Z
(C) In cases where Y occurs but X does not, Y is usually
followed by Z
(D) In cases where Y occurs but Z does not, Y is usually
preceded by X
(E) In cases where Z occurs, it is usually preceded by X
and Y
2. Mr. Lawson: We should adopt a national family policy
that includes legislation requiring employers to provide paid
parental leave and establishing government-sponsored day
care. Such laws would decrease the stress levels of employees
who have responsibility for small children. Thus such laws
would lead to happier, better-adjusted families.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the
conclusion above?
(A) An employee’s high stress level can be a cause of
unhappiness and poor adjustment for his or her family
(B) People who have responsibility for small children and
who work outside the home have higher stress levels than
those who do not
(C) The goal of a national family policy is to lower the stress
levels of parents
(D) Any national family policy that is adopted would
include legislation requiring employers to provide paid
parental leave and establishing government-sponsored day
care
(E) Most children who have been cared for in day care
centers are happy and well adjusted
3. The average age and racing experience of the drivers at
the Indianapolis 500 automobile race increased each year
between 1965 and 1980. The reason for the increase is that
84
(E) More retired people than working people belong to
associations that mobilize their members to take action
concerning political issues that may effect them
10. Millions of identical copies of a plant can be produced
using new tissue-culture and cloning techniques. If plant
propagation by such methods in laboratories proves
economical, each of the following, if true, represents a benefit
of the new techniques to farmers EXCEPT:
(A) The techniques allow the development of superior
strains to take place more rapidly, requiring fewer generations
of plants grown to maturity
(B) It is less difficult to care for plants that will grow at
rates that do not vary widely
(C) Plant diseases and pests, once they take hold, spread
more rapidly among genetically uniform plants than among
those with genetic variations
(D) Mechanical harvesting of crops is less difficult if plants
are more uniform in size
(E) Special genetic traits can more easily be introduced
into plant strains with the use of the new techniques
high-speed racing drivers were living longer than their
predecessors. Race-car safety features that reduced the
severity of crashes of the kind that formerly took drivers’ lives
were primarily responsible for the increase in the average
age of the Indianapolis 500 competitors.
Which of the following, if true, would be most likely to be
part of the evidence used to show that safety features on the
cars that protected drivers in major crashes were responsible
for the increase in the average age of drivers at the Indianapolis
race?
(A) Younger drivers at high-speed racetracks were involved
in major accidents at a slightly higher rate than were older
drivers between 1965 and 1980.
(B) Major accidents on high-speed racetracks occurred at
about the same frequency in the years after 1965 as in the
years before 1965.
(C) The average age of drivers attempting to qualify for
the Indianapolis 500 decreased slightly between 1965 and
1980.
(D) Accidents on highways in the United States occurred
at about the same frequency in the years after 1965 as in the
years before 1965.
(E) Other safety features, involving the condition of the
racetrack and the uniforms worn by the drivers while driving,
were adopted at Indianapolis between 1965 and 1980.
4. Pharmaceutical companies spend more than ever on
research and development; yet the number of new drugs
patented each year has dropped since 1963. At the same
time, profits at constant 1963 dollars for the industry as a
whole have been steadily increasing.
Which of the following, if true, is the single factor most-
likely to explain, at least in part, the three trends mentioned
above for money spent, drugs patented, and profits made?
(A) Government regulations concerning testing
requirements for novel drugs have become steadily more
stringent
(B) Research competition among pharmaceutical
companies has steadily intensified as a result of a general
narrowing of research targets to drugs for which there is a
large market
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(C) Many pharmaceutical companies have entered into
collaborative projects with leading universities, while others
have hired faculty members away from universities by
offering very generous salaries
(D) The number of cases in which one company’s
researchers duplicated work done by another company’s
researchers has steadily grown
(E) The advertising budgets of the major pharmaceutical
companies have grown at a higher rate than their profits have
5. Black Americans are, on the whole, about twice as likely
as White Americans to develop high blood pressure. This
likelihood also holds for westernized Black Africans when
compared to White Africans. Researchers have hypothesized
that this predisposition in westernized Blacks may reflect
an interaction between western high-salt diets and genes that
adapted to an environmental scarcity of salt.
Which of the following statements about present day
Westernized Black Africans, if true, would most tend to confirm
the researchers’ hypothesis?
(A) The blood pressures of those descended from peoples
situated throughout their history in Senegal and Gambia,
where salt was always available, are low
(B) The unusually high salt consumption in certain areas
of Africa represents a serious health problem
(C) Because of their blood pressure levels, most White
Africans have markedly decreased their salt consumption
(D) Blood pressures are low among the Yoruba, who,
throughout their history, have been situated far south of
Saharan salt mines
(E) No significant differences in salt metabolism have been
found between those peoples who have had salt available
throughout their history and those who have not.
6. In 1985 a consumer agency concluded that Xylo brand
bicycles are safer to ride than are Zenon brand bicycles. The
agency based the conclusion on the ratio of the number of
rider injuries to the number of riding hours for each brand of
bicycle from 1981 through 1984. Yet, for identically designed
bicycles manufactured since 1985, the number of rider injuries
has been twice as great among riders of Xylos as among riders
of Zenons. Therefore, the agency’s conclusion would have been
different for the period since 1985.
Which of the following is an assumption that, if true,
supports the claim that the agency’s conclusion would have
been different for the period since 1985?
(A) For the period since 1985, the number of riding hours
for Zenons totaled at least half the number of riding hours
for Xylos.
(B) Of all the bicycles ridden in the period since 1985, the
percentage of Xylos ridden was twice the percentage of Zenons
ridden.
(C) Prior to 1985, Zenon owners were more likely than
Xylo owners to report the injuries they sustained while riding
their bicycles.
(D) In 1985 the agency had miscalculated the ratio for
Xylos, or for Zenons, or for both.
(E) Soon after the agency had issued its report, consumer
demand for Xylos increased more rapidly than did consumer
demand for Zenons.
7. People often do not make decisions by using the basic
economic principle of rationally weighing all possibilities and
then making the choice that can be expected to maximize
benefits and minimize harm. Routinely, people process
85
information in ways that are irrational in this sense.
Any of the following, if true, would provide evidence in
support of the assertions above EXCEPT:
(A) People tend to act on new information, independent of
its perceived relative merit, rather than on information they
already have.
(B) People prefer a major risk taken voluntarily to a minor
one that has been forced on them, even if they know that the
voluntarily taken risk is statistically more dangerous
(C) People tend to take up potentially damaging habits
even though they have clear evidence that their own peers
as well as experts disapprove of such behavior.
(D) People avoid situations in which they could become
involved in accidents involving large numbers of people more
than they do situations where single-victim accidents are
possible, even though they realize that an accident is more
likely in the latter situations than in the former.
(E) People usually give more weight to a physician’s opinion
about the best treatment for a disease than they do to the
opinion of a neighbor if they realize that the neighbor is not
an expert in disease treatment.
8. In 1846 about 80 percent of the towns in New York State
banned the sale of alcoholic beverages. A recent article about
the bans concludes that mid nineteenth-century supporters
of the temperance movement were not residents of remote
rural areas, as has often been asserted; rather, they were
concentrated in centers of economic opportunity.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the conclusion
reached in the article?
(A) After 1846 the temperance movement grew rapidly and
it flourished until the turn of the century.
(B) Support for the ban on alcohol was strongest in New
York towns where the economy was based on new, growing
industries.
(C) Many young New York State farmers supported the
ban on alcohol.
(D) The most adamant opponents of the ban included
several affluent factory and mill owners.
(E) In New York City, which was a commercial center in
1846, the sale of alcoholic beverages was not banned.
9. When people predict that a certain result will not take
place unless a certain action is taken, they believe that they
have learned that the prediction is correct when the action is
taken and the result occurs. On reflection, however, it often
becomes clear that the result admits of more than one
interpretation.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the claims
above?
(A) Judging the success of an action requires specifying
the goal of the action.
(B) Judging which action to take after a prediction is made
requires knowing about other actions that have been
successful in similar past situations.
(C) Learning whether a certain predictive strategy is good
requires knowing the result of using that strategy through
several trials.
(D) Distinguishing a correct prediction and effective action
from an incorrect prediction and ineffective action is often
impossible.
(E) Making a successful prediction requires knowing the
facts about the context of that prediction.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
10. Mr. Primm: If hospitals were private enterprises
dependent on profits for their survival, there would be no
teaching hospitals, because of the intrinsically high cost of
running such hospitals.
Ms. Nakia: I disagree. The medical challenges provided
by teaching hospitals attract the very best physicians. This,
in turn, enables those hospitals to concentrate on non-routine
cases.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Ms.
Nakia’s attempt to refute Mr. Primm’s claim?
(A) Doctors at teaching hospitals command high salaries
(B) Sophisticated, non-routine medical care commands a
high price
(C) Existing teaching hospitals derive some revenue from
public subsidies
(D) The patient mortality rate at teaching hospitals is high
(E) The modern trend among physicians is to become highly
specialized

SET 4
1. Recent evidence appears to contradict earlier findings today’s world, physics classes attracted few high school
that suggested that those who are physically fit cope better students. So, to attract students to physics classes, the board
with stressful real-life events. Of a group of healthy women, proposed a curriculum that emphasizes principles of physics
those randomly assigned to a ten-week program of aerobic involved in producing and analyzing visual images.
exercises performed no better in laboratory tests simulating Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason
stressful situations than did the subgroup assigned to a to expect that the proposed curriculum will be successful in
program without exercise. attracting students?
Which of the following, if true, provides evidence for (A) Several of the fundamental principles of physics are
determining whether physical fitness makes one react better involved in producing and analyzing visual images
to stress? (B) Knowledge of physics is becoming increasingly
(A) Superior reaction to laboratory stress situations was important in understanding the technology used in today’s
found to be more prevalent among women than among men. world
(B) Healthy men, after training six months in weight (C) Equipment that a large producer of photographic
lifting, encountered fewer potentially stressful situations in equipment has donated to the high school could be used in
the subsequent six months. the proposed curriculum
(C) Subjects following a regimen during which they (D) The number of students interested in physics today is
perfected their skills in a variety of relaxation techniques much lower than the number of students interested in physics
found that their lives seemed calmer after they began the 50 years ago
regimen. (E) In today’s world the production and analysis of visual
(D) College students with previous high levels of stressful images is of major importance in communications, business,
life events showed a markedly reduced reaction to such events and recreation
after training in aerobics for six months.
(E) Subjects with a high level of self-esteem more often 4. Small-business groups are lobbying to defeat proposed
engaged in physical-fitness regimens than did a control group federal legislation that would substantially raise the federal
of subjects with average levels of self-esteem. minimum wage. This opposition is surprising since the
legislation they oppose would, for the first time, exempt all
2. Defense Department analysts worry that the ability of small businesses from paying any minimum wage.
the United States to wage a prolonged war would be seriously Which of the following, if true, would best explain the
endangered if the machine-tool manufacturing base shrinks opposition of small-business groups of the proposed
further. Before the Defense Department publicly connected legislation?
this security issue with the import quota issue, however, the (A) Under the current federal minimum-wage law, most
machine tool industry raised the national security issue in small businesses are required to pay no less than the
the petition for import quotas. minimum wage to their employees
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an (B) In order to attract workers, small companies must
explanation of the machine-tool industry’s raising the issue match the wages offered by their larger competitors, and these
above regarding national security? competitors would not be exempt under the proposed laws
(A) When the aircraft industries retooled, they provided a (C) The exact number of companies that are currently
large amount of work for tool builders. required to pay no less than the minimum wage but that
(B) The Defense Department is only marginally concerned would be exempt under the proposed laws is unknown
with the effects of foreign competition on the machine-tool (D) Some states have set their own minimum wages - in
industry. some cases, quite a bit above the level of the minimum wage
(C) The machine-tool industry encountered difficulty in mandated by current federal law - for certain key industries
obtaining governmental protection against imports on (E) Service companies make up the majority of small
grounds other than defense. businesses and they generally employ more employees per
(D) A few weapons important for defense consist of parts dollar of revenues than do retail or manufacturing businesses
that do not require extensive machining.
(E) Several federal government programs have been 5. Fact 1: Television advertising is becoming less effective:
designed which will enable domestic machine-tool the proportion of brand names promoted on television that
manufacturing firms to compete successfully with foreign viewers of the advertising can recall is slowly decreasing.
toolmakers. Fact 2: Television viewers recall commercials aired first
or last in a cluster of consecutive commercials far better than
3. The local board of education found that, because the they recall commercials aired somewhere in the middle.
current physics curriculum has little direct relevance to Fact 2 would be most likely to contribute to an explanation
86
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
of fact 1 if which of the following were also true?
(A) The average television viewer currently recalls fewer
than half the brand names promoted in commercials he or
she saw.
(B) The total time allowed to the average cluster of
consecutive television commercials is decreasing.
(C) The average number of hours per day that people spend
watching television is decreasing.
(D) The average number of clusters of consecutive
commercials per hour of television is increasing.
(E) The average number of television commercials in a
cluster of consecutive commercials is increasing.
6. If a physician can be confident in his or her diagnosis of
acute illness, especially when that diagnosis is supported by
repeated contact with the patient during treatment, the
treatment prescribed will be conservative. This is one reason
that treatment for a specific illness usually costs more in
hospital emergency rooms than in the physicians’ private
offices.
All of the following, if true, explain why treatment in an
emergency room costs more than treatment in a physician’s
private office EXCEPT:
(A) The medical equipment in hospital emergency rooms
is more sophisticated than in physicians’ private offices
(B) When patients come to physicians’ private offices, the
state of their illness is usually such that physicians have time
to try one test or medication at a time in order to monitor the
results
(C) The variety of illnesses treated by emergency room
physicians is much smaller than the variety treated by
physicians in their offices
(D) The illness of many patients who apply for emergency
room treatment is so severe that physicians apply several
remedies at once in hope of obtaining immediate results
(E) In emergency rooms a patient is often attended by
nurses, paramedics, and physicians, whereas visits to private
offices rarely involve more than two staff members
7. The garment industry is labor-intensive; the production
of garments requires the employment of a relatively large
number of people. The auto industry is capital-intensive; a
large amount of money is invested in elaborate equipment
run by a relatively small number of people. If fringe benefits
are not considered, a typical United States garment worker
in 1979 earned 46 percent of a typical auto worker’s wages.
Which of the following, if true, is likely to be among the
factors that account for the disparity between auto workers’
and garment workers’ wages?
(A) There is generally less variation among the wages of
garment industry workers than among those of auto industry
workers.
(B) Wage increases in the auto industry have a smaller
effect on manufacturers’ total costs than do wage increases
in the garment industry.
(C) The fringe benefits that auto makers provide for their
employees are more comprehensive than are those provided
for garment workers.
(D) The auto industry faces more competition from
companies outside the United States paying low wages than
does the garment industry.
(E) The auto industry employs a large total number of
workers than does the garment industry.
8. Because incumbent members of Congress are given a
87
great deal of attention by the news media and because they
enjoy such perquisites as free mail privileges and generous
travel allowances, incumbents enjoy an overwhelming
advantage over their challengers in elections for the United
States Congress.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the claim
above?
(A) In the last congressional elections, incumbents met with
a larger number of lobbyists than did challengers.
(B) In the last congressional elections, 98 percent of the
incumbents in the House of Representatives who were seeking
reelection won.
(C) Incumbent members of Congress are frequently critical
of the amount of attention given to them by the news media.
(D) The support that political action committees provide
to challengers for congressional seats often compensates for
the perquisites enjoyed by incumbent members of Congress.
(E) Of all incumbent senators surveyed before the last
congressional elections. 78 percent said that their challengers
did not pose a serious great to their chances for reelection.
9. Instead of relying on general tax revenue, as it now does,
the government should rely more heavily on passenger fares
to finance public bus and train service. In order for public
transportation to be maintained without cutting service, users
should pay all the operating costs even if these costs should
increase. Such charges would be fair since only users benefit
from public transportation.
Which of the following is a principle on which the position
above could be based?
(A) The number of users of a public service should
determine the amount of governmental financial support for
the service.
(B) The amount of public transportation provided should
be dependent on the operating cost of each transportation
service.
(C) If necessary, general taxes should be raised to ensure
that public transportation services are provided.
(D) The government should provide support from general
tax revenue to any transportation industry that has passenger
service available to the public.
(E) General tax revenues should not be used to finance
public services that benefit a limited number of people.
10. When the manufacturer of Voltage, a major soft drink,
changed its secret formula last year, the export earnings of
an island in the Indian Ocean began to fall. This island’s
only export comprises more than half of the world’s supply of
vanilla beans. Analysis concluded that the original formula
of Voltage contained vanilla from beans, but the new formula
did not.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the
conclusion drawn by the analysts?
(A) The vanilla-bean plantings of nearby island were
beginning to produce crops.
(B) A new process for synthesizing vanilla was under
development in a laboratory in the United States.
(C) The island’s trade agreement, under which the vanilla
beans were exported to the country that manufactures
Voltage, had lapsed.
(D) Imports of vanilla beans dropped in countries where
Voltage is made.
(E) There were decreases in sales of several widely sold
products that were known to contain vanilla.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 5
1. Toughened hiring standards have not been the primary television sets per capita have had the lowest incidence of a
cause of the present staffing shortage in public schools. The serious brain disease, mosquito-borne encephalitis. The
shortage of teachers is primarily caused by the fact that, in researchers have concluded that people in these counties stay
recent years, teachers have not experienced any improvement indoors more and thus avoid exposure to the disease.
in working conditions and their salaries have not kept pace The researchers’ conclusion would be most strengthened if
with salaries in other professions. which of the following were true?
Which of the following, if true, would most support the (A) Programs designed to control the size of disease-bearing
claims above? mosquito populations have not affected the incidence of
(A) Many teachers already in the profession would not have mosquito-borne encephalitis
been hired under the new hiring standards. (B) The occupations of county residents affects their risk
(B) Today more teachers are entering the profession with of exposure to mosquito-borne encephalitis more than does
a higher educational level than in the past. television watching
(C) Some teachers have cited higher standards for hiring (C) The incidence of mosquito-borne encephalitis in
as a reason for the current staffing shortage. counties with the largest number of television sets per capita
(D) Many teachers have cited low pay and lack of is likely to decrease even further
professional freedom as reasons for their leaving the (D) The more time people in a county spend outdoors, the
profession. greater their awareness of the dangers of mosquito-borne
(E) Many prospective teachers have cited the new hiring encephalitis
standards as a reason for not entering the profession. (E) The more television sets there are per capita in a county,
the more time the average county resident spends watching
2. “Newborn kittens or monkeys that wear a patch over television
one eye for two weeks after birth never develop normal vision,
even after the patch is removed. There thus appears to be a 5. Verbal patterns in four works known to be written by a
critical early period during which visual experience is certain author were compared to those in a work of uncertain
necessary for normal development of vision.” authorship sometimes attributed to that author. Many
Which of the following, if true, most strengths the argument patterns were studied, including frequency of specific words
above? and recurrence of certain phrases. The questioned work
A. Adult men and women who wear a patch over one eye displayed verbal patterns very similar to those in the other
for two weeks retain normal vision in the unpatched eye. four works, establishing that the same author wrote all five.
B. Newborn animals normally do not have good visual Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the
acuity. conclusion above?
C. Animals two months old are much less affected than (A) No two writers are likely to display similar verbal
are newborns by wearing a patch over one eye for two weeks. patterns in their works.
D. When young children wear dark glasses, they often have (B) Writers from different historical periods sometimes use
difficulty with depth perception. the same words and phrases, but the meanings of such words
E. Some aspects of vision have been proved to be learned, and phrases change over time.
rather than inherited, behavior. (C) Many writers consciously attempt to experiment with
innovative verbal patterns in each new work.
3. Residents of large cities are moving to small towns and (D) A relatively small number of words in any language
small cities in record numbers seeking not only intimacy and occur with great frequency, and those words make up the
peace, but a place where their actions count. They are fed up largest portion of all discourse.
with an ineffectual, unresponsive big government that (E) Word choice is generally considered an insignificant
interferes in their lives and is no longer able to provide the component of an author’s style.
services it has promised.
If one wished to argue that a move to a small town or city 6. For many people in the United States who are concerned
would not solve the problem of the interference of big about the cost of heating homes and businesses, wood has
government, which of the following, if true, would be most become an alternative energy source to coal, oil, and gas.
likely to support that claim? Nevertheless, wood will never supply more than a modest
(A) Most people born in big cities never move away, fraction of our continuing energy needs.
preferring the unique advantages a big city offers Which of the following, if true, does NOT support the claim
(B) The government agencies most often perceived as made in the last sentence in the passage above?
unresponsive are national agencies, whose policies are (A) There are many competing uses for a finite supply of
uniform across the nation wood, and suppliers give the lumber and paper industries a
(C) Over fifty percent of the new arrivals in small townshigher priority than they give individual consumers.
and small cities in the 1970’s were farmers or farm employees (B) Wood produces thick smoke in burning, and its
from rural areas extensive use in densely populated cities would violate federal
(D) Governmental structures in some large cities are moreantipollution guide-lines.
responsive to individual needs than one would imagine (C) There are relatively narrow limits to how far wood can
(E) Long-time residents of small towns believe that the be trucked before it becomes more economical to burn the
image of small-town life as intimate and peaceful is erroneous
gasoline used for transportation instead of the wood.
(D) Most apartment dwellers do not have adequate storage
4. Reviewing historical data, medical researchers in space for the amount of wood necessary to supply energy for
California found that counties with the largest number of heating.
88
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(E) Most commercial users of energy are located within
range of a wood supply, and two-thirds of United States homes
are located outside of metropolitan areas.
7. Car radiators have generally been aluminium, not
copper, since the early 1980’s, when many makers of radiators
retooled their plants to suit aluminum, then cheaper than
copper. This year aluminum prices rose sharply; yet radiators
are unlikely to revert to copper because carmakers have
exploited the much lighter aluminum radiators to design
better-performing cars.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the view that
the author’s prediction about continued use of aluminum in
radiators is correct, but correct for the wrong reason?
(A) For a large segment of the car-buying public, the
purchase price is by far the most important criterion in
choosing a car
(B) Leaving aside the cost of the metal itself, the cost of
making an aluminum radiator exceeds the cost of making a
copper radiator
(C) The great majority of car owners, having once gotten
used to better-performing cars, come to value superior
performance highly
(D) This year’s high aluminum prices reflect a temporary
shortage, and prices are expected to collapse, stabilizing at
levels below those of the early 1980’s
(E) When makers of radiators switched from copper to
cheaper aluminum, radiator prices did not drop, because the
manufacturers needed to recover the cost of retooling their
plants.
8. It is clear from trends in the 1970’s that economic classes
in the United States have been growing farther apart from
one another rather than becoming more nearly equal. The
weekly spendable earnings of private-sector nonsupervisory
workers have declined by ten percent since 1970, and by 1979
had returned to their level of 1964. The claim of equality in
the United States is more and more difficult to sustain.
Which of the following, if true, would best support the
argument of the passage above?
(A) The rate of unemployment fluctuated greatly in the
1970’s
(B) Public-sector workers also suffered a decline in their
SET 6
1. Recently a number of writers have proposed that our
ancestors were influenced by visits from extra-terrestrials
and that these visitors were the builders of such monuments
as the pyramids of Egypt.
Which of the following statements, if true, would constitute
the strongest evidence in support of the proposal described
above?
(A) The level of technology achieved by our ancestors who
designed and built the monuments in question was actually
much higher than it was formerly believed to be
(B) Monuments such as the pyramids of Egypt are very
often positioned so that their prominent design features point
to heavenly bodies
(C) Stories about beings from heaven appear in the
mythologies of cultures that could have had no interchange
with one another
(D) Modern builders cannot conceive of a way to duplicate
the monuments without resorting to the most recent
technological innovations
89
spendable income in the 1970’s
(C) The spendable income of workers declined in the 1950’s
(D) Supervisors and owners maintained the level of their
spendable income in the 1970s
(E) By 1964 there was already a sizable gap between
economic classes in the United States
9. Technological innovation is widely extolled as the way
to guarantee future prosperity. The after-effects of industrial
innovation, however, may be far from benign. Revolutionary
new technologies such as robots may not only eliminate jobs
but also diminish the quality of working life in factories where
robots work closely with people.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest
support for the author’s position?
(A) To be effective, robots require close supervision by
skilled employees
(B) Revolutionary technologies can reduce unemployment
(C) Robots can do jobs that people find enjoyable
(D) Robots relieve people of boring, repetitious work
(E) The quality of the finished work depends on the quality
of the worker
10. The manner in which an artist is paid profoundly affects
the artwork produced. If the artist is supported by the state
or had potential losses underwritten, the temptation to self-
indulgence or waste is strong. If the artist has to please the
public in order to earn an income, the pleasure of the public
will dictate artistic style to the artist.
All of the following, if true, support the argument above
EXCEPT:
(A) Lack of a steady income forces artists to become more
concerned with financial success than with adherence to their
artistic principles
(B) The availability of federal funds encourages artists to
experiment with materials before completely working out an
idea
(C) Once freed from financial worries, an artist evolves a
style in response to concerns other than public approval
(D) Only an artist who has received public recognition and
support can receive federal funds
(E) Artists are like other people because they become self-
indulgent whenever economic circumstances permit
(E) Any extraterrestrial civilization advanced enough to
have interplanetary space travel during the time of our
ancestors could easily find means of communicating with
them
2. Forestry experts are beginning to question the policy of
attempting to extinguish all forest fires instead of allowing
them to run their course. Observations about the results of
forest fires have indicated that their effects may be, in the
long run, beneficial to the overall ecology of the forest.
Which of the following could most logically be one of the
“observations” referred to in the passage above?
(A) More than half of all forest fires are the result of natural
causes such as lightning rather than the result of human
carelessness
(B) More people are killed or seriously injured each year
attempting to fight forest fires than would be killed or injured
if the fires were allowed to burn themselves out
(C) Frequent small forest fires prevent the accumulation
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
of highly flammable dead brushwood and timber, which
can support massive, uncontrollable fires
(D) The animal and plant life destroyed by forest fires
seldom represent endangered species
(E) Study of tree tissues indicates that forest fires were a
regular occurrence in the times preceding human occupation
of forest areas
3. Japanese factory workers are guaranteed life-time jobs,
bonuses paid on the basis of productivity and corporate profits,
and a wage rate that is not attached to a particular job.
Paradoxically, these guarantees do not discourage factory
owners from introducing labor-saving machinery. Such
innovations are to the factory owners’ advantage despite the
fact that the owners must protect the wages of their workers.
Which of the following, if true, logically explains why the
introduction of labor-saving machinery is advantageous to
factory owners?
(A) Before a Japanese factory worker is hired, he or she
must present a record of his or her previous productivity.
(B) Labor-saving machinery increases productivity, thus
yielding profits that more than cover the cost of retraining
workers for other jobs.
(C) The purchase and maintenance of new machinery adds
significantly to the final cost of the goods produced.
(D) Factory workers demand a change of procedure in the
routine tasks they perform.
(E) Limited competition exists among Japanese factories
for consumer markets.
4. The attitude that it is all right to do what harms no one
but oneself is usually accompanied by a disregard for the
actual interdependence of people. Destroying one’s own life
or health means not being available to help family members
or the community; it means, instead, absorbing the limited
resource of the community for food, health services, and
education without contributing fully to the community.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the
view expressed above?
(A) The cost of avoidable accidents and illnesses raises
health insurance rates for everyone.
(B) Harm to one person can result in an indirect benefit,
such as the availability of work in health-related fields, to
others.
(C) Life would be dull if it were necessary to abstain from
all of the minor pleasures that entail some risk of harm to a
person who indulges in them.
(D) The contribution a person makes to the community
cannot be measured by that person’s degree of health.
(E) The primary damage caused by the consumption of
alcohol, tobacco, and unauthorized drugs is done to the person
who uses those substances.
5. The population of elephant seals, reduced by hunting to
perhaps a few dozen animals early in this century, has soared
under federal protection during the last few decades. However,
because the species repopulated itself through extensive
inbreeding, it now exhibits a genetic uniformity that is almost
unparalleled in other species of mammals, and thus it is in
far greater danger of becoming extinct than are most other
species.
Given the information in the passage above, which of the
following is most likely the reason that other species of
mammals are less likely than elephant seals to become extinct?
(A) Other species of mammals have large populations, so
90
the loss of a few members of the species is not significant.
(B) Other species of mammals have increased their
knowledge of dangers through the experience of generation
after generation of animals.
(C) In other species of mammals, hunters can readily
distinguish between males and females or between young
animals and adults.
(D) In other species of mammals, some members of the
species are genetically better equipped to withstand a disease
or event that destroys other members of the species.
(E) Other species of mammals have retained habits of
caution and alertness because they have not been protected
as endangered species.
6. A group of paintings made approximately 15,000 years
ago in a cave in the Loire River valley in what is now France
depicts a number of different animals. One of the animals
depicted seems to resemble the chiru, a rare antelope of the
Himalayas.
Which of the following if true, best supports the hypothesis
that in painting the animal that resembles a chiru, the cave
artist painted a chiru with which she or he was familiar?
(A) There are numerous representations of imaginary
animals in cave paintings of similar age
(B) Fossilized remains of a chiru, approximately 16,000
years old, have been found at the northern end of the valley
(C) The cave that contains the depiction of an animal that
resembles a chiru contains stylized representations of plant
life
(D) Older caves from the same region contain no
representations of animals that resemble a chiru
(E) The antlers of the animal in the painting are longer
than those of the mature Himalayan chiru
7. Color-tinting of movies originally photographed in black-
and-white is inappropriate. Hundreds of the original artistic
choices would have been made differently had these movies
been filmed in color. Lighting on the sets of these movies was
arranged to make highlights and shadows look right in black-
and-white.
Which of the following claims, if substituted for the claim
about the lighting of movie sets, would lend the same type of
support to the argument above?
(A) An important part of what gives these movies their
identity is the result of the black-and-white format.
(B) Color film would have better captured the film-makers’
intentions.
(C) Color film is superior to black-and-white film for
making movies.
(D) Makeup for the actors was applied so as to look best in
black-and-white films.
(E) The choice of black-and-white film over color film is
entirely a matter of taste.
8. In Borkland University, scholarship stipends worth $4.2
million were unclaimed last year because several scholarship
programs attracted no applicants who met the programs’
qualifying criteria. This is an egregious waste of funds in a
country where thousands of promising students each year
cannot afford tuition. Qualifying criteria for those
scholarships, therefore, should be revised.
Which of the following, if true about Borkland, most
strongly supports the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Many scholarships are unclaimed not because their
qualifying criteria are too restrictive but because of the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
scholarships’ availability.
(B) Because of inflation, the stipends offered by certain
scholarship programs now appear less attractive to potential
applicants than they did when they were first offered.
(C) A significant number of scholarship programs awarded
all of their available scholarship stipends last year, yet most
of those programs have very restrictive qualifying criteria.
(D) Certain scholarship programs accept applications only
from students enrolled in specific major fields of study, but
Borkland’s universities no longer offer courses in the fields
specified by many of those programs.
(E) Several scholarship programs have found it impossible
to revise their qualifying criteria without engaging in lengthy
and costly legal proceedings.
9. Approximately 5,000 people who have been convicted of
nonviolent crimes in the state have been given community-
service sentences instead of prison sentences. These offenders
perform services commensurate with their training and skills,
from scrubbing floors to conducting research for the state.
The community service program, which began in 1979, has
grown immensely as a result of drunken-driver legislation
enacted a few months ago.
The introduction of the community-service program in 1979
was most probably prompted by which of the following, all of
which occurred during the 1970’s?
(A) A decrease in the number of violent crimes in the state
91
(B) An increase in the number of crimes committed by
employees of the state
(C) A gradual decrease in the median age of judges in the
state
(D) The overcrowding of prisons in the state
(E) The passage of drunken-driver legislation in other
states
10. Many geologists theorize that the trail of volcanic
craters and cinder cones along the Snake River plain of
southern Idaho was produced as the North American
continent slid westward over a stationary “plume,” a vertical
channel through which molten rock rose intermittently from
the Earth’s core to burst through its crust.
Which of the following, if true, tends to support the
geologists’ theory of how the trail was produced?
(A) The largest craters and cinder cones are on the eastern
margin of the trail.
(B) The most violent volcanic activity apparently occurred
at the western margin of the trail.
(C) The craters and cinder cones are evenly spaced
throughout the extent of the trail.
(D) The newest craters and cinder cones are on the eastern
margin of the trail.
(E) The craters and cinder cones on the western margin
of the trail generally took longer to form than did those on
the eastern margin.
 Chapter 7
'COMPLETION' QUESTIONS
In another type of question that is occasionally asked un-
der Logical Reasoning in LSAT, a phrase or clause at the end
of the last sentence in the given narration is omitted, and
you are asked to spot the best alternative among the choices
that will logically complete that sentence.
We are giving below three such questions along with their
analysis.
Example 1
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being
at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may
underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are
dishonest, because ———.
(A) some dishonest people taking the survey might have
claimed on the survey to be honest
(B) some generally honest people taking the survey might
have claimed on the survey to be dishonest
(C) some people who claimed on the survey to be at least a
little dishonest may be very dishonest
(D) some people who claimed on the survey to be dishonest
may have been answering honestly
(E) some people who are not job applicants are probably
at least a little dishonest
Analysis
The first sentence says that 2/5 of the applicants admitted
that they were at least a little dishonest.
We are asked to spot that choice which is in the nature of
a reason that could lead us to suspect that the proportion of
the dishonest applicants is, in fact, more than 2/5.
This reason must obviously be one that implies that at
least some of the remaining 3/5 of the applicants are also at
least a little dishonest, though they have claimed to be honest.
(In their cases, claiming to be honest would itself be on act of
dishonesty!)
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) and (C) are wrong, because honest people would not
claim to be dishonest, and even if they had wrongly claimed
so, it would reduce and not increase the proportion of really
dishonest people.
(D) would only confirm the proportion of dishonest persons
as 2/5, and would not result in its underestimation.
(E) refers to persons who had not applied for jobs, and
would therefore result in neither underestimation nor
overestimation of the proportion of dishonest persons among
the job-applicants.
Example 2
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Sales campaigns aimed at the faltering personal computer
market have strongly emphasized ease of use, called user-
friendliness. This emphasis is oddly premature and irrelevant
in the eyes of most potential buyers, who are trying to address
the logically prior issue of whether ———.
(A) user-friendliness also implies that owners can service
their own computers
(B) personal computers cost more the more user-friendly
they are
92
(C) currently available models are user-friendly enough
to suit them
(D) the people promoting personal computers use them in
their own homes
(E) they have enough sensible uses for a personal computer
to justify the expense of buying one
Analysis
The clue to this question lies in the word ‘premature’ and
the phrase ‘logically prior issue’.
The emphasis in advertisements promoting the sale of
personal computers is their ‘user-friendliness’.
What is the question that any potential purchaser of any
item will ask himself before deciding to buy it? Whether the
item will be of any sensible use to him so as to justify the
expenditure on its purchase, obviously.
If personal computers cannot be of any sensible use to a
particular person, the mere fact that they are user-friendly is
an irrelevant consideration for him for deciding to purchase
it. It is (E) which points this out, and is the answer.
(A) is not the answer, because ‘servicing’ the computer
comes after purchasing it, and is not a prior issue before the
purchase.
The given paragraph does not relate exclusively to ‘more
user-friendly’ personal computers (and hence the more costly
ones), but to all personal computers (including the less
expensive ones), which are also claimed to be more user-
friendly than other models of currently available computers.
So, (B) is not a logically prior issue.
(C) is not the answer since, even if the currently available
models are user-friendly enough, the claim that personal
computers are more user-friendly can be a logical and
legitimate sales-pitch.
(D) is irrelevant, since noone would decide to buy an item
merely because the person who is marketing it claims that
he uses it himself!
Example 3
It has been argued that the consumer has benefited from
agricultural technology in the United States. Consumers are
spending, on the average, a decreasing proportion of their
income on food. But the demand for food, especially in
prosperous countries, is virtually insensitive to income, so
that as real incomes rise, the amount spent on food becomes
a smaller proportion of expenditure. Therefore, in order to
judge whether consumers have really benefited from
agricultural technology, it is necessary to know whether —
——.
Which of the following is the most logical completion of the
passage above?
(A) incomes will continue to rise
(B) the proportion of income spent on food has declined
more sharply than rises in real income warrant
(C) technological costs constitute a substantial portion of
the cost of food production
(D) the quantity of food produced by American farmers
has increased
(E) consumers will increase the proportion of their income
spent on food as food prices rise
 AAmerican Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Analysis
This is a rather tricky question, which is easy to answer if
you recognize that the first two sentences give a particular
argument, but the third sentence raises a doubt on the validity
of that argument.
The first two sentences together mean that consumers are
today spending a lesser proportion of their earnings on food,
and that this must be because of reduction in the prices of
food articles due to advances of agricultural technology.
The third sentence point out the fallacy in this argument.
It says that, at least in affluent countries, the consumption
of food by a person does not increase with the increase in his
income. (If, for example, a person with an annual income of
$25,000 spends $5,000 on food and his income increase to
$50,000, his consumption of food articles does not show a
corresponding increase. The proportion of expenditure on food
to the total income, which was 20% initially, would come down
to 10% whether or not there has been technological improve-
ment in agriculture. In fact, even if the prices of food articles
increase by 50% during this period, forcing this person to
spend $7500 on food, the proportion of expenditure on food
would be only 15% as against 20% earlier. Therefore, the
mere fact that the proportion of the expenditure on food to
total income has come down does not necessarily mean that
the prices of food items have come down. Therefore, unless it
is shown that the proportion of expenditure on total income
has come down even after adjusting for the growth rate in
total income, we cannot say that the technological develop-
ment in agriculture has benefited the consumer. This is what
is stated in (B), which is the answer.
None of the other choices is relevant to the doubt that has
been raised on the validity of the argument in the first two
sentences.

This type of questions is rather infrequent in LSAT. We are giving 10 questions of this type in the
following pages

93
 AAmerican Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. Which of the following best completes the passage given?
When a project is failing and should be terminated, plan
to bring in a new manager. New managers are more likely to
terminate the project than are the original managers because
———.
(A) the project may have failed for reasons that the original
manager could not have foreseen
(B) organizations tend to reward managers who can
overcome problems
(C) managerial decisions to terminate a project should
depend on the likelihood of the project’s eventual success
(D) the original managers were not necessarily able to
overcome problems caused by external events over which they
had no control
(E) the new managers have no need to justify the earlier
decision to maintain the project
2. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
People buy prestige when they buy a premium product.
They want to be associated with something special. Mass-
marketing techniques and price-reduction strategies should
not be used because ———.
(A) affluent purchasers currently represent a shrinking
portion of the population of all purchasers
(B) continued sales depend directly on the maintenance of
an aura of exclusivity
(C) purchasers of premium products are concerned with
the quality as well as with the price of the products
(D) expansion of the market niche to include a broader
spectrum of consumers will increase profits
(E) manufacturing a premium brand is not necessarily
more costly than manufacturing a standard brand of the same
product
3. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
At a recent conference on environmental threats to the
North Sea, most participating countries favored uniform
controls on the quality of effluents, whether or not specific
environmental damage could be attributed to a particular
source of effluent. What must, of course, be shown, in order
to avoid excessively restrictive controls, is that ———.
(A) any uniform controls that are adopted are likely to be
implemented without delay
(B) any substance to be made subject to controls can
actually cause environmental damage
(C) the countries favoring uniform controls are those
generating the largest quantities of effluents
(D) all of any given pollutant that is to be controlled
actually reaches the North Sea at present
(E) the environmental damage already inflicted on the
North Sea is reversible
4. Which of the following, if true, best completes the
argument below?
In questioning the objectivity of government-owned news
media, critics often observe that such media are usually
financially dependent on the government. The point is that
one cannot take an objective view of one’s patron. However,
the same point applies analogously in the case of privately
owned news media, because privately owned news media —
——.
(A) are likely to have less direct access to sources of news
in government than are government-owned news media
94
(B) provide less secure employment for their journalists
than do government-owned new media
(C) tend to be more prevalent in countries where many
other industries are also privately owned
(D) are likely to be less dependent on a single source of
revenue than are government-owned news media
(E) generally rely on revenue derived from carrying
advertising by large, politically influential corporations
5. George Orwell said that the novelist Henry Miller wrote
the way many ordinary people talked. Like them, Miller
shrugged off the contradictions of life, but he did so with the
piercing clarity that was revolutionary. He saw reality from
the inside. By the time he died at the age of eighty-eight,
however, Miller’s loathing of politics and his celebration of
private passions were widely shared by the middle class. In
the end ———.
Which of the following provides the most logical completion
for the blank above?
(A) Miller’s revolutionary vision became conventional
attitude.
(B) Orwell himself become complaisant.
(C) the contradictions of life had been all but reconciled.
(D) Orwell was wrong.
(E) ordinary people chose to ignore Miller’s piercing vision
of reality.
6. Choose the best completion of the paragraph below:
The Spanish painter El Greco is known for the elongated,
stretched-out forms of the objects and figures he painted.
Because the distortion of the subject matter is consistent
throughout his works, art historians have suggested that El
Greco suffered from astigmatism, a defect of the eye that
produces a distorted, vertically elongated image. This
explanation cannot be valid, however, because if El Greco
had been an astigmatic painter who attempted to capture
his subjects in the same proportions that his eye perceived,
the resulting images on the canvas would appear to ———.
(A) overestimate width relative to height
(B) overestimate height relative to width
(C) alter the shapes of subjects randomly
(D) produce figures that are unrecognizable
(E) reproduce the actual proportions
7. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
The computer industry’s estimate that it loses millions of
dollars when users illegally copy programs without paying
for them is greatly exaggerated. Most of the illegal copying
is done by people with no serious interest in the programs.
Thus, the loss to the industry is much smaller than estimated
because ———.
(A) many users who illegally copy programs never find any
use for them
(B) most of the illegally copied programs would not be
purchased even if purchasing them were the only way to
obtain them
(C) even if the computer industry received all the revenue
it claims to be losing, it would still be experiencing financial
difficulties
(D) the total market value of all illegal copies is low in
comparison to the total revenue of the computer industry
(E) the number of programs frequently copied illegally is
low in comparison to the number available for sale
 AAmerican Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
8. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Established companies concentrate on defending what they
already have. Consequently, they tend not to be innovative
themselves and tend to underestimate the effects of the
innovations of others. The clearest example of this defensive
strategy is the fact that ———.
(A) ballpoint pens and soft-tip markers have eliminated
the traditional market for fountain pens, clearing the way
for the marketing of fountain pens as luxury or prestige items.
(B) a highly successful automobile was introduced by the
same company that had earlier introduced a model that had
been a dismal failure.
(C) a once-successful manufacturer of slide rules reacted
to the introduction of electronic calculators by trying to make
better slide rules.
(D) one of the first models of modern accounting machines,
designed for use in the banking industry, was purchased by a
public library as well as by banks.
(E) the inventor of a commonly used anesthetic did not
intend the product to be used by dentists, who currently
account for almost the entire market for that drug.
9. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
The more worried investors are about losing their money,
the more they will demand a high potential return on their
investment: great risks must be offset by the chance of great
rewards. This principle is the fundamental one in determining
interest rates, and it is illustrated by the fact that ———.
(A) successful investors are distinguished by an ability to
make very risky investments without worrying about their
money.
(B) lenders receive higher interest rates on unsecured loans
than on loans backed by collateral.
95
(C) in times of high inflation, the interest paid to depositors
by banks can actually be below the rate of inflation.
(D) at any one time, a commercial bank will have a single
rate of interest that it will expect all of its individual borrowers
to pay.
(E) the potential return on investment in a new company
is typically lower than the potential return on investment in
a well-established company.
10. Which of the following best completes the passage below?
Cars fueled by methanol have a much lower level of
emissions of pollutants such as carbon monoxide and
environmentally harmful hydrocarbons than gasoline-fueled
cars do. Methanol fuel does produce somewhat higher
formaldehyde emissions than gasoline does. Nevertheless, a
methanol-powered car actually produces less atmospheric
formaldehyde pollution than a comparable gasoline-powered
car because ———.
(A) compared to carbon monoxide and some hydrocarbons
produced by gasoline-powered cars, formaldehyde pollution
is not a serious threat to the environment.
(B) the technical difficulties involved in mass-producing
methanol-powered cars will prevent them from seriously
competing with gasoline-powered cars for several years.
(C) gasoline-powered cars are required by United States
law to be equipped with catalytic converters that reduce
emissions of many pollutants.
(D) measuring a car’s emissions is generally an accurate
method of assessing that car’s contribution to atmospheric
pollution.
(E most formaldehyde pollution generated by gasoline-
powered cars results from the photochemical conversion of
hydrocarbon emissions into formaldehyde in the atmosphere.
 Chapter 8
'EVIDENCE ANALYSIS' QUESTIONS
Another type of questions under Logical Reasoning expects
you to carefully analyse the evidence presented in the narra-
tion and, on that basis, answer the question given below.
There are no standard forms for the 'evidence analysis'
questions, and the wording will depend upon the evidence
presented in the narration.
Let us now see a few examples.
Example 1
The claim that learning computer programming is a sure
way to a bright future is analogous to the contention, popular
a few years ago, that if one wanted a successful career, one
should study law. Now, of course, there are more law students
graduating than the market can absorb.
The point of the analogy above is that
(A) lawyers are making increasing use of computers in
their work
(B) computer programmers will increasingly need the
services of lawyers
(C) there will soon be more jobs for lawyers than there are
now
(D) there will soon be more programming students
graduating than there are jobs for them
(E) graduating law students and programming students
will soon be competing with each other for the same jobs
Analysis
What the author of the passage says that, a few years ago,
the popular view was that, in order to have a successful career,
one should study law. The result is that there are more law
graduates now than the market can absorb.
He compares the currently popular view that learning
computer programming will lead one to a bright career to
this popular view regarding law education a few years ago.
Obviously, what the author implies by the analogy is that
this is likely to lead to the result that, quite soon, there will
be more programming graduates than the market can absorb.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily notice that none of the other choices is
relevant to the analogy sought to be drawn by the author
between the craze for computer education now and a similar
craze for law education a few years back.
Example 2
Recent evidence appears to contradict earlier findings that
suggested that those who are physically fit cope better with
stressful real-life events. Of a group of healthy women, those
randomly assigned to a ten-week program of aerobic exercises
performed no better in laboratory tests simulating stressful
situations than did the subgroup assigned to a program
without exercise.
Which of the following, if true, provides evidence for
determining whether physical fitness makes one react better
to stress?
(A) Superior reaction to laboratory stress situations was
found to be more prevalent among women than among men.
(B) Healthy men, after training six months in weight
lifting, encountered fewer potentially stressful situations in
the subsequent six months.
96
(C) Subjects following a regimen during which they per-
fected their skills in a variety of relaxation techniques found
that their lives seemed calmer after they began the regimen.
(D) College students with previous high levels of stressful
life events showed a markedly reduced reaction to such events
after training in aerobics for six months.
(E) Subjects with a high level of self-esteem more often
engaged in physical-fitness regimens than did a control group
of subjects with average levels of self-esteem.
Analysis
What we have been asked to do is to spot that choice which
can provide evidence for determining whether physical fitness
makes one react better to stress.
We should therefore look for that statement among the
choices which cites an instance of a person’s capacity to face
situations of stress having either increased or decreased after
a period of physical fitness training.
It is (D) which gives such a specific instance, and is the
answer.
(B) also looks like a plausible answer, but is wrong because
it says that the men who underwent a weight-lifting training
program for six-months encountered fewer stressful situations
during a subsequent period. This does not help us to state
whether the weight lifting program improved their capacity
to cope better with a stressful situation when they actually
encountered it.
Example 3
Approximately two hundred brands of personal computers
are being manufactured, but we currently limit our inventory
to only the eight most popular brands. We plan to increase
greatly the number of computers we sell by expanding our
inventory to include the ten best-selling brands.
Which of the following, if true, points out a major weakness
of the plan above?
(A) The capabilities of the three most popular personal
computers tend to be approximately equivalent, with no brand
having consistent superiority in all respects.
(B) The seven most popular brands of personal computers
account for almost all computers sold.
(C) As the users of personal computers become more
sophisticated, they are more willing to buy less well-known
brands of computers.
(D) Less popular brands of computers often provide less
profit to the retailer because prices must be discounted to
attract customers.
(E) The leading brand of personal computer has been losing
sales to less popular brands that offer similar capabilities for
less money.
Analysis
The shop is now stocking and selling the eight most popular
brands of computers. The owner says that, by adding the next
two most popular brands also to his inventory, he hopes to
greatly increase the number of computers sold by him.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
point out a major weakness in this plan.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
adding the additional two lower-ranking brands is not likely
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
to make much difference to the overall sales of the shop.
It is (B) which is the answer because, if it were true, even
the 8th most popular brand already stocked is not contributing
much to the sales of the shop, and therefore the 9th and 10th
most popular brands will add even less to the overall sales
figure of the shop. It will therefore belie the hopes of the owner
that he can thereby ‘greatly increase’ the sales of computers
in his shop. So (B) is the answer.
(A) talks of the first three most popular computers, and
has no nexus to the sale of the 9th and 10th most popular
computers, and can be discarded.
(C) can be ruled out because, if it were true, the shop must
stock the least popular among the 200 brands of computers,
and its adding the 9th and 10th most popular computers will
not greatly add to its sales.
(D) is wrong because the owner’s stated aim is to increase
the number of computers sold by him, and not to increase his
profits.
(E) talks of the most popular brand of personal computer
losing its market to cheaper and less popular brands. If these
preferred brands are already among the next 7 most popular
brands, then the addition of the 9th and 10th most popular
brands to the shop’s inventory will not greatly add to its sales.
So, (E) is not the answer.
Example 4
The major goal of physical education programs in schools
is to help all children become physically fit. But only a small
proportion of children ever participate in team sports.
Moreover, team sports usually do less to encourage fitness in
participants than do physical education programs that focus
directly on aerobic exercise.
The considerations above, if true, could be used most
effectively to argue against
(A) the use of in-school physical education programs to
encourage lifelong fitness habits in students
(B) the participation by young children in community
sports teams
(C) schools’ relying heavily on aerobic exercise programs
to help all children become physically fit
(D) the use of a large part of a school’s physical education
curriculum for team sports
(E) the use of team sports in schools as an occasional
activity for talented athletes
Analysis
Having first said that the major goal of physical education
program in schools is to help all children become physically
fit, the author points out that team sports usually do less to
encourage fitness in participants than other physical
education programs that focus directly on aerobic exercise.
If this contention is valid, one can use it effectively against
the plan of using a major part of a school’s physical education
curriculum for team sports (as against aerobic exercises).So,
(D) is the answer.
You can easily verify that the given information cannot be
used effectively to argue against the statements in any of the
97
other choices.
Example 5
A person who agrees to serve as mediator between two
warring factions at the request of both abandons by so
agreeing the right later to take sides. To take sides at a later
point would be to suggest that the earlier presumptive
impartiality was a sham.
The passage above emphasizes which of the following points
about mediators?
(A) They should try to form no opinions of their own about
any issue that is related to the dispute.
(B) They should not agree to serve unless they are
committed to maintaining a stance of impartiality.
(C) They should not agree to serve unless they are equally
acceptable to all parties to a dispute
(D) They should feel free to take sides in the dispute right
from the start, provided that they make their biases publicly
known.
(E) They should reserve the right to abandon their
impartiality so as not to be open to the charge of having been
deceitful.
Analysis
In the first sentence, the author says that, while agreeing
to act as a mediator between two warring parties, the
mediator voluntarily gives up his right to take sides later. He
buttresses his statement by pointing out that reserving the
right to take sides at a later point would, in fact, mean that
the person was never impartial from the beginning.
We have been asked to spot that choice which can be
considered to be the author’s emphasis about the mediators.
(A) is wrong because the very role of a mediator is to arrive
at an opinion after hearing both sides dispassionately and
weighing all the evidence put forth by them, and give that
opinion as his judgment on the dispute.
(B) says that a person should not agree to serve as a
mediator unless he is committed to maintain his stance of
impartiality (till the end). This is exactly what the author
says in the passage, and is the answer.
The passage relates only to those persons who agree to
serve as mediators between two warring factions at the request
of both parties. (C) refers to situation when a person is not
acceptable as mediator to at least one of the parties, and is
irrelevant to the passage.
(D) is wrong because a person who makes known his bias
in favour of one of the parties to a dispute, will not be invited
by the other party to be a mediator.
(E) is precisely what is objected to by the author of the
passage. In fact, he says that any person who reserves the
right to take sides at a later date could not have been impartial
even in the beginning, and any pretended impartiality by him
would have been deceitful (sham). So, (E) is wrong.
The next two pages contain 10 questions of this type whch
are similar in level of difficulty to those asked in LSAT in the
last few years.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. The people who are most at risk of contracting a
particular type of influenza are those who have never
previously contracted that type of influenza and have never
been vaccinated for it. Cases of type A influenza have been
recently diagnosed again in the United States. Type A
influenza was last found in the United States in 1950.
Which of the following groups of people have the LEAST
risk of contracting type A influenza?
(A) People who were not vaccinated for any type of
influenza in 1950 and did not contract any type of influenza
(B) People who have previously contracted a different type
of influenza, but not type A
(C) People who were vaccinated for a different type of
influenza in 1950, but not for type A
(D) People who had type A influenza in 1950, but were not
vaccinated for it
(E) People born after 1950 who were exposed to different
types of influenza, but who never contracted any type of
influenza
2. Insurance Company X is considering issuing a new policy
to cover services required by elderly people who suffer from
diseases that afflict the elderly. Premiums for the policy must
be low enough to attract customers. Therefore, Company X
is concerned that the income from the policies would not be
sufficient to pay for the claims that would be made.
Which of the following strategies would be most likely to
minimize Company X’s losses on the policies?
(A) Attracting middle-aged customers unlikely to submit
claims for benefits for many years
(B) Insuring only those individuals who did not suffer any
serious diseases as children
(C) Including a greater number of services in the policy
than are included in other policies of lower cost
(D) Insuring only those individuals who were rejected by
other companies for similar policies
(E) Insuring only those individuals who were wealthy
enough to pay for the medical services.
3. Neither a rising standard of living nor balanced trade,
by itself, establishes a country’s ability to compete in the
international marketplace. Both are required simultaneously
since standards of living can rise because of growing trade
deficits and trade can be balanced by means of a decline in a
country’s standard of living.
If the facts stated in the passage above are true, a proper
test of a country’s ability to be competitive is its ability to
(A) balance its trade while its standard of living rises
(B) balance its trade while its standard of living falls
(C) increase trade deficits while its standard of living rises
(D) decrease trade deficits while its standard of living falls
(E) keep its standard of living constant while trade deficits
rise
4. Under laws requiring the use of recyclable containers,
beverages are sold only in containers that can be reused.
Those who object to such laws point out that collecting
reusable bottles requires gasoline, and washing them requires
water. However, it takes less water to wash them than it
does to make throwaway bottles. This saving in water exceeds
the cost of the gasoline needed to transport empty bottles.
The passage above most directly answers which of the
following objections to recyclable beverage containers?
98
(A) Consumers would continue to discard even recyclable
containers
(B) Returning bottles is an inconvenience for consumers
(C) The extra expense of recycling would raise beverage
prices
(D) Recycling would harm the glass and plastic industries
that make containers
(E) Recycling containers is only a partial answer to the
problem of disposal of solid waste
5. In recent years shrimp harvests of commercial fishermen
in the South Atlantic have declined dramatically in total
weight. The decline is due primarily to competition from a
growing number of recreational fishermen, who are able to
net young shrimp in the estuaries where they mature.
Which of the following regulatory actions will most likely
help increase the shrimp harvests of commercial fishermen?
(A) Requiring commercial fishermen to fish in estuaries
(B) Limiting the total number of excursions per season for
commercial fishermen
(C) Requiring recreational fishermen to use large-mesh
nets in their fishing
(D) Putting an upper limit on the size of the shrimp
recreational fishermen are allowed to catch
(E) Allowing recreational fishermen to move out of
estuaries into the South Atlantic
6. Infection is the biggest threat to the life of a burn patient.
The skin, the body’s natural barrier against bacteria, is
damaged or gone in the burned areas. The bacteria that are
a threat are unpredictable in both variety and number.
Moreover, those found affecting any one patient may change
completely from one day to the next. The standard treatment,
therefore, is the administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Considering only the information given about burn patients
in the passage above, which of the following is most likely to
enhance the effectiveness of the standard treatment of a burn
patient?
(A) Keeping the patient in an air-conditioned room until
recovery is assured
(B) Keeping the areas affected by burns as dry as possible
(C) Continuously monitoring the patient’s vital signs with
electronic equipment
(D) Feeding the patient a diet extra rich in calories
(E) Keeping the patient in a maximally sterile environment
7. The cost of producing radios in Country Q is ten present
less than the cost of producing radios in Country Y. Even
after transportation fees and tariff charges are added, it is
still cheaper for a company to import radios from Country Q
to Country Y than to produce radios in Country Y.
The statement above, if true, best supports which of the
following assertions?
(A) Labor costs in Country Q are ten percent below those
in Country Y.
(B) Importing radios from Country Q to Country Y will
eliminate ten percent of the manufacturing jobs in Country
Y.
(C) The tariff on a radio imported from Country Q to
Country Y is less than ten percent of the cost of manufacturing
the radio in Country Y.
(D) The fee for transporting a radio from Country Q to
Country Y is more than ten percent of the cost of
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
manufacturing the radio in Country Q.
(E) It takes ten percent less time to manufacture a radio
in Country Q than it does in Country Y.
8. For over fifty years, the ocean-freight industry worked
to make ocean freighters faster and lower their fuel
consumption. Despite considerable success, the economics of
the industry grew worse, until the industry was almost dead.
What was wrong was an incongruity between assumptions
and realities. The real costs came, not from time spent at
sea, but from time spent in port during loading and unloading.
Which of the following actions would be most likely to lead
to a solution of the problem faced by the ocean-freight industry,
as it is analyzed in the passage?
(A) Developing a ship’s engine that runs on a cheaper type
of fuel than that traditionally used by ocean freighters
(B) Developing a ship with accessible cargo compartments
that can be mechanically loaded and unloaded very rapidly
(C) Developing a ship whose freight capacity relative to
the ship’s total volume is much larger than that of any existing
ship
(D) Implementing a system to ensure that ocean freighters
are loaded to capacity whenever they leave a port
(E) Implementing a marketing plan that focuses on routes
that are known to be least threatened by unfavorable weather,
thus permitting rapid trips and reliable arrival times
9. Company Alpha buys free-travel coupons from people
who are awarded the coupons by Bravo Airlines for flying
frequently on Bravo airplanes. The coupons are sold to people
who pay less for the coupons than they would pay by
purchasing tickets from Bravo. This marketing of coupons
results in lost revenue for Bravo.
99
To discourage the buying and selling of free-travel coupons,
it would be best for Bravo Airlines to restrict the
(A) number of coupons that a person can be awarded in a
particular year
(B) use of the coupons to those who were awarded the
coupons and members of their immediate families
(C) days that the coupons can be used to Monday through
Friday
(D) amount of time that the coupons can be used after
they are issued
(E) number of routes on which travels can use the coupons
10. State X’s income-averaging law allows a portion of one’s
income to be taxed at a lower rate than the rate based on
one’s total taxable income. To use income averaging, the
taxpayer must have earned taxable income for a particular
year that exceeds 140 percent of his or her average taxable
income for the previous three years. People using income
averaging owe less tax for that year than they would without
income averaging.
Which of the following individuals would be most seriously
affected if income averaging were not permitted in computing
the taxes owed for the current year?
(A) Individuals whose income has steadily decreased for
the past three years
(B) Individuals whose income increased by 50 percent four
years ago and has remained the same since then
(C) Individuals whose income has doubled this year after
remaining about the same for five years.
(D) Individuals who had no income this year, but did in
each of the previous three years
(E) Individuals who are retired and whose income has
remained about the same for the past ten years
 Chapter 9
'RELEVANCE' QUESTIONS
Another type of questions you may encounter in Logical
Reasoning will incorporate a conclusion or hypothesis in the
given narration, and give you five statements beneath it. You
will be asked to spot that statement, the examination, study
or investigation of which would be most relevant for evaluat-
ing whether the given conclusion or hypothesis is valid or not.
In a variation of this type of question, the examination,
study or investigation of four of the five choices will be relevant
for such evaluation, and only one will not be so relevant. You
will be asked to spot this choice and choose it as your answer.
Let us now see a few examples:
Example 1
Guitar strings often go “dead” - become less responsive
and less bright in tone - after a few weeks of intense use. A
researcher whose son is a classical guitarist hypothesized
that dirt and oil, rather than changes in the material
properties of the string, were responsible.
Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield
significant information that would help to evaluate the
researcher’s hypothesis?
(A) Determining if a metal alloy is used to make the strings
used by classical guitarists
(B) Determining whether classical guitarists make their
strings go dead faster than do folk guitarists
(C) Determining whether identical lengths of string, of the
same gauge, go dead at different rates when strung on various
brands of guitars
(D) Determining whether a dead string and a new string
produce different qualities of sound
(E) Determining whether smearing various substances on
new guitar strings causes them to go dead
Analysis
The first sentence of the given narration states it as an
observed fact that guitar strings often become less responsive
and less bright in tone after a few weeks of intense use. It
also quotes one researcher as stating that this deterioration
is due to dirt and oil, and not due to changes in the material
properties of the string.
We have been asked to identify the choice which can form
an investigation that will help to evaluate the researcher’s
hypothesis.
We can easily guess that any relevant investigation will
have to involve the use of some foreign substances like dirt
and oil on the strings. For example if, during an investigation,
extreme care is taken to ensure that the strings are always
kept free of any foreign substances, but it is still noticed that
there is progressive deterioration in the quality of the music
produced by the strings, one can say that the researcher’s
hypothesis is wrong, and that the deterioration in quality is
attributable to the material properties of the string alone.
On the other hand, if the deliberate smearing of some dirt
and oil on brand new guitar strings does not result in the
deterioration of the quality of music produced by them, then
also the researcher’s hypothesis can be considered to be wrong.
Conversely, if such deliberate smearing of foreign substances
on brand new guitar strings results in the immediate
deterioration of the quality of the sound produced by them,
then the researcher’s hypothesis would be strengthened.
100
From a quick reading of the choices, we can notice that it
is only (E) which mentions the smearing of foreign substances
on the guitar strings, and is the answer.
None of the other choices is relevant to the hypothesis of
the researcher that dirt and oil, rather than the material
properties of the string, are responsible for the guitar strings
going “dead”.
Example 2
According to a recent survey, marriage is fattening. Cited
as evidence is the survey’s finding that the average woman
gains 23 pounds and the average man gains 18 pounds during
13 years of marriage.
The answer to which of the following questions would be
most relevant in evaluating the reasoning presented in the
survey?
(A) Why was the period of time studied in the survey 13
years, rather than 12 or 14?
(B) Did some of the men surveyed gain less than 18 pounds
during the time they were married?
(C) How much weight is gained or lost in 13 years by single
people of comparable age to those surveyed?
(D) Were the women surveyed as active as the men
surveyed, at the time the survey was made?
(E) Will the reported gains be maintained over the lifetime
of the persons surveyed?
Analysis
From a survey result that the average woman gains 23
pounds and the average man gains 18 pounds during 13 years
of marriage, the author comes to the conclusion that marriage
is fattening.
We have been asked to spot that question among the
choices the answer to which will be most relevant in
evaluating the above reasoning.
The author attributes the gain in weight of individuals
solely to their getting and remaining married for 13 years.
This conclusion will be valid only if it is proved in another
survey that unmarried men and women in the same age group
do not gain weight during a similar period of 13 years. It is
(C) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) is wrong, because the conclusion is not based on the
specific time period of 13 years, and would have been drawn
by the author even if the period covered by the survey was 12
years or 14 years.
Since it is only the average figure that is mentioned, the
given narrative itself implies that some men surveyed gained
less than 18 pounds while some had gained more than 18
pounds, while the average gain remained as 18 pounds. So,
(B) is not an additional information, and is not the answer.
(D) is irrelevant to the argument.
The conclusion that marriage is fattening can be analysed
only on the basis of the weight-gain in the immediate post-
marriage period. There could be many other causes for a
person gaining or losing weight during various other periods
in his entire lifetime. Therefore, whether an immediate post-
marriage gain in weight was maintained over the lifetimes of
the persons surveyed is not relevant to the analysis of the
given conclusion. So, (E) is also wrong.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Example 3
People living in the undeveloped wilderness area want jobs,
and commercial development of the area will create jobs. But
if the new commercial development plan is carried out, the
wilderness will suffer. Thus the Board considering the area’s
future must choose between the preservation of the
wilderness and the wishes of the local people.
The answer to which of the following questions would be
LEAST relevant to evaluating whether the Board indeed faces
the choice the author says it faces?
(A) Could commercial development be carried out under
an alternative plan without damaging the wilderness?
(B) Would commercial development of the wilderness area
significantly benefit people living elsewhere?
(C) Would the jobs created by the new development plan
be filled by the local people?
(D) Do local people support or oppose commercial
development of the wilderness area?
(E) Can jobs be provided without commercial development
of the wilderness area?
Analysis
The author of the paragraph states that the Board that is
considering the future of the area has to choose between (a)
the preservation of its wilderness and (b) wishes of the local
people who want jobs.
We have been asked to identify that choice which is least
relevant to the evaluation whether the Board really faces such
a choice.
If it is possible to carry out commercial development under
an alternative plan without damaging the wilderness, the
Board will not be faced with the problem of choosing between
commercial development and the preservation of wilderness.
So, the answer to the question in (A) is very relevant in
evaluating the author’s statement. So, (A) is not the answer.
The demand for the commercial development of the
wilderness has come from people living in that area who want
jobs. Therefore, the answer to the question whether such
development will be of benefit to people living elsewhere is
least relevant to the author’s statement that the Board faces
a choice between commercial development and preservation
of the wilderness. So, (B) is the answer.
If the jobs created by the commercial development of the
wilderness would require skills that the local people do not
possess, then people from outside will have to be employed in
those jobs, defeating the very purpose for which the
development is attempted. So, the answer to the question in
(C) is very relevant to the author’s statement that the Board
has to choose between the two alternatives. So, (C) is not the
answer.
If local people oppose the commercial development of the
wilderness area, then the Board can easily decide not to
develop it, and thus preserve the wilderness. In this case, the
Board is not faced with the dilemma of having to choose
between two conflicting interests. So, the answer to the
question in (D) is also very relevant to the evaluation of the
author’s statement. So, (D) is not the answer.
The primary demand of the local people is the creation of
jobs for them. If this could be achieved without the commercial
development of the wilderness area, then also the Board will
not face the dilemma of having to choose between two
alternative demands.
So, the answer to the question in (E) is also very relevant
to the evaluation of the author’s statement. So, (E) is not the
answer.
101
Example 4
In order to contain rising energy costs, the plant engineer
of a large factory replaced its old insulation with a new kind
of insulation. The total cost of heating the factory was 18
percent lower the first full month after installation than the
last full month before.
In evaluating the precise heating cost savings, if any, that
can be properly attributed to the new insulation, all of the
following would be important to know both about the last full
month before and about the first full month after installation
EXCEPT the
(A) average daily temperature outside the factory
(B) average daily temperature inside the factory
(C) average amount of fuel used per day
(D) chemical composition of the insulation in use
(E) cost, per gallon, of fuel used in heating the factory
Analysis
The given narrative states that, in the first full month
after the old insulation was replaced by a new kind of
insulation, the total cost of heating the factory was 18% lower
than what had been incurred in the last full month before the
replacement.
The lower energy cost after the replacement could have
been due (i) entirely to the new insulation, or (ii) partly due
to the efficiency of the new insulation and party due to other
factors.
The question states that, out of the five given choices, four
choices mention factors which are relevant to the evaluation
of how much of the difference in energy costs between the
two months was attributable solely to the new insulation,
and how much was attributable partly to other factors also,
and that only one of choice is not a relevant factor for such an
evaluation. We have been asked to spot that choice which is
not a relevant factor.
(Obviously, the factory is located in a cold area and
therefore needs heating in order to maintain the inside
temperature within a range that is comfortable for the
workers. If there is no insulation, the factory will have to
use more energy for maintaining the temperature in this
range, because the cold from outside the factory would
continuously permeate inside.)
The energy costs for heating would obviously be higher
during the peak winter month than during any of the other
months. If the previous full month had been the peak winter
month, there would have been a reduction in the energy cost
in the subsequent month even if the new insulation had not
been there. In this case, the entire 18% reduction in energy
cost cannot be attributed solely to the new installation.
Suppose, on the other hand, the peak winter month had
followed the installation of the new insulation system. The
energy cost during this month should normally have been
higher than the energy cost during the previous month; the
fact that it was 18% lower would imply that the saving in
heat costs attributable to the new installation is even more
than 18%.
Therefore, the average daily temperature outside the
factory during each of the two months is a relevant factor in
evaluating the cost savings that can be attributable solely to
the new system. So, (A) is not the answer.
For a similar reason, the average daily temperature inside
the factory during the two months is also a relevant factor in
such evaluation. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) could be a consequence of (A) and (B), because the
average amount of fuel used per day during these two months
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
could be related to the average outside temperature and/or
the average inside temperature during these periods, and is
therefore a relevant consideration for evaluating the cost
savings attributable solely to the new insulation system. So,
(C) is not the answer.
(D) talks of the chemical composition of the insulations
used in the old and the new systems. While this might have
been a factor in the capital cost of the two systems, it is an
irrelevant factor for calculating the reduction in the recurring
energy cost. So, it is (D) which is an irrelevant factor in
determining how much of the 18% reduction in energy cost
between the two months is attributable to the new insulation
system. So, (D) is the answer.
If the cost of the fuel used in heating the factory had come
down by, say, 5% between the two months, then a part of the
18% savings in energy cost must be attributable to this factor,
and the reduction attributable solely to the new insulation
system would be lower than 18%. If, on the other hand, the
cost of the fuel had increased by 5%, and there was still a
reduction of 18% in the energy cost between the two months,
then the credit to be given to the new insulation system would
be even higher than 18% that was actually achieved. So, (E)
is also a relevant factor in the evaluation. So, (E) is not the
answer.
Example 5
The chemical industry is as deeply concerned with
pollution control as the public is, and has already made
considerable progress toward meeting federal clean air
standards. The industry already employs over 10,000 people
whose sole job it is to operate, maintain and monitor pollution
control programs. At one facility, such a program will
eliminate 75,000 tons of air pollutants per year.
Knowledge of which of the following would be LEAST useful
in evaluating the claims made in the passage above?
(A) Distribution throughout the industry of the employees
who work in pollution control programs
(B) Total emission of the facility from which 75,000 tons of
pollutants are to be eliminated
(C) Percentage of chemical facilities that have instituted
pollution control programs
(D) Number of employees necessary to operate pollution
control programs throughout the chemical industry
We shall now give you one set of 10 questions of this type for your practice.
102
(E) Nature of the pollutants most frequently emitted in
chemical processes
Analysis
The claim made is that ‘chemical industry is as deeply
concerned with pollution control as the public is, and is taking
active steps to eliminate pollution’. The latter two sentences
give particulars in justification of this claim.
The question implies that four out of the five choices are
relevant considerations for evaluating the claim, and the
remaining one is not relevant. We have been asked to identify
this irrelevant choice.
The claim will not be of much validity if, out of 10,000
persons said to be working on anti-pollution programs, the
majority are working in one or two industries only, while a
large number of the remaining industries have no anti-
pollution staff. So, a knowledge of the distribution of the
anti-pollution staff of 10,000 throughout the industry will help
us to evaluate the claim. So, (A) is a relevant consideration,
and is not the answer.
If the total emission from the factory mentioned is, say,
100,000,000 tons, the fact that only 75,000 tons are eliminated
cannot sustain the claim of the chemical industry that it has
taken steps to eliminate pollution. Thus, the knowledge of
the total emission from the factory is also very relevant for
evaluating the industry’s claim.
So, (B) is not the answer.
Depending on whether only 10% or 95% of the chemical
facilities have instituted pollution control programs, we can
either debunk or confirm the claim. Thus, (C) is also a valid
consideration for evaluating the claim, and is not the answer.
If we know that the number of employees required for
antipollution measures throughout the industry is 500,000,
the fact that only 10,000 are presently employed would
invalidate the claim of the industry. Thus (D) is also a relevant
consideration in the evaluation of the industry’s claim.
Therefore, by elimination, (E) must be the answer. Even
logically it is so, since every pollutant has its own
antipollutant device. In the light of the facts mentioned in
the passage. the mere knowledge of the nature of the pollutant
cannot help us in evaluating whether the industry has taken
steps to combat it or not.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. Although custom prosthetic bone replacements produced
through a new computer-aided design process will cost more
than twice as much as ordinary replacements, custom
replacements should still be cost-effective. Not only will
surgery and recovery time be reduced, but custom
replacements should last longer, thereby reducing the need
for further hospital stays.
Which of the following must be studied in order to evaluate
the argument presented above?
(A) The amount of time a patient spends in surgery versus
the amount of time spent recovering from surgery
(B) The amount by which the cost of producing custom
replacements has declined with the introduction of the new
technique for producing them
(C) The degree to which the use of custom replacement is
likely to reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared
with the use of ordinary replacements
(D) The degree to which custom replacements produced
with the new technique are more carefully manufactured than
are ordinary replacements
(E) The amount by which custom replacements produced
with the new technique will drop in cost as the production
procedures become standardized and applicable on a larger
scale
2. Correctly measuring the productivity of service workers
is complex. Consider, for example, postal workers: they are
often said to be more productive if more letters are delivered
per postal worker. But is this really true? What if more letters
are lost or delayed per worker at the same time that more
are delivered?
The objection implied above to the productivity measure
described is based on doubts about the truth of which of the
following statements?
(A) Postal workers are representative of service workers
in general.
(B) The delivery of letters is the primary activity of the
postal service.
(C) Productivity should be described to categories of
workers, not to individuals.
(D) The quality of services rendered can appropriately be
ignored in computing productivity.
(E) The number of letters delivered is relevant to
measuring the productivity of postal workers.
3. The cost of the average computer logic device is falling
at the rate of 25 percent per year, and the cost of the average
computer memory device at the rate of 40 percent per year.
It can be concluded that if these rates of cost decline remain
constant for a period of three years, at the end of that time
the cost of the average computer memory device will have
declined by a greater amount than the cost of the average
computer logic device.
Accurate information about which of the following would
be relevant in evaluating the corrections of the conclusion
above?
(A) The number of logic devices and memory devices
projected to be purchased during the next three years
(B) The actual prices charged for the average computer
logic device and the average computer memory device
(C) The compatibility of different manufacturers’ logic
devices and memory devices
(D) The relative durability of logic devices and memory
103
devices
(E) The average number of logic devices and memory
devices needed for an average computer system
4. The results of a recent poll in the United States indicate
that the public, by 80 percent to 17 percent, opposes relaxation
of existing regulation of air pollution. Furthermore, not a
single major segment of the public wants environmental laws
made less strict. The results of this poll reveal that legislators,
by voting for renewal of the Clean Air Act, will be responsive
to the will of the public without alienating any significant
special-interest groups.
Which of the following pieces of information would be most
useful in evaluating the logic of the argument presented above?
(A) The groups in the population that were defined as major
segments of the public and the groups defined as special-
interest groups
(B) The length of time that current federal environmental
laws have been in effect and the length of time that states
have regulated air pollution.
(C) The probable economic effect of renewal of the Clean
Air Act on those opposed to and those in favor of relaxing
environmental laws.
(D) The people whom the author hopes to influence by
citing the results of the poll
(E) The percentage of those surveyed who choose not to
respond to the questions asked of them
5. The United States is not usually thought of as a nation
of parakeet lovers. Yet in a census of parakeet owners in
selected comparable countries, the United States ranked
second, with eleven parakeet owners per hundred people. The
conclusion can be drawn from this that people in the United
States are more likely to own parakeets than are people in
most other countries.
Knowledge of which of the following would be most useful
in judging the accuracy of the conclusion?
(A) The number of parakeets in the United States
(B) The number of parakeet owners in the United States
(C) The number of parakeet owners per hundred people in
the country that ranked first in the census
(D) The number of parakeet owners in the United States
compared to the numbers of owners of other pet birds in the
United States
(E) The numbers of parakeet owners per hundred people
in the countries not included in the census
6. A recent state survey of human resources found that
the age to which secretarial school graduates are expected to
live is four years in excess of the age to which other graduates
of high school are expected to live. One possible conclusion is
that secretarial school attendance is beneficial to one’s health.
To evaluate the conclusion above, it would be most
important to know the answer to which of the following
questions?
(A) Have the average age of new high school graduates
and the average age of new secretarial school graduates
recently increased?
(B) Do some secretarial school graduates have college
degrees?
(C) Given that women have a greater life expectancy than
men, what are the relative proportions of men and women
among high school and secretarial school graduates?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(D) Given that women have a greater life expectancy than
men, what proportion of all women attend secretarial school?
(E) Has the proportion of high school graduates who attend
secretarial school increased in recent years?
7. The fact that several of the largest senior citizens’
organizations are constituted almost exclusively of middle-
class elderly people has led critics to question the seriousness
of those organisations’ commitment to speaking out on behalf
of the needs of economically disadvantaged elderly people.
Which of the following generalizations, if true, would help
to substantiate the criticism implicit in the statement above?
(A) The ideology of an organization tends to reflect the
traditional political climate of its locale.
(B) The needs of disadvantaged elderly people differ in
some ways from those of other disadvantaged groups within
contemporary society.
(C) Organized groups are better able to publicize their
problems and seek redress than individuals acting alone.
(D) Middle-class elderly people are more likely to join
organizations than are economically disadvantaged elderly
people.
(E) People usually join organizations whose purpose is to
further the economic, political, or social interests of their
members.
8. During the Second World War, about 375,000 civilians
died in the United States and about 408,000 members of the
United States’ armed forces died overseas. On the basis of
those figures, it can be concluded that it was not much more
dangerous to be overseas in the armed forces during the
Second World War than it was to stay at home as a civilian.
Which of the following would reveal most clearly the
absurdity of the conclusion drawn above?
(A) Counting deaths among members of the armed forces
who served in the United States in addition to deaths among
members of the armed forces serving overseas
(B) Expressing the difference between the numbers of
deaths among civilians and members of the armed forces as
a percentage of the total number of deaths
(C) Separating deaths caused by accidents during service
in the armed forces from deaths caused by combat injuries
(D) Comparing death rates per thousand members of each
group rather than comparing total numbers of deaths
104
(E) Comparing deaths caused by accidents in the United
States to deaths caused by combat in the armed forces
9. Leaders of a miners’ union on strike against Coalco are
contemplating additional measures to pressure the company
to accept the union’s contract proposal. The union leaders
are considering as their principal new tactic a consumer
boycott against Gasco gas stations, which are owned by
Energy Incorporated, the same corporation that owns Coalco.
The answer to which of the following questions is LEAST
directly relevant to the union leaders’ consideration of whether
attempting a boycott of Gasco will lead to acceptance of their
contract proposal?
(A) Would revenue losses by Gasco seriously affect Energy
Incorporated?
(B) Can current Gasco customers easily obtain gasoline
elsewhere?
(C) Have other miners’ unions won contracts similar to
the one proposed by this union?
(D) Have other unions that have employed a similar tactic
achieved their goals with it?
(E) Do other corporations that own coal companies also
own gas stations?
10. The company should not be held responsible for failing
to correct the control-panel problem that caused the accident.
Although the problem had been mentioned earlier in a safety
inspector’s report, companies receive hundreds of reports of
such problems, and Industry Standard No. 42 requires action
on these problems only when an accident is foreseeable.
If the second sentence in the paragraph above is factually
correct, the answer to which of the following questions is most
relevant in helping to determine whether or not the company
violated Industry Standard 42 when it failed to correct the
control-panel problem?
(A) Was the accident serious?
(B) Was the control-panel problem of a type that is known
to indicate that an accident is likely?
(C) Since the accident, has the company done a special
safety check on all control panels?
(D) Did the safety inspector mention more than one
problem in the same report?
(E) How long was the control panel in use before the
problem was discovered?
 Chapter 10
'ARGUMENTATION' QUESTIONS
The emphasis in another type of questions under Logical
Reasoning will not be on the content or subject matter of the
narration, but will be on the process of argumentation used in
it for arriving at a particular conclusion.
The question may ask you to identify the choice that
describes the process of argumentation, or the choice that
points out a weakness in the process of argumentation, or the
choice that names the technique used in the argumentation.
Let us see a few examples of this type:
Example 1
In the last few years the federal government has imposed
so many restrictions and conditions on the building of nuclear
power plants that it takes twice as long to build a nuclear
power plant in the United States as it does to build one in
either Europe or Japan. It is no coincidence that, during the
same years, many companies have given up their plans to
build nuclear power plants in the United States. Clearly, the
decisions to abandon nuclear power plant projects in the
United States are a direct consequence of government
restrictions.
The author of the passage above makes her argument by
(A) denying the plausibility of any other point of view
(B) making contradictory assumptions
(C) drawing a generalization from an atypical case
(D) asserting a causal connection
(E) comparing cases that are unrelated to each other
Analysis
The words ‘It is no coincidence’ in the second sentence,
and ‘clearly’ in the last sentence, reveal the author’s assertion
that government restrictions are directly responsible for the
abandonment of nuclear power station projects in the United
States. So, she is asserting a causal connection between two
phenomenon. (D) is what states this, and is the answer.
(You should understand the difference in meanings between
the words ‘casual’ and ‘causal’. ‘Casual’ means ‘not serious’ or
‘informal’. ‘Causal’ means ‘being in the nature of the cause
(for an identified effect)’
The three sentences in the argument are very closely
related, and no other explanation is plausible. The author
does not have to deny the possibility of any other point of view.
So, (A) is not the answer.
The author only states facts, and no assumptions have been
made by him in the argument. So, (B) is also wrong.
The author’s argument is not based on the abandonment
of any particular atomic plant. Since no single case has been
referred to in the passage, (C) is wrong.
Restrictions on nuclear plants, and their construction (or
abandonment) are closely related. So, (E) is also wrong.
Example 2
Advertiser: The revenue that newspapers and magazines
earn by publishing advertisements allows publishers to keep
the prices per copy of their publications much lower than
would otherwise be possible. Therefore, consumers benefit
economically from advertising.
Consumer: But who pays for the advertising that pays for
low-priced newspapers and magazines? We consumers do,
because advertisers pass along advertising costs to us through
105
the higher prices they charge for their products.
Which of the following best describes how the consumer
counters the advertiser’s argument?
(A) By alleging something that, if true, would weaken the
plausibility of the advertiser’s conclusion
(B) By questioning the truth of the purportedly factual
statement on which the advertiser’s conclusion is based
(C) By offering an interpretation of the advertiser’s opening
statement that, if accurate, shows that there is an implicit
contradiction in it
(D) By pointing out that the advertiser’s point of view is
biased
(E) By arguing that the advertiser too narrowly restricts
the discussion to the effects of advertising that are economic
Analysis
The advertiser’s argument is that the consumer really
benefits from advertising, because it is the advertising
revenues that enable newspapers to be sold at a low price to
them.
The consumer’s counter-argument is that, even if the
consumer pays less for the newspaper, this gain is more than
offset by his having to pay more than necessary when he buys
the advertised products, because the manufacturers of these
products add the cost of advertisements also to the prices of
these products.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would best
describe how the consumer counters the advertiser’s
argument.
What the consumer does in his counter-argument is to
allege that the advertisers pass along the advertising costs
to the consumers by charging higher prices for their products.
If this allegation is true, the argument of the advertiser is
thereby weakened.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) is wrong because the consumer does not question the
statement that he pays less for the newspaper because of the
presence of advertisements in it.
(C) is wrong because what the consumer questions is not
the advertiser’s opening statement, but the conclusion that
follows.
(D) is wrong because the consumer does not point out any
bias in the advertiser’s argument.
(E) may be a conclusion that may be drawn from the
consumer’s argument, but is not his argument.
Example 3
The United States imprisons more people, both in absolute
numbers and per capita, than any other civilized Western
society. But it has a higher crime rate than any of them. This
shows that imprisonment contributes to a high incidence of
crime.
Which of the following is the most serious weakness in the
argument above?
(A) It may be confusing cause and effect
(B) It lacks substantiating statistics
(C) It fails to differentiate among various classes of crime
(D) It rests on the assumption that all Western societies
are civilized
(E) It compares phenomena that may not be comparable
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Analysis
It is because there is a higher rate of crime in the US that
there is a higher rate of imprisonment. The cause is the higher
crime rate and the effect is the higher imprisonment rate.
The given passage reverses the cause and its effect, and is
its serious weakness. So, (A) is the answer.
The other four choices are also weaknesses in the passage,
but are not as serious as that of confusing the cause with the
effect and vice versa.
Example 4
In this day and age, The Constitution is a fallible and
incomplete guide to national policy making. Instead of three
branches of government - legislature, executive, and judiciary
- each with its clearly defined sphere of competence and
activity, as the Constitution prescribes, there may be five
branches of government dealing with any particular subject
matter, or seven, or twenty, or only one, with legislative,
executive, and judicial roles mixed and distributed throughout
the national government.
The persuasiveness of the claim made above is most
weakened by its vague use of the phrase
(A) this day and age
(B) fallible and incomplete
(C) guide to national policy-making
(D) branches of government
(E) mixed and distributed
Analysis
The three branches of Government laid down in the
Constitution are well-defined as the Legislature, Executive
and Judiciary. In his new theory, the author advocates ‘five
branches of Government, or seven, or twenty or only one’
without defining what these ‘branches’ could be.
Thus, the vague use of the phrase ‘branches of Government’
is the flaw in the proposal.
So, (D) is the answer.
There is no ambiguity about the other phrases in the
answer choices.
Example 5
“I propose the following strategy for responding to the
rapidly shrinking demand for our line of Rota toys: in each of
the next five years, let us cut production of those toys by ten
percent of the preceding year’s production level, and our
production in year five will be reduced to exactly half of what
it is today”.
Which of the following is a logical error contained in the
proposal above?
(A) The reasons for the decline in the demand for Rota
toys are not analyzed.
(B) The proposal is put forth without an explanation of
why the figure of ten percent was set as a goal.
(C) The proposal is a conservative response in that it treats
the problem of decreasing demand as likely to persist.
(D) The proposal leaves open what is to be done once the
plan for the next five years has been carried out.
(E) The strategy as described above, if carried out, would
You can now answer the questions of this type given in the next few pages by yourself.
106
not result in as large a reduction in production as is pro-
jected.
Analysis
The speaker is proposing a progressive cut in production
level during the next five years at the rate of 10% of the
previous year’s production level in order to reduce the
production to exactly 50% of what it is today.
We have been asked to identify the logical flaw in the above
reasoning..
The flaw is, in fact, in the arithmetic of the reasoning.
If the proposal is implemented and if this year’s production
is 100 units, the next year’s production will be 100 – 10 = 90
units.
The production in the second year from now will be 90 – 9
= 81 units.
The production in the third year from now will be 81 – 8.1
= 72.9, or 73 units.
The production in the fourth year from now will be 73 –
7.3 = 65.7, or 66 units.
The production in the fifth year from now will be 66 – 6.6
= 59.4 units.
Thus, the production in the fifth year will not be 50% of
what it is today, but will be 59.4% of what it is today. So, it is
(E) that describes the logical error in the argument.
The other choices are relevant considerations, but would
not amount to a logical flaw in the argument.
Example 6
Any United States flag manufactured outside the United
States should be banned from importation since some foreign
manufacturers superimpose images on the United States flag
and sell some products with relative impunity. United States
manufacturers, on the other hand, would face penalties for
such violation of the United States flag code.
Which of the following is the best criticism of the argument
above?
(A) The argument reiterates its conclusion instead of
providing a reason for it.
(B) The argument makes an irrelevant distinction between
foreign and United States manufacturers.
(C) The reason given for the ban undermines rather than
supports the conclusion.
(D) The reason given for the ban does not explain why
images superimposed on the United States flag are offensive.
(E) The reason given for the ban applies only to a part of
the group of manufacturers whose flags are included in the
ban, not necessarily to all.
Analysis
For the reason that some foreign manufacturers
superimpose images on the United States flags thereby
violating the US Flag Code, the author argues that any United
States flag manufactured outside the United States (including
those that do not violate the US Flag Code) should be banned
from importation.
The best criticism of this argument is contained in (E),
which is the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. Statement of a United States copper mining company:
Import quotas should be imposed on the less expensive copper
mined outside the country to maintain the price of copper in
this country; otherwise, our companies will not be able to
stay in business.
Response of a United States copper wire manufacturer:
United States wire and cable manufacturers purchase about
70 percent of the copper mined in the United States. If the
copper prices we pay are not at the international level, our
sales will drop, and then the demand for United States copper
will go down.
If the factual information presented by both companies is
accurate, the best assessment of the logical relationship
between the two arguments is that the wire manufacturer’s
argument
(A) is self-serving and irrelevant to the proposal of the
mining company
(B) is circular, presupposing what it seeks to prove about
the proposal of the mining company
(C) shows that the proposal of the mining company would
have a negative effect on the mining company’s own business
(D) fails to give a reason why the proposal of the mining
company should not be put into effect to alleviate the concern
of the mining company for staying in business
(E) establishes that even the mining company’s business
will prosper if the mining company’s proposal is rejected
2. Many pregnant women suffer from vitamin deficiency,
but this is frequently not due to vitamin deficiency in their
diets; most often it is because they have higher requirements
for vitamins than do the rest of the population.
The best criticism of the reasoning in the statement above
is that it
(A) fails to specify the percentage of pregnant women who
suffer from vitamin deficiency
(B) gives insufficient information about why pregnant
women have higher vitamin requirements than do other
groups
(C) fails to employ the same reference group for both uses
of the term “vitamin deficiency”
(D) provides insufficient information about the incidence
of vitamin deficiency in other groups with high vitamin
requirements
(E) uses “higher requirements” in an ambiguous manner
3. Teresa: Manned space flight does not have a future,
since it cannot compete economically with other means of
accomplishing the objectives of space flight
Edward: No mode of human transportation has a better
record of reliability: two accidents in twenty-five years. Thus
manned space flight definitely has a positive future
Which of the following is the best logical evaluation of
Edward’s argument as a response to Teresa’s argument?
(A) It cites evidence, that, if true, tends to disprove the
evidence cited by Teresa in drawing her conclusion
(B) It indicates a logical gap in the support that Teresa
offers for her conclusion
(C) It raises a consideration that outweighs the argument
Teresa makes
(D) It does not meet Teresa’s point because it assumes
that there is no serious impediment to transporting people
into space, but this was the issue raised by Teresa
(E) It fails to respond to Teresa’s argument because it does
107
not address the fundamental issue of whether space activities
should have priority over other claims on the national budget
4. Government employment programs can reduce un-
employment not just by the jobs that they create. Such
programs give rise to new jobs in private business as well.
Each worker in a public mass-transit project, for example,
requires tools and materials, the production of which
stimulates employment in the private industries that produce
them.
The author’s point is made chiefly by
(A) citing a causal relationship
(B) presenting an analogy as fact
(C) presenting an overview
(D) appealing to emotions
(E) posing a question to be answered
5. The once widely held perception of intellectuals as the
clarifiers of fundamental moral issues is no longer valid today.
Intellectuals no longer act as advocates for oppressed groups.
Instead of applying their insights and analyses to the
problems of these groups, they leave the debate to the
politicians.
The logical structure of the passage above depends upon
the author’s closely linking the clarification of fundamental
moral issues with
(A) intellectualism
(B) advocacy on behalf of oppressed groups
(C) insight and analysis
(D) debate on contemporary practical issues
(E) the role of politicians
6. Some would have you believe that the economic
problems of Western Europe have been caused by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (IPEC) oil
cartel. This is nonsense. After all, Great Britain is not
dependent on OPEC oil and yet Great Britain suffers from
the same economic problems that afflict France and West
Germany.
The author’s point is made primarily by
(A) offering Great Britain as a counterexample
(B) analyzing the economic difficulties of France and West
Germany
(C) pointing out a misconception in reasoning
(D) proposing an alternative explanation
(E) drawing an analogy between France and West
Germany
7. Dear Editor: Jones’ new book has the potential to destroy
reputations of persons who have held high governmental
responsibility during national crises. However, readers
should dismiss Jones’s criticisms. Jones’s antigovernment
attitude is well known, and his criticisms will convince only
those like himself, persons who have never had real
responsibility and never will, and hence are not qualified to
judge.
The argument above includes which of the following
questionable techniques?
(A) It employs the term “responsibility” in more than one
sense.
(B) It assumes that attacking the source of a claim is
sufficient to disprove the claim.
(C) It assumes that the majority of people share Jones’s
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
attitude of opposition to government policies.
(D) It appeals to a person of unreliable authority as a
supporter of its position.
(E) It confuses cause and effect.
8. Contrary to the assumption that modern technology
allows us to improve on nature, it is clear that any major
technologically induced changes in a natural system are likely
to be detrimental to that system. If you were to open the
back of your watch, close your eyes, and poke a pencil into
the exposed works, the almost certain result would be damage
to the watch. Living organisms too, when subjected to
technological alteration, will almost certainly be damaged
rather than improved.
The argument above is developed by
(A) citing a consensus of opinion about technology among
informed observers
(B) projecting the effects of change in a natural system
from observation of a representative case
(C) drawing an analogy between a natural system and a
mechanical device
(D) analyzing a natural system in terms of its constituent
parts
(E) examining the results of technological innovations of
the past
9. Some ecologists predict that a global heat wave will
result from our increasing use of fossil fuels. They point out
that the consumption of these fuels produces carbon dioxide,
which locks solar heat into the atmosphere through the
“greenhouse effect,” If there is a general increase in the
temperature of the atmosphere in the next decades, we will
be able to conclude that the ecologists’ prediction was correct.
The most serious weakness of the argument above is that
SET 2
1. A program of steady, moderate aerobic exercise coupled
with a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol has been
associated with reduced risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Therefore, noone who exercises regularly and eats only foods
that are low in saturated fats and cholesterol will have a
heart attack or stroke.
Of the following, the best criticism of the argument above
is that the argument does not
(A) take into account the possibility of heart attacks and
strokes that occur regardless of diet and level of exercise
(B) take into account all the possible physiological effects
of saturated fats and cholesterol
(C) specify whether foods high in saturated fats also
contain cholesterol
(D) indicate whether an increased risk of heart attacks
and strokes is due more to poor diet or more to lack of exercise
(E) differentiate between the causes of heart attacks and
the causes of strokes
2. Around 1850 there were about 800 farms in Otsego
county. By the 1950’s the number of farms had dropped to
around 400. By 1988 there were only 81 farms in operation.
Therefore, the amount of land in the county that is devoted
to farming has dropped by about 90 percent in the past 140
years.
A major flaw in the argument above is that it
(A) counts the number of farms only approximately
(B) fails to say whether the use now being made of the
108
the author
(A) does not adequately link carbon dioxide to the use of
fossil fuels
(B) associates a general increase in the temperature of
the atmosphere with a global heat wave
(C) assumes that an increase in atmospheric temperature
can be caused only by an increased use of fossil fuels
(D) fails to define the greenhouse effect and its relation to
the production of carbon dioxide gases
(E) gives no evidence that our use of fossil fuels has
increased
10. Asserting that newspapers should reflect the needs of
their readers, a group of newspaper publishers conducted a
survey to determine how readers felt newspapers could be
improved. The readers made two recommendations:
newspapers should emphasize events closer to the readers’
lives and should feature articles about the reporters. If we
take the publishers and their survey seriously, readers will
be asked which events in their own lives they wish to read
about, and these articles, overlaid with autobiographical
vignettes, will be produced by the reporters. In this closed
world, writers and readers will hold forth in an uninterrupted
one-to-one dialogue from which events of the larger world -
what used to be called news - are shut out.
The author’s response to the survey is flawed because the
author
(A) fails to consider alternative explanations of the data
(B) fails to define what he means by the term “news”
(C) considers only one of the recommendations made by
the survey respondents
(D) misinterprets the intention of the survey respondents’
recommendations
(E) assumes that newspapers do not need to be improved
land previously devoted to farming is income-producing
(C) ignores the possibility that the average size of farms
has changed
(D) gives data for only 3 of the past 140 years
(E) does not take into account the type of product or crop
each farm yields
3. Miko: Academic products developed at a university are
properly considered the results of ‘work for hire’ and really
belong to the institution. Therefore the university should own
the copyright for any computer software developed by its
faculty
Kofi: But a copyright policy this restrictive can impede a
university’s primary mission of generating and disseminating
knowledge
Kofi’s response has which of the following relationships to
Miko’s argument?
(A) Kofi contradicts Miko’s evidence.
(B) Kofi points out a hidden assumption required by Miko’s
argument.
(C) Kofi points out a problematic consequence of accepting
Miko’s argument.
(D) Kofi shows that Miko’s reasoning is circular.
(E) Kofi shows that Miko forms a generalization from an
atypical case.
4. X: When a rare but serious industrial accident occurs,
people respond by believing that such accidents are becoming
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
more frequent. This belief is irrational. After all, being dealt
four aces in a hand of poker, a rare event, hardly increases
one’s chances of being dealt four aces in a future hand.
Y: To the contrary, the belief is rational because it results
in people’s sensing a danger to themselves not previously
sensed and taking precautionary actions to prevent similar
accidents in the future.
Y’s attempt to counter X’s claim is best described by which
of the following?
(A) It questions the aptness of the analogy drawn by X.
(B) It makes apparent X’s failure to consider how people
vary in their responses to a serious accident.
(C) It shifts the basis for judging rationality to
considerations of utility.
(D) It offers an alternative explanation of why people form
incorrect beliefs.
(E) It challenges X’s assumption that the occurrence of a
single event is sufficient to change a belief.
5. The burden of taxation on the back of a people is not
unlike the burden of a weight on the back of a horse. Just as
a small burden badly placed may distress a horse that could
carry with ease a much larger burden properly adjusted, so a
people may be impoverished and their power of producing
wealth destroyed by taxation that, if levied another way, could
be borne with ease.
The author’s point is made by
(A) pointing out an ambiguity
(B) refuting a supposed counterexample
(C) generalizing from a particular case
(D) using an analogy
(E) appealing to an authority

109
 Chapter 10
'PARADOX' QUESTIONS
In yet another type of questions asked under Logical Rea-
soning in LSAT, the given narration will contain two sets of
related information which, prima facie, appear to be incon-
sistent with each other, or paradoxical.
Five statements will be given underneath the narration,
among which only one, if true, would imply that the two sets
of information are not inconsistent with each other, but there
is a rational explanation for the apparent inconsistency.
The questions of this type will be worded as:
Which of the following, if true, helps explain the apparent
paradox in the statement above?
Which of the following, if true, would be most useful to an
attempt to explain the paradox described above?
Which of the following, if true, would explain the
discrepancy described above?
Which of the following, if true, resolves the apparent
contradiction presented in the passage above?
Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the seeming
discrepancy described above?
Let us now see a number of examples of this type:
Example 1
Currently, the number of first-time admissions of
individuals diagnosed as manic-depressives to hospitals in
Great Britain exceeds by nine times the number of admissions
of such patients to public and private hospitals in the United
States, even though the population size of the United States
is many times that of Great Britain.
Which of the following, if true, would be most useful to an
attempt to explain the paradox described above?
(A) The term ‘manic-depressive’ refers to a wider range of
mentally ill patients in Great Britain than it does in the
United States.
(B) The admission rate in the United States includes those
individuals who visit clinics for the first time as well as those
who are admitted directly to hospitals.
(C) A small percentage of patients diagnosed as manic-
depressive in Great Britain are admitted to private nursing
homes rather than hospitals
(D) The variety of training institutions in psychology in
the United States is greater than in Great Britain, reflecting
the variety of schools of psychology that have developed in
the United States.
(E) Seeking professional assistance for mental health
problems no longer carries a social stigma in the United
States, as it once did.
Analysis
If (A) is true, it implies that many more types of mental
illnesses come under the umbrella definition of ‘manic
depression’ in Great Britain than in USA.
This could logically explain why those diagnosed as having
‘mental depression’ in Great Britain are many times more
than those in USA, where these same persons would have
been classified as suffering from diseases other than ‘mental
depression’.
So, (A) is the answer.
The other choices do not logically explain the paradoxical
situation pointed out in the passage.
110
Example 2
Despite the fact that the health-inspection procedures for
catering establishments are more stringent than those for
ordinary restaurants, more of the cases of food poisoning
reported to the city health department were brought on by
banquets served by catering services than were brought on
by restaurant meals.
Which of the following, if true, helps explain the apparent
paradox in the statement above?
(A) A significantly larger number of people eat in
restaurants than attend catered banquets in any given time
period.
(B) Catering establishments know how many people they
expect to serve, and therefore are less likely than restaurants
to have, and serve, leftover food, a major source of food
poisoning.
(C) Many restaurants provide catering services for
banquets in addition to serving individual meals.
(D) The number of reported food-poisoning cases at catered
banquets is unrelated to whether the meal is served on the
caterer’s or the client’s premises.
(E) People are unlikely to make a connection between a
meal they have eaten and a subsequent illness unless the
illness strikes a group who are in communication with one
another.
Analysis
The paradox pointed out is that, even though health-
inspection procedures for catering establishments are more
stringent than those for ordinary restaurants, more cases of
food poisoning are reported to the city health department by
those served in banquets by catering services than by those
who had eaten restaurant meals.
Those attending banquets are likely to belong to a
homogeneous group who are in touch with each other. So, if a
number of persons who had attended a banquet develop
symptoms of food poisoning the next morning, and they are
in communication with each other, they would attribute their
common illness to the food that they had eaten at the banquet,
and make complaints to the health authorities on that basis.
On the other hand, those who take food in a restaurant
are usually strangers to one another. Therefore, even if a much
larger number of persons eating in a restaurant on a particular
day develop symptoms of food poisoning the next morning,
each of them is not likely to attribute it solely to the food
that he had taken in the restaurant, but to some other
unknown cause. So, they are not likely to make complaints
against the restaurant to the health authorities.
It is (E) which states this as a resolution of the paradox in
the narrative, and is the answer.
Example 3
A milepost on the towpath read “21” on the side facing the
hiker as she approached it and “23” on its back. She reasoned
that the next milepost forward on the path would indicate
that she was halfway between one end of the path and the
other. However, the milepost one mile further on read “20”
facing her and “24” behind.
Which of the following, if true, would explain the
discrepancy described above?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) The numbers of the next milepost had been reversed.
(B) The numbers on the mileposts indicate kilometers, not
miles.
(C) The facing numbers indicate miles to the end of the
path, not miles from the beginning.
(D) A milepost was missing between the two which the
hiker encountered.
(E) The mileposts had originally been put in place for the
use of mountain bikers, not for hikers.
Analysis
(Unlike milestones on highways which show the distance
yet to be covered to reach a destination, milestones on towpaths
(or hiking tracks) sometimes show the distance that one has
already travelled.)
If the milestone read 21 on the side facing the hiker as she
approached it, and 23 on its back, it means that the distance
between the two places connected by the path was 44 miles.
If the milestones had been marked so as to show the distance
already covered by the hiker (as she presumed), the next
milestone that she met with, when she proceeded in the same
direction, should have shown 22 on the side facing her, and
22 on its reverse side, and this was what she had expected.
If, however, the next milestone showed 20 on the side facing
her and 24 on the reverse side, it implies that the facing
number indicated the distance yet to be covered to reach the
111
end of the path, and not the distance already covered from the
start. It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
The numbers on the second milepost were 20 on the side
facing her and 24 on its back. If they had been reversed as
stated in (A), it would mean that, if they had been correctly
written, the number facing the hiker would have been 24.
This implies that the numbers facing her on two consecutive
milestones in the same direction would have been 21 and 24.
This is absurd. So, (A) is not the answer.
The last sentence of the given information says that the
first milepost read 21, and the milepost “one mile further on”
read 20. Assuming that the first milepost really meant 21
kilometers and not 21 miles, the next milepost must have
been one kilometer ahead, and not one mile ahead as given.
So, (B) is not the answer.
If a milepost had been missing between the two that the
hiker encountered {as stated in (D)}, the next milepost must
have read 23 on the side facing her and 21 on the reverse
side, and not 20 and 24 as was the case. So, (D) is not the
answer.
(E) by itself does not explain the given discrepancy, unless
it had stated that mileposts in the paths of mountain bikers
always showed the distance yet to be covered, while those in
the paths of hikers always showed the distance already
covered.
So, (E) is not the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. In October 1987 the United States stock market suffered
a major drop in prices. During the weeks after the drop, the
volume of stocks traded also dropped sharply to well below
what had been the weekly average for the preceding year.
However, the volume for the entire year was not appreciably
different from the preceding year’s volume.
Which of the following, if true, resolves the apparent
contradiction presented in the passage above?
(A) Foreign investors usually buy United States stocks only
when prices are low.
(B) The number of stock buyers in 1987 remained about
the same as it had been the preceding year.
(C) For some portion of 1987, the volume of stocks traded
was higher than the average for that year.
(D) The greater the volume of stocks traded in a given
year, the lower the average price per share on the United
States stock market for that year.
(E) The volume of stocks traded rises and falls in
predictable cycles.
2. Because the process of freezing food consumes energy,
many people keep their electric freezers half-empty, using
them only to store commercially frozen foods. Yet freezers
that are half-empty often consume more energy than they
would if they were kept fully stocked.
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an
explanation of the apparent discrepancy described above?
(A) A given volume of air in a freezer requires much more
energy to be maintained at a temperature below freezing than
does an identical volume of frozen food.
(B) The more often a freezer’s door is opened, the more
energy is required to maintain that freezer’s normal
temperature.
(C) When unfrozen foods are placed in a freezer, the
average temperature of a given volume of air inside that
freezer rises temporarily.
(D) A person who normally maintains a half-empty freezer
can cut energy costs considerably by using a freezer that is
50 percent smaller.
(E) An electric freezer can operate efficiently only if chilled
air is free to circulate within the freezing compartment.
3. In 1960, 10 percent of every dollar paid in automobile
insurance claims went to pay costs arising from injuries
incurred in car accidents. In 1990, 50 percent of every dollar
paid in automobile insurance claims went toward such costs,
despite the fact that cars were much safer in 1990 than in
1960.
Which of the following, if true, best explains the discrepancy
outlined above?
(A) There were fewer accidents in 1990 than in 1960.
(B) On average, people drove more slowly in 1990 than in
1960
(C) Cars grew increasingly more expensive to repair over
the period in question
(D) The price of insurance increased more rapidly than
the rate of inflation between 1960 and 1990
(E) Health-care costs rose sharply between 1960 and 1990
4. Some communities in Florida are populated almost
exclusively by retired people and contain few, if any, families
with small children. Yet these communities are home to
thriving businesses specializing in the rental of furniture for
112
infants and small children.
Which of the following, if true, best reconciles the seeming
discrepancy described above?
(A) The businesses specializing in the rental of children’s
furniture buy their furniture from distributors outside of
Florida.
(B) The few children who do reside in these communities
all know each other and often make overnight visits to one
another’s houses.
(C) Many residents of these communities who move
frequently prefer renting their furniture to buying it outright.
(D) Many residents of these communities must provide
for the needs of visiting grandchildren several weeks a year.
(E) Children’s furniture available for rental is of the same
quality as that available for sale in the stores.
5. Two suits of battle armor worn by King Henry VIII were
discovered, one from the beginning of his reign in 1510 and
the other from 1540. Although both suits of armor were made
for Henry VIII, the 1540 suit of armor was 40 pounds heavier
than the 1510 suit of armor.
Which of the following, if true, contributes LEAST to an
explanation of the discrepancy described above?
(A) Henry, although slim at the beginning of his reign,
developed a bulky figure because of massive weight gain.
(B) During his reign, Henry increased his arsenal of
weapons because, despite his popularity in 1510, the English
populace was becoming disenchanted with his rule by 1540.
(C) Although the style of armor was plain and severe in
the beginning of Henry’s reign, he started the fashion of
decorating armor with heavy and elaborate metal pieces
because of his love for ornamentation.
(D) Henry ascended the throne while still an adolescent
and grew three inches during his first five years as king.
(E) Because of the improved design of battle weaponry
during the 1530’s, armor was given a multi-layered design
so that the sharper and stronger weapons could not pierce it.
6. Passenger boardings on airlines almost doubled between
1977 and 1987; yet the actual number of trips made by
passengers increased by only 40 percent over the same period.
The reason for this discrepancy is that at least two boardings
are counted when a passenger must take more than one flight
to get to the final destination of his or her trip.
Which of the following, if true, best helps explain why the
increase in boardings exceeded the increase in the number of
airline passenger trips between 1977 and 1987?
(A) Between 1977 and 1987, the number of airports
handling flights by major airlines increased significantly.
(B) Between 1977 and 1987, the number of airlines
decreased significantly.
(C) Between 1977 and 1987, the proportion of passenger
flights requiring passengers to change planes en route to their
final destinations increased significantly.
(D) The proportion of business travelers using airlines
increased significantly between 1977 and 1987 relative to
the proportion of pleasure travelers.
(E) The average seating capacity of passenger aircraft
increased significantly between 1977 and 1987.
7. I. From 1975 to 1985, the yearly level of polychlorinated
biphenyls, or PCBs, to which the average person is exposed
decreased significantly.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
II. From 1975 to 1985, the incidence of disease caused by
PCB exposure doubled from previous levels, which were
already high. This was true even for the group of people whose
exposure was average for each year during that period.
Which of the following, if true, would best resolve the
apparent contradiction between Statement I and Statement
II above?
(A) The diseases caused by PCB’s are not very severe.
(B) PCB’s are not easily destroyed by environmental forces.
(C) From 1965 to 1975, the average level of exposure to
PCB’s also decreased.
(D) Between 1985 and the present, the average level of
exposure to PCB’s increased to pre-1975 levels.
(E) The time between the period of exposure to PCB’s and
the onset of diseases caused by such exposure is often longer
than 10 years.
8. During the day in Lake Constance, the zooplankton
D.hyalina departs for the depths where food is scarce and
the water cold. The zooplankton D. galeata remains near the
warm surface where food is abundant. Even though D. galeata
grows and reproduces much faster, its population is often
outnumbered by D.hyalina.
Which of the following, if true, would help resolve the
apparent paradox presented above?
(A) The number of species of zooplankton living at the
bottom of the lake is twice that of species living at the surface.
(B) Predators of zooplankton, such as whitefish and perch,
live and feed near the surface of the lake during the day.
(C) In order to make the most of scarce food resources,
D.hyaline matures more slowly than D.galeata.
(D) D.galeata clusters under vegetaion during the hottest
part of the day to avoid the sun’s rays.
(E) D.galeata produces twice as many offspring per
individual in any given time period of time as does D.hyalina.
9. It is a general rule of economics that, as the price of an
item rises, demand for that item falls and that when the price
falls, demand rises. Yet in the United States in 1980, after
the price of canned soup rose, demand for canned soup also
rose.
113
Which of the following, if true about the period when prices
for canned soup were rising, best resolves the discrepancy
described above?
(A) Because retail prices fell for both meat and vegetables,
the major ingredients of most canned soups, canned soup
became more expensive than foods that could be prepared at
home with these ingredients.
(B) Dehydrated soup gained in sales at the expense of
canned soup.
(C) Because the retail prices of other foodstuffs rose faster
than the price of canned soup, canned soup became cheaper
relative to other foodstuffs.
(D) Because the retail prices and demand for most other
foodstuffs remained stable, demand for them decreased
relative to demand for canned soup.
(E) Consumers became increasingly concerned about the
adverse effects of the high salt content in many varieties of
canned soups.
10. During the last twenty years, eleven percent of those
people who received certification to practice in a particular
profession were women, and all those people who received
certification during those years obtained full-time positions.
Nevertheless, only five percent of the full-time positions in
this profession are currently held by women.
Which of the following, if true, could explain the difference
in the percentages mentioned in the passage above?
(A) It was easier to obtain certification twenty years ago
than it is currently.
(B) The majority of those currently in the profession were
hired more than twenty years ago, when virtually everyone
in the profession was male.
(C) The women certified in the last twenty years have
tended to choose different specialties within the profession
than the men have tended to choose.
(D) Male and female members of the profession have been
paid according to equal pay scales for all of the past twenty
years.
(E) Although women currently hold five percent of the full-
time positions in the profession, they hold only two percent
of the supervisory positions.
 Chapter 12
'ANALOGY' QUESTIONS
In another, but less often asked, type of questions in
Critical Reasoning, the given narration and the five choices
underneath will deal with totally different subjects or
phenomenon.
But one statement among the five choices will incorporate
an argument (or a flaw) which is similar in logical structure
to the one in the given narration, and you will be asked to
spot this choice as your answer.
Let us see two examples of this type:
Example 1
It is true that it is against international law to sell
plutonium to countries that do not yet have nuclear weapons.
But if United States companies do not do so, companies in
other countries will.
Which of the following is most like the argument above in
its logical structure?
(A) It is true that it is against the police department’s
policy to negotiate with kidnappers. But if the police want to
prevent loss of life, they must negotiate in some areas.
(B) It is true that it is illegal to refuse to register for
military service. But there is a long tradition in the United
States of conscientious objection to serving in the armed
forces.
(C) It is true that it is illegal for a government official to
participate in a transaction in which there is an apparent
conflict of interest. But if the facts are examined carefully, it
will clearly be seen that there was no actual conflict of interest
in the defendant’s case.
(D) It is true that it is against the law to burglarize
people’s homes. But someone else certainly would have
burglarized that house if the defendant had not done so first.
(E) It is true that company policy forbids supervisors to
fire employees without two written warnings. But there have
been many supervisors who have disobeyed this policy.
Analysis
The structure of the given narrative is: If X (namely US
companies) did not commit an illegal act, Y (namely a
company in some other country) was likely to commit that
act and get the benefit out of it.
We must therefore look for that choice which has a similar
logical structure.
(D) says, “If the defendant had not committed the illegal
act of burglary in that house, someone else would have done
so first. This has the same logical structure as the given
narrative, and is the answer
(A) talks of the role of the police in both the cases of
‘negotiating’ and of ‘not negotiating' with the kidnappers. It
does not say that, if the police do not negotiate, someone else
You can now try the questions that follow by yourself.
114
will negotiate with the kidnappers. Moreover, negotiating with
the kidnappers is not, by itself, an illegal act. So, (A) does not
have the same logical structure as the given narrative, and is
not the answer.
(B) also does not say that if one particular person does
not refuse to register for military service, someone else will
refuse. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) means that no illegal act was in fact involved in the
case discussed. Moreover, it does not follow the pattern “If X
does not do it, Y will do it”. So, (C) is not the answer.
(E) says that it is quite habitual for many supervisors to
disobey a rule. But it is not of the form, “If one supervisor
had not disobeyed the rule, some other supervisor would have
disobeyed it”, and is not the answer.
Example 2
Jet fighters have recently been equipped with electronic
improvements enabling the pilot to shoot down an enemy
plane while still out of eight. There is, however, the following
problem: there is no sure way of determining whether a plane
that is out of sight is friend or foe.
Which of the following products suffers from a drawback
that, in its logical features, is most like the problem described
above?
(A) A fire alarm systemwith such a high heat and smoke
threshold that it is likely to react too late to a developing fire
(B) An improved electronic ignition system whose
superiority is limited to those rare times when it is perfectly
adjusted
(C) A product marketed as a weed killer that kills all
plants to which it is applied before they resume active growth
in the spring
(D) A jar lid designed to be childproof that children have
little difficulty removing
(E) A cold medicine that relieves most symptoms of the
common cold but also causes spells of dizziness
Analysis
The given narration implies that new electronic
instruments in the jet fighters which are intended to destroy
enemy planes may kill friendly planes also.
The nearest analogy to this statement is weed killers
(which are meant to destroy weeds) killing useful plants also.
So, (C) is the answer.
(Before spring, both useful plants and weeds would be
leafless, and it would be difficult to distinguish between them,
just as it is difficult to distinguish between friendly and enemy
planes when they are out of sight.)
You can easily see that none of the other choices is
analogous to the situation mentioned in the given passage.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
1. Continuous indoor fluorescent light benefits the health
of hamsters with inherited heart disease. A group of them
exposed to continuous fluorescent light survived twenty-five
percent longer than a similar group exposed instead to equal
periods of indoor fluorescent light and of darkness.
The method of the research described above is most likely
to be applicable in addressing which of the following
questions?
(A) Can industrial workers who need to see their work do
so better by sunlight or by fluorescent light?
(B) Can hospital lighting be improved to promote the
recovery of patients?
(C) How do deep-sea fish survive in total darkness?
(D) What are the inherited illnesses to which hamsters
are subject?
(E) Are there plants that require specific periods of
darkness in order to bloom?
2. Since 1978 when the copyright law was changed, books
that are less than fifty years old must not be photocopied
without the publisher’s permission. Thus, any book that has
been photocopied since 1978 without the publisher’s
permission must be at least fifty years old.
The reasoning above exhibits a flaw similar to one in which
of the following?
(A) Any member of the solar system must be either a planet
or a moon; so if an asteroid is neither a planet nor a moon, it
must not be a member of the solar system
(B) Anyone who rides a city bus must buy a bus pass, and
since Demetrious has a bus pass, he must be riding on a city
bus
(C) A driver who turns right must signal, so any driver
who did not signal must not have turned right
(D) Anyone who legally crosses a national boundary must
have a passport; thus anyone who does not have a passport
cannot legally cross a national boundary.
(E) Any wage earner residing in the state must pay state
taxes, so since Blodwen pays state taxes, she must be resident
in the state.
3. The widespread development of industrial robots is
contributing to unemployment; therefore, ‘intelligent’
machines are dangerous.
The argument above is most like which of the following?
(A) Mussolini was an evil man; therefore, he became a
fascist.
(B) Eating bacon is harmful to health; therefore, fatty foods
115
are unsafe.
(C) Some judges are dishonest because they take bribes.
(D) Whales are in danger of becoming extinct; therefore,
we should not trade with countries that allow whales to be
hunted.
(E) Birds are dangerous because they all spread disease.
4. It is sometimes held that computer scientists would
make better progress in developing sophisticated artificial-
intelligence programs if only they knew more about how
human beings think. This view is, however, open to the
objection that not a single major step forward in airplane
design has come from any insights into the nature of bird
flight.
The objection above draws on an analogy that assumes that
artificial-intelligence programs are similar to which of the
following?
(A) Theories of human thought
(B) Blueprints for airplanes
(C) Hypotheses about how science achieves progress
(D) Computer simulations of birds in flight
(E) Research into the nature of bird flight
5. It often happens that some crisis or opportunity induces
people to find a practical use for things that originally had
no serious purpose. As an example of this principle, consider
the dolls and mannequins, programmed to move and built
for the delight of the wealthy in the eighteenth century, which
were fore-runners of the modern computer. Likewise, it is
almost certain that the first domesticated animals were pets.
Domesticating of animals seems to have arisen as an
amusement long before it had practical application.
Which of the following, if true, provides another example
in support of the principle mentioned above?
(A) The discovery of America was a by-product of the search
for ginger, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon.
(B) Children’s games often imitate adult work.
(C) The spyglass was simply a source of diversion until its
commercial and scientific potential was recognized, and its
power of magnification suitably improved.
(D) In certain cultures horses are used exclusively for
pleasure, and never for work, even though in those cultures
people are forced to work arduously in the absence of laboring
animals.
(E) The persons who constructed moving the dolls and the
mannequins in the eighteenth century were also accomplished
clockmakers.
 Chapter 13
'MULTIPLE' QUESTIONS
In all the examples that we saw so far, there was only a
single question asked under a single narration.
Occasionally, two questions are asked under a single nar-
ration, and you are asked to answer both of them using the
information given in that narration.
Each of these two questions will fall under one of the 11
categories that we have discussed elaborately so far.
While answering the two questions, you should remember
that each is independent of the other, and you should not use
the information in one for the evaluation or answering of the
other.
Let us now see a few examples of this type.
Questions 1-2 are based on the following passage
The creativity involved in the invention of modern tools is
far greater than that involved in the development of early
hand tools. To deny this is to underestimate contemporary
intellect.
1. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the claim
presented in the first sentence of the passage above?
(A) Early hand tools were discovered accidentally, rather
than developed by imaginative application of knowledge
(B) The steam engine in its most sophisticated and power-
ful form could not be produced until the technology to pro-
duce iron was discovered
(C) Necessity often prompts the creative invention of a tool
to meet the needs of a particular job
(D) Modern technology has produced new variations of tools
that are more attractive but less durable than the tools they
replace
(E) The technological needs of contemporary culture are
more varied and complex than those of the past
2. The second sentence in the passage above is based on
which of the following assumptions?
(A) The greater complexity of electronic and computer-
based technology requires greater intellect than does a tech-
nology based on hand tools and simple machines
(B) A civilization’s creativity in designing new tools is an
index of that civilization’s intellect
(C) Modern tools meet the requirement of a given job more
successfully than do early hand tools
(D) The creative prowess of a civilization may be reflected
in achievements other than advances over the technology of
previous generations
(E) Each age and civilization expresses its intellect through
inventions appropriate to the particular demands of that age
Analysis
1. (This is a ‘strengthens’ question.) The author is compar-
ing the creativity of inventors of modern tools with the crea-
tivity of developers of ancient hand tools, and expresses the
opinion that the invention of the modern tools calls for greater
creativity.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would most
strengthen the claim of the author.
(A), which states that the development of early hand tools
was accidental and did not involve any creativity at all, will
most strengthen the argument of the author that the inven-
116
tion of modern tools needs greater creativity.
(B) talks of two modern inventions (namely the steam en-
gine and technology of production of iron) and does not com-
pare them with ancient tools, and is not the answer.
(C) is a general statement applicable to all inventions, and
does not either strengthen or weaken the claim that invention
of modern tools requires more creativity than was involved in
the invention of ancient hand tools. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) weakens the author’s claim and is not the answer.
(E) gives an argument why modern inventions need more
creativity than ancient ones, but does not assert that this need
is fulfilled. So, (E) is not a better choice than (A).
2. (This is an ‘assumption’ question.) The author’s argu-
ment is that ‘if we deny that the creativity involved in in-
venting or designing tools is greater than the creativity in-
volved in the designing of ancient tools, we would be underes-
timating contemporary intellect.’
Obviously, the author is assuming that the strength of the
intellect of a population during a particular period can be
measured by its capacity to invent new tools.
(B) is what brings this out and is the answer.
Questions 3-4 are based on the following passage
The recent change in the Quarterly’s book-review format
is shortsighted and self-defeating. By adding a new column
‘For the Serious Reader’ opposite the usual column ‘For Your
Reading Enjoyment’, the editors think they will stimulate
their audience’s interest in serious literature and thus in-
crease the audience’s ability to distinguish significant cul-
tural trends from passing fads and diversions. This is not
the case. The titles of the two columns suggest that serious
literature is not enjoyable reading, a suggestion that will al-
ienate the Quarterly’s readers from such literature. Thus,
the audience will be less interested in serious literature and
less able to distinguish cultural trends from passing fads.
The editors of the Quarterly should leave well enough alone.
3. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the author’s
argument that the new book-review format will alienate read-
ers?
(A) Only fifty percent of the subscribers to the Quarterly
read the book reviews
(B) After the change in format, the Quarterly received nu-
merous letters from readers who complained that a certain
book reviewed in one column should have been reviewed in
the other
(C) The columnist hired to write the Quarterly’s new col-
umn is a nationally respected literary critic
(D) Studies have established that the Quarterly suffered
no decline in readership after the change in format
(E) In a survey taken after the change in format, most
Quarterly readers were interested in reading more than half
of the books that had been reviewed in the new column
4. The author of the passage above assumes that the Quar-
terly’s readers will draw which of the following conclusions
from the editor’s change of the book-review format?
(A) The editors are attempting to stimulate the market for
their magazine
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(B) Books reviewed in ‘For the Serious Reader’ will tend
not to be enjoyable reading
(C) A reader of serious literature has more discriminating
tastes than other readers
(D) Other sections of the magazine will be changed in the
near future
(E) A reader can enjoy serious literature as well as popu-
lar literature
Analysis
3. (This is a ‘weakens’ question.) The ‘alienation’ that the
author talks of is not from ‘the Quarterly magazine’, but from
‘serious literature’.
The author’s argument is that, by naming the new column
as ‘For the Serious Reader’, reviewing serious literature in
that column and printing it opposite the regular column ‘For
your Reading Enjoyment’, the readers of the magazine will
be forced to think that ‘serious literature is not for enjoyment’,
and that they will therefore refrain from reading the books
reviewed in the new column.
(E) says that, in an actual survey conducted after the in-
troduction of the new column, most of the readers of the maga-
zine said they were interested in reading more than half of
the serious books reviewed in the new column. If this is true,
it will weaken the author’s argument. So, (E) is the answer.
4. (This is an ‘assumption’ question.) The statement in the
passage, “The titles of the two columns (namely ‘For the Seri-
ous Reader’ and ‘For Your Reading Enjoyment’) suggest that
serious literature is not for enjoyable reading, a suggestion
that will alienate the Quarterly’s readers from such litera-
ture” implies that the author thinks that the readers will
draw the conclusion that books reviewed in the column ‘For
the Serious Reader’ will not be enjoyable reading.
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
Questions 5-6 are based on the following passage
“On the whole’, Ms. Dennis remarked, “engineering stu-
dents are lazier now than they used to be. I know because
fewer and fewer of my students regularly do the work they
are assigned.”
5. The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) Engineering students are working less because, in a
booming market, they are spending more and more time in-
vestigating different job opportunities.
(B) Whether or not students do the work they are assigned
is a good indication of how lazy they are.
(C) Engineering students should work harder than stu-
dents in less demanding fields.
(D) Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms.
Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was.
(E) Laziness is something most people do not outgrow.
6. Which of the following identifies a flaw in Ms. Dennis’
reasoning?
(A) Plenty of people besides engineering students do not
work as hard as they should.
(B) Ms. Dennis does not consider the excuses her students
may have for being lazy.
(C) The argument does not propose any constructive solu-
tions to the problem it identifies.
(D) The argument assumes that Ms. Dennis’ students are
representative of engineering students in general.
117
(E) Ms. Dennis does not seem sympathetic to the problems
of her students.
Analysis
(This is an ‘assumption’ question.) It is obvious that Ms.
Dennis has been a teacher of engineering students for a long
time. According to her, her past students used to do their home
assignments promptly, but her present students are irregular
in doing such assignments. From this experience, she comes
to the conclusion that the present day engineering students
are lazier than the earlier ones.
Obviously, her assumption is that laziness of students can
be measured by their promptness in doing home assignments.
(B) states this, and is the answer.
The other choices are completely off the mark, and are not
relevant to the premise and the conclusion in the passage.
6. (This is an ‘argumentation’ question.) This question asks
us to identify a flaw (or defect) in the reasoning of Ms. Dennis.
She compares her present day students with her past stu-
dents, and comes to the general conclusion that ‘present day
engineering students are lazier’. She obviously assumes that
her students are representative of all engineering students of
today. This assumption may not be correct, and constitutes a
flaw in her reasoning. So, (D) is the answer.
None of the other choices constitutes a flaw in her reason-
ing.
Questions 7-8 are based on the following passage
No botanist lives long enough to study the complete life
cycle of an individual California redwood tree. Nevertheless,
by observing many trees at different stages, botanists can
piece together the evolution of a single tree. Exactly the same
principle applies in astronomy to the study of the life story of
globular clusters, huge spherical aggregations of about a mil-
lion stars all swarming about each other.
7. Which of the following is an assumption made in the
passage above?
(A) The methods of scientists in one field generally carry
over to other fields even if the subject matter is vastly differ-
ent.
(B) Observations of the life cycle of a single individual have
little value in scientific studies.
(C) Globular clusters at different stages of development
are accessible to astronomers for observation and study.
(D) There are globular clusters that have not so far been
detected by astronomers.
(E) Redwoods and globular clusters must both be studied
intensively now, while they still exist in sufficient numbers.
8. Which of the following studies is most similar, in terms of
both the problem posed by the time dimension and the method
of coping with that problem, to the studies of botanists and
astronomers alluded to in the passage above?
(A) A study of the annual growth cycle of the sugar maple
whose method is to analyze many different individual trees
in an effort to derive a composite picture
(B) A study analyzing the progression of lakes from their
formation to their end as peat bogs whose method is to exam-
ine lakes at many different stages of this progression
(C) A study charting developments in automotive engineer-
ing whose method is to contrast comparable models from
many different years
(D) A study of the impact of computers on industrial soci-
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
ety whose method is to monitor the degree of computeriza-
tion by calculating several significant indices every three
years
(E) A study of an extinct creature’s skeletal development
whose method is to compare the extant skeletons of individu-
als that died at different ages
Analysis
7. (This is an ‘assumption’ question.) The California red-
wood tree lives for a few centuries. The first two sentences
state that, though no botanist lives long enough to study the
complete life cycle of a single tree, scientists can piece together
the evolution of a single tree by observing many redwood trees
which are at different stages of growth.
The author then says that, in a similar manner, astrono-
mers can also study the life story of globular clusters (whose
life cycle spans millions of years).
We have been asked to spot the assumption that is being
made by the author in coming to the above conclusion.
If all the redwood trees that can be observed at a particu-
lar time by the botanists are of the same age, the botanists
will obviously not be able to reconstruct the life cycle of a
single tree by observing many of them. It is only the existence
at any given time of a large number of redwood trees of differ-
ent ages and different stages of growth that makes it possible
for botanists to piece together the life cycle of a single tree.
If this analogy is valid for the exercise of the astronomers
studying globular clusters, the obvious assumption is that
globular clusters of different ages and at different stages of
development, are presently available to the astronomers for
observation and study. It is (C) which states this, and is the
answer.
The only two fields of study mentioned in the passage are
botany and astronomy. The existence of one commonalty be-
tween the methods of research in these two fields need not be
based on the assumption that methods in one field generally
carry over to other fields. (For example, even between bota-
nists and astronomers, the former use the microscope for their
studies, while the latter use the telescope.) So, (A) is not the
answer.
(B) is wrong because, in the case of living organisms with
short life spans, such as a rabbit, even the observation of the
life cycle of a single individual can give valuable scientific
information about the full life cycle of the species in general.
(D) may be a factual statement, but does not form a neces-
sary assumption by the author for drawing his conclusion in
the passage.
Since redwoods can continue to be planted and preserved,
and since globular clusters have life spans of millions of years,
the statement in (E) that both of them will cease to exist in
sufficient numbers in the foreseeable future is inconceivable.
So, (E) is not an assumption in the passage.
8. (This is an ‘analogy’ question.) This question asks us to
identify that choice which is similar to the study of life sto-
ries of the redwood tree and globular clusters, in terms of
both the problem posed by the time dimension and the method
of coping with that problem.
We should therefore look for that choice which also involves
an evolution that is much longer than about 75 years (which
is the normal life span of a single scientist), and for which
specimens at different stages of development are available at
any given time.
(B) talks of the analysis of the progression of lakes from
the time of their initial formation (probably as small ponds),
118
their development and growth over a period of centuries, and
their final siltation till they end up as peat bogs. (A peat bog
is a hollow marshy ground that is wet but does not hold much
of water because it had got silted up over centuries.)
Since water spreads of various stages of growth are avail-
able on the globe at any one time, this choice satisfies both
the criteria mentioned in the question, and is the answer.
(A) is not the answer, because it talks of the annual growth
cycle of the sugar maple plant, which can be easily studied by
a single botanist many times over in his own lifetime.
(C) is wrong, because the development of automobiles has
taken place only during the last 50 years and is well docu-
mented, and a single individual can charter their evolution
with this documented information.
(D) also can be done by a single scientist in his lifetime
using documented information.
(E) appears to be the answer, but is wrong; while the method
of study here is analogous to the cases of redwood trees and
globular clusters, the problem is not caused by the limited
life span of the scientist. In fact, the extinct creature’s skel-
etal development can be fully studied by a scientist in the
course of just a few years, if all the samples of individuals
who died at different ages are made available to him. (Ex-
tinct means dead; extant means available)
Questions 9-10 are based on the following passage
The facts show that the fear of flying in airplanes is not
rational. In 1986 alone, there were 46,000 fatalities in high-
way accidents, but from 1980 to the present an average of
only 77 per year died in accidents on major domestic airlines.
The rate for regional airlines was only slightly higher.
9. If the evidence cited above is accurate, which of the fol-
lowing would be most important to know in order to evaluate
the force of that evidence?
(A) Whether repeated airplane travel allays fear of flying
in airplanes
(B) Whether regional and domestic airlines spend the same
average amount of time per aircraft on maintenance
(C) How many people reported a fear of flying in airplanes
that was strong enough to prevent them from travelling by
air
(D) How many people per year have travelled by highway
and how many by air since 1980
(E) How much higher the accident rate has been for re-
gional airlines than for major domestic airlines since 1980
10. Which of the following, if true, would argue most strongly
against the conclusion above?
(A) Since the inventory of spare parts kept at each airport
is smaller than in earlier years, planes are often delayed at
an airport while parts are flown in from another airport, and
then repairs are carefully made and checked.
(B) Air fatalities from 1980 to the present have been con-
centrated in the last two years, with the rate rising sharply.
(C) The number of reports of near collisions in midair in
1986 was less than half those in a typical year of the 1960’s,
even with double the traffic of the 1960’s.
(D) Many reported near collisions in midair are closer than
regulations allow but are nevertheless without actual dan-
ger.
(E) Between 1980 and 1986, safety improvements in the
design of automobiles steadily improved their
crashworthiness.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Analysis
9. (This is an ‘evidence analysis’ question.) From the fact
that there were 46,000 deaths in road accidents in 1986, but
the average number of deaths every year in air accidents on
major domestic airlines has been only 77 (and only slightly
more in regional airlines), the author draws the conclusion
that the fear of flying in airplanes is not rational.
He implies that, on the basis of the evaluation of this evi-
dence, one should be more afraid of travelling by road than of
travelling by air.
We have been asked to identify the choice which seeks in-
formation which would be most important for evaluating the
force of the evidence presented by the author in drawing this
conclusion.
Since (A) is not relevant to the relative safety levels be-
tween air travel and road travel, it is not the answer.
The author himself states that the accident rate in regional
airlines is slightly higher than in major airlines. (B) refers to
the relative levels of efficiency of maintenance of aircraft by
regional and domestic airlines, and does not refer to the acci-
dent rates in road accidents at all. So, the answer to (B) is not
a relevant information for evaluating the evidence presented
by the author.
(C) also does not refer to travel by road, and is not the an-
swer.
The given information is that the annual number of fa-
talities in airline accidents (77) is only about 1/600 of the
number of fatalities (46,000) in road accidents. So, if the
number of travellers by highway is more than 600 times the
number of travellers by airlines, the number of fatalities per
thousand of air passengers would be more than the number
of fatalities per thousand of highway passengers. In this case,
the fear of flying in airplanes can be considered to be valid
and rational.
On the other hand, if the number of travellers by highway
is less than 600 times the number of travellers by airlines,
the number of fatalities per thousand of air passengers would
You can now attempt a number of similar questions.
119
be less than the number of fatalities per thousand of highway
passengers, and highway travel can be considered to be more
risky than air travel. In this case, the fear of flying in airplanes
can be considered to be not rational.
So, the answer to the question in (D) is most relevant for
evaluating the evidence presented by the author. So, (D) is
the answer.
(E) also does not talk of passengers by highways, and is
not the answer.
10. (This is also an ‘evidence analysis’ question.) This ques-
tion is also based on the same passage as the last one, but
does not relate to the evidence presented in the passage but
to the conclusion in it, namely, “that fear of flying in airplanes
is not rational”.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would most
strongly argue against this conclusion.
We should therefore try to locate the choice which implies
that there is justification for the fear of flying in airplanes.
(A) implies that airlines take ample precautions for the
safety of air travel, even at the cost of punctuality. If this is
true, it makes flying in airplanes quite safe, and does not jus-
tify the fear of flying. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) implies that the average number of fatalities in air
accidents in the last two years is much higher than 77 per
year, and that this figure is even rising sharply. If this is true,
it argues strongly against the conclusion in the passage that
fear of flying in airplanes is not rational. So, (B) is the an-
swer.
(C) implies that airlines travel is safer today than in the
1960’s. So, (C) supports, and does not contradict, the conclu-
sion arrived at in the passage. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) also implies that airlines travel is not risky, and is not
the answer.
(E) talks about automobiles and not about air travel, and
is not relevant to the conclusion arrived at in the passage.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
SET 1
Questions 1-2 are based on the following
Meteorologists say that if only they could design an
accurate mathematical model of the atmosphere with all its
complexities, they could forecast the weather with real
precision. But this is an idle boast, immune to any evaluation,
for any inadequate weather forecast would obviously be
blamed on imperfections in the model.
1. Which of the following, if true, could best be used as a
basis for arguing against the author’s position that the
meteorologist’s claim cannot be evaluated?
(A) Certain unusual configurations of data can serve as
the basis for precise weather forecasts even though the exact
caus al mechanisms are not understood
(B) Most significant gains in the accuracy of the relevant
mathematical models are accompanied by clear gains in the
precision of weather forecasts
(C) Mathematical models of the meteorological aftermath
of such catastrophic events as volcanic eruptions are
beginning to be constructed
(D) Modern weather forecasts for as much as a full day
ahead are broadly correct about 80 percent of the time
(E) Meteorologists readily concede that the accurate
mathematical model they are talking about is not now in their
power to construct
2. Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious
doubt on the meteorologists’ boast, aside from the doubt
expressed in the passage above?
(A) The amount of energy that the Earth receives from the
Sun is monitored closely and is known not to be constant
(B) Volcanic eruptions, the combustion of fossil fuels, and
several other processes that also cannot be quantified with
any accuracy are known to have a significant and continuing
impact on the constitution of the atmosphere
(C) As current models of the atmosphere are improved,
even small increments in complexity will mean large increases
in the number of computers required for the representation
of the models
(D) Frequent and accurate data about the atmosphere
collected at a large number of points both on and above the
ground are prerequisite for the construction of a good model
of the atmosphere
(E) With existing models of the atmosphere, large scale
weather patterns can be predicted with greater accuracy than
can relatively local weather patterns
Questions 3-4 are based on the following
Now is an excellent time to invest in the catering business.
A survey conducted by Weddings magazine found that 70
percent of the magazine’s readers want a catered wedding
reception. An analysis of the catering industry, however,
shows that the current number of caterers can serve only 55
percent of the weddings likely to occur each year.
3. Which of the following, if true, reveals a weakness in
the evidence cited above?
(A) Catering is a highly labor-intensive business.
(B) Caterers are not evenly distributed across the country.
(C) The number of weddings with catered receptions has
been growing each year for the past five years.
(D) Readers of Weddings magazine are more likely than
most people to want a catered reception.
120
(E) Weddings magazine includeså both articles about
catered receptions and articles about preparing food oneself
for one’s wedding reception.
4. Which of the following, if true, would undermine the
validity of the investment advice in the paragraph above?
(A) The average wedding reception involves between 50
and 100 guests.
(B) Approximately a quarter of all weddings take place
without a reception.
(C) Approximately a quarter of all weddings and their
associated receptions are paid for by the couples themselves.
(D) Only half of all catered wedding receptions include sit-
down meals.
(E) Only half of those who say they want a catered wedding
reception actually have one.
Questions 5-6 are based on the following
Blood banks will shortly start to screen all donors for
NANB hepatitis. Although the new screening tests are
estimated to disqualify upto 5 percent of all prospective blood
donors, they will still miss two-thirds of donors carrying
NANB hepatitis. Therefore, about 10 percent of actual donors
will still supply NANB-contaminated blood.
5. The argument above depends on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Donors carrying NANB hepatitis do not, in a large
percentage of cases, carry other infections for which reliable
screening tests are routinely performed
(B) Donors carrying NANB hepatitis do not, in a large
percentage of cases, develop the disease themselves at any
point
(C) The estimate of the number of donors who would be
disqualified by tests for NANB hepatitis is an underestimate
(D) The incidence of NANB hepatitis is lower among the
potential blood donors than it is in the population at large
(E) The donors who will still supply NANB-contaminated
blood will donate blood at the average frequency for all donors
6. Which of the following inferences about the consequences
of instituting the new tests is best supported by the passage
above?
(A) The incidence of new cases of NANB hepatitis is likely
to go up by 10 percent
(B) Donations made by patients specifically for their own
use are likely to become less frequent
(C) The demand for blood from blood banks is likely to
fluctuate more strongly
(D) The blood supplies available from blood banks are likely
to go down
(E) The number of prospective first-time donors is likely
to go up by 5 percent
Questions 7-8 are based on the following
Record companies defend their substitution of laser-read
compact discs (CD’s) for the much less expensive traditional
long-paying vinyl records in their catalogs by claiming that
the audio market is ruled by consumer demand for ever-
improved sound reproduction rather than by record
manufacturer’s profit-motivated marketing decisions. But
this claim cannot be true, because if it were true, then digital
audio tape, which produces even better sound than CD’s,
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
would be commercially available from these same record
companies, but it is not.
7. Which of the following, if true, best explains how the
record companies’ claim about the nature of the audio-
reproduction market could be true and digital audio tape
nevertheless be unavailable for the commercial market?
(A) Most consumers prefer audio tape to long-playing
records or CD’s because of the tape’s durability and
compactness.
(B) Prototypes of digital audio tape have been used to make
master tapes of some performances in recording studios.
(C) The manufacturing technology that underlies the
commercial production of CD’s requires equipment very
similar to that needed for commercial production of digital
audio tape.
(D) Record companies have not yet solved several quality-
control problems that have beset attempts to product digital
audio tape in commercial quantities.
(E) CD’s are more expensive than long-playing vinyl
records by about the same ratio as digital audio-tape cassettes
would be more expensive than conventional cassettes.
8. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen
the argument against the record companies’ claim?
(A) When CD’s were first introduced in the audio-
reproduction market, prices were high and selection was poor.
(B) Record companies are reluctant to attempt commercial
production of digital audio tape until profits from the sales of
CD’s have enabled them to recover their investments in
compact-disc manufacturing technology.
(C) Some CD’s have been so much in demand that
consumers have experienced long delays in obtaining copies.
(D) Because CD’s work according to principles very
different from those that govern conventional recordings,
commercial production of CD’s requires new kinds of
manufacturing technology.
(E) Any valid comparison of CD audio reproductions to
digital audio tape reproductions must be based on identical
SET 2
Questions 1-2 are based on the following
In the United States, the Postal Service has a monopoly on
first-class mail, but much of what is sent first class could be
transmitted electronically. Electronic transmittal operators
argue that if the Postal Service were to offer electronic
transmission, it would have an unfair advantage, since its
electronic transmission service could be subsidized from the
profits of the monopoly.
1. Which of the following, if each is true, would allay the
electronic transmittal operators’ fears of unfair competition?
(A) If the Postal Service were to offer electronic
transmission, it could not make a profit on first-class mail
(B) If the Postal Service were to offer electronic
transmission, it would have a monopoly on that kind of service
(C) Much of the material that is now sent by first-class
mail could be delivered much faster by special package
couriers, but is not sent that way because of cost
(D) There is no economy of scale in electronic transmission
- that is, the cost per transaction does not go down as more
pieces of information are transmitted
(E) Electronic transmission will never be cost-effective for
material not sent by first-class mail such as newspapers and
bulk mail
121
performances played back on the highest quality disc or tape
player.
Questions 9-10 are based on the following
In the past, teachers, bank tellers, and secretaries were
predominantly men; these occupations slipped in pay and
status when they became largely occupied by women.
Therefore, if women become the majority in currently male-
dominated professions like accounting, law, and medicine,
the income and prestige of these professions can also be
expected to drop.
9. The argument above is based on
(A) another argument that contains circular reasoning
(B) an attempt to refute a generalization by means of an
exceptional case
(C) an analogy between the past and the future
(D) an appeal to popular beliefs and values
(E) an attack on the character of the opposition
10. Which of the following, if true, would most likely be
part of the evidence used to refute the conclusion above?
(A) Accountants, lawyers, and physicians attained their
current relatively high levels of income and prestige at about
the same time that the pay and status of teachers, bank
tellers, and secretaries slipped
(B) When large numbers of men join a female-dominated
occupation, such as airline flight attendant, the status and
pay of the occupation tend to increase
(C) The demand for teachers and secretaries has increased
significantly in recent years, while the demand for bank tellers
has remained relatively stable
(D) If present trends in the awarding of law degrees to
women continue, it will be at least two decades before the
majority of lawyers are women
(E) The pay and status of female accountants, lawyers,
and physicians today are governed by significantly different
economic and sociological forces than were the pay and status
of female teachers, bank tellers, and secretaries in the past
2. Which of the following questions can be answered on the
basis of the information in the passage above?
(A) Is the Postal Service as efficient as privately owned
electric transmission services?
(B) If private operators were allowed to operate first-class
mail services, would they choose to do so?
(C) Do the electronic transmittal operators believe that the
Postal Service makes a profit on first-class mail?
(D) Is the Postal Service prohibited from offering electronic
transmission services?
(E) Is the Postal Service expected to have a monopoly on
electronic transmission?
Questions 3-4 are based on the following
Bank depositors in the United States are all financially
protected against bank failure because the government
insures all individuals’ bank deposits. An economist argues
that this insurance is partly responsible for the high rate of
bank failures, since it removes from depositors any financial
incentive to find out whether the bank that holds their money
is secure against failure. If depositors were more selective,
then banks would need to be secure in order to compete for
depositors’ money.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
3. The economist’s argument makes which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Bank failures are caused when big borrowers default
on loan repayments
(B) A significant proportion of depositors maintain accounts
at several different banks
(C) The more a depositor has to deposit, the more careful
he or she tends to be in selecting a bank
(D) The difference in the interest rates paid to depositors
by different banks is not a significant factor in bank failures
(E) Potential depositors are able to determine which banks
are secure against failure
4. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens
the economist’s argument?
(A) Before the government started to insure depositors
against bank failure, there was a lower rate of bank failure
than there is now
(B) When the government did not insure deposits, frequent
bank failures occurred as a result of depositors’ fears of losing
money in bank failures
(C) Surveys show that a significant proportion of depositors
are aware that their deposits are insured by the government
(D) There is an upper limit on the amount of an individual’s
deposit that the government will insure, but very few
individuals’ deposits exceed this limit
(E) The security of a bank against failure depends on the
percentage of its assets that are loaned out and also on how
much risk its loans involve
Questions 5-6 are based on the following
Roland: The alarming fact is that 90 percent of the people
in this country now report that they know someone who is
unemployed
Sharon: But a normal, moderate level of unemployment is
5 percent, with 1 out of 20 workers unemployed. So at any
given time if a person knows approximately 50 workers, 1 or
more will very likely be unemployed
5. Sharon’s argument is structured to lead to which of the
following as a conclusion?
(A) The fact that 90% of the people know someone who is
unemployed is not an indication that unemployment is
abnormally high
(B) The current level of unemployment is not moderate
(C) If at least 5% of workers are unemployed, the result of
questioning a representative group of people cannot be the
percentage Roland cites
(D) It is unlikely that the people whose statements Roland
cites are giving accurate reports
(E) If an unemployment figure is given as a certain percent,
the actual percentage of those without jobs is even higher
6. Sharon’s argument relies on the assumption that
(A) normal levels of unemployment are rarely exceeded
(B) unemployment is not normally concentrated in
geographically isolated segments of the population
(C) the number of people each of whom knows someone
who is unemployed is always higher than 90% of the
population
(D) Roland is not consciously distorting the statistics he
presents
(E) knowledge that a personal acquaintance is unemployed
generates more fear of losing one’s job than does knowledge
of unemployment statistics
122
Questions 7-8 are based on the following
If the airspace around centrally located airports were
restricted to commercial airlines and only those private planes
equipped with radar, most of the private-plane traffic would
be forced to use outlying fields. Such a reduction in the amount
of private-plane traffic would reduce the risk of midair
collision around the centrally located airports.
7. The conclusion drawn in the first sentence depends on
which of the following assumptions?
(A) Outlying airfields would be as convenient as centrally
located airports for most pilots of private planes.
(B) Most outlying airfields are not equipped to handle
commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Most private planes that use centrally located airports
are not equipped with radar.
(D) Commercial airliners are at greater risk of becoming
involved in midair collisions than are private planes.
(E) A reduction in the risk of midair collision would
eventually lead to increases in commercial airline traffic.
8. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen
the conclusion drawn in the second sentence?
(A) Commercial airliners are already required by law to
be equipped with extremely sophisticated radar systems.
(B) Centrally located airports are experiencing
overcrowded airspace primarily because of sharp increases
in commercial-airline traffic.
(C) Many pilots of private planes would rather buy radar
equipment than be excluded from centrally located airports.
(D) The number of midair collisions that occur near
centrally located airports has decreased in recent years.
(E) Private planes not equipped with radar systems cause
a disproportionately large number of midair collisions around
centrally located airports.
Questions 9-10 are based on the following
Professor A: We must make a strong moral statement
against Country X’s policies. Only total divestment - the sale
of all stock in companies that have factories or business offices
in X - can do this. Therefore, the University should divest
totally.
Professor B: Our aim should be to encourage X to change
its policies. Partial divestment is the best way to achieve this
aim. Therefore, the university should sell its stock only in
companies that either sell goods to X’s government, or do the
majority of their business in X, or treat their workers in X
unfairly.
9. Professor A’s and Professor B’s arguments differ in which
of the following ways?
(A) They state the same goal but propose different ways of
achieving it.
(B) They state different goals but propose the same way of
achieving them.
(C) They state different goals and propose different ways
of achieving them.
(D) They disagree about whether the university should sell
any stock at all.
(E) They disagree about whether X’s policies are
objectionable.
10. Which of the following, if true, would be evidence that
the university would not be harmed economically if it followed
Professor A’s recommendation?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) Very few of the companies in which the university owns
stocks sell goods to X’s government.
(B) Most companies that have factories or business offices
in X and in which the university owns stock actually do little
of their business in X.
(C) Some companies that have factories or business offices
in X and in which the university owns stock have instituted
fair treatment polices for their workers in X at very little
SET 3
Questions 1-2 are based on the following
The average life expectancy for the United State population
as a whole is 73.9 years, but children born in Hawaii will live
an average of 77 years, and those born in Louisiana, 71.7
years. If a newlywed couple from Louisiana were to begin
their family in Hawaii, therefore, their children would be
expected to live longer than would be the case if the family
remained in Louisiana.
1. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously
weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?
(A) Insurance company statisticians do not believe that
moving to Hawaii will significantly lengthen the average
Louisianian’s life.
(B) The governor of Louisiana has falsely alleged that
statistics for his state are inaccurate.
(C) The longevity ascribed to Hawaii’s current population
is attributable mostly to genetically determined factors.
(D) Thirty percent of all Louisianians can expect to live
longer than 77 years.
(E) Most of the Hawaiian Islands have levels of air pollution
well below the national average for the United States.
2. Which of the following statements, if true, would most
significantly strengthen the conclusion drawn in the passage?
(A) As population density increases in Hawaii, life
expectancy figures for that state are likely to be revised
downward.
(B) Environmental factors tending to favor longevity are
abundant in Hawaii and less numerous in Louisiana.
(C) Twenty-five percent of all Louisianians who move to
Hawaii live longer than 77 years.
(D) Over the last decade, average life expectancy had risen
at a higher rate for Louisianians than for Hawaiians.
(E) Studies show that the average life expectancy for
Hawaiians who move permanently to Louisiana is roughly
equal to that of Hawaiians who remain in Hawaii.
Questions 3-4 are based on the following
The fewer restrictions there are on the advertising of legal
services, the more lawyers there are who advertise their
services, and the lawyers who advertise a specific service
usually charge less for that service than lawyers who do not
advertise. Therefore, if the state removes any of its current
restrictions, such as the one against advertisements that do
not specify fee arrangements, overall consumer legal costs
will be lower than if the state retains its current restrictions.
3. If the statements above are true, which of the following
must be true?
(A) Some lawyers who now advertise will charge more for
specific services if they do not have to specify fee
arrangements in the advertisements.
(B) More consumers will use legal services if there are fewer
restrictions on the advertising of legal services.
123
additional cost to the companies.
(D) The expected financial return to the university from
stocks that the university could own under a policy of total
divestment is approximately the same as the expected
financial return from the university’s current stocks.
(E) If the university sold large blocks of stock under a policy
of total divestment, the prices of the stocks of the companies
whose stocks were sold would probably decrease somewhat.
(C) If the restriction against advertisements that do not
specify fee arrangements is removed, more lawyers will
advertise their services.
(D) If more lawyers advertise lower prices for specific
services, some lawyers who do not advertise will also charge
less than they currently charge for those services.
(E) If the only restrictions on the advertising of legal
services were those that apply to every type of advertising,
most lawyers would advertise their services.
4. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously
weaken the argument concerning overall consumer legal costs?
(A) The state has recently removed some other restrictions
that had limited the advertising of legal services.
(B) The state is unlikely to remove all of the restrictions
that apply solely to the advertising of legal services.
(C) Lawyers who do not advertise generally provide legal
services of the same quality as those provided by lawyers
who do advertise.
(D) Most lawyers who now specify fee arrangements in
their advertisements would continue to do so even if the
specification were not required.
(E) Most lawyers who advertise specific services do not
lower their fees for those services when they begin to
advertise.
Questions 5-6 are based on the following
Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette
smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been
spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts
on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these
figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did
not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no
worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.
5. Of the following, the best criticism of the conclusion that
inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay is
that the conclusion is based on
(A) computing advertising costs as a percentage of gross
receipts, not of overall costs
(B) past pattern of smoking that may not carry over to the
future
(C) the assumption that each smoker is loyal to a single
brand of cigarettes at any one time
(D) the assumption that each manufacturer produces only
one brand of cigarettes
(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may
not hold for a particular company
6. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens
the conclusion that cigarette companies could have dropped
advertising without suffering economically?
(A) Cigarette advertisements provide a major proportion
of total advertising revenue for numerous magazines.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(B) Cigarette promotion serves to attract first-time
smokers to replace those people who have stopped smoking.
(C) There exists no research conclusively demonstrating
that increases in cigarette advertising are related to increases
in smoking.
(D) Advertising is so firmly established as a major business
activity of cigarette manufacturers that they would be
unlikely to drop it.
(E) Brand loyalty is typically not very strong among those
who smoke inexpensive cigarettes.
Questions 7-8 are based on the following
The lobbyists argued that because there is no statistical
evidence that breathing other people’s tobacco smoke
increases the incidence of heart disease or lung cancer in
healthy nonsmokers, legislation banning smoking in
workplaces cannot be justified on health grounds.
7. The argument reported above would be most seriously
weakened if it were true that
(A) breathing smoke-filled air increases the incidence of
headaches and cough in healthy nonsmokers
(B) most nonsmokers dislike the odor of smoke filled air
(C) smoke filled air is a major source of the dirt that
damages computers and other sensitive equipment
(D) most workers would prefer to have smoking banned in
workplaces
(E) legislation banning smoking in workplaces decreases
friction between smoking and nonsmoking workers and is
easy to enforce
8. Of the following, which is the best criticism of the
argument reported above?
(A) It ignores causes of lung cancer other than smoking.
(B) It neglects the damaging effects of smoke-filled air on
non-smokers who are not healthy.
(C) It fails to mention the roles played by diet, exercise,
and heredity in the development of heart disease.
(D) It does not consider the possibility that nonsmokers
who breathe smoke-filled air at work may become more
concerned about their health.
SET 4
Questions 1-2 are based on the following
If television editors did not exercise control over television
commercials, many commercials would make exaggerated
claims for their products. After all, one third of the
commercials reviewed each year by television editors are
rejected and returned to the advertising agencies for revisions,
in many cases because claims made in the commercials are
not sufficiently documented.
1. The argument above depends on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) Before television editors began controlling commercials,
most commercials made exaggerated claims for their products
(B) The claims made in many rejected commercials are
not sufficiently documented because the claims are
exaggerated
(C) Most of the claims made in commercials are not initially
well documented by the advertising agencies
(D) Most viewers of commercials believe the claims made
in the commercials
(E) One-third of the commercials reviewed each year made
124
(E) It does not acknowledge that nonsmokers, even those
who breathe smoke-filled air at work, are in general healthier
than smokers.
Questions 9-10 are based on the following
If there is an oil-supply disruption resulting in higher
international oil prices, domestic oil prices in open-market
countries such as the United States will rise as well, whether
such countries import all or none of their oil.
9. If the statement above concerning oil-supply disruptions
is true, which of the following policies in an open-market
nation is most likely to reduce the long-term economic impact
on that nation of sharp and unexpected increases in
international oil prices?
(A) Maintaining the quantity of oil imported at constant
yearly levels
(B) Increasing the number of oil tankers in its fleet
(C) Suspending diplomatic relations with major oil-
producing nations
(D) Decreasing oil consumption through conservation
(E) Decreasing domestic production of oil
10. Which of the following conclusions is best supported by
the statement above?
(A) Domestic producers of oil in open-market countries are
excluded from the international oil market when there is a
disruption in the international oil supply.
(B) International oil-supply disruptions have little effect
on the price of domestic oil as long as an open-market country
has domestic supplies enough to meet domestic demand.
(C) The oil market in an open-market country is actually
part of the international oil market, even if most of that
country’s domestic oil is usually sold to consumers within its
borders.
(D) Open-market countries that export little or none of
their oil can maintain stable domestic oil prices even when
international oil prices rise sharply.
(E) If international oil prices rise, domestic distributors of
oil in open-market countries will begin to import more oil
than they export.
exaggerated claims for their products
2. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen
the argument above?
(A) Nearly half of the commercials submitted by some of
the advertising agencies are returned to them by television
editors for revision
(B) The standards used by television editors for judging
whether a commercial’s claims are sufficiently documented
have varied widely throughout the history of television.
(C) Commercials that contain insufficiently documented
claims about a product are often brought to the attention of a
television editor by a producer of a competing product
(D) Many of the commercials accepted each year are
commercials that were previously rejected by television
editors and were revised to make more moderate claims
(E) Of the commercials returned to advertising agencies
for revisions each year, many are returned because they are
in poor taste rather than because the claims made in them
are not sufficiently documented.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
Questions 3-4 are based on the following
As proof of the effects that astral projection can have on
society as a whole, a proponent cited studies comparing crime
rates and percentages of the population practicing astral
projection. According to the proponent, benefits are notable
when even a small percentage of the population practices
astral projection. In one major metropolitan area last year,
projectors grew in number from one percent to five percent of
the population. Concurrently, the crime rate in the area
dropped eight percent. In the suburbs of that area, where
projectors moved up from five percent to twenty percent of
the population, the crime rate decreased forty percent.
3. In terms of its reasoning, the proponent’s argument is
most like which of the following?
(A) The officers of the seventh precinct could not be guilty
of accepting payoffs. They are the most honest group of police
officers in the city.
(B) Insurance rates for medical malpractice continue to
rise far faster than does the cost of living. Consequently, we
can expect that medical school enrollments will drop.
(C) History has shown that totalitarian states always try
to extend their boundaries by subjugating their neighbors.
We must build up defenses around totalitarian states.
(D) The entire sociology department at Webley State is
socialist. Every faculty member campaigned to make Marx
required reading.
(E) Television threatens literacy. By all measures, reading
capability in this country has declined since the advent of
television.
4. Which of the following statements, if true, most seriously
weakens the proponent’s argument for astral projection?
(A) The proponent receives an initiation fee from each new
astral projector
(B) The proponent’s study did not consider that many astral
projectors are former criminals
(C) The proponent’s study did not consider any other
explanations for the drop in the crime rate
(D) The proponent’s study did not distinguish between the
various types of crime
(E) The suburbs typically have a lower crime rate than
does the whole metropolitan area
Questions 5-6 are based on the following
A scholar examines three manuscripts of a nineteenth-
century poem to determine the relationship among them.
Manuscript A is in the author’s handwriting and was written
in 1850. Manuscript B and C are in two different handwritings
and date from the period 1855-1860. The wording of B is
identical to A except for the different spelling of one word
wherever it appears. The wording of C is identical to B except
for the different spelling of a second word wherever it appears.
The scholar concludes that B was copied imperfectly from A
and that C was copied imperfectly from B.
5. Which of the following hypotheses, apparently eliminated
by the scholar, is (are) consistent with the information given?
I. B and C were both copied independently and imperfectly
from A
II. B was copied imperfectly from C
III. A was copied imperfectly from C
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
125
(D) I and II only
(E) II and III only
6. If the scholar discovered an undated fourth manuscript
D, written in a fourth hand, the wording of which is identical
to C except for the different spelling of a third word wherever
it appears, the scholar would probably conclude that the
fourth manuscript was copied
(A) accurately from A
(B) imperfectly from B
(C) imperfectly from C
(D) accurately from some fifth, lost manuscript
(E) imperfectly from some fifth, lost manuscript
Questions 7-8 are based on the following
There are experts in this country who claim that there is a
surplus of doctors and that access to medical schools must
consequently be restricted so that the high quality of medical
care can be maintained. These analysts, though, fail to point
out that there is a severe shortage of doctors in low-income
areas and that there is only an overabundance of physicians
where there are patients who can afford to pay high fees.
7. The passage above criticizes the experts by
(A) showing that their conclusions are merely repetitions
of their assumptions
(B) attacking the experts personally rather than their
arguments
(C) challenging the inference that restricted access to
medical schools will result in a general reduction in the
number of practicing physicians
(D) showing that their arguments rely on an ambiguity in
the meaning of the word “restricted”
(E) introducing evidence that cases new light on their
claims
8. The reasoning of the experts depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) A surplus of doctors exists in all fields of medicine
(B) Access to medical schools is easily gained
(C) The cost of medical care is currently reasonable for all
(D) A surplus of doctors undermines the high quality of
medical care
(E) The high quality of medical care has been ensured by
medical schools
Questions 9-10 are based on the following
In a swampy area of South America, the highly poisonous
coral snake and a much less venomous kind of snake both
bear red, black, and white bands. Only 100 miles away, on
drier ground, the local type of coral snake lacks the red bands.
And there, the less poisonous species of snake lacks the red
bands, too. The explanation is that, in both habitats, close
imitation of the coral snake affords the less poisonous species
a measure of protection it would not otherwise have.
9. Which of the following is most likely to be a major
assumption underlying the explanation in the passage above?
(A) Coral snakes claim individual territories for
themselves, which they defend against other snakes
(B) Red coloration is effective camouflage primarily in dry
habitats, where natural reds are much more common than
elsewhere
(C) The sight of a coral snake has a strange paralyzing
effect on certain of its prey animals
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(D) Predators whose diets include snakes tend to avoid
those most poisonous and thus most dangerous to them
(E) Snakes of different species will peacefully coexist only
if they do not compete for the same foods
10. Which of the following can be logically inferred from
the passage above?
(A) All varieties of coral snakes have red, black, and white
bands
(B) The differentiation among coral snakes into those with
and those without red bands predates the corresponding
SET 5
Questions 1-2 are based on the following
According to Tristate Transportation Authority, making
certain improvements to the main commuter rail line would
increase ridership dramatically. The authority plans to
finance these improvements over the course of five years by
raising automobile tolls on the two highway bridges along
the route the rail line serves. Although the proposed
improvements are indeed needed, the authority’s plan for
securing the necessary funds should be rejected because it
would unfairly force drivers to absorb the entire cost of
something from which they receive no benefit.
1. Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt
on the effectiveness of the authority’s plan to finance the
proposed improvements by increasing bridge tolls?
(A) Before the authority increased tolls on any of the area
bridges, it is required by law to hold public hearings at which
objections to the proposed increase can be raised.
(B) Whenever bridge tolls are increased, the authority must
pay a private contractor to adjust the automated toll-collecting
machines.
(C) Between the time a proposed toll increase is announced
and the time the increase is actually put into effect, many
commuters buy more tokens than usual to postpone the effects
of the increase.
(D) When tolls were last increased on the two bridges in
question, almost 20 percent of the regular commuter traffic
switched to a slightly longer alternative route that has since
been improved.
(E) The chairman of the Authority is a member of the
Tristate Automobile Club that has registered strong
opposition to the proposed toll increase.
2. Which of the following, if true, would provide the
authority with the strongest counter to the objection that its
plan is unfair?
(A) Even with the proposed toll increase, the average bridge
toll in the tristate region would remain less than the tolls
charged in neighboring states.
(B) Any attempt to finance the improvements by raising
rail fares would result in a decrease in ridership and so would
be self-defeating.
(C) Automobile commuters benefit from well-maintained
bridges, and in the tristate region, bridge maintenance is
funded out of general income tax revenues to which both
automobile and rail commuters contribute.
(D) The roads along the route served by the rail line are
highly congested and drivers benefit when commuters are
diverted from congested roadways to mass transit.
(E) The only alternative way of funding the proposed
improvements now being considered is through a regional
126
differentiation among the less poisonous species of snake
mentioned
(C) The less poisonous snake species mentioned produces
the same venom that the coral snake does, but less of it at a
time
(D) Coral snakes from different habitats also have different
types of venom
(E) The protection that the less poisonous species of snake
mentioned derives from the coral snake means that the less
poisonous species of snake must be useful to the coral snake
in some way
income tax surcharge, which would affect automobile
commuters and rail commuters alike.
Questions 3-4 are based on the following
The program to control the entry of illegal drugs into the
country was a failure in 1987. If the program had been
successful, the wholesale price of most illegal drugs would
not have dropped substantially in 1987.
3. The argument in the passage depends on which of the
following assumptions?
(A) The supply of illegal drugs dropped substantially in
1987.
(B) The price paid for most illegal drugs by the average
consumer did not drop substantially in 1987.
(C) Domestic production of illegal drugs increased at a
higher rate than did the entry of such drugs into the country.
(D) The wholesale price of a few illegal drugs increased
substantially in 1987.
(E) A drop in demand for most illegal drugs in 1987 was
not the sole cause of the drop in their wholesale price.
4. The argument in the passage would be most seriously
weakened if it were true that
(A) in 1987 smugglers of illegal drugs, as a group, had
significantly more funds at their disposal than did the
country’s customs agents.
(B) domestic production of illegal drugs increased
substantially in 1987.
(C) the author’s statements were made in order to
embarrass the officials responsible for the drug-control
program
(D) in 1987 illegal drugs entered the country by a different
set of routes than they did in 1986
(E) the country’s citizens spent substantially more money
on illegal drugs in 1987 than they did in 1986.
Questions 5-6 are based on the following
Hardin argued that grazing land held in common (that is,
open to any user) would always be used less carefully than
private grazing land. Each rancher would be tempted to
overuse common land because the benefits would accrue to
the individual, while the costs of reduced land quality that
results from overuse would be spread among all users. But a
study comparing 217 million acres of common grazing land
with 433 million acres of private grazing land showed that
the common land was in better condition.
5. The answer to which of the following questions would be
most useful in evaluating the significance, in relation to
Hardin’s claim, of the study described above?
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning
(A) Did any of the ranchers whose land was studied use
both common and private land?
(B) Did the ranchers whose land was studied tend to prefer
using common land over using private land for grazing?
(C) Was the private land that was studied of comparable
quality to the common land before either was used for grazing?
(D) Were the users of the common land that was studied
at least as prosperous as the users of the private land?
(E) Were there any owners of herds who used only common
land, and no private land, for grazing?
6. Which of the following, if true and known by the ranchers,
would best help explain the results of the study?
(A) With private grazing land, both the costs and the
benefits of overuse fall to the individual user.
(B) The cost in reduced land quality that is attributable to
any individual user is less easily measured with common land
than it is with private land.
(C) An individual who overuses common grazing land might
be able to achieve higher returns than other users can, with
the result that he or she would obtain a competitive
advantage.
(D) If one user of common land overuses it even slightly,
the other users are likely to do so even more, with the
consequence that the costs to each user outweigh the benefits.
(E) There are more acres of grazing land held privately
than there are held in common.
Questions 7-8 are based on the following
In many corporations, employees are being replaced by
automated equipment in order to save money. However, many
workers who lose their jobs to automation will need
government assistance to survive, and the same corporations
that are laying people off will eventually pay for that
assistance through increased taxes and unemployment
insurance payments.
7. The author is arguing that
(A) higher taxes and unemployment insurance payments
will discourage corporations from automating
(B) replacing people through automation to reduce
production costs will result in increases of other costs to
corporations
(C) many workers who lose their jobs to automation will
have to be retrained for new jobs
(D) corporations that are laying people off will eventually
rehire many of them
(E) corporations will not save money by automating
because people will be needed to run the new machines
127
8. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the
author’s argument?
(A) Many workers who have already lost their jobs to
automation have been unable to find new jobs.
(B) Many corporations that have failed to automate have
seen their profits decline.
(C) Taxes and unemployment insurance are paid also by
corporations that are not automating.
(D) Most of the new jobs created by automation pay less
than the jobs eliminated by automation did.
(E) The initial investment in machinery for automation is
often greater than the short-term savings in labor costs.
Questions 9-10 are based on the following
To protect certain fledgling industries, the government of
country Z banned imports of the types of products those
industries were starting to make. As a direct result, the cost
of those products to the buyers, several export-dependent
industries in Z, went up, sharply limiting the ability of those
industries to compete effectively in their export markets.
9. Which of the following can be most properly inferred from
the passage about the products whose importation was
banned?
(A) Those products had been cheaper to import than they
were able to make within country Z’s fledgling industries.
(B) Those products were ones that country Z was hoping
to export in its turn, once the fledgling industries matured.
(C) Those products used to be imported from just those
countries to which country Z’s exports went.
(D) Those products had become more and more expensive
to import, which resulted in a foreign trade deficit just before
the ban.
(E) Those products used to be imported in very small
quantities, but they were essential to country Z’s economy.
10. Which of the following conclusions about country Z’s
adversely affected export-dependent industries is best
supported by the passage?
(A) Profit margins in those industries were not high enough
to absorb the rise in costs mentioned above.
(B) Those industries had to contend with the fact that other
countries banned imports from country Z.
(C) Those industries succeeded in expanding the domestic
market for their products.
(D) Steps to offset rising materials costs by decreasing labor
costs were taken in those industries.
(E) Those industries started to move into export markets
that they had previously judged unprofitable.
 Analysis - Chapter 2
'CONCLUSION' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.D 2.E 3.B 4.C 5.E 6.E 7.D 8.B 9.A 10.E
Analysis
1. The given passage states that, for being accepted by the
delivery service, a package must fulfill both of the two
conditions:
(i) it must be within the established size limits; and
(ii) it must contain a return address.
We have been asked to spot that choice which is a logical
conclusion that can be drawn from these two statements.
The given passage does not refer to the charges of delivery
at all. So, (A) extends the scope of what is stated in the passage,
and is not a necessary conclusion from it.
(B) contradicts the second condition that, for being
accepted, the package must necessarily have a return address
also.
(C) looks like a correct answer, but is not valid because,
the statement that the delivery service will never accept
packages which do not fulfill the two conditions does not imply
that it will necessarily accept all packages which fulfill these
two conditions. (For example, it may yet reject a package for
other reasons such as it being packed loosely, or that it contains
a highly inflammable substance, a poisonous chemical etc.).
This choice also extends the scope of the given information.
(D) reiterates that a package which conforms to one of the
rules but not the other will not be accepted by the delivery
service, and is the answer.
As pointed out with reference to (A), the passage does not
talk about charges at all. Therefore, (E) also extends the scope
of the given information, and is not a necessary conclusion
from it.
2. (The ‘incumbent’ means a person who is holding office
as President of USA at the time of the election, and is seeking
a second-term.) What the passage says is that if, during a
President’s term, there had been an increase in the per-capita
income of the people, his chances of re-election would be
brighter. It even quantifies it by stating that, for every 1%
increase in the per-capita income, he can get 2.2% more votes
than he would otherwise have got. It seeks to substantiate
this argument by pointing out that, in the only election year
since 1952 when the per-capita income had declined, the
incumbent President was defeated in the election.
We have been asked to spot that statement among the
choices which would logically follow from this passage.
(A) contradicts the specific instance cited in the passage of
an incumbent President having lost an election, and is wrong.
(B) and (D) are irrelevant to the issue, because the passage
talks of the prosperity of the general public, and not of the
candidate.
(C) is also irrelevant to the passage because the passage
does not talk of the public image of the incumbent at all.
(E) is what can be directly inferred from the passage,
because it states that the result of an election is not solely
determined by the ideological positions of the candidates, but
can be influenced by other factors such as an increase in the
per-capita income of the people. So, (E) is the answer.
3. What the passage means is that, among monkeys, there
128
are different kinds of alarm signals for different birds, for
different walking animals and for different reptiles.
Adult monkeys give many different alarm calls depending
on which enemy bird, or which enemy animal, or which enemy
reptile is on the prowl.
But infant monkeys know only three alarm calls - one for
any flying bird, the second for any walking animal, and the
third for any reptile.
The obvious explanation for this behaviour of infant
monkeys is that they first learn only to distinguish among
the three broad groups - birds, animals and reptiles. It is
only when they mature into adults that they are able to make
distinctions among different birds, different animals and
different reptiles. So, (B) is the answer.
(A) contradicts the specific information in the passage that
both adult and infant monkeys do use sound patterns that
communicate information to the other monkeys in the group.
(C) is incorrect because, in the case of both adult and infant
monkeys, the word ‘alarm’ is used. We can therefore infer
that infant monkeys also know that the significance of
producing the sound is to alert other monkeys of impending
danger, or to seek help. This choice therefore contradicts the
information in the passage, and is wrong.
(D) does not follow from the given passage, since the
passage does not mention the relative skills with which the
adult and the infant monkeys give the three basic alarm calls
that relate to a flying animal, a walking animal and a long,
thin animal. (D) therefore seeks to extend the scope of the
information in the given passage, and is wrong.
(E) is wrong for the same reason as (C), since the word
‘alarm’ is used in the case of infant monkeys also, implying
that infant monkeys also recognize that eagles, leopards and
snakes posed dangers to them. Thus (E) also contradicts the
information given in the passage.
4. The first sentence says that, if calcium is taken in
recommended doses by teenagers, it gets stored by their bones.
The second sentence says that, beyond the age of 35, it is
not possible to replenish (meaning to add to the stock of)
calcium in the body, and the body’s needs for calcium beyond
this age are met from the stock already available in the bones.
The third sentence says that those who have more bone
mass in their system are less likely to suffer from osteoporosis
in their old age beyond 50.
The obvious conclusion from these statements is that, if a
person wishes to avoid osteoporosis in old age, he should
consume the recommended levels of calcium when he is in
his teens, and continue to take them. Neglecting such intake
when one is in his teens, but consuming calcium after one
crosses 35 (when the body’s capacity to absorb calcium has
ceased), will not help him to avoid osteoporosis in his old age.
In other words, this means that, between a person who
had consumed sufficient quantities of calcium in his teens,
and another person who started consuming calcium after he
had crossed 35, the former is more likely to escape from
osteoporosis in old age than the latter.
It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
Since the passage says that calcium in the bone is not
replenished beyond the age of 35, consumption of calcium after
the age of 35 does not result in the prevention of osteoporosis
in old age. So, (A), (B) and (D) contradict the specific
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
information given in the passage, and are wrong.
What the first sentence implies is that a person who had
not consumed calcium in recommended levels when he was a
teenager is likely to develop osteoporosis after the age of 50.
(E) makes a sweeping generalization that persons who develop
osteoporosis after the age of 50 had not consumed any calcium
at all when they were teen-agers, and is wrong.
5. While answering such questions, you should use the
signs ‘>’ to signify ‘greater than’ and ‘<‘ to signify ‘less than’,
and rewrite the given information on your scrap paper using
these symbols.
When names of persons are given in such questions, use
their first letters while writing down the inequalities. (The
question setters always take care to see that no two names
start with the same letter.)
The given information can therefore be written as C < J, C
> E, S < J, S < E, W > S, and W < J.
Now, for even better understanding, rewrite all these
relationships using the single sign ‘<‘ for ‘shorter than’.
So, the given relationships become
C < J, E < C, S < J, S < E, S < W and W < J.
The first, second and fourth relationships above can be
combined as
S < E < C < J (i)
The third relationship logically follows from the above,
and does not constitute new information.
The fifth and sixth relationships can be combined as
S<W<J (ii)
Now (i) and (ii) are independent of each other, and we cannot
determine the relative height of W vis-a-vis either E or C.
The given question talks of another person B, and asks us
to identify the choice which will imply that B < C.
Now, B will be < C, if B is < either S or E.
Choice (A) talks of C and W only, and does not refer to B at
all. So, (A) is not the answer.
Since E is found only in the first relationship, and his
relative height vis-a-vis W is not known, (B) cannot help us
to answer the question “Is B < C?” unambiguously. So, (B) is
not the answer.
(C) means S < B < W. This inequality cannot help us to
determine whether B < C or not. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) means E < B < J. Comparing this with (i) above, we
cannot say whether B or C is taller. So, (D) is also not the
answer.
Choice (E) can be expressed as B < W < E. If B < E, he
must also be < C, because of the relationship (i) above. So, it
is choice (E) which enables us to conclude that B is shorter
than C.
So, (E) is the answer.
(In such questions, you can often save time by starting with
(E), because the question setter is unlikely to have made either
choice (A) or (B) as the answer.)
6. A clay sculpture requires to be heated for being preserved
forever in the future.
The given experiment explains a way to determine the date
(within a century) when a particular sculpture that is
available today was last heated.
The question, on the other hand, asks us to identify that
year among the choices in which the sculpture could not have
been made.
The second para implies that experts have obtained 1450
as an estimate of the year in which the sculpture was last
heated.
129
Since it is given that the method of dating is accurate
within a century, the date when the sculpture was heated
could well be 1400, 1450 or 1500. So, (B), (C) and (D) are all
possible dates when the sculpture was made and also heated
for the last time.
It is also possible that the sculpture was made in 1000,
but was again heated between 1400 and 1500. So, (A) is a
possible claim.
If the sculpture had been made only in 1900, it could not
have been last heated in 1450 or thereabouts. So, it is (E)
which is not possible, and is the answer.
7. (Contentious means quarrelsome). We have been asked
to state which conclusion can be logically drawn from the
given statements.
The first statement means that all good debaters are
intelligent. The second statement says that some good
debaters are contentious.
Combining these two, we can conclude that some intelligent
persons (who are also good debaters) are contentious. (i)
The third statement is that all contentious persons are
boring. (ii)
When we combine (i) and (ii), we can conclude that some
intelligent persons (who are both good debaters and
contentious) are boring.
Among the choices, it is (D) which states this, and is the
answer.
8. (A) is wrong since Dryden cannot make deliveries after
dark unless Stan is also with him along with Estey.
(B) conforms to the given conditions, and is the answer.
(In fact, in addition to Stan, Estey will also be with him in
this case).
(C) is wrong, since, during daytime, Dryden can make
deliveries even when Stan is not with him.
(D) is wrong for the same reason.
(E) is designed to trip you. You cannot assume that
darkness falls always at 6 p.m. In summer, in northern
latitudes, there could be daylight even beyond 10 p.m.
9. The first part of the statement says that the imposition
of the speed limit of 55 mph in 1974 resulted in an abrupt
fall in the accident rate.
The second part says that, while the speed limit has not
been further reduced, the accident rate has continued to
diminish, though the average speed of vehicles on the
highways has risen (but still being less than the speed limit
of 55 mph).
We have been asked to spot the logical conclusion that can
be drawn from these facts.
The obvious conclusion from the given statements is that,
while the imposition of the speed limit was certainly a cause
for reduction in accident rate, it had not been the only cause
because, in that case, the continuing fall in the accident rate
when the speed limit has not been reduced further cannot be
explained, and so there must be other causes also (Examples:
improvements in the safety aspects of vehicles, physical
segregation of vehicles plying in opposite directions etc.).
Among the choices, it is (A) which states this, and is the
answer.
Both (B) and (C) extend the scope of the information in the
passage beyond what can be immediately inferred from it,
and are wrong.
(D), if true, would have resulted in an increase, and not a
decrease, in accidents, and thereby contradicts the given
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
information.
(E) contradicts the first part of the given statement that
the number of deaths per mile fell abruptly in 1955 as a result
of the imposition of the speed limit of 55 miles per hour.
10. It is easy to see that the author’s primary concern is
the continued existence of his country as a nation. He believes
that, in order to ensure its continuing as a nation, active
measures must be taken to preserve national security, even
though some of these measures may not be morally acceptable.
We have been asked to spot that choice which follows
logically from the author’s statements.
Since the author talks only of security measures and not of
foreign policy, (A) unnecessarily extends the scope of the
information in the passage, and is not a logical conclusion
from it.
What the author says is that his country’s continued
existence as a nation depends upon preserving national
security. His thinking therefore applies only to those countries
which wish to continue as a nation. (B) extends the scope of
the information to cover all countries, and is therefore wrong.
The author says that only some active measures that are
taken to preserve national security may not be morally
acceptable. (C), which implies that all such active measures
are immoral, is an uncalled-for generalization of the author’s
statement, and is wrong.
The author says that active steps to preserve the national
security must be taken even though some of them may not be
morally justified. He does not say that these immoral steps
would become moral just because they help the country to
preserve itself as a nation. So, (D) also extends the scope of
the author’s statement beyond what can be immediately
inferred, and is not the answer.
What the author means by the last sentence is that
adherence to morality is less important than ensuring the
nation’s security. (E) states just his, and is the answer.
SET 2
Answers
1.A 2.D 3.C 4.C 5.C 6.C 7.B 8.B 9.C 10.B
Analysis
1. The given passage means that, irrespective of the skills
needed, some jobs traditionally have been paying lower wages
while other jobs have traditionally been paying higher wages.
It then adds that, for historical reasons, women have
generally sought employment in jobs paying lower wages, even
if some of these jobs required higher skills.
If this is true, the implication is that some jobs which are
usually taken up by men pay higher wages than some other
jobs which require comparable skills but which have been
traditionally taken up by women.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
None of the other choices follows from the given statement
as a necessary corollary.
2. (Marijuana is the name of a habit-forming drug similar
to opium and LSD. Syndrome means a group of symptoms
which are associated with a particular illness, or physical or
mental condition.)
The first sentence of the passage mentions the popular
assumption that Marijuana causes apathy, depression and
loss of motivation in people who use it heavily. The next two
sentences go on to dispute this statement and say that, on
the contrary, young people who are already depressed,
130
unmotivated and looked down upon by parents, have a
tendency to make heavy use of marijuana. The author thus
advances the theory that the use of marijuana may not be
the cause of depression or amotivation, but may be the result
of it.
So, it is (D) that would be the most logical next sentence of
the passage.
Having mentioned the popular belief first, the author says
in the second sentence that ‘there is no evidence that the
drug does indeed produce’ the amotivational syndrome. This
only shows that he is skeptical of the popular belief, but does
not positively rule it out as totally untrue. Even in the next
sentence, he only says that young people who are already
depressed are more likely to make heavy use of marijuana.
Thus, he does not take a positive stand on the question, but
merely advances a theory for consideration. So, (A), which
uses the word ‘concluded’, does not fit into the tenor of the
passage, and cannot be the next sentence of the passage.
The author does not deny that heavy use of marijuana
and amotivation syndrome go together. (His only question is
which is the cause and which is the effect.) Therefore (B) is
not the answer.
(C) also makes an assertive statement which is not
warranted by the use of the phrase ‘are more likely than
others’ in the third sentence. (Notice that, in the correct
answer (D) which we have already identified, the phrase used
is ‘may be a symptom’, which is as tentative as the phrase
‘more likely’ in the previous sentence, and therefore is a logical
corollary.)
The choice (E) states something which is totally
contradictory to the syndrome mentioned in the three previous
sentences, and cannot logically follow from them.
3. (Alumni means old students) At present, it is the general
council (which consists of all old students) that has the
authority to change the constitution. The senate (consisting
of 20 members) can decide only routine matters by majority
vote.
The new proposal seeks to give the power to the senate
itself to change the constitution, provided there is unanimous
vote in the senate for such change.
We have been asked to identify that choice which follows
logically from this proposal.
The result of the above proposal is that the power to change
the constitution, which is now only with the general council,
will be transferred to the senate, provided the senate is
unanimous about the proposed change.
What this implies is that constitutional changes can then
be effected without the general council’s approval. It is (C)
which states this, and is the answer.
The proposal itself involves a change in the constitution
and, under the rules at present, it will have to be passed by
the general council before it can be implemented. (A), which
says that the proposal will take effect if it receives the senate’s
unanimous support, is therefore wrong.
(B) is wrong, because the narrative says that, currently,
the senate decides routine matters by majority vote, and
unanimity is not required. So, no individual senator has a
veto power at present.
The narrative does not say how the members of the senate
are selected. So, (D) does not follow from the narrative, and
is not the answer.
Since the proposal seeks to transfer the power that is now
with the general body of the alumni to the senate, the voice of
the alumni in the conduct of university affairs will, in fact,
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
diminish, and not increase. So, (E) is wrong.
4. The given narrative first says that an economy which
has a greater division of labour will also need a greater
coordination.
The second sentence gives the reason for this assertion thus:
A greater division of labour results in a larger number of
specialized producers, leading to a greater number of
disruptions of supply and production, thereby necessitating
greater coordination.
The third sentence then says, “There is always more
division of labour in market economies than in planned
economies”.
The question then asks us, “If the statements above are
true, then which of the following must also be true?”
In other words, we have been asked to identify that choice
which necessarily follows logically from the given statements.
The third statement is that “there is more division of labour
in market economies than in planned economies”. The first
statement is that “the greater the division of labour in an
economy, the greater the need for coordination”. These two
statements together imply that there is greater need for
coordination in a market economy than in a planned economy.
It is choice (C) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) contradicts what is stated in the given narrative,
because it is market economies that have greater division of
labour, and will therefore have more frequent disruptions in
supply and production than planned economies. So, (A) is
not the answer.
Similarly, (B) and (D) also contradict what is stated in the
given narrative, and can be discarded.
The passage is not on how effectively the division of labour
functions in different economies, but is on the quantum of
division of labour present in different economies. So, (E) is
not relevant to the given conclusion, and is not the answer.
5. The result of the ‘muscular movement’ mentioned is the
expression of smile.
What the given statement means is that there is no
difference between the smile of blind and deaf children and
the smile of normal children.
We have been asked to spot the choice which is a logical
conclusion that can be drawn from this statement.
Children normally learn language as well as patterns of
expression by imitation, and this imitation is generally
through seeing and hearing the adults. Therefore, if
experiments prove that the expression of smile is the same
even in children who can neither see nor hear, the conclusion
must be that smiling comes naturally to children and is not
the result of imitation through sight or sound. So, (C) is the
answer.
Among the other choices, (A) appears to be a plausible
answer. But it is wrong, because elders do not consciously
‘teach’ gestures to the children, but the children voluntarily
pick up these gestures by imitation, and this imitation is
normally through sight and sound. Moreover, (A) talks of all
facial expressions, whereas the given statement relates to
only ‘certain patterns of muscular movement such as those
involved in smiling’.
The other choices are too general, and none of them is an
immediate conclusion that can be drawn from a study of
children who are both deaf and dumb.
6. The simple statement made by Joe is that all Americans
like ice-cream.
131
James controverts him saying “No, that is not true”, and
seeks to substantiate his rebuttal by saying that he knows a
couple of Americans ‘who just love chocolates’.
If James had misunderstood Joe as saying ‘Only Americans
like ice-cream’, his response would not have been ‘I know a
couple of Americans who just love chocolates’. So, (A) is not
the answer. (If, on the contrary, James’ response was, “I know
a couple of Europeans who just love ice-cream”, (A) would
have been the answer.)
If James had misunderstood Joe as saying “I do not like
ice-cream”, his response would not have been “I know a couple
of Americans who just love chocolates”. So, (B) is not the
answer.
If he had misunderstood Joe as saying, “Americans like
only ice-cream (and nothing else)”, his counter-statement, “I
know a couple of Americans who just love chocolates (and
therefore what you say is not true)” would have logical force.
So, (C) is the answer.
Obviously, (D) is not related to what either Joe or James
says.
Since Joe does not mention chocolates at all, the question
of James misunderstanding him to mean that those who like
ice-creams will not like chocolates does not arise. So, (E) is
not the answer.
7. The given statement makes a positive assertion that
any car built after 1965 must have harness-style seat belts in
the front seats.
The question asks you to examine the five choices given
below and pick out the one from which the given statement
can logically follow.
(A) states that harness-style seat belts first appeared in
cars in the late 1950’s. From this statement alone, we cannot
logically infer that all cars built after 1965 must have such
belts. So, (A) has to be discarded.
The second part of (B) specifically lays down that all cars
built after 1965 were required to have seat belts in the front
seats, and the first part says that no seat belts other than
harness-style ones were used in front seats of cars after 1965.
By combining these together, it can be concluded that “if a
car was built after 1965, it has harness-type seat belts in the
front seats”. So, (B) is the answer.
(C) states that some cars built before 1965 have harness-
style seat belts in the front seats. The only conclusion that
can follow from this statement is that many cars built before
1965 did not have harness-style belts in the front seats. You
cannot conclude from this statement that all cars built after
1965 had such belts in the front seat. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) talks generally of seat belts, and does not even mention
harness-type seat belts. Secondly, it only implies that many
people who had seen the usefulness of seats belts in racing
cars had them installed in their cars voluntarily. So, we
cannot draw a conclusion from (D) that all cars built after
1965 definitely have seat-belts, and that too of the harness-
type. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) can only lead us to infer that, if a car was built after
1965, it will have some type of seat belts in the front seats. It
does not follow that the seat belts will be of harness-type only.
So, (E) is not the answer.
8. We learn from the given information that (i) all empty
canvasses sold by retailers in USA and Europe to artists were
made in Europe; (ii) some of these canvasses bear the names
and addresses of the retailer, either European or American,
selling it to an artist; (ii) the wooden stretchers on which the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
art by a US artist was mounted was always made of American municipal staff or leakage of water from a water truck etc.
wood; (iii) finished paintings imported into USA from Europe So I and III need not be true.
were always mounted on European stretchers, though these If it is raining, then both the streets and the sidewalks
were often replaced by American stretchers after import. must be wet. If the streets alone are wet but the sidewalks
In the case of (A), it is not probable that a European retailer are not wet, the wetness of the streets must be due to some
would have sold an empty canvas to an American painter. It other reason (such as the operation of the fire service, cleaning
is more logical to surmise that the painting was done by a by the municipal staff, or leakage of water from a water truck
European artist and the stretcher was changed to American etc.), and not due to rain. So, II must be true.
wood after its import to USA. So, (A) is not the answer. So the answer is (B).
(B) is likely to be true because the American retailer is not
likely to have sold it to a European painter in those ‘pre- SET 3
industrial’ days when trans-Atlantic travel by artists would Answers
have been improbable. So, (B) is the answer
1.D 2.B 3.B 4.E 5.A 6.B 7.C 8.D 9.C 10.C
In the case of (C), it is not likely that an American retailer
Analysis
would have sold a canvas to a European artist. Even if a
1. The statement “If a dormitory room is above the second
European artist had bought one from him, his finished
floor, it has a fire escape” does not mean that a first floor or a
painting would have arrived in USA mounted on a stretcher,
second floor dormitory room should not have a fire escape.
though, in some cases, these stretchers might have been
It only means that while fire escapes are optional for the
replaced by American stretchers after arrival. Consequently,
first and the second floors, it is compulsory for the third,
no European painting is likely to be found without a stretcher.
fourth, fifth floors ....etc.
So, (C) is not the answer.
So (A), (C) and (E) need not be true.
(D) relates to a canvas that is unmarked, and might
(B) contradicts the given statement.
therefore have been sold either by a European retailer to a
(D) is the answer, because the fourth floor dormitory rooms
European painter or by an American retailer to an American
must necessarily have fire escapes as per the given condition.
painter. The painting also might be either by a European or
an American artist, because even European paintings were
2. The given narrative first states that aspirin is capable
often remounted on American stretchers. So, (D) is not a
of eliminating the moderate fever that is associated with some
greater probability than (B).
illnesses.
(E) is also not the answer, because it is given that all
It then points out that, in spite of this property of aspirin,
European paintings arrived in USA on a stretcher and, often,
doctors do not advise its use because a moderate fever helps
were remounted on American stretchers after arrival. So, a
to build antibodies which inhibit the growth of many strains
painting without a stretcher is more likely to be an American
of disease-causing bacteria.
painting than a European painting.
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be
drawn as a conclusion from the above statements.
9. The first sentence says that outlawing (meaning
What the narrative says is that aspirin eliminates moderate
banning) all strikes by its workers is a costly mistake for a
fever. We cannot draw the conclusion from this statement that
local government, because all its labour disputes must then
aspirin is a pain killer. So, (A) is not the answer.
be settled by binding arbitration, without any negotiated
If moderate fever helps in producing antibodies that inhibit
public-sector labour settlement guiding the arbitrators.
the growth of bacteria that caused the illness, we can conclude
The second sentence states that strikes should therefore
that the elimination of the moderate fever through aspirin
be outlawed only for categories of public-sector workers for
will help the disease-causing bacteria to grow uninhibitedly,
whose services no acceptable substitute exists.
thereby prolonging the illness. (B) says just this, and is the
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be
answer.
drawn as a logical conclusion from the passage.
The passage says that moderate fever stimulates the
The first sentence calls the outlawing by a local government
activity of white blood cells. We can only conclude therefrom
of all strikes by its workers as a “costly mistake”, and gives
that the administration of aspirin for eliminating the
the reason as “because all its labour disputes must then be
moderate fever will result in such a stimulation not taking
settled by binding arbitration”. This implies that a recourse
place. We cannot conclude that aspirin will actively inhibit
to binding arbitration always results in less advantageous
the normal growth of the while blood cells. So, (C) is not
results for the local government than it does for the workers.
correct.
This is also confirmed by the statement that, in such cases,
The passage does not talk of ‘white blood cells’ in general,
the arbitrators have to decide without the benefit of guidance
but of ‘disease-fighting’ white blood cells. We cannot conclude
from any negotiated public-sector labour settlements,
that more white blood cells means less severe illness. (In fact,
meaning that such negotiated settlements would be more
uninhibited production of white blood cells will cause blood
advantageous to the local government than the arbitrators’
cancer leading to the patient’s death.) So, (D) is incorrect.
awards. It is (C) which says this, and is the answer.
The focus of modern medicine is in eliminating the disease-
None of the other choices follows logically from the given
causing bacteria in the body, and not merely inhibiting their
information.
growth. So, (E) is wrong.
10. The given statement is “whenever it rains, the streets
3. The first part of the statement says that municipal
and sidewalks are both wet”. It does not follow that the
government finds it politically impossible either to raise fares
converse (namely that whenever the streets and sidewalks are
or to institute cost-saving reductions in the city’s public
wet, it is raining) is true, because the wetness of the streets
transportation service.
and sidewalks might have been caused by reasons other than
The last part of the statement implies that this has
rain - such as operation of the fire service or cleaning by
132
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
necessitated the subsiding of the operating costs of the
transportation service from government funds.
The author argues that if public transportation is run by
a private firm, it will vigorously pursue profits, and will not
need government subsidy for running the system.
We have been asked to state what logical conclusion can
be drawn from these statements.
The obvious conclusion from these statements is that
private companies would not bother about political
considerations, and would readily raise fares, if necessary, in
order to cover operating costs.
So, (B) is the answer.
The other choices are not logically related to the problem
that is stated and the solution that is offered.
4. The author says that praising a historian for factual
accuracy in describing events is like praising an architect for
using well-seasoned timber or properly mixed concrete in a
building.
What the author means is that it is the basic duty of an
architect to use well-seasoned timber or properly mixed
concrete in a building designed and constructed by him, and
he does not deserve praise for these alone. On the other hand,
an architect deserves praise for a distinctive conceptualization
of a building, its beauty, grace, harmony etc.
By citing this analogy, the author suggests that it is the
basic duty of a historian to be factually accurate, and that he
does not deserve any special praise for such accuracy alone,
and that the praise, if any, must be reserved for other
accomplishments such as his innovative interpretation of
various historical facts, his relating them cogently and
logically to one another etc.
In other words, the author argues that a historian has an
obligation to be factually accurate, but such accuracy alone
cannot be considered to be his most notable accomplishment.
It is (E) which says this, and is the answer.
5. The first law (“plain English” law) is applicable to all
agreements, and the second (Rent Stabilization Code) is
applicable only to housing leases.
When the first law is applied to the second, the implications
are
(a) in cases where the expiring lease is in nontechnical
language, the landlord and the tenant can themselves renew
it without being represented by attorneys and
(b) in cases where the expiring lease is in technical
language, it must be renewed as it is (because of the second
law) but, in this case, the landlord and tenant must both be
represented by attorneys (because of the first law)
Choice (A) restates the situation described in (b) above,
and is a valid conclusion that can be drawn from the given
passage, and is the answer.
(B) is wrong since the two legal requirements are not in
conflict.
(C) is wrong because the second law prohibits the
renegotiation of the terms of an expiring lease.
(D) is wrong in cases where the expiring lease itself is in
nontechnical language.
(E) is prohibited by the second law which states that the
renewal must be on the same terms and conditions as the
expiring lease.
6. The ‘deep-seated’ difference between graduates of 1982
and 1964 is mentioned to be the fact that a majority of 1982
graduates consider ‘making a good income’ as an important
133
reason for joining college.
This means that, among the 1964 graduates, it was only a
minority who had considered this an important reason for
their joining college. So, (B) is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices logically
follows as a conclusion from the given information.
7. After the statement that “to produce seeds, plants must
first produce flowers”, two distinctions are made between
Russian terragon and French terragon:
(i) The Russian terragon produces flowers, and the French
terragon does not.
(ii) The Russian terragon’s leaves do not have flavour, and
are not as desirable as French terragon for cooking.
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be
drawn as a conclusion from the given information.
From the first distinction, we can conclude that the French
terragon does not produce seeds, and is propagated in some
other way. Therefore, any seed packet that mentions ‘terragon’
cannot relate to French terragon. So, (C) is the answer.
(A) is wrong, because the second distinction relates to their
‘culinary’ (cooking) properties, and not to their ‘decorative’
properties. Moreover, since it is the Russian terragon that
produces flowers, it will be more suited as a decorative plant
than the French terragon.
From the information that the leaves of Russian terragon
do not have flavour, we cannot conclude that their flowers
also do not have flavour. So, (B) is wrong.
(D) and (E) do not necessarily follow from the given
information.
8. The first sentence says that (i) the wearing of a lap seat
belt, and (ii) the wearing a shoulder-and-lap seat belt, both
protect passengers from major types of accidents in head-on
automobile collisions.
The next two sentences state that, while passengers
wearing lap seat belts alone frequently suffer internal injuries
caused by the seat belt itself, those wearing shoulder-and-
lap seat belts do not suffer such injuries.
We have been asked to spot the choice which could be a
logical conclusion from these statements about passengers
involved in head-on automobile collisions.
(A) is wrong, because the passage states that shoulder-
and-lap seat belt does give adequate protection to passengers
from major types of injuries in head-long collisions.
(B) is wrong, because internal injuries are associated only
with lap seat belts, and the passage does not say that
passengers most often wear only this type of seat belt.
The given passage is only about protection to passengers
in the case of head-on automobile collisions, and does not
talk about protection in the case of other types of accidents
such as, say, the overturning of an automobile. So, we cannot
infer from the passage that it is only head on automobile
collisions which cause more injury than any other type of
accident. In fact, the passage says that, if only shoulder-
and-lap seat belts are worn, passengers can escape from major
injuries even in the case of head-on collisions. So, (C) is wrong.
Obviously, it is (D) which follows directly from the passage,
and is the answer.
According to the passage, even the wearing of only a lap
seat belt does protect passengers from major types of injuries
in head-on automobile collisions, though it does cause some
internal injuries. So, non-wearing of a lap seat belt may result
in the passenger suffering major injuries, and cannot be
considered to be safer than wearing a lap seat belt. So, (E) is
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
wrong.
9. (C) is the summary of the second sentence, and is the
answer.
(A) is wrong, because the author himself concedes that
some actions of individuals can affect the interests of others
in the society.
(B) is wrong, because the author is only concerned with a
person’s actions which prejudicially affect others, but not with
the actions which benefit others.
(D) is wrong, because the author says that some actions of
individuals may affect the interests of others.
10. Use the symbol > to indicate a higher melting point.
Then the given information can be written as X > P and P >
Y. These can be combined as X > P > Y
The question given is “when is S > Y?”.
The obvious answer is that S will be greater than Y if S is
greater than either X or P.
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
is the answer.
According to the author, any work of literature is
intertextual if it is written in response to any other work of
literature. The example given in (E) is also of a work of
literature that is written in response to another writing, and
must therefore be considered to be intertextual. By saying that
it is not intertextual, (E) contradicts the information in the
given passage, and is not the answer.
3. The first sentence in the passage says that when farmers
try to produce high yields of the same crop year after year,
they need to apply high levels of fertilizers and pesticides,
and these high levels pollute water supplies.
The second sentence says that, in order to get the benefit
of government’s price support for a crop, the farmers must
have produced the same crop for the past several years.
The obvious conclusion that one can draw from these two
sentences is that the rules for government support for farm
prices militate against the efforts to reduce water pollution.
So, (A) is the ready answer.

SET 4 4. It is given in the question that the grass is brown. You

Answers should proceed backwards from this statement.
So, from the last condition, we can say that the cherries
1.E 2.D 3.A 4.A 5.A 6.C 7.D 8.C 9.B 10.E
are not ripe.
Analysis
Then, from the previous condition, we can conclude that
1. From the second sentence, we can conclude that any
the berries are blue.
nursing room in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th floor must necessarily
The first condition says that the berries are not blue when
have a fire escape.
and only when the apples are green. So, applying the converse,
So, it is (E) which is a necessary conclusion from the given
we can say that, since the berries are found to be blue, the
statement, and is the answer.
apples are not green.
(A) need not be true, because the statement that a room
So, (A) is the answer.
above the first floor must have a fire escape does not mean
that a room in the first or ground floor should not have a fire
5. This is quite an easy question. The question asks you to
escape.
select that statement from the five given choices from which
(B) is the converse of this; the given statements by
the argument “If George was born in New York State, then
themselves do not mean that a fire escape is allowed for first-
he is citizen of the United States” immediately follows.
floor rooms in nursing homes.
It is quite easy to see that the answer is (A), which
(C) and (D) both contradict the given statements.
stipulates without any ambiguity that every person born in
New York State is a citizen of the United States.
2. The given passage says that masterpieces of literature
We can rule out (B) because it talks of citizenship and the
are written not in response to reality, but in response to other
place of residence, while the given main statement talks of
works of literature, and are therefore poor (or clouded) mirrors
citizenship and place of birth.
of social reality.
(C) can be ruled out because it implies that a person born
We have been asked to spot that choice which follows as a
in New York State may or may not be a citizen of the United
conclusion from the given information.
States. If that be so, it cannot be logically inferred that George
The author’s argument is that if a writing is intertextual
is a citizen of the United States just because he had been
(meaning ‘written in response to other works of literature’),
born in New York State.
it fails to mirror social reality. (A) reverses his argument by
It can be easily seen that the given statement does not
stating that a writing that fails to mirror social reality is
logically follow from (D) or (E).
intertextual. This does not follow necessarily from the given
passage.
6. Note that the given advertisement has been issued by
(B) contradicts the author’s view that all masterpieces are
Megacorp. It implies that, though the products sold by
indeed influenced by other works of literature.
Megacorp are already of high quality, the customers’
The author defines the term ‘intertextual’ as meaning
expectation levels of the quality of products are not static but
‘written in response to other works of literature’. A writing
are always on the rise. It then affirms that ‘meeting or
that is not intertextual may therefore be considered to be
exceeding customer expectation’ is its goal.
having no significant relationship to any other works of
If the customers’ expectation of the product quality is
literature, but it may have a relationship with writings other
always on the rise, such expectation can be successfully met
than literature. So, (C) is not a necessary conclusion from the
only if it is possible to continuously increase the product quality
given passage.
without there being a limit on such quality. It is (C) which
If what is stated in the passage is true, it follows that the
states this, and is the answer.
masterpieces of the past are all intertextual, and therefore
Since the advertisement is about Megacorp’s policy, and
cannot be considered to be works that accurately reflect the
not about its competitors, (A) is not the answer.
social reality of their periods. It is (D) which states this, and
The advertisement is about Megacorp’s policy whereas (B)
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
and (D) are general statements concerning all companies.
Obviously what is stated in them are not logical conclusions
from Megacorp’s advertisement.
(E) contradicts the statement in the advertisement that
customers are never satisfied with the quality of an existing
product and always want an improvement in it.
7. The second sentence says that foundations were formerly
willing to fund risky projects (meaning projects which did
not have much prospects of success) when more money was
available with them, but now, because of paucity of funds,
they are inclined to support only relatively conservative
projects (meaning projects which have bright chances of
success).
We have been asked to spot that choice which can be drawn
as a logical conclusion from the above information.
The quantum of money paid to each project is not referred
to at all in the passage. So, (A) is not a necessary conclusion
from it.
‘Conservative’ projects mean projects which have a greater
chances of success. This word has not been used here in its
usual political meaning. So, (B) is not the answer.
The first sentence of the passage gives the reason for the
paucity of funds with the foundations as ‘cuts in federal
spending’. (C) contradicts this fact by citing a different reason,
and is not the answer.
The fact that the foundations have decided to support
relatively conservative projects implies that they do not want
the projects supported by them to fail. (D) states just this,
and is the answer.
(E) refers to projects not supported by the foundations, and
has no relevance to the given information.
8. The first sentence says that dense cover of snow on earth
can cause unusually harsh weather conditions to persist
(meaning to continue). The succeeding sentences give an
explanation and an illustration of this phenomenon.
They state that if a severe snowfall (or winter storm) covers
the Great Plains with snow, then this snow cover, being pure
white, reflects the sun’s radiation back into space, and keeps
the temperature of the ground low. Consequently, the cold
air that moves down from Canada continues to remain cold,
and causes even more snowfall. This new snow will again
reflect the sunlight into space and will cause still further
snowfall etc. This is how the harsh weather patterns,
triggered off by the initial severe winter storm, will continue
to exist.
We have been asked to examine which among the choices
is a conclusion that can be logically drawn from this
information.
(A) talks of normal winter weather, and does not mention
any unusual conditions. So, it is not the answer.
The Great Plains are mentioned only as an illustration of
the statement in the first sentence, and the author does not
indicate that they are more likely than other areas in the world
to suffer unusually harsh weather conditions. So, (B) is not
the answer.
If, as stated in (C), the Great Plains get more snow than
usual early in winter (probably due to a severe snowstorm),
then this snow will reflect the sunlight back into space and
keep the ground cool. If so, the cold air moving down from
Canada will remain cold enough to cause more snowstorms.
The result will be that the winter that year is likely to be
colder than usual.
This is exactly what is stated in (C).
135
So, it is (C) which is a logical conclusion that can be drawn
from the given information, and is the answer.
The given passage does not talk of conditions under which
a snowstorm will develop into a blizzard (which is a severe
snowstorm accompanied by strong winds, very heavy
snowfall, lightning and thunder) and so, (D) is not a conclusion
that can be drawn from it.
(E) is also not a conclusion warranted from the information
in the given passage, because the ground temperature may
depend on many other factors such as the season, the latitude
of the place, its nearness to the sea etc.
9. The given statements mean that mainland China will
allow Hong Kong to retain its capitalist ways only if it
continues to stay prosperous. The logical consequence of Hong
Kong’s failure to stay prosperous will be that mainland China
will not allow it to continue to retain its capitalist ways. The
consequence will not be that Hong Kong itself will no longer
remain part of mainland China. So, (A) is not the answer.
The first sentence says, “Hong Kong can retain its capitalist
ways after it becomes part of mainland China in 1997 as long
as a capitalist Hong Kong is useful to China”. The use of the
phrase ‘can retain’ in this sentence implies that the author is
assuming that, on the day that it becomes part of mainland
China in 1997, it will have a capitalist economy. This means
that if Hong Kong, in its status as a British Colony, retains
its capitalist ways until 1997, it will be allowed to retain it in
the immediately following months, and at least until such
time that it ceases to be prosperous. (B) states this, and is the
answer.
The given narrative does not say that world economic crisis
will never affect Hong Kong. So, (C) does not logically follow
from the given narration.
(D) will be true only if Hong Kong remains capitalist as
well as prosperous in 1997, at the time it becomes part of
China. Since this is not stated in (D), it does not follow from
the given narrative.
The given narrative relates only to the retention of capitalist
ways by Hong Kong, and does not mention anything about
any other restrictions that may be placed on the citizens of
Hong Kong by the government of mainland China on religion,
dress, etc.
So, (E) does not logically follow from the given narrative,
and is not the answer.
10. The question is about the expected behaviour of a
nuclear-missile defence system controlled by a complex
computer program. The obvious purpose of the defence system
is to recognize a nuclear blast by the enemy as soon as it
occurs, and trigger the counter attack automatically without
human intervention which may delay such counter attack.
The first paragraph of the passage says that meteorite
explosions can be as powerful as nuclear blasts, and the
second paragraph says that the response of highly complex
computer systems to unexpected circumstances is
unpredictable. The conclusion can therefore be drawn that
the computer system, if it is not specially programmed to
distinguish between a meteorite explosion and a nuclear blast,
might behave in an erratic manner in the event of a meteorite
explosion, and recognize it wrongly as a nuclear blast and
trigger an unprovoked attack on the enemy country.
It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is a
necessary conclusion from the given information.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
SET 5 conclusion from the information above.
Answers What the passage implies is that different skills are
expected from fighter pilots at different periods depending
1.B 2.D 3.D 4.C 5.B 6.A 7.E 8.D 9.B 10.C
upon the technology at that time. If so, specific training
Analysis
programs for military personnel have to be updated
1. In the worst years of the early twentieth century, the
periodically so as to be in consonance with the changing needs
sequence of events in Southern United States was (i) the price
of actual combat situations.
of cotton went down, (ii) most of the population ate only
It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
cornmeal, and (iii) the incidence of the debilitating disease
pellagra, which is known to be caused by a deficiency of niacin
5. This is a tricky question. The condition “whenever the
and certain other essential nutrients, went up.
sun is shining and the windchill factor is below zero, Susan
The logical conclusion that can be drawn from this
wears her parka” does not mean “whenever Susan wears her
sequence is that cornmeal is deficient in niacin and certain
parka, the sun must be shining and the windchill factor must
other essential nutrients.
be below zero”. So, (A) is wrong.
So, (B) is the answer.
(B) says that, in spite of one of the two conditions being
None of the other choices is a necessary logical conclusion
satisfied (windchill factor being below zero), Susan is not
that can be drawn from the given information.
wearing her parka. This means that the second condition
(that the sun must be shining) is not satisfied. So, (B) is the
2. You can notice that the given information does not talk
answer.
of trade between Japan and US at all.
(C) need not be true, because the presence of rain does not
What it says is that Japan’s export to all countries in 1980
mean that the sun is not shining, nor does the absence of
was $92 billion, while US’s export to all countries was just
rain mean that the sun is shining.
about $30 billion.
(D) does not fulfill the conditions in the second sentence,
It also says that the import by US from all countries during
and need not be true.
that year was only $26 (there being a $4 billion trade surplus),
(E) also need not be true, because it says that the windchill
while Japan had imported goods worth more than $92 billion
factor is zero, and not below zero, which is the condition for
(causing a trade deficit) from all countries.
Susan to wear parka.
You can easily see that what logically follows from the given
information is that Japan’s payment for imported goods in
6. It is given that, in spite of a ban on tobacco advertising
1980 far exceeded Unites States’ payment for imported goods
since 1975 in Norway, smoking is at least as prevalent among
during that year. It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
teen-agers in that country as it is in countries that have not
The other choices are either unwarranted conclusions, or
banned tobacco advertising.
are factually wrong.
We can therefore conclude that tobacco advertising is not
the only factor that induces smoking among teenagers, and
3. (The narrative is given in a complicated form just in
that there must be other stronger factors which influence
order to confuse you.) We can paraphrase the given
teenagers uniformly in all these countries.
information as
So, (A) is the answer.
(i) vianzone + sodium chlorate = cloudy
While advertising may not be a factor in the prevalence of
(ii) vianzone + potassium nitrate = cloudy
smoking when the population of teenagers is considered as a
(iii) vianzone + benzene = not cloudy.
whole, it is not possible for us to come to a conclusion from
The question is: If vianzone + x = not cloudy, what could x
the given information that it is not a factor in a particular
be among the five given choices?
individual starting or continuing smoking. So, (B) cannot be
From (i), we can say that the solution did not contain
a valid conclusion from the given information.
sodium chlorate or potassium nitrate. So, (D) is consistent
(C) talks generally of consumption of tobacco, and not of
with the given information, and is the answer.
smoking, and is irrelevant to the issue.
(A) is wrong because of (ii) above.
(D) says that absence of tobacco advertising tempts more
(B) is wrong because of (i) above
teenagers to start smoking, a conclusion that is not only not
From (iii), we can only infer that x could be benzene; we
warranted from the given information but is totally illogical.
cannot assert that x could not be benzene. So, (C) is not the
The teenagers of 1975 would have attained middle age now,
answer.
and would not have been counted during a study of the
While (ii) will enable us to assert that the solution did not
smoking habit of teenagers of today in Norway. So, (E), even
contain potassium nitrate, we cannot say that it did not
though it may be true, is irrelevant to the issue.
contain benzene. So, (E) is not the answer.
7. We learn from the passage that
4. The first two sentences state that, during the second
(i) laws requiring the use of headlights during daylight
world war, an important ability that fighter pilots had to
hours can prevent automobile collisions
develop was the capacity to turn their heads frequently in order
(ii) countries which are farther from the equator than the
to look to their rear, for which they were trained through
continental United States, where daylight visibility is worse,
suitable calisthenic exercises.
have such laws
The last two sentences state that, at present, with the
(iii) continental United States does not have a law that
development of electronic instruments which have obviated
compels automobile drivers to use headlights during daylight
the need for pilots to look to the rear, what is important in a
hours
fighter pilot is the ability to detect even slight changes on
From this information, we can conclude that daylight
electronic dials and gauges.
visibility in continental USA is not so bad as to be considered
We have been asked to spot that choice which forms a valid
a factor in automobile collisions and, therefore, daytime
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
headlight laws are less likely to prevent automobile collisions
in continental USA than they do in countries further north.
(E) is what states this, and is the answer.
The passage questions the need to make the use of daytime
headlight compulsory for automobile drivers in continental
United States, and does not say that use of daytime headlight
will not play a role at all in preventing collisions. Therefore
(A) is not as appropriate an answer as (E).
The passage itself says that the countries farther away
from continental USA have daytime headlight laws which
do prevent automobile collisions. So, (B) is a factually
inaccurate statement, and is not a logical conclusion from
the given information. (This choice would have been correct
if there had been no such law in these countries.)
(C) deals with the proportion of the number of accidents
during daytime to the number of accidents during nights both
in continental USA and in the countries to its north. Since
the passage does not deal with accidents at nights at all, (C)
is not a necessary conclusion from it.
The passage talks only of collisions that are caused by poor
visibility during daytime, whereas (D) refers to all collisions
that could arise because of various other factors such as poor
maintenance of vehicles, driver negligence, drunkenness of
drivers etc. Obviously (D) cannot be a logical conclusion from
the given passage.
8. The passage implies only that, when the percentage of
expenditure on research and development to the GNP of a
country is reduced, the number of inventions by its scientists
also comes down. It does not say that the number of inventions
is related to the size of the country’s GNP. So, (A) is not the
answer.
The passage talks of only percentages, and does not give
the actual figures of GNP of USA, Japan or West Germany.
So, (B) is not a valid conclusion that can be drawn from the
given information. (It is quite likely that 3.2% of West
Germany’s GNP is much less than 2.2% of USA’s GNP.)
The passage does not give the number of inventions made
by West Germany and Japan during the given years.
Moreover, it is quite likely that, even in USA, 2.2% of its GNP
in 1978 was higher than 3% of its GNP in 1964! Therefore,
(C) is not a valid conclusion that can be drawn from the given
information.
The passage first says that the expenditure on research
and development in USA decreased steadily from 3% of its
GNP in 1964 to 2.2% of its GNP in 1978. It then says that,
during the same period, Japan increased its percentage to 1.6%
of its GNP. We can therefore conclude that, during this entire
period, USA spent a larger percentage of its GNP (2.2%) on
research and development than Japan did (only 1.6%). So,
(D) is the answer.
The passage does not give any information that warrants
the conclusion in (E).
9. (A) is wrong since, even when a trained examiner asks
questions, the lie detector is said to be accurate in only 70 to
90 percent of the cases.
Since the maximum percentage of accurate results is
mentioned as 90, the conclusion is that, at least in 10% of the
cases or, in one out of ten cases, the lie detector gave incorrect
results. So, (B) is the answer.
10. Relating the price of gasoline (meaning petrol) to the
number of riders using public transportation (meaning buses
and trains), the second sentence says that one of the reasons
137
why the number of passengers using public transportation
has fallen is that the price of gasoline is still not prohibitive
(because of which many persons can still afford to use their
own private vehicles for travel).
This implies that, once the price of gasoline becomes
prohibitive enough, many of them will curtail the use of their
private vehicles, and resort to the use of public transportation,
resulting in an increase in the number of passengers using
public transportation.
Choice (C) is what states this, and is the answer.
The implication of the given statement is that, even though
the price of gasoline may register some increases, it will not
have an effect on the number of passengers using public
transportation, until the price reaches a prohibitorily high
level. So, (A), which implies that there is a continuous inverse
correlation between every increase in the price of gasoline
and the number of passengers using public transportation,
is not borne out by the given statement.
(B) and (D) both contradict what is stated in the given
paragraph, and are wrong.
(E) partially supports what is stated in the given
paragraph, but does not deal with the contingency when the
price of gasoline may increase to a prohibitive level.
SET 6
Answers
1.D 2.E 3.D 4.C 5.D 6.D 7.D 8.D 9.B 10.B
Analysis
1. The first sentence says that, though many of the present
buildings use the best of materials, they are still structurally
defective because of indifferent design and sloppy construction.
The second sentence says that this situation is further
aggravated during maintenance, because the maintenance
personnel do not even study the designs of these buildings.
What the author implies is that, if the maintenance
personnel are aware of the design of the building, the further
damage during the maintenance stage will be much less. If
this is valid, the most effective way to contain damages at
the maintenance stage is when the design engineer himself
oversees the maintenance. It is choice (D) which states this,
and is the answer.
2. The proposed amendment stipulates that every
prospective nominee for an office must give a consent to his
nomination, and that, before giving such a consent, he must
be told who the other nominees will be.
If there is only one prospective nominee in the field, he
can give his consent to the nomination without difficulty.
Consider the case when there are two prospective
nominees, say M and N. Now M cannot give his consent to be
a nominee unless he is told beforehand whether N has or has
not given his consent, and, similarly, N cannot give his consent
before he is told beforehand whether M has or has not given
his consent. This implies that, under the proposed
amendment, it will be impossible for either M or N to become
a nominee.
This situation will hold good even in cases where there
are more than two prospective candidates, because it will be
impossible for any of them to give his consent to become a
nominee. So, (E) is the answer.
3. The given passage consists of three statements: (i) A
violin constructed to have an improved sound would sound
different from the best-sounding existing violins; (ii)
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
Professional violinists would always consider that a violin
which sounds different from the best-sounding existing violins
sounds less like a violin, and is therefore worse than the best-
sounding existing violins; and (iii) Professional violinists are
the only accepted judges of the sound quality of violins.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
be best supported by these three statements.
(A) is a suggestion against one of the three statements, and
is not one that logically follows from the three statements. So,
(A) is not the answer.
(B) also is not a statement that follows logically from the
three given statements. In fact, if (B) is true, a violin which
sounds different from the existing best-sounding violins may
not even be constructed at all!
No information is available on how long the violin itself
has existed as a musical instrument. Therefore, the conclusion
that ‘the best sounding violins have been in existence for
several centuries’ is not warranted from the information in
the three given statements. So, (C) is wrong.
The three given statements imply that the professional
violinists, who are considered to be the only judges of the sound
quality of violins, will not rate any violin that sounds different
from the best sounding violins of today as better than them.
This means that it is not currently possible to construct a
violin that these persons will evaluate as having an improved
sound. So, (D) is the answer.
The statement that the professional violinists will not
evaluate a new violin as being better than the best-sounding
existing violins does not logically imply that everyone else
will disagree with them and consider the new violin as a better
one. (In fact, if this is the case, then professional violinists
would not have been accepted as the only reliable judges of
the sound quality of violins.) So, (E) is wrong.
4. (A polygraph is a lie detector. The purpose of a polygraph
test is to determine whether the person who answers the
questions put to him is telling a lie or not. Applicants for jobs
are usually asked to undergo a polygraph test to ascertain
their honesty. But a polygraph test is conclusive only in about
90% of the cases and is inconclusive in other cases.) The
passage first points out that, when a polygraph test on an
applicant is inconclusive, no inference should be drawn at all
about his honesty or dishonesty. It then says that,
nevertheless, employers sometimes refuse to hire an applicant
in whose case the polygraph test has been inconclusive.
We can conclude from this information that employers
sometimes interpret an inconclusive polygraph test as if it
has given a negative result about the applicant. If so, they are
holding an inconclusive result unfairly against him. It is (C)
which states this, and is the answer.
(A) contradicts what is stated in the passage, and is wrong.
The author of the passage is against the unfair use of
inconclusive polygraph tests, and is not against conclusive
polygraph tests being used in recruitment decisions. So, (B)
is wrong.
The passage is only about tests which have been
inconclusive, and does not question those which have given a
definite result. So, (D) is not a conclusion that can be drawn
from it.
(E) implies that some employers give jobs to applicants
who have failed the polygraph test, and reject those who have
passed the polygraph test. Such a conclusion is not warranted
by the information in the passage.
5. One would normally expect that, when the warning
138
light is not flashing at the junction of a railroad and a road, a
bus plying on the road can proceed further. The given passage
describes an instance of this not being true.
The passage mentions two contingencies - (i) when the
warning light is not flashing, and the tracks are clear, and
(ii) when the warning light is not flashing, and the tracks are
not clear.
It says that, in the case of the first contingency, the bus
proceeds further, and that, in the case of the second
contingency, the bus does not proceed further.
It is implied in this narration that, if the warning light is
flashing, the bus will not proceed further.
So, if the bus does not proceed further, either (i) the warning
light is flashing, or (ii) the warning light is not flashing, but
the tracks are not clear, or (iii) both.
(D) mentions all these three contingencies, and is the
answer.
6. The second sentence of the passage says that the carbon
dioxide generated naturally by the decay of plants and trees
in forests is balanced by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the
trees which give off oxygen.
This implies that, if a large quantity of carbon dioxide is
generated by any other source, the trees in the forests cannot
absorb such excess, and that such excess carbon dioxide will
be surplus to what is required for ecological balance.
The third sentence says that the use of plant-based fuels
in industry generates a large amount of carbon dioxide.
Combining both these, we can conclude that a society that
uses plant-based fuels in industry will contribute a net surplus
of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, unless the gas is
reabsorbed in some other way.
So, (D) is the answer.
7. The bloods of two persons are said to match only when
they are both of the same type. What the passage says is that
Type O blood can be used for everyone. This does not mean
that Type O blood matches the blood type of most people. So,
(A) is wrong.
From the statement that Type O blood is continuously in
short supply in USA, we cannot come to the conclusion that
it is unavailable for emergencies. On the contrary, responsible
hospitals will ensure that they always have reserve stocks of
Type O blood for emergencies. So, (B) is also wrong.
Again, from the fact that 45% of the blood donated in US
is of Type O, it is not possible to come to the conclusion that
exactly 45% of the people of US have Type O blood. The only
conclusion we can arrive at is that, among those who
contribute blood in US, 45% have Type O blood. So, (C) is
also wrong.
From the second and third sentences, we can infer that
other types of blood such as A, B etc can only be given to
those patients whose blood groups match them, while Type O
blood can be given to anyone, irrespective of his blood group.
So, it is (D) which follows from the information in the passage,
and is the answer.
What the passage implies is that, in the case of emergencies
when there is no time to type the victim’s blood (meaning
‘determining which group the blood belongs to’), Type O blood
can be administered straightaway because it is compatible
with every other blood group. We cannot infer from this
statement that any particular blood group takes more time
to ‘type’ than any other blood group. So, (E) is not the answer.
8. The second sentence says, “Television news shows report
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
more on stories that include dramatic pictures such as fires
and motor vehicle accidents than they do on more common
stories that have little visual drama such as bookkeeping
fraud”.
(The underlined phrase implies that crimes of bookkeeping
fraud are much more common than fires and motor vehicle
accidents.)
The first sentence says, “Most television viewers estimate
how frequently a particular type of accident or crime occurs
by how extensively it is discussed on television news shows”.
We can conclude from these two sentences that most
television viewers would overestimate the number of fires and
motor vehicle accidents that occur because these are reported
more by television news shows than are crimes of bookkeeping
fraud even though the latter are much more common.
(D) is what states this, and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other four choices is
relevant to the two sentences in the passage.
9. The given passage talks of only three animals: a dog, a
cat and a platypus, and refers to only one sensory capacity in
each of them which is different from that of humans.
So, the sweeping statement in (A) that most animals have
sensory capacities superior to those demonstrated by humans
is not warranted by the passage.
(B) is what neatly summarises the information in the
passage, and is the answer.
You can easily notice that (C) and (D) are far-fetched
statements that do not logically follow from the given
information.
What is stated about the cat is, “a cat has a greater capacity
to see in dim light than a human normally has”. It is therefore
possible for a specially trained human to see equally well or
better in dim light than a normal cat does. It is also possible
that some cats, because of old age or other medical reasons,
are not able to see as well in dim light as a normal cat can.
So, the statement that ‘any human who can see in dim light
does so less well than any cat’ is a conclusion that is not
warranted by the given information. So, (E) is wrong.
10. The passage first says that, early in its development,
the Earth was a rapidly rotating body of molten rock in which
most of the iron had settled to the core. It then says that some
of this fluid was cast off from the surface of the spinning mass
and later solidified to form the moon.
The passage implies that the surface of the rotating molten
Earth contained less iron than the core of the earth, and that
it was from this surface with less iron-content that the Moon
was eventually formed. Therefore, we can conclude that the
moon in general, and particularly its core, contains
proportionately less iron than the Earth does.
(B) states just this, and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices, though
they may be factually correct, is a logical conclusion from the
information in the given passage.
SET 7
Answers
1.A 2.C 3.A 4.C 5.D 6.D 7.E 8.D 9.D 10.B
Analysis
1. The passage mentions two sets of statistics relating to
nursing homes: (i) admission rate (in terms of number of
admissions per 1000 beds a year) and (ii) occupancy rate (in
terms of percentage of beds capacity). If the former is 95 per
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1000, it means that, for every 1000 beds available in nursing
homes, 95 patients were admitted as inpatients in a year.
The total number of available occupancy days for all these
1000 beds in a year is 365,000. If the occupancy rate in a
year is 87 percent, it means that the beds were occupied for
365,000 x 87/100 or 3650 x 87 ‘patient days’. This means that
the average number of days that a patient was an inpatient
in the nursing homes was (3650 x 87)/95.)
The passage first says that when the admission rate was
95 per 1000 beds between 1975 and 1985, the occupancy rate
was 87 percent of capacity.
It then says that, between 1985 and 1988, the admission
rate came down to 81 per 1000, but the occupancy rate rose
to 92 percent.
The conclusion from this information is that, between 1985
and 1988, less number of admitted patients spent more days
in hospital beds. This means that the average number of days
that an inpatient stayed in a nursing home was greater
between 1985 and 1988 than it was between 1975 and 1985.
(A) is what states this, and is the answer.
The passage does not talk about the age of patients
admitted in nursing homes at all. So, (B) cannot be a logical
conclusion that can be drawn from the given information.
The given passage gives information only about two specific
periods. It is not possible to draw a general conclusion
therefrom that nursing home admission rates will always
decline whenever occupancy rates rise. So, (C) is not the
answer.
The given information has no relevance to the years in
which a nursing home was built. So, (D) is irrelevant and
cannot be a logical conclusion from the passage.
The given information is about the cumulative number of
beds available in all nursing homes and the cumulative
number of patients admitted in all of them. No conclusion
can be drawn from the passage relating to the sizes of
individual nursing homes. So, (E) is not the answer.
(Note that, even though a mathematical principle is used
in answering the question, there was no need for us to make
any actual calculations.)
2. (This question also involves the same mathematical
principle as in the last question, but in a different context.)
The passage first says that husbands of wage-earning women
and husbands of women who do not earn wages spend the
same average duration of 11 hours per week on household
work.
It then says that husbands of wage-earning women do
household tasks on more number of occasions than do
husbands of women who do not earn wages.
Let us assume that the husband of a woman who does not
earn wages does household work on an average of 11 occasions
a week. This means that he spends one hour on the average
on each such occasion.
Then, according to the second piece of information, the
husband of a wage-earning women must be doing household
work at least on 12 occasions a week. So, on each occasion, he
must be spending an average of 11/12 hours or 55 minutes on
household work.
This means that the average time spent on each occasion
by the husband of a wage-earning woman when he does
household work is less than the average time spent on each
occasion by the husband of a woman who does not earn wages.
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
3. The first sentence says that, between 1982 and 1995,
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
the increase in the number of people employed in low-paying
service occupations will be more than the increase in the
number of people employed in high-paying service
occupations.
The second sentence says that, during the same period,
the share of the low-paying service jobs in the total
employment will not increase, while the share of the high-
paying service jobs in the total employment will increase.
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be a
logical conclusion from these two statements.
The answer to this question is based on a simple
mathematical principle.
If the initial value of M = 1000 and it increases by 80, the
increase in ratio is 8%.
If the initial value of N = 100 and it increases only by 15,
the increase in ratio is a higher figure of 15%.
Thus, though M has increased by 80 but N has increased
by only 15, the increase in ratio is less for M than it is for N.
Conversely, if, in spite of a larger increase in number, the
increase in ratio is less for M than it is for N, then M must be
greater than N.
Applying this principle to the given question, we can
conclude that the number of persons in low-paying service
jobs in 1982 must have been less than the number of persons
in high-paying service jobs in 1982.
(A) is what states this, and is the answer.
4. The first two sentences of the narrative state that, during
the 1960’s, only 15% of the growth in US population was due
to immigration while the remaining 85% was due to natural
increase (namely, the amount by which the birth rate was
higher than the death rate).
The last two sentences state that
(i) the population has grown continuously since then
(ii) immigration accounts for 30% of the population growth
today
(iii) the number of people immigrating each year has not
changed significantly
If we assume that the annual number of migrants in the
1960’s was 1500, the first two sentences state that the annual
growth in population was 10,000, with the balance of 8500
being attributable to natural growth.
According to the last two sentences, the annual number of
migrants continues to be 1500, but, now, this forms as much
as 30% of the present population growth.
This implies that the annual growth of population at
present is only 5000. So, we can conclude that, compared to
1960’s, the population is growing more slowly now. It is (C)
which states this, and is the answer.
5. (The statement in this question is deliberately worded in
a confusing manner.) The passage deals with the total taxable
income from foreign sources.
It first says that 53% of such total taxable foreign income
came from 38 big companies with more than $100 million
income each.
It then says that 60% of such income came from 200
companies reporting income from 10 or more countries.
These two cannot be totally independent groups because,
in that case, their contribution adds upto 113% of the total
income, which is not possible.
So, the given data should mean that at least a part of this
total income must have been returned by companies which
have both the characteristics, namely (i) having income from
10 or more countries and (ii) having a net income of more
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than $100 millions each.
So, (D) is what follows from the given passage, and is the
answer.
6. (Citrus is the common name of a group of fruits including
oranges, lemons etc.) The passage says that, in a recent year,
while California’s total citrus crop was 23% more than
Florida’s total citrus crop, its orange crop was only 76% of
Florida’s orange crop.
We have been asked to spot the choice which can be
logically inferred from the above information about the citrus
crops in Florida and California during that year.
This question is also based on a simple arithmetic principle.
If, in a particular year, California produced more citrus fruits
than Florida, but produced less oranges than Florida, the
obvious conclusion is that the proportion of non-orange citrus
fruits produced by California in that year was more than the
proportion of non-orange citrus fruits produced by Florida.
It is (D) which says this, and is the answer.
(A) is wrong because the passage itself states that Florida
also produces non-orange citrus fruits.
There is no information in the passage as to whether the
volumes of the crops were measured in numbers or in weight.
So, (B) cannot be inferred from the passage.
(C), while it may well be true, cannot be logically inferred
from the given passage.
The fact that the citrus crop in California was more than
the citrus crop in Florida cannot lead us to the conclusion
that California had more acreage under agriculture than
Florida had. It is quite likely that Florida had more land under
agriculture but a larger proportion of it was devoted to other
crops such as wheat, barley etc. It is also likely that the yield
of citrus fruits per acre is greater in California than in Florida.
So, (E) is not a logical conclusion that necessarily follows from
the given passage.
7. The passage concludes that when the entire private
business (including farming activity) is considered, the
productivity increase in 1982 over 1981 was 4.8%, but when
the non-farm private business alone is taken, the productivity
increase was 5%.
This means that the inclusion of farming brought down
the percentage increase in productivity in 1982. This would
imply that the productivity in the farming sector must have
increased by less than 4.8% while the productivity in the non-
farming sector increased by 5%, so that their average was
4.8%.
In other words, the increase in the farming sector
productivity must have been less than the increase in the
non-farming sector productivity. (E) is what states this, and
is the answer,
(If this reasoning is not clear to you, consider the following
statement: “There are both boys and girls in a class. The
average marks in English of the whole class is 50, while the
average of the marks of the girls alone is 54. What can you
say about the average of the marks of the boys alone?”
Obviously, it must be less than 50. The same reasoning applies
in this case also.)
Note that the productivity, as defined, does not depend
upon the number of workers, but is only dependent on the
goods or services produced in an hour by each worker. So,
even if (A) is not true, the given statement could still be true.
(B) is irrelevant to the statement, because the wages paid
to the workers has no relevance to their productivity.
(C) implies that the increase in the productivity of nonfarm
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
private sector must have been less than 2.5% in 1981. This
need not be true because this increase could have been even
5%, in which case, if the productivity increase in the farming
sector in 1981 had been only 1.5%, the average could still
have been around 2.4% in that year as given in the last
sentence of the given statement. So, (C) is not a necessary
conclusion.
(D) is also irrelevant, because productivity has been defined
only in terms of the value of the goods and services produced
in an hour, and not in terms of the profits in the business. It
is quite possible that the productivity in an enterprise has
increased even while its profit has declined because of various
other reasons.
8. (This question is similar to Qns. 1 and 2 in this set.) The
given information means that the total duration of the two
breaks during the movie program was equal to the total
duration of the five breaks of the regular programs.
If this total duration is assumed as 10 minutes, each break
during the movie program would have lasted 5 minutes,
whereas each break during the regular programs would have
lasted only 2 minutes.
So, the former is greater than the latter. It is (D) which
states this, and is the answer.
None of the other choices follows as a logical conclusion
from the given information.
9. (This question is similar to Qn. 5 in this set.) The first
sentence of the passage says that 77% of the total corporate
gifts to higher education in USA came from 200 corporations
with income more than $122 million each.
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The second sentence says that 26% of the total corporate
gifts to higher education in USA came from 14 Japanese
corporations each of which received income from 27 or more
countries.
The total of these two works out to 103%, which is more
than 100% of total corporate gifts to higher education in USA.
This means that these two are not totally independent groups
and that there is necessarily some overlapping between them.
In other words at least one of the 200 corporations having
income more than $122 million must be a Japanese
corporation that had received income from 27 or more
countries.
It is (D) which says this, and is the answer.
10. This is a very simple question camouflaged to sound
difficult. From the phrase “Of women in the primary
childbearing age range of eighteen to twentyfour who account
for about 40 percent of all births in this country annually
.....”, we can infer that the remaining about 60% of the annual
number of births in the country are accounted for by women
who are either less than 18 or older than 24. (B) says just
this, and is the answer.
(A) looks like the plausible answer, but is incorrect.
According to the last sentence of the passage, women in the
primary childbearing age range of 18 to 24 account for 40%
of all births, and more than 25% of them have no healthcare
insurance. This means that only about 10% (which is 25% of
40%) of all mothers do not have healthcare insurance, and
the rest of nearly 90% of them do have such insurance.
Therefore, (A), which pegs this number at a mere 75%, is
wrong.
 Analysis - Chapter 3
'INFERENCE' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.C 2.C 3.E 4.C 5.B 6.D 7.E 8.B 9.B 10.B
Analysis
1. What the given passage says is that the pharmaceuticals
division of the company accounted for 20% of its sales and
40% of its profits, while the chemicals division accounted for
80% of its sales and 60% of its profits.
The obvious inference from this information is that the
chemicals division realized a lower profit per dollar of sales
than the pharmaceuticals division did.
It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is a
necessary inference from the given information.
2. The passage asserts repeatedly that there is no
correlation between budget deficits and trade deficits of
countries. We can therefore infer that a reduction in a nation’s
budget deficit does not necessarily result in a corresponding
reduction in its trade deficit, and, conversely, that an increase
in a nation’s budget deficit does not necessarily result in a
corresponding increase in its trade deficit.
(C) mentions the first of these two, and is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is a
necessary inference from the given passage.
3. The only reason that Bob gives for his ‘knowledge’ that
Jim is innocent is that Jim and he are ‘good friends’. Therefore,
his conclusion about Jim’s innocence is not based on the facts
relating to the incident referred to by Jack. Therefore, in spite
of Bob’s assertion that he ‘knows’ that Jim is innocent, it
cannot be inferred as necessarily true. So, (A) is not the
answer.
Jack does not give any opinion of his own about whether
Jim is guilty or innocent. He only reports the fact that Jim
has been arrested on the charge of stealing. There is no reason
for Bob to think that Jim is lying while making that report.
In any case, his response does not exhibit any such distrust.
So, (B) cannot be inferred from the conversation.
Jack’s statement is a very simple one, and does not
necessary mean that he saw Jim being arrested. He might
well have heard the news from someone else. So, (C) is not a
necessary inference from the given conversation.
As stated above, Jack merely reports that Jim has been
arrested for stealing without giving any personal opinion
about Jim’s innocence or guilt. So, (D) cannot be inferred from
the conversation.
From Bob’s response, we can only infer that Bob thinks
that Jim is innocent. So, (E) is the answer.
4. What Belinda emphasizes in her response to Antonio’s
strong criticism of modern artists is that “they have all spent
many years studying and training”.
We can therefore infer that she has misunderstood Antonio
as saying that modern artists do not have sufficient knowledge
or training in art - in other words, that they are not sufficiently
qualified for their work.
So, (C) is the answer.
5. The passage means that, in spite of the weekly murder
rates falling below average during the weeks immediately
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following a well-publicized execution, the yearly murder rate
remains the same.
We can infer therefrom that the lower-than-average murder
rate during such a week is compensated by a higher-than-
average murder rate in some other week.
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
6. The author substantiates his assertion in the first
sentence, “Weeds and trees illustrate extreme opposites of
ecological adaptation” by pointing out that the weeds put most
of their energy into production and dispersal of the season’s
seeds and then die, while the trees put most of their energy
into sustaining their own growth and competitive ability over
a long life span, producing a relatively moderate number of
seeds every season.
We can easily notice that, while drawing the distinction
between the weeds and trees, the author uses as the criterion
the ratio between a season’s seed production and the overall
life span of the two species. (D) says just this, and is the
answer.
You can easily verify that the passage does not throw any
light on the criteria mentioned in the other choices.
7. Note that the first part of the sentence refers only to
Wanda’s trip to Albuquerque and asserts that, whenever she
visits Albuquerque, she will also visit all three of Santa Fe,
Phoenix and Tucson.
We cannot infer the converse of this statement, namely
that whenever she visits Santa Fe, Phoenix and Tucson, she
would also visit Albuquerque. So, (A) is wrong.
On a similar reasoning, none of (B), (C) and (D) can also
be inferred from the given sentence.
The statement that whenever she visits Albuquerque she
will also visit Phoenix implies that, if she had not visited
Phoenix in a trip, she had not visited Albuquerque also during
that trip. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
8. (“Carotene is a vitamin A precursor” means that it forms
the penultimate stage of vitamin A). The passage implies that
carotene lends a yellowish colour to butterfat, but, if carotene
has been converted into vitamin A which is colourless, then
the yellowness in the butterfat is less.
So if butter made from the milk of holstein cow is paler
than the butter made from the milk of jersey cows, it means
that there is more vitamin A in the butterfat of holsteins than
in the butterfat of jerseys.
So, (B) is the answer.
(A), (C) and (D) contradict the given information.
Since ‘fat solubility’ is not mentioned in the given
statement. (E) is irrelevant to it.
9. (A credo is a firm belief that is put into practice.
“Affirmative-action program” means a voluntary decision to
reserve a certain percentage of posts in an organisation to
persons belonging to deprived classes such as the Blacks and
women.)
We have been asked to spot that choice which can be
inferred from the information given in the passage.
The first sentence of the passage says that fifteen
corporations in the United States that follow a credo of social
responsibility are also very profitable. We cannot infer from
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
this statement that the total number of corporations in the people put together.
United States which follow a credo of social responsibility is (C) and (D) both talk only of the total amount of tax paid
only fifteen, and that all these are very profitable. It is quite by each group, but not the proportion of the tax to the income
possible that a much larger number of other corporations also of the respective group.
follow a credo of social responsibility but are not as profitable (E) contradicts the information in the second sentence, and
as these fifteen, due to various other causes. So (A), which cannot be the answer.
states that following a credo of social responsibility helps to
make a corporation very profitable, cannot be inferred from SET 2
the passage. So, (A) is not the answer. Answers
The fact that at least fifteen of the corporations which
1.E 2.B 3.B 4.A 5.E 6.B 7.A 8.A 9.A 10.E
follow a credo of social responsibility are also very profitable,
Analysis
shows that social responsibility and profit making are not
1. The passage says that pilots do not have to respect the
antithetical to each other, and that it is possible for a
wind so much while flying heavier aircrafts as they should
corporation to follow a credo of social responsibility and also
while flying ultralight aircrafts.
be very profitable at the same time. So, it is (B) that can be
This means that, in wind, it is easier to handle a heavier
readily inferred from the given passage, and is the answer.
aircraft than a lighter aircraft. So, (E) is the answer.
(C) looks tantalizingly as a possible answer, but is wrong.
The other choices do not mention the role of wind in the
The statement in the second sentence, “Because of their
flight of aircrafts, and are wrong.
credos, these fifteen corporations give generously to charity”
only means that, in the case of these fifteen corporations, giving
2. The second and third sentences say that a placebo is
generously to charity is based on their credos of social
prescribed “in the hope of instilling in the patients a positive
responsibility, and not on any other reason such as to please
attitude toward prospects for his or her recovery” and that, in
the local politicians, getting cheap publicity etc. We cannot
some cases, the placebo actually produces improvement in the
infer from this statement that every corporation that gives
patient’s condition.
generously to charity must be doing so only because of its
So, in comparing a physician to a placebo, what the
credo of social responsibility. So, (C) is not the answer.
researcher obviously implies is that the very knowledge that
Obviously, (D) is not a necessary inference from the given
he is under a physician’s care can instill in a patient a positive
passage which talks of only fifteen among the thousands of
attitude towards prospects for his recovery, and can
profit-making corporations in the United States. There may
consequently improve the patient's health. It is (B) which
be a number of these corporations that are very profitable but
states this, and is the answer.
do not give generously to charity.
None of the other choices follows as a necessary implication
Once again, from the second sentence of the passage, which
from the comparison of a physician to a placebo.
refers to only fifteen corporations as being charitable as well
as following both stringent environmental-protection policies
3. If A is 0, the last digit in the sum must also be A and not
and affirmative action programs, we cannot come to the
N. Therefore (A) can be inferred as true.
conclusion that all corporations which follow any one of them
From the equation A + A = 2A = N, we can say that N must
follow the other two also. So, (E) is also wrong.
be an even number. So, (C) can also be inferred as true.
If no number had been carried over from the hundred’s
10. The statement made is that, when the sales tax on
position to the thousand’s position, the first digit in the answer
consumer goods is levied at a fixed percentage of the purchase
would have been A, and not J. Therefore, the sum at the
price, poor people pay a larger proportion of their incomes in
hundred’s position must have been more than 10. There are
sales taxes than wealthy people do.
now two possibilities: either L+T is itself 10 or more, or L+T
We have been asked to spot that choice what follows
is 9 and there is a carry over of 1 from the ten’s position to
logically from this statement.
the hundred’s position. In either case, L+T must be greater
If a person with income of $100 and a person with income
than 8. Thus, (D) can also be inferred.
of $1000 both spend the same proportion of their income, say
The maximum that can be carried over from the hundred’s
50%, on essential consumer goods such as food items, the
position to the thousand’s position is 1, and therefore A+1
amounts so spent by them are $50 and $ 500 respectively. If
must be equal to J. Thus (E) can also be inferred.
the tax rate is a fixed rate of 10% of the purchase price, then
It is (B) which need not be true, and is the answer.
the former will pay $5 as sales tax, while the latter will pay
$50 as sales tax. In both cases, the proportion of their income
4. According to the passage, the important distinction
paid as tax is the same 5%.
between historical research and anthropological research lies
But the second sentence of the given passage says that
in the fundamental questions that each pose: the historian’s
the poorer people pay a higher proportion of their income as
question is “Why did the change occur?”, while the
sales tax than wealthy people do. This means that poor people
anthropologist’s question is “What is the meaning of actions
spend a higher proportion of their income on essential
and systems?”.
consumer goods than the wealthy people do. (For example, if
The obvious inference from the statement that these
a person with an income of $100 spends 70% of his income
questions are distinct is that the answer to the one does not
(or $70) on essential consumer goods, he pays a sales tax of
constitute the answer to the other. In other words, the meanings
$7, which is 7% of his income. If a wealthier person with an
of actions and systems do not fully explain why change
income of $1000 spends only 50% of his income, or $500, on
occurred.
essential consumer goods, he pays a sales tax of $50, which
So, (A) is what is implied by the passage, and is the answer.
is only 5% of his total income.) So, (B) is the answer.
(A) is wrong because the passage does not say that all the
5. (A), (B) and (C) are wrong because the given conditions
poor people put together pay more tax than all the wealthy
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
do not preclude Manuel, Ken, Lou and Jan eating together in
a restaurant in Jan’s neighbourhood.
(D) is wrong because the given conditions do not preclude
Manuel and Ken alone eating together in a restaurant in the
downtown area.
From the first two sentences, we can infer (E), which is
the answer.
6. The first statement is that, in a political system which
has only two major parties, the entrance of a third party
candidate has the effect of affecting the votes of only one of
the candidates, and not those of the other.
On the basis of this statement, the author says that this is
unfair to the first candidate, and argues that the contest by
the third candidate should not therefore be allowed.
Since the author feels so strongly about the unfairness
that he even advocates the banning of the entry of the third
candidate into the election arena, he implies that the entrance
of the third candidate would lead to the defeat of the candidate
who would otherwise have won.
We have been asked to spot that choice which can be a
logical inference from the author’s statements.
If one of the two original candidates is likely to get 85% of
the votes and the other is likely to get only the remaining
15%, the entrance of the third candidate (taking away even
10% of the votes that would have been polled by the winning
candidate) is not likely to make any difference to the final
outcome of who wins and who loses.
But, the third candidate’s entry into the area will make a
difference to the final result if the votes polled by the two
major candidates in a direct fight is something like 51% and
49%, and the third candidate diverts even 3% of the votes
that might have been polled by the winning candidate.
So, it is (B) that can be inferred from the author’s
statements, and is the answer.
7. The implication of the passage is that objects of
experiments change with the changes in the problems which
become of interest to biochemists.
Since experiments on insects’ biochemistry have started
only recently, it can be inferred that a new problem has
attracted the interest of biochemists and, for solving it, study
on insects has become relevant.
So, (A) is what is implied in the paragraph.
(B) does not follow since the paragraph does not say that
the experiments have been successful as yet.
(C) and (E) are obviously far off the mark.
(E) is wrong since, even if biochemists had studied the
biochemistry of insects in the past, some other problem
relating to the insects (such as their breeding habits, their
resistance to diseases etc) could be of fresh interest to them
today.
8. The last sentence of the narration says that, in order to
qualify for either a patent or a copyright, the idea behind an
innovation must be clearly distinguished from its expression.
Since computer programs are protected both by patent and
by copyright, we can infer that the idea behind innovative
computer programs must be capable of being clearly
distinguished from their expression.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) is wrong because most computer programs do not
involve any innovation, and a person who writes it cannot be
considered to be an ‘inventor’.
(C) contradicts the first sentence in the narration that all
144
innovative products other than computer programs qualify
for either copyright or patent, and not for both.
Since the passage does not mention the number of
innovative computer programs that have been patented and
copyrighted vis-a-vis the number of other products that have
been either patented or copyrighted, it is not possible for us
to infer that the former is only a few compared to the latter.
So, (D), while it may be a fact, cannot be inferred from the
given passage.
While the passage says that computer programs are
capable of being protected both by patent and copyright, it
does not indicate which between the two can be more easily
obtained. So, (E) cannot be inferred from the narration.
9. The first part of the second sentence says that, in the
suburban regions, housing availability has not kept up with
the growth of jobs.
It then says that this has resulted in long commutes
(meaning daily travels from house to workplace and back)
for middle-income workers, and inaccessibility of job
opportunities for lower-income workers.
A long commute necessarily involves a considerable
expenditure on travel. The information that middle-income
workers are able to undertake such long commutes for the
sake of their jobs implies that the income that they get from
their jobs makes it affordable for them to undertake such
long commutes.
The information that the lack of housing availability in
suburban areas has resulted in inaccessibility of job
opportunities for lower-income workers implies that this class
of workers are not able to afford these long commutes with
the salary that they would get in the jobs in the suburban
areas. It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) would mean that suburban housing is available in
plenty, which contradicts the information in the first sentence.
(C) contradicts the information that middle-income
workers have to undertake long commutes for reaching their
work spots.
The first sentence of the passage implies that, while
locating or relocating industries, no consideration was given
to the availability of housing for the workers. (D) contradicts
this information, and is not the answer.
(E) talks of affordable housing in urban areas, whereas
the passage is about the availability of affordable housing in
suburban areas. So, (E) cannot be logically inferred from the
given information.
10. The first two sentences state that the technique of radio
interferometry requires ultraprecise timing, exact knowledge
of the locations of the different radio telescopes used in the
technique and sophisticated computer programs.
The next sentence says that, in a significant technological
achievement, an earth-based radio telescope has been
interferometrically linked with a radio telescope on an orbiting
satellite.
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be a
correct inference from these statements.
One of the two radio telescopes mentioned in the passage
is earth-based, and static. But the other is mounted on an
orbiting satellite whose position varies from moment to
moment. If it has been found possible to connect them
interferometrically, it implies that the location of an orbiting
satellite relative to locations on earth at any given instant
can be calculated precisely. It is (E) which says this, and is
the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
(A) merely talks of the calculation of the orbit of the
satellite, but not of the exact location of the satellite in this
orbit at any given moment. So, (A) is not the answer.
Since the relative strengths of the signals received by
different radio telescopes has not been mentioned as a factor
in radio interferometry, (B) is not a relevant conclusion from
the given passage.
(C) may be a factual statement, but it cannot be inferred
from the information in the given passage.
(D) also may be a factual statement, but it cannot be
inferred from the information in the given passage.
replaced by normal rains. This would be favourable to the
gypsy moths and would not create a biological stress in them.
(B) talks of stress suffered by the trees and not by the gypsy
moths, and is irrelevant to the given information.
In the case of (C), the gypsy moth larvae will be decimated
by the parasitic wasps and flies and not by the nuclear
polyhedrosis virus.
Since the virus is already present in a latent form in the
gypsy moth larvae, the spraying of more virus will not result
in the decimation of the moths, unless the larvae suffer a
biological stress. So, (E) is not the answer.

SET 3 3. (A school of fish means a group of fish swimming together.

Answers A predator is a larger fish which eats the smaller fish.) The
passage says that a fish is liable to be attacked by a predator
1.A 2.D 3.A 4.A 5.E 6.C 7.B 8.C 9.A 10.E
Y if it comes within the sphere of vision of Y.
Analysis
Since all the fish in a school swim close together, if one of
1. The first sentence of the given paragraph implies that
them falls within the sphere of vision of Y, most of the others
investment in expensive machinery can increase the
in the school are also likely to fall within the same sphere.
productivity of large farms. Yet, according to the next two
Therefore the vulnerability of a single fish to attack by Y would
sentences, if the owner of a large farm borrows money for
be more or less equal to the vulnerability of the entire school
making this investment, the consequent liability to pay
to attack by Y.
interest can lead to operating losses for him in spite of such
It is (A) which implies this, and is the answer.
higher production, if the market prices for their products drop.
Since the fish in a school swim close together, whether the
We have been asked to identify the choice when can be
school consists of three or four fish should not make any
logically inferred from the given paragraph regarding a large
difference so far as the sphere of vision of Y is concerned. So,
farm.
(B) is not a necessary inference from the given passage.
What the passage implies is that a large farm can be highly
A predator is more likely to chase a school of fish than a
productive because of investment in modern machinery, but
single fish. So, (C) is not the answer.
could still be unprofitable to the owner (during those years
The passage says that a fish will be visible to the predator
when the market prices of the products drops) because of the
as soon as it comes within the sphere of vision of the predator
heavy interest cost on the investment. (A) states just this, and
Y, irrespective of its size or whether it is swimming alone or
is the answer.
in a school. So, (D) is wrong.
(B) is wrong because, what the last sentence states is that
Each predator Y will have its own sphere of vision inside
the farms stand to incur losses if the prices of the products
which it can spot its prey, irrespective of whether it is
drop. This sentence does not say that higher production by
swimming alone or is swimming in a school of Y’s. So, (E) is
large farms inevitably results in reduced market prices.
not a logical inference from the given passage.
(C) also looks like a possible answer, but is wrong because
the given paragraph does not talk about rates of interest at
4. (‘Fallow acreage’ means the land left uncultivated out of
all. If the investment that has to be made is heavy, the interest
land that is capable of being cultivated). Let the total crop
liability will be considerably high even at a low rate of interest,
yield in the United States and Soviet Union be M and N
and the farm is still likely to incur operating losses during
respectively. What the passage says is that when the total
periods of low market prices.
yield is divided by the planted acreage in each case, the United
(D) is wrong, because a farm which is already incurring
States has a lead over the Soviet Union but, when the total
operating losses due to the cost of interest on earlier
yield is divided by the total agricultural acreage in each case,
investments cannot be expected to invest in additional
the Soviet Union fares better. This means that the new
machinery thereby incurring still more interest liability.
denominator (which consists of Planted Acreage + Fallow
(E) makes a definitive statement that a big farmer
Acreage) shows a proportionately higher increase in the case
depending on credit will never make a profit. This statement
of USA than in the case of the Soviet Union. This means that
will not be true in normal years when the market prices of
there is a higher percentage of fallow acreage in USA than in
the products have not fallen below economic levels. So, (E) is
the Soviet Union.
not a necessary inference from the given information.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
2. The narration says that the virus is always present in
5. From the last sentence, “In fact, nothing ruins scientific
the larvae, but is triggered only when the larvae experience
research faster than mixing it with political considerations”,
biological stress.
we can readily infer that the author believes that scientific
We have been asked to identify that condition among the
research must be apolitical. So, (E) is the answer.
choices which is most likely to trigger the virus to become
Obviously (A) and (B) can be discarded straightaway as
active.
totally far-fetched.
We should therefore look for that choice which can
What the author emphasizes is that, while pursuing their
contribute to a biological stress in the moth’s larvae.
research, scientists should not be swayed by political
It is only (D) which describes a condition which will cause
considerations. This does not mean that scientific conclusions
acute hunger in the larvae, thereby causing a biological stress
discovered by them do not have political implications. (For
in them. So, (D) is the answer.
example, the scientific discovery of atomic fission by US
(A) mentions a situation in which drought conditions are
scientists during World War 2 had immense political
145
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
implications.)
In the first sentence, the author says that scientists toil
also in government laboratories. It is quite legitimate for a
government to fund only such research projects in its
laboratories that will subserve its own political aims.
(Example: funding research projects on missile development
by Indian and Pakistani governments). So, (D) is not a valid
inference from the given passage.
6. The given information consists of two parts: (i) if a
household buys more of canned and prepackaged foods, it
throws away less food; (ii) But, among the items of food that
such a household does throw away, a major part consists of
fresh produce.
We have been asked to spot the choice which follows
logically from these two statements.
Since the given information does not give any statistics
regarding the number of households switching over to
standardized diet, (A) cannot be inferred from it.
Since the given information is only about food-waste and
the component of standardized and fresh produce in such food
waste, the statement in (B) which talks of non-food waste
cannot be inferred from it.
The second sentence of the passage says, “The more
standardized a household’s diet is, the greater the quantities
of fresh produce the household throws away”. It logically
follows from this sentence that “the less standardized a
household’s diet is, the less are the quantities of fresh produce
that it throws away”. (C) states just this, and is the answer.
(D) contradicts the information in the first sentence of the
passage.
(E) contradicts the information in the second sentence.
7. The last sentence in the argument says that, by 1985,
the price of oil will dictate the price of corn. Therefore, if there
is a slump in the oil price, there will be a corresponding slump
in the price of grain. So, (B) is the answer.
(A) is wrong, since the price of corn that is used for oil
production might still be more than the price of corn used as
food.
(C), (D) and (E) are farfetched statements not directly
following from the facts mentioned.
8. The phrase ‘extrapolating inference across species’ in
this sentence means ‘administering toxic substances to
animals, studying the effects of these substances on them,
and then presuming similar effects of these substances on
human beings also.’
The author says that this procedure has a disadvantage
which is avoided by epidemiology, implying that epidemiology
involves direct study on human beings. (The disadvantage is
that the effects of these substances on human beings may
not always be identical to the effects on the experimental
animals.)
So, (C) is the answer.
9. The purpose of advertising a product is to persuade
people to buy it. If this purpose is to be achieved, one would
normally assume that people must be made to know not only
the name of the product but also its positive qualities, and
must be made to remember these qualities when they actually
go for shopping.
But this passage says that it is not necessary that people
should know something about the product before they are
persuaded to buy it, and that it is enough if they are somehow
146
made to remember its name. (A) is what is implied in the
passage, and is the answer.
(B) is wrong, because an advertisement only seeks to make
people remember a particular product, and cannot improve
their memories generally.
(C) is wrong because the passage says merely that it is
necessary to attract a potential customer’s attention; it does
not assert that achieving this is an easy job.
(D) is wrong because the passage merely says that
advertisements need not write in detail about the qualities
or substance of a product; it does not imply that the
advertising agency itself need not know anything about the
quality of the product. So, (E) also does not follow logically
from the passage.
10. (Rule 1 of Game X implies that it is possible for a player
who has become a participant in the game to refuse to continue
to play at some point in the course of the game, in which case
he will be awarded a penalty of ten points. A person who
refuses to become a participant in the game even in the
beginning cannot obviously be awarded a penalty.)
(A) need not be true, because a player who is awarded a
penalty of 10 at a fairly late stage of the game may already
have a lead of, say, 500 points over his nearest rival.
(B) is wrong because the penalty is leviable at the moment
of refusal after the game is well under way.
The statement relates only to Rule 1 of the game and no
information about other rules are available. So we cannot
deduce (C).
(D) does not follow from Rule 1, because it implies that a
person who refuses to become a player will only lose 10 points.
If, in spite of this penalty, his score is still the highest, he has
the right to be declared as the winner.
From the argument above, it follows that, even after a
player had declined to play, he continues to be in the game
because he can still be declared the winner if his total score
upto the point of withdrawal, minus the penalty, is higher
than that of all other players. So, (E) is the answer.
SET 4
Answers
1.B 2.C 3.E 4.C 5.A 6.E 7.A 8.C 9.B 10.D
Analysis
1. (Unlike a broadcast TV service which can be received
through an antenna, a private cable TV service transmits
programs through cable that is connected to the households
on monthly hire charges. This narration talks of someone
who had an unauthorised connection to his house TV without
the knowledge of the cable TV company, and was caught
subsequently.)
(Restitution means recovery.) The man who was caught for
unauthorised viewing of the cable TV exclaims that it is
ridiculous to ask him to pay the full charges, since he did not
enjoy some of the programmes. This assertion by him
establishes that he had indeed watched the programs that
were shown on the cable service without paying for them.
So, (B) is the answer.
(A) is incorrect, since there is no sufficient information to
assert that the sum of $662 has been arrived at by the cable
company correctly.
(C) is incorrect, because we do not know the tariff, and we
certainly cannot agree with this person that he does not have
to pay money for the programs which he says he did not enjoy.
(D) need not be correct, since this person might have just
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
moved into a house in which the cable service had been tapped
by the previous tenant.
We cannot be sure of (E), since, while the person may like
to have the service so long as he gets it free, he may not be
willing to have it on payment.
2. (We can infer that ‘front’ is the meteorological term for a
type of cloud. ‘Precipitation’ means ‘rain’.)
(A) is incorrect because the passage implies that high
pressure fronts are by themselves not a sign of rain unless
they meet low pressure fronts.
The passage merely says that meteorologists are able to
predict precipitation with reference to the movement of
pressure fronts. The statement in (B) that the chief function
of meteorologists is the prediction of precipitation is not
warranted from this information. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) neatly paraphrases what is stated in the second
sentence of the passage, and is the answer.
(D) contradicts the information in the first sentence of the
passage, and is not the answer.
The information in the passage does not necessarily mean
that the low pressure and high pressure fronts always travel
towards each other. So, (E) is not the answer.
3. The point made in the passage is that “when the number
of women in the child bearing age was a record low between
1946-66, the number of children produced was a record high.
These children are now in the child bearing age (we can infer
that their number must be very high), but the number of
children produced by them is a record low”.
What we can readily infer from the passage is that the
birth rate is not directly proportional to the number of women
in the child bearing age. So, (E) is the answer.
(A), (C) and (D) contradict the information given in the
passage.
(B) is an absurd statement, and does not follow logically
from the given information.
4. The ‘critic’ is obviously critical of the adherents of what
he calls ‘the doctrine of unshakable foundations’.
These adherents first design a policy based on their
philosophy and, if that policy fails in practice, their ‘only
reaction’ is to design another policy based on the same
philosophy.
By calling them dogmatic adherents to their philosophy,
the critic implies that they do not brook the thought that
there could be a fundamental flaw in their philosophy itself,
and that any revised policy based on the same philosophy is
likely to fail again. What he would approve of is their
willingness to reexamine the foundation of their philosophy
itself. It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
5. The first sentence states that, for understanding the
meanings of even ordinary sentences, one requires to know
not only the rules of that language, but also a general
knowledge of the world.
The second sentence concludes that, though computers can
be taught the rules of a language, they cannot be supplied
with a general knowledge of the world, and it is, therefore,
very difficult to develop computers which can extract the
meanings of even ordinary sentences.
We can infer from these sentences that extraction of the
meanings of ordinary sentences is dependent on a general
knowledge of the world. (A) states just this, and is the answer.
In the light of the above explanation on (A), the next choice
147
(B) contradicts the author’s conclusion, and is not the answer.
What the author says is that, while it is easy to teach the
computers the formal rules of language, it is not easy to teach
them how to extract the meanings of ordinary sentences. We
cannot infer from this statement that it is futile (meaning
useless) to teach computers the formal rules of a human
language. (In fact, there are a number of widely used computer
programmes which check the correctness of spellings and
grammar in typed passages.)
While (D) may be a factual statement, it cannot be inferred
from the given passage.
(E) also contradicts the view of the author, and is not the
answer.
6. The sentences, “She thinks managers get too much credit
for the upswings in their business. A fickle public assumes
that managers are brilliant when demand is strong, and
idiotic when it weak” imply that the upswings and
downswings in businesses are caused by strong and weak
demands for their products in the market. This, in turn,
means that the managers themselves cannot significantly
control the levels of the demands through their management
practices. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices logically
follows from the reaction of the manager.
7. The third sentence says that the lack of genetic diversity
could allow a significant portion of a major crop to be destroyed
overnight. The next sentence gives the illustration of nearly
20% of the US corn crop having been destroyed in 1970 by
the southern leaf blight, leaving very few varieties of corn
unaffected in the areas over which the disease had spread.
This implies that plants with certain specific genetic
properties were affected by the plant disease, while plants
without these genetic properties were not so affected. So, we
can infer that susceptibility to certain plant diseases is
genetically determined. So, (A) is the answer.
(B) is wrong because, from the fact that 80% of the crop
grown in US in 1970 had been resistant to southern leaf
blight, we cannot come to a general conclusion that it will
always be so, because the genetic property of the major crop
grown could be different in different years.
(C) is not a necessary inference from the passage, because
the extinction of wild food plants could have been due to many
other reasons.
While (D) may be true as a general proposition, it does not
necessarily follow from the given passage.
(E) is wrong, because the information in the passage does
not rule out the possibility that the southern leaf blight might
have destroyed other food crops also.
8. The first sentence says that, for twenty years prior to
1984, there had been a regular tendency on the part of US
residents older than sixty to migrate from urban areas to small
towns and rural regions, but that a sample population study
in 1984 showed that there had been a dramatic reversal of
this tendency during that year.
This implies that, among the sample that was studied in
that year, a large number had been seen to have newly settled
down in the urban areas in USA.
The subsequent part says that this finding was in error,
because, in this sample study, people who had moved to the
United States from abroad were accidentally counted as part
of interstate migration within the United States.
We have been asked to spot the choice which can be
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
logically inferred from this passage.
It is obvious from the information in the passage that
migrants from abroad had been mistakenly counted as
interstate migrants within the United States, and that this
had swelled the number of persons counted as interstate
migrants to urban areas. This implies that migrants from
abroad had predominantly settled down in urban areas, and
not in small towns and rural regions. It is (C) which states
this, and is the answer. (If the foreign migrants in the sample
had distributed themselves between urban areas and the
rural areas in the same proportion as the local interstate
migrants, the error would not have arisen.)
The passage is about where the foreign migrants above the
age of 60 settled down, and not about the proportion of old
people among foreign migrants. So, (A) cannot be inferred
from the passage.
If (B) were true, there would have been a discontinuance
in the tendency of the migration of people over 60 from urban
to rural areas, and not a reversal of that tendency. So, (B)
cannot be inferred from the given passage.
The passage itself states that the problem was not in the
size of the microdata sample that was used in the study, but
in the inclusion of wrong people in the sample. If the sample
had been larger, and if the larger sample had also included
the wrong people, the same error could have resulted. So, (D)
is wrong.
The passage itself states that the twenty-year tendency in
migration was noticed both within and across state
boundaries. There is no further information in the passage
which can lead to the inference that moves over relatively
short distances, mostly within the same state, had
predominantly contributed to this trend. So, (E) is not the
answer.
9. The information contained in the passage is: Publishing
concerns have recently been taken over by communications-
entertainment firms, and they have increased the profits of
commercial publishing by catering to the vulgar tastes of new
148
buyers of books and by narrowing the range of books made
available to the public.
It then draws the conclusion that the losers in the process
have been the majority of authors or aspiring writers and all
discriminating readers.
This implies that commercial publishing used to cater to
discriminating readers earlier, but is now catering mostly to
the vulgar tastes of new buyers of books. In other words,
commercial publishing is now catering to a different
community of book readers from those whom the book business
had served in the past. It is (B) which states this, and is the
answer.
From the phrase “management’s new methods have
increased the financial profits of commercial publishing”, we
can infer that commercial publishing was profitable even
earlier. So, (A) is wrong.
(C) contradicts the assertion in the last sentence of the
narration that the losers from the new practices of the
publishers are ‘the majority of authors or aspiring writers’.
(D) contradicts the information in the first sentence that
the narrow range of the new books, in fact, caters only to the
vulgar tastes of the new buyers of books.
(E) does not follow logically from the information given in
the passage.
10. We have seen questions involving the same
mathematical principle in the previous chapter. This question
seeks to divide all the households into three categories: lower-
income, middle-income and upper-income {The last is not
stated in the narration, but is available in answer choice (D)}.
The initial narration states that, while the average income
for all households increased by 2.4% in 1983 compared to
1982, the average income of two of the three categories had
declined during the period.
This implies that the average income of the third category,
namely upper-income households, must have increased by
more than 2.4% so that the average was 2.4%.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 4
'ASSUMPTION' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.D 2.A 3.E 4.A 5.D 6.D 7.C 8.B 9.D 10.B
Analysis
1. The proposed ban relating to retired high-level officials
is only on their employment as lobbyists, and not on their
employment in any other capacity.
So, if an official concludes that such a ban would prevent
these officials from earning a livelihood, he obviously assumes
that retired high level officials are capable of earning their
livelihood only as lobbyists and are unfit for any other jobs.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is a
necessary assumption for the official to come to his conclusion.
2. (“Rotating in a disorienting manner” means “rotating
haphazardly”.) From the fact that 2/3 of the mice whose cages
were rotated in a disorienting manner developed cancers
(while only 1/10 of the mice in stationary cages developed
cancers), the researchers came to the conclusion that stress
enhances the development of cancer in mice.
The obvious assumption made by the researchers is that
rotating cages in a disorienting manner produced stress in
the mice. It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
If (B) was the assumption, the conclusion of the researchers
would have been that it is the injection of a higher dosage of
cancer cells, and not stress, that enhances the development
of cancer in mice. So, (B) is not the assumption of the
researchers.
If (C) was the assumption, both groups of mice would have
been subjected to equal stress, and would have shown similar
results in terms of the percentage among them that developed
cancer. So, (C) is not the answer.
The observation was made only after the mice had been
injected with cancerous cells and their cages rotated in a
disorienting manner. Whether mice that are kept in cages
which are rotated in a disorienting manner would develop
cancer even without the prior injection of cancerous cells into
them will have to be tested in another separate experiment.
(D) is therefore not a necessary assumption for drawing the
conclusion from the present experiment.
(E) also has to be tested in a separate experiment in which
the cages are rotated in a manner that is not disorientating.
It is therefore not a necessary assumption for drawing the
conclusion from the present experiment.
3. The first sentence says that, whereas most universities
retain the royalties from faculty member’s inventions, the
faculty members themselves retain the royalties derived from
the books and the articles they write.
A conclusion is drawn from this practice that, therefore,
faculty members should retain the royalties from the
educational computer software that they develop.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
form the missing premise on which the above conclusion could
be more reasonably drawn.
Obviously, what the author has assumed while drawing
his conclusion is that educational software programs are more
comparable to books and articles than to inventions. It is (E)
which explicitly states this missing assumption, and is the
answer.
149
You can easily see that none of the other choices constitutes
a logical link between the first and the second sentences of
the passage.
4. It is a fact that there had been an increase in the use of
chemicals in the US since 1940, and the life-expectancy of the
US population had also increased during this period.
If the views of those ‘who argue that the introduction of
new chemicals has caused severe health problems’ were to be
true, their logical assumption would be that, if the chemicals
had not been introduced, the increase in life-expectancy would
have been still greater than what had been actually recorded.
On the contrary, the author of this passage, who disagrees
with the above class of people, concludes that the increased
use of chemicals has had no adverse effects on the health of
the society Obviously, his assumption is that the increase in
life expectancy would not have been greater, even if the use of
chemicals had not increased. So, (A) is the answer.
(B) is wrong, since the author makes no reference either
directly or indirectly to other countries at all.
(C) is incorrect, since the author does not attempt to find
reasons for the increase in the life expectancy in US. (Note
that he does not say that the increase in the use of chemicals
has resulted in the increase in life expectancy. He only argues
that little expectancy has increased in spite of the increase in
the use of chemicals).
(D) is wrong since, according to the author, there had been
a dramatic increase in the use of chemicals in US since 1940,
which does not rule out there having been a less dramatic
increase before 1940.
(E) is incorrect, since the author does not discuss the factors
contributing to the growth of industry between 1940 to 1979,
but is only concerned with the health level of the US
population.
5. (The reasoning for this question is similar to that for the
previous question.) We learn from the narration that, in 1981,
the increase in expenditure by US businesses on research
and development was 16.4% over what was spent in 1980,
and that this annual increase has been steadily coming down
since then, and has touched just 8% in 1984.
The author then comes to the conclusion that the tax
incentive of 25% introduced in 1981 on expenditure on
research and development by US companies has not had the
desired effect of stimulating expenditure on research and
development.
The author is obviously assuming that, even if the tax
incentive had not been introduced, the expenditure on
research and development by US businesses would have been
of the same order, and not less, from 1981 and 1984. He does
not consider the possibility that, if the tax incentive had not
been introduced in 1981, the expenditure on research and
development by US businesses would have been even lower
than what it actually was during these years, and that,
therefore, the tax incentives had, in fact, served the desired
purpose.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
None of the other assumptions has a nexus between the
tax incentive introduced in 1981 and the author’s conclusion.
6. It is obvious, while reading the first and the second
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
sentences together, that the author considers the increase in SET 2
the price of postage stamps as an effort to reduce the number Answers
of persons using the postal system. Obviously, he assumes I.
1.C 2.A 3.C 4.A 5.C 6.C 7.E 8.C 9.D 10.C
Since the author holds that one of the improvements
Analysis
anticipated by such measure is the reduction in the percentage
1. The ‘plan’ (whose assumption we have been asked to
of letters lost, he obviously assumes II also.
spot among the given choices) relates to the cost to insurance
Since the purpose of the increase in the price of postal
companies in meeting the claims relating to the medical
stamps is not to increase the revenue of Government, but to
treatment of stress-related disorders.
discourage people from using the postal system unnecessarily,
So, (A), (B) and (D), which do not even mention insurance
III is neither an assumption nor a conclusion of the author.
companies, can be discarded straightway.
So, III is not true.
Since the suggested plan is that, for lowering their costs,
Therefore, the author assumes only I and II, and (D) is the
the insurance companies must subsidize psychotherapy, the
answer.
obvious assumption made is that, in the case of stress-related
disorders, the cost to the insurance companies for reimbursing
7. The passage says that the research was undertaken on
the expenditure on conventional medical treatment will be
behalf of the Bureau of Tourism of Florida State, and the
higher than the suggested subsidies for psychotherapy for these
researcher’s interest was only to find out the attitude of people
disorders. So, (C) is the answer.
towards spending their vacations in Florida. But she did not
(E) is an unwarranted assumption that is not logically
tell the interviewees that her survey was being conducted on
related to the suggested plan.
behalf of the Florida organisation.
The reason for her strategy of suppressing this fact is
2. The statement in the second sentence, “their enthusiasm
contained in the phrase “in an effort to obtain valid
would be dampened” shows that the author assumes that
information”. Obviously, the interviewer thought that, if she
those who favour the cutting of hospital costs and diverting
revealed the name of the sponsor of the survey, the
the money so saved to important social purposes would oppose
interviewees might not give their honest opinion, and might
its use towards other purposes such as the expansion of the
give opinions which they thought would please the sponsors.
military, for balancing the budget, revitalizing the space
If this had happened, the information that she gathered would
program etc. Thus, (A) is the answer.
not have been true and valid. It is (C) which states this, and
You can easily see that the other choices are totally off the
is the answer.
mark.
None of the other choices is directly related to why she
was suppressing the name of the sponsor during her
3. The meaning of the first sentence is that foreign cars
interviews.
are cheaper than US-made cars and, therefore, the imposition
of quotas on imported cars forces US citizens to buy the more
8. (‘Taking advantage of bargains’ means ‘buying at a time
expensive local cars, and that it will leave less money with
when things are sold at discounted and reduced prices’).
them for expenditure on other things.
Whenever things are bought on credit, interest has to be paid
The second sentence draws the conclusion that this will
on it. The author says that one can save money by buying on
result in unemployment in other domestic industries.
credit to take advantage of bargains.
We have been asked to spot the assumption that has been
This is will be true only if the interest payable for buying
made in this line of reasoning.
on credit does not exceed the discount that one gets during
Obviously, what the author assumes is that any person
bargain sales. (B) is what states this, and is the answer.
who pays less price for the imported car will not keep the
difference in price in savings or use it for travel or recreation
9. When Zeuxis painted a picture of grapes, they were so
etc, but will use it to buy other goods produced in USA, thereby
realistic that birds pecked at them.
enabling those industries to create more employment
It is given that, when he painted the picture of a boy
opportunities within USA.
carrying grapes, even then the birds pecked at the grapes.
It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
If Zeuxis had presumed that birds would not peck at fruits
if they see a human being also present, then he would have
4. The first sentence estimates the reserves of oil that exist
been disappointed with his later picture because his painting
underground in the unsampled areas as 10,000 times the
of the human figure was apparently not realistic enough to
estimated reserves in the sampled areas.
scare away the birds. So, (D) is the answer.
On this basis, the second sentence draws the conclusion
(A), (B), (C) and (E) do not constitute a valid reason for the
that the oil needs of the next five centuries can be easily met,
disappointment of the painter.
even if the rate of consumption grows rapidly.
Obviously, the author assumes that the estimated reserves
10. The last sentence of the passage implies that the transit
in the unsampled areas can be recovered, because, if they
time and the transportation cost are the only two
cannot be recovered (because they are located too deep below
considerations that the farmers have while making a decision
the earth to make their recovery economically viable, or they
between choosing the truck and choosing the train.
are under deep ocean beds, or they are under heavily
So, the author assumes that there is no other significant
populated areas etc.), the mere fact that they exist
differences between these two modes of transportation from
underground cannot meet the future oil needs of humanity.
the farming region to New Mexico.
So, (A) is the answer.
So, the answer is (B).
None of the other choices is a necessary assumption for
None of the other choices is germane to the conclusion of
drawing the conclusion from the given premises.
the author given in the last sentence of the passage.

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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
5. (To stunt means to suppress) In the second sentence, the
author says that the reason why television stunts a child’s
powers of imagination, while the pages of a book enhance its
powers of imagination, is that the book can be read as slowly
or as quickly as the child wishes, while television images
appear with a speed which cannot be controlled by the child.
So, his assumption is that a child’s imagination can develop
more fully when the child is able to control the speed of its
entertainment. (C) says just this, and is the answer.
(A) makes no mention of a child’s powers of imagination,
and cannot be the answer.
(B) is wrong because, according to the author, books alone
are sufficient for the development of a child’s powers of
imagination.
(D) and (E) also do not make any mention of a child’s powers
of imagination, and can be discarded.
6. We have been asked to spot the choice which, together
with the first statement (“Neither Peter nor Sarah has any
common sense”), will logically lead to the conclusion in the
second statement (“Neither Peter nor Sarah is able to run the
factory”).
Obviously, the connecting statement must be one which
says that common sense is required to run the factory.
It is (C) which makes this statement, and is the answer.
None of the other choices is in the nature of a missing
logical assumption between the two given statements.
7. The conclusion of the art experts that The Man with the
Golden Helmet is not a true Rembrandt is based on an analysis
of stylistic features, especially details both of shading and of
brushwork. This obviously implies that they could recognize
some consistent stylistic features in other genuine Rembrandt
paintings which are absent in The Man with the Golden
Helmet. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
Since the time element relating to the period of the painting
is not referred to in the passage, (A) is not a necessary
assumption leading to the expert’s conclusion. It could well
have been drawn by a contemporary of Rembrandt.
The passage is about the authenticity of only The Man
with the Golden Helmet as a Rembrandt painting, which does
not depend upon the authenticity of other Rembrandt
paintings. So, (B) is not a necessary assumption for the
experts’ conclusions.
(C) in fact contradicts the artists’ assumption because, if
the painting that exists today of The Man with the Helmet is
a copy of Rembrandt original, it must contain the stylistic
features contained in other Rembrandt paintings.
The experts’ only concern is whether The Man with the
Golden Helmet was painted by Rembrandt or not, and they
are not themselves sure of their tentative conclusion that it
was not painted by Rembrandt. This is the reason why they
have proposed to subject the paintings to a series of further
sophisticated tests. So, it is premature for them to suppose
that the original ascription of the painting to Rembrandt was
a deliberate fraud. So, (D) is not a necessary assumption by
the experts.
8. The first sentence in the narration states that some
insects are able to feed on the leaves of the poisonous
milkweed plant by first cutting and draining the vein that
secretes the poison. The second sentence draws the conclusion
that this method of depoisoning guarantees that some insects
will always be able to eat milkweed leaves, because the plant
will never be able to produce a poison that is capable of killing
151
by merely using the trace amounts left after the vein has been
cut.
We have been asked to identify that choice which forms a
necessary assumption in coming to the above conclusion.
Since the conclusion is only about the insects’ ability to
eat milkweed leaves, the question whether they are able to
depoison other weeds is not relevant to the conclusion. So,
(A) is not a necessary assumption for arriving at the
conclusion, and is not the answer.
(B) is wrong for the same reason as (A), because the
conclusion is only about milkweed plants.
One presumption that has been specifically stated in the
second sentence is that the trace amounts of poison left after
the veins have been cut will never be strong enough to kill the
insects. The other presumption implied here is that it will
always be possible for the insects to cut the veins of the
milkweed plant. This again implies that the milkweed plant
will never be able to evolve veins which cannot be cut by
insects. (C) says just this, and is the answer.
(D) also relates to depoisoning of other plants, and is not
relevant to the conclusion in the given narrative.
The conclusion in the given narrative relates to only those
insects which are capable of cutting and draining the veins
that secrete the poison in the milkweed. (E) relates to other
insects which use other strategies while eating the leaves of
other poisonous plants, and is therefore not relevant for the
arrival of the conclusion in the given narrative. So, (E) is not
the answer.
9. (It is the immune-system activity in our body that protects
us from disease-causing agents such as bacteria and viruses.)
It is known that persons with low immune-system activity
are more susceptible to physical ailments than those with
normal or high immune-system activity.
The researcher mentioned in the narration has noticed
that persons with low-immune system activity score much
lower on mental health also than people with normal or high
immune-system activity.
He has therefore concluded that a good immune system
protects a person not only from physical disease but also from
mental illness.
We have been asked to spot the choice that forms an
assumption made by the researcher while coming to this
conclusion.
The fact noticed by the researcher is that persons with
mental illness also have low immune system activity. There
are now two possibilities: (i) low immune-system activity is
the cause and the mental illness is the result; or (ii) mental
illness is the cause and the low immune-system activity is
the result.
The researcher’s conclusion that a good immune system
protects a person against mental illness implies that a bad
immune system leads to mental illness, which is based on
the first possibility mentioned above. He is therefore ruling
out the second possibility. In other words, he is assuming that
mental illness does not cause a reduction in people’s immune-
system activity.
(D) is what states this, and is the answer.
The researcher makes a distinction only between ‘low
immune-system activity’ and ‘normal or high immune-system
activity’. The narration does not indicate that he had
discovered that a person with normal immune-system activity
is more susceptible to mental illness than a person with high
immune-system activity. So, (A) is not a necessary assumption
made by him while coming to his conclusion.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
The researcher’s conclusion does not depend on the
assumption that mental illness and physical disease have
the same effect on other body systems. So, (B) is not the answer.
From the correlation that he has found between low
immune-system activity and mental illness, the researcher
has come to the conclusion that immune system protects a
person against mental illness. That a person with high
immune-system cannot develop mental illness may be a
further conclusion that may be arrived at him, but it is not
an assumption by him for coming to the earlier conclusion.
So, (C) is not the answer.
The passage does not mention the methods of treatment
for mental and physical illnesses, and so (E) is irrelevant to
the researcher’s conclusion.
10. After pointing out in the second sentence that the only
cyclists seriously interested in innovation and willing to pay
for it are bicycle racers, the author draws the conclusion in
the next sentence that “therefore, innovation in bicycle
technology is limited by what authorities will accept as
standard for purposes of competition in bicycle races”.
He obviously assumes that even bicycle racers do not
generate a demand for innovations which are not officially
recognized as standards for purposes of competition.
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
The other choices are not related to the limitation on the
innovation in bicycle technology as apprehended by the
author.
SET 3
Answers
1.B 2.E 3.E 4.E 5.B 6.E 7.D 8.A 9.B 10.B
Analysis
1. The first sentence says that Child’s World, a chain of
toy stores, has already implemented the computerized
inventory control and customer self-service in the toy section,
and has eliminated the category of sales clerks there.
The fact that it is now proposing to extend the scheme to
the selling of children’s clothes implies that the scheme of
‘customer self-service’ has been successful in the toys’ section,
and that the sale of toys had not been affected by its dispensing
with the sales clerks.
In planning to extend the scheme to the children’s clothes
section, the company is obviously assuming that personal
service by sales personnel is not required for selling children’s
clothes either.
So, (B) is the answer.
None of the other choices is a necessary assumption for
the company’s decision to extend the scheme to the children’s’
clothes section.
2. From the two pieces of facts that country Y is a closed
society, and that a weapons smuggling incident recently took
place in Y, the author comes to the definite conclusion that
the government of Y must have known about the weapons.
We have been asked to spot the choice which is an
assumption made by the author in coming to this conclusion.
(A) and (B) talk about government in general, and not about
‘the government of a closed society’, and are not germane to
the author’s conclusion.
(C) contradicts the given statement as well as the
conclusion that weapons had in fact entered country Y, and
that Y’s government also knew about it.
If (D) is true, smuggling of weapons would have been
152
stopped, and would not have been allowed to take place.
If (E) is an assumption that is made, then the conclusion
logically follows that the government must have known about
the smuggling of the weapons also. So, (E) is the answer.
3. The first para says that therapists have found that their
treatments for smoking and overeating for those who
approach them for such treatment are rarely successful.
But the second para quotes an independent survey to show
that millions of people have in fact given up both smoking
and overeating.
If both these statements are true, it follows that those who
had cured themselves of smoking and overeating had done
so by themselves without going to the therapists, and that
their cases had not been included in the therapists’ data. So,
(E) is the answer.
(A) is wrong, because some successes in therapy cannot
add up to millions and, if they had, then the therapists would
not have come to a negative conclusion about the effect of
their treatment.
(B) is wrong, because the contradiction referred to in the
sentence is not between smoking and overeating.
(C) is wrong, because it is not given that giving up smoking
and overeating by using one’s own will power is an easy job.
(D) is not the answer, because the survey does not say that
all those who were surveyed had given up smoking and
overeating.
4. The narrative says that aspirin and acetaminophen
together shared 100% of the non prescription pain-reliever
market till 1984 and that, in 1984, ibuprofen was expected to
steal 15% of the share of this market.
On this basis, a prediction is made that the combined sales
of aspirin and acetaminophen was likely to register a 15%
decrease between 1983 and 1984.
We have been asked to identify that choice which is a
necessary assumption in making the above prediction.
The first sentence talks of 15% market share for the new
drug, while the second talks of decrease of 15% in the total
sales. This would be true only if the overall size of the market
remained the same.
If, on the other hand, the overall market size for non-
prescription pain relievers in 1983 was $100 million and it
had increased to $120 million in 1984, the sale of the new
drug would be 15% of $120 million, which is equal to $18
million. So, the total sale volume of the two older drugs would
have constituted $102 million, which is an increase of $2
million.
Therefore, in making the prediction that there will be an
exact 15% drop in the combined sales of the two older drugs,
an assumption has been made that there will be no increase
in the total market volume of nonprescription pain relievers.
So (E) is the answer.
5. From an agreement among investigators regarding
maternal behaviours (towards their children) which can be
classified as signifying acceptance and signifying rejection,
some psychologists have concluded that there are two
distinctive sets of parental behaviours in the United States.
We have been asked to spot the assumption on which this
conclusion is based.
We can easily notice that a conclusion regarding the
behaviors of both parents has been drawn from an
investigation of the behavior of the mothers alone. Obviously,
the assumption made is that fathers also behave in the same
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
manner as the mothers. It is (B) which states this, and is the
answer.
6. The only reason given by the author for concluding that
the sharp reduction imposed this year on research programs
relating to social and behavioral sciences is not dictated by
financial constraints is that, even last year, support for these
programs amounted to only three percent of the total research
funds in the United States.
He obviously assumes that a saving of three percent in the
total budget for research funds makes no difference to
budgetary balancing or, in other words, three percent is an
insignificant portion of the research budget. So, (E) is the
answer.
7. The two arguments advanced by the optimists (to counter
the doomsayers’ warning that long term cooling or warming
trends in weather pattern will drastically reduce grain
production) are: (a) changes in weather pattern are not
generally accompanied by fluctuations in rainfall patterns,
and (b) technological improvement will compensate for any
likely shortfall in grain production that may arise from
changes in weather patterns.
The first argument implies that grain production will
indeed be affected if the changes in weather pattern are
accompanied by fluctuations in rainfall patterns. (D) is what
states this, and is the answer.
The other choices are not relevant to either of the two
arguments of the optimists.
8. The author’s argument is that it is the scope of a
negotiating party’s aims that determines the energy and
perseverance that will be brought by him to the negotiations.
He then concludes that a party with unlimited aims will
win in the negotiations, and the party with limited aims will
lose.
Obviously, the author assumes that the chances of success
or failure in a negotiation depend not so much on the merits
of each negotiating party’s case, but on the energy and
perseverance with which each party conducts the negotiation.
(A) states just this, and is the answer.
The author’s argument relates only to those negotiations
in which the scope of the aims of the two parties differs. The
author does not assume that there will be no negotiations at
all between parties both of whom have limited aims. So, (B)
is not an assumption by him.
(B) may be a true statement, but is not a necessary
assumption of the author.
(D) is in the nature of a conclusion by the author, and not
an assumption by him.
(E) is also not an assumption that is necessary for the
author’s conclusion.
9. The first sentence says that small farmers save on
operating costs by eliminating chemical fertilizers and
pesticides in favour of crop rotation and twice-yearly use of
manure as fertilizer.
The next two sentences argue that, if the large farmers
also adopt the same measures, they will realize greater total
savings than the smaller farmers.
We have been asked to identify that choice which forms
an assumption while advancing the above argument.
If it is more cost-effective for small farmers than for large
farmers to eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides, one cannot come to the conclusion that large
153
farmers can realize greater savings than small farmers. So,
(A) contradicts what is stated in the given narrative, and is
not the answer.
The suggestion that large farmers must also adopt the
practice of using manure instead of chemical fertilizers
assumes that a sufficient amount of manure will be available
for use in the fields of large farmers. So, (B) is a necessary
assumption for the argument in the given narrative, and is
the answer.
The given narrative restricts its scope to comparing the
cost of using chemical fertilizers as against organic manure.
(C), which talks of the cost effectiveness of using sewage
sludge, is irrelevant to the argument in passage. So, (C) is
not the answer.
If (D) is true, large farmers would already have adopted
the use of natural manure in place of chemical fertilizers,
and there would therefore have been no need for the author
to exhort them to do so. So, (D) is not a necessary assumption
for the author’s argument.
(E) would, in fact, contradict the argument of the author,
because it would imply that the lower operating costs in a
small farm by the use of manure may not necessarily be
achieved in a big farm. So, (E) is not the answer.
10. According to the first sentence, the optical illusion of
‘velocity and size’ means that a truck, being bigger, would
appear to move slower than it actually does, while a car, which
is smallerr, would appear to move faster than it actually does.
The assertion in the second sentence (that a motorist’s
estimate of the time available for crossing a highway with a
small car approaching him is bound to be lower than it would
be with a large truck approaching) will be true only when it
is assumed that both the truck and the car are approaching
him at the same speed.
Otherwise, if the approaching car is running faster, the
lesser time available for crossing it would be due to the car’s
own higher speed and not due to the optical illusion.
On the contrary, if the truck is running faster, the lesser
time available for crossing it may be compensated by the
operation of the illusion of velocity and size, and the car and
the truck would appear to move at the same speed,
contradicting the conclusion in the second sentence.
So, (B) is the answer.
(A) and (C) are wrong because of the above reasoning.
(D) and (E) are wrong because, in both cases, the effect of
the optical illusion will be to make the estimate of the driver
inaccurate.
SET 4
Answers
1.B 2.D 3.E 4.D 5.E 6.A 7.D 8.D 9.B 10.B
Analysis
1. From the facts that, among all those who became
teachers in 1968, 30% of those who had subsequently left the
teaching profession are earning above $35,000 a year, but
only 15% of those who have remained in the profession earn
salaries above $35,000 a year, the author comes to the
conclusion that teachers are underpaid today.
We have been asked to state the assumption that the author
is making to validate his conclusion.
The author himself says that not all, but only 35% of those
who had left the teaching profession, are now drawing more
than $35,000 a year. This implies that the higher salaries
drawn by them cannot be attributed to their qualifications
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
that had enabled them to become teachers earlier, but must
have been due to other factors such as their higher
qualifications, aptitudes, capabilities etc, which the others
who had either remained in the teaching profession or had
left it do not possess.
Therefore, the author’s conclusion will be valid, only if he
has assumed that those who had left teaching and who did
not leave teaching are comparable in terms of criteria that
determine how much the people outside the teaching
profession are paid. So, (B) is the answer.
2. The author specifically says in the last sentence, “Only
when investigators find out why the error was made .... can
changes be made to ensure that the same type of error does
not recur and cause another accident”.
Obviously, the presupposition of the author is that accident
investigation should concentrate not only on examining why
an accident occurred in the past, but should also contribute
to the prevention of similar accidents in future. So, (D) is the
answer.
The sentence, “Instead of blaming an airline accident on
pilot error, investigators should find out why the error was
made by analyzing airplane design .....” implies that the
author concedes that the accident was due to pilot error, but
implies that the error might have been made not necessarily
because of a personal drawback of the pilot, but because of a
defective airplane design etc. So, (A) is not an assumption
made by the author.
The passage talks of ‘investigators’ in general, and there
is no indication that the author means that the investigators
must all belong to the airline companies. So, (B) is not the
answer.
Stricter government regulation on airline companies may
improve airline management and pilot training programs,
but cannot improve airplane design which the author
considers as one of the possible causes of airline accidents.
So, the author does not assume (B).
Since the passage implies that airline accidents can also
be due to defective airplane design or airline management,
we cannot say that retraining of pilots alone can avoid all
future airline accidents. So, (E) is also not correct.
3. The conclusion of the president of the consulting firm,
based on her analysis of a number of marketing decisions by
her clients, is that these decisions “were correct only about
half of the time”.
We have been asked to identify the presupposition on which
such conclusion is based.
Since the narration does not say that all the clients of the
consulting firm whose marketing decisions were analyzed
were successful companies, (A) is not the answer. In fact, even
if they were all successful companies, (A) could only be a
conclusion to be drawn from the analysis, and not a
presupposition.
The consulting firm’s study is related solely to the
marketing decisions made by its clients, and its president’s
conclusion has nothing to do with all companies in general.
So, (B) is not a necessary presupposition for the conclusion
arrived at by the president of the consulting firm, and is not
the answer.
(C) also has no relevance to the conclusion of the president
of the consulting firm about the percentage of correct decisions
made by its clients, and is not the answer.
(D) is a general statement covering all companies
universally, and is not warranted on the basis of the finding
154
relating to a limited number of clients of a single consultancy
firm. Moreover, (D) is in the nature of a conclusion (though
invalid), and not a presupposition warranting the conclusion
drawn by the president of the consulting firm. So, (D) is not
the answer.
Unless there are some valid criteria which can be applied
to marketing decisions to classify each of them as either
“right” or “wrong”, one cannot analyze them and come to a
conclusion that half of them were right and half of them were
wrong. So, (E) is a necessary presupposition for the conclusion
arrived at by the president of the consulting firm, and is the
answer.
4. The concluding sentence in the given narrative is, “For
this reason, cabinet making is not an art”. The immediately
preceding sentence which contains the reason is: “Since
furniture must be useful, cabinet-makers must exercise their
craft with an eye to the practical utility of their product”.
The obvious assumption that connects these two sentences
is that an object, in the making of which a craftsman has
paid attention to its practical utility, is not an art object.
It is (D) which says this and is the answer.
Since only art objects are placed in museums, a craftsman
who makes a cabinet that is meant to be exhibited in a museum
should be considered to be an artist. So, (A) would contradict,
and not constitute an assumption for the conclusion that
cabinet making is not art.
(B) would mean that, at least for those cabinetmakers who
are not concerned with the practical utility of their products,
cabinet making would be considered as an art. This again
would contradict, and not constitute an assumption for the
conclusion in the given narrative that “cabinet making is not
art”. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) says that cabinetmakers should be more concerned with
the practical utility of their products than they currently are,
and would mean that present-day cabinetmakers can at least
marginally be considered as artists as per the author’s
yardstick. So, (C) would also not constitute an assumption
behind the conclusion that cabinet making is not art.
The yardstick that is sought to be applied in the narrative
(to decide whether an article is an object of art or not) is its
practical utility and not its monetary value. So, (E) is
irrelevant to the conclusion in the given narrative, and does
not constitute a necessary assumption for drawing that
conclusion.
5. From the result of a study which found that top managers
used intuition significantly more than did most middle-or
lower-level managers, the author comes to the conclusion that
intuition is actually more effective than careful, methodical
reasoning.
We have been asked to identify that choice which
constitutes an assumption while reaching the above
conclusion.
What the given narrative implies is that (i) both top
managers and middle-or lower-level managers are involved
in decision making; (ii) the middle-or lower-level managers
generally use careful, methodical reasoning for decision-
making, while top managers mostly use intuition for decision-
making; and (iii) intuition is actually more effective than
careful, methodical reasoning.
Obviously, (iii) above will follow from (i) and (ii) only if it is
assumed that top managers are more effective at decision-
making than middle-or lower-level managers. (If, on the other
hand, it is assumed that middle-or lower-level managers are
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
more effective at decision-making, it would follow that careful,
methodical reasoning is more effective than intuition for
arriving at a decision, which contradicts the conclusion
mentioned in the given narrative.) It is (E) which states this,
and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices is a
necessary logical link among (i), (ii) and (iii) mentioned above.
6. (Aesthetic merit means artistic merit.) In the first
sentence, the author states his conclusion that the financial
value of any particular painting is only indirectly connected
with its own aesthetic merit. As evidence of his conclusion, he
states in the second sentence that there is always an
enormous difference in financial value between the original
of a painting and a forgery of it even when the naked eye cannot
distinguish between the two (implying that only scientific
experts can tell the difference, using methods such as carbon
dating etc).
We have been asked to spot that choice which is a necessary
assumption made by the author while arriving at the
conclusion based on the evidence cited by him.
Citing the vast difference in prices between the original of
a painting and its forgery (even when they are
indistinguishable by the naked eye), the author comes to the
conclusion that the price of a painting is only indirectly
connected with its aesthetic merit. Obviously, he assumes that
there is no difference in aesthetic merit between the original
of a painting and its visually indistinguishable forgery. In
other words, he assumes that the authenticity of a painting
does not, by itself, contribute anything more to its inherent
aesthetic merit. (A) states just this, and is the answer.
The conclusion of the author is not based on the number of
paintings which have accurate forgeries. So, (B) is not a
necessary assumption in the author’s conclusion.
If the forgery of a painting does not have the same financial
value as the original as stated by the author, there is no
incentive to forge it. So, (C) in fact weakens the conclusion of
the author, and is not a necessary assumption made by him.
The author’s argument is based on the financial values of
only those paintings whose originals are distinguishable from
their forgeries at least by experts. Otherwise, there would be
no basis for determining which is the original and which is
the forgery, and consequently there would be no basis for the
difference in their prices. The author does not refer to
paintings whose authenticity has not been determined even
by experts. So, (D) is irrelevant to the conclusion of the author,
and is not a necessary assumption made by him.
The author merely implies that any original painting and
its visually indistinguishable forgery have equal aesthetic
merit (whether such merit is very high or very low). He makes
no statement about how the relative aesthetic merits of two
entirely different paintings can be determined. So, (E) is not
a necessary assumption made by him while drawing his
conclusion from the evidence cited by him.
7. The first sentence of the narrative says that the proper
role of the press during elections in the United States is to
cover only those factors in the campaign which bear on the
eventual outcome.
On the basis of this premise, the second sentence argues
that, since the outcome in the US elections is invariably a
victory for the candidate of one of the two major parties, the
press should not cover the campaigns of candidates of minor
parties at all.
We have been asked to spot that choice which forms a
155
necessary assumption on which the above argument is based.
In the first sentence, the author concedes that the press
should cover the factors in the campaign which bear on the
eventual outcome of the election. While arguing that the press
should not cover the campaigns of candidates of minor parties,
he obviously assumes that the campaigns of candidates of
minor parties are not factors that would bear on the eventual
outcome. Since the number of votes polled by the candidate
of a minor party would be based on his campaign, this means
that the author is additionally assuming that the number of
votes polled by a candidate of a minor party is not likely to
affect the eventual outcome of the contest between the
candidates of the two major parties. (D) states just this, and
is the answer.
(To understand this argument clearly, suppose that the
candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties are
likely to get 51% and 49% of the votes polled in a straight
fight, resulting in the victory of the Republican candidate. If
a candidate belonging to a minor party enters the field as a
third contestant and takes away 5% out of the Republican
vote and 2% out of the Democratic vote, the eventual polling
would be 46%, 47% and 7% in favour of the three candidates,
resulting in the victory of the Democratic candidate. In this
case, it is the campaign of the candidate belonging to the
minor party that has had a bearing on the eventual outcome,
and must therefore be covered by the press even according to
the view of the author as stated in the first sentence. In arguing
to the contrary, the author is obviously assuming that the
votes polled by the candidate belonging to a minor party does
not affect the eventual outcome.)
(A) states a reason why the candidates of major parties
should be covered by the press, but does not give any reason
objecting to the coverage of candidates of minor parties.
Therefore (A) is irrelevant to the argument of the author, and
does not form a necessary assumption by him.
The use of the plural phrase ‘minor parties’ in the last
sentence implies that there is more than one minor party in
the country. This means that there could be more than three
candidates in any given election (one each from the two major
parties, and one each from the many minor parties). So, (B)
contradicts the information in the given narrative, and is not
a necessary assumption made by the author in advancing his
argument.
Since the opinions of those who do not vote do not alter the
eventual outcome of the elections, (C) is irrelevant to the
argument of the author, and is not a necessary assumption
made by him.
If (E) is true, the author need not at all object to the
coverage of the campaigns by the candidates of the minor
parties. So, (E) does not constitute a necessary assumption
made by the author while advancing his argument.
8. (Hittites were one of the ancient people like Greeks and
Romans, who had once lived in Northern Syria and adjacent
areas. Their language was also known Hittite. There are a
large number of ancient stone inscriptions which give
information about these people. These inscriptions have been
referred to here as ‘Hittite tablets’. The Iliad is a Greek epic,
similar to the Ramayana).
The author’s main contention is that since The Iliad
records historical facts, it cannot be considered to be creative
literature. So, he certainly assumes I.
The only reason why the author thinks that The Iliad
record historical events and not legends is that these events
have been recorded in Hittite tablets also. Obviously, he
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
assumes II also.
Since, on the basis of some facts which are common to
Hittite tablets and The Iliad, the author has already come to
the conclusion that The Iliad is pure history, he assumes that
all cities and events mentioned in The Iliad must be true
places and true events. He therefore does not assume III.
So, (D) is the answer.
9. What has declined is not the disease Q itself, but ‘reported
instances’ of Q, and this is what surprises the author, since,
according to him, it has come about after a great deal of
publicity about the disease in newspapers, radio and TV.
Obviously the author must have presumed that, after such
a wide publicity to the disease, there must have been an
increase in the reported instances of it. So, (B) is the answer.
The other choices do not explain the surprise of the author
logically.
10. The author says that, in every Presidential election,
the number of voters who abstained from voting has been
greater than the number of persons who voted for the winner,
and therefore ‘None of the candidates’ is the favourite of most
voters.
He obviously assumes that a voter abstains from voting
because he/she does not like any of the candidates. (He does
not consider the possibility that failure to vote could be due
to other reasons - the voter being away from his normal place
of residence on some work, his being ill, his being in jail etc.).
So, (B) is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices is an
assumption made for arriving at the author’s conclusion that
‘none of the above’ is the perennially favorite candidate of
most citizens.
SET 5
Answers
1.C 2.B 3.D 4.D 5.A 6.D 7.C 8.B 9.D 10.C
Analysis
1. The first sentence says that when there were limitations
on nuclear-arms testing, people tended to save more of their
money and that, when nuclear-arms testing increased, people
tended to spend more of their money.
From this phenomenon, the author draws the conclusion
that a perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe makes people
to spend now rather than to save for the future.
We have been asked to identify the choice which constitutes
an assumption in drawing this conclusion.
Obviously, the author assumes that people’s perception of
the threat of nuclear catastrophe increases or decreases with
the amount of nuclear-arms testing in the world. It is (C) which
states this, and is the answer.
(A) can at best be a conclusion that can be drawn from the
given passage, and is not an assumption made by the author.
The given passage mentions nuclear-arms testing, and not
the development of nuclear arms. So, (B) has no relevance to
it.
(D) implies that the extent of one’s support to nuclear-arms
testing is directly proportionate to one’s capacity to save money,
implying that those who are capable of saving more money
are more in favour of nuclear testing. This is not only not an
assumption in the passage, but is against commonsense.
The statement that people spend more money when
nuclear-arms testing increases does not necessarily mean that
such additional expenditure is incurred only on buying more
156
consumer goods. It may as well be on other activities such as
travel, holidaying etc. So, (E) is not a necessary assumption
by the author.
2. James’ response “If you are not able to hear anything,
you could not know that someone was calling you” implies
that he assumes that Harry would not have known that
someone had called him unless he had heard that call.
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
3. In spite of stating that there had been sharp drops in
the number of reported volcanic eruptions during the two
world wars covering a total period of ten years, the author
comes to the conclusion that volcanic activity has been ‘steady’
during this century.
Apparently, he assumes that the number of volcanic
eruptions during the war periods had also conformed to long-
time averages, but many of these had gone unreported,
perhaps because of the preoccupation of the scientists with
other war-related activities, or because of breakdowns in
communication. In other words, he presumes that the
variations in the frequency of reports of volcanic eruptions
can reasonably be attributed to factors (namely wars) that
had impinged on the reporting activity. So, (D) is the correct
answer.
The other choices do not explain the inherent contradiction
between the two given sentences.
4. From the first sentence, “Much of what passes for
political dialogue in this country is really a veiled discussion
of whether the distribution of wealth in our society is
equitable”, we can infer that the author assumes that
economic policy has implications for the distribution of wealth.
So, (D) is the answer.
(A) in fact contradicts the assertion of the author in the
last sentence that questions of today’s economic policy are so
complicated that they are beyond the attention span of most
voters. So, (A) is not the answer.
The passage is about how economic issues can be phrased
in simple terms so that they can be understood by the voters,
and not about the fairness of the economic policies themselves.
So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) also contradicts the argument of the author that it is
possible to phrase basic economic policy issues in such simple
terms that most voters can understand them.
What the passage says is that the short attention span of
most voters is the result of political dialogue being based on
complicated phrasing of questions of economic policy. (E)
reverses the cause and the effect, and is not the answer.
5. The author says that there are fundamental distinctions
between historical research and anthropological research, and
mentions one such distinction.
According to him, historians are interested in knowing why
a particular change occurred. (The word ‘whereas’ in the next
sentence means ‘on the contrary’). One the contrary,
anthropologists are interested in knowing the meanings of
actions and systems. The author thus implies that meanings
of actions and systems cannot explain why a change occurred
because, if they can, then there will be no fundamental
distinctions between historical and anthropological research.
So, (A) is the answer.
6. One of the beliefs of the ‘doctrine’ is that “an individual’s
personality can be changed by management of the social
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
world”. So, the doctrine believes that, if a person has been a lawful.
criminal, he can be corrected through social reform. So, (D) is It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
the answer. The other choices are all off the mark.
(C) appears to be a possible answer, but is wrong, because
the last sentence says that crimes will continue even if all 10. In the first sentence, the author says that a play
individuals are treated well by the society. becomes successful by reflecting the concerns and values of
the immediate audience.
7. According to the author, boxes packed with cereals (such According to this reasoning, the successful plays of the
as corn-flakes) used to contain parts of toys as gifts, so that Restoration period must have reflected the concerns and
children could first assemble them and then play with them, values of the audience who actually attended the plays.
but, nowadays, these toys come in fully assembled condition. But, in the last sentence, the author says that the
The author cites this as an example of the giving up of the successful plays of this period reflected (“was a good index
sense of ‘working now for later pleasure’. So, according to to”) “the tastes and attitudes of its time” meaning the concerns
him, ‘assembling the toys’ can be equated with work and and values of the whole population.
‘playing with them’ can be equated with pleasure. Obviously, in coming to this conclusion, the author assumes
This would have been so only if the same child had that the Restoration audiences were representative of the
assembled the toys first and played with them later. (The whole population of that time.
criterion ‘working now for later pleasure’ is obviously not It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
applicable to a case in which one child had assembled the toy
but another child plays with it.) It is (C) which states this SET 6
and is the answer. Answers
1.A 2.D 3.C 4.B 5.C 6.C 7.C 8.D 9.E 10.C
8. (“Tenure system of employment” in Universities is the
Analysis
system in which a person who has been offered ‘tenure’ on
1. If, according to the first side, imprisonment would ‘deter’
the basis of his proven competence during the initial period
(meaning discourage) further rebellion, they obviously
of probation can serve uninterruptedly till his age of retirement
assumed that imprisonment was a harsh penalty, and the
without the risk of being fired for subsequent incompetence.
future rebels would therefore like to avoid it and will therefore
‘Grant of tenure’ in USA is equivalent to an employee being
not indulge in rebellion at all.
‘confirmed’ in his job in India.) The passage says that the
The second side, who argued that imprisonment would
best argument in favour of the tenure system is that senior
discourage future rebels from surrendering, also assumed that
faculty members are able to recruit younger teachers who
these rebels would like to avoid being imprisoned after such
are smarter than themselves, without any fear of losing their
surrender, considering imprisonment as a harsh penalty. They
own jobs.
would therefore prefer not to surrender.
The author obviously assumes that, if the tenure system
So, both sides are assuming that imprisonment is a harsh
did not exist, senior faculty members will be reluctant to
penalty. So, (A) is the answer.
recruit younger members whom they feel to be smarter than
themselves and who may subsequently threaten their own
2. The conclusion that we have to examine is “The brands
jobs. So, the answer is (B).
of gasoline for sale on Haibei may be different in name and
(A) is neither an assumption nor a conclusion of the author.
price, but they are identical in quality”. And we have to locate
The “beliefs” of the university scholars are not mentioned
that choice which is a necessary assumption for drawing the
in the passage, and so (C) is irrelevant.
above conclusion.
The author mentions only in passing about moral
If, after drawing gasoline from the storage tank, one
turpitude, merely to emphasize that a senior faculty member
company alters its quality before sale, it will be different in
who has been offered tenure cannot be fired for relative
quality from the gasoline sold by the other companies. This
incompetence (though he can be dismissed for moral
will contradict the assertion by the author that ‘the brands
turpitude). (D) is not therefore a necessary assumption for
of gasoline sold in Haibei are identical in quality’. Therefore,
his argument.
he assumes that, if one company makes such a change in
(E) contradicts the statement in the passage, and is not
quality, the other companies will also follow suit and make
the answer.
identical changes in quality in the gasoline drawn by them
from the same storage depot. So, (D) is a assumption
9. Presently, if police officers obtain any evidence against
necessarily made by the author, and is the answer.
an accused person by unlawful search or seizures, such
Since the conclusion is not about consumer awareness but
evidence will not be admitted in the criminal trial against
of actual quality, (A) is irrelevant to the issue.
him.
The argument is on the quality of the gasoline sold, and
The author first says that some people assert that such
not on the quantity. So, (B) is not a relevant issue for the
evidence must also be allowed in the courts, at least in cases
stated conclusion.
in which the concerned police officer was not aware that the
The narrative itself says that the prices of different brands
practice indulged in by him was unlawful.
of gasoline are different. The range of these prices is not of
The author then criticizes this argument by stating that,
relevance to the argument on the quality of the gasoline on
if this is allowed, it will lead to “less careful police practices,
sale.
and also lying in court by police officers”.
The size of the storage tank is relevant to the frequency of
This means that the author believes that the present
refilling it, and is not relevant to the quality of the different
prohibition ensures “more careful practices” by police officers
brands on sale. So, (E) is not relevant to the issue.
regarding searches and seizures. This would, in turn, mean
that the present searchers and seizures are, by and large,
157
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
3. From the fact that the world’s annual food production
at present exceeds the amount of food required to provide a
minimum adequate diet for the world’s population, the author
comes to the conclusion that any hunger crisis in future will
result from a distribution problem rather than a production
problem.
He obviously assumes that, forever in future, the world’s
food production will either meet, or exceed, the population’s
food needs. So, (C) is the answer.
(A) implies that the population of the world will come down
in future which is obviously an unwarranted and unreal
assumption.
What the author says is that a hunger crisis that may be
caused by a possible shortfall in food production may be
prevented by a better distribution system. He does not say or
imply that the shortfall in food production may itself be
prevented by a better distribution system. So, (B) is not the
answer.
If the author had presumed that the distribution of food
supply will be improved in future, he would not have predicted
that any hunger crisis will be caused by a distribution
problem. So, he does not assume (D).
(E) is wrong for the same reason as (D), because the author
does foresee the possibility of a hunger crisis arising becausing
of a distribution problem.
4. (A) cannot be the view of the author, because, if he had
held this view, he would not have described Stanislavski’s
method for training actors as ‘justly praised’.
The last sentence says that, despite the pretensions of some
of his disciples in the United States, the Stanislavski’s method
was never intended to offer rigid solutions to acting problems.
This means that Stanislavski’s method incorporated flexibility
and innovation, and that these qualities have been lost
because of the manner it has been adopted by some of his
own disciples. (B) says this, and is the answer.
None of the other three choices can be inferred from the
information in the given passage.
5. The only basis for the hypothesis that much of the matter
in the universe is unseen is that scientists have made studies
which have shown that the actual pace of movement of
galaxies is faster than what it would be if visible stars alone
constituted all their mass.
It therefore follows that scientists have a fairly accurate
measure of the aggregate mass of the visible stars in the galaxy
and this is what has enabled them to make the calculations
and arrive at their hypothesis.
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
6. By recommending to other states that they should adopt
“similar” annual safety inspection procedures as in New
Jersey, the author obviously assumes that annual automobile
safety inspection in New Jersey have significantly contributed
to its registering one of the lowest rates of motor vehicle fatality
rates in the country. (C) states just this, and is the answer.
The passage talks not of rules relating to driving, but of
annual inspection of motor vehicles. So, (A) is not a necessary
assumption for arriving at the conclusion in the passage.
The passage is about what the author feels about the
connection between annual automobile safety inspections and
reduction in fatality rates. What most States feel about this
connection is not relevant to the author’s logic. So, (B) is not
the answer.
(D) talks of drivers, and not of owners who are responsible
158
for the maintenance of their vehicles. Moreover, the passage
is about regulations and procedures to be enforced by the
States, and not of safety consciousness of the drivers. So, (D)
is wrong.
The first sentence does not say that New Jersey has one of
the lowest fatalities in the country, but says that it has one of
the lowest fatality rates in the country. So, if the number of
motor vehicles running in New Jersey is very much higher
than the number of motor vehicles running in most other
States in USA, it is quite likely that a larger number die on
the roads in New Jersey than in most other States, but the
fatality rate per thousand of automobiles is lower in that state.
Moreover, the number of fatalities is a matter of fact, and
cannot be an assumption of the author. So, (E) is also wrong.
7. While fixing a specific rate of income tax, the tax
authorities target to get a particular level of revenue.
What the narration says is that when some people evade
the tax because of which this target is not reached, tax
authorities increase the rate of tax in order to ensure the receipt
of the targetted level of revenue, and this increased rate tempts
more people to evade tax, because of which the revenue falls
even shorter than the targetted level, making the tax
authorities increase the rate of tax still further ....., thereby
causing a vicious circle.
We have been asked to spot that choice which is an
assumption that has been made by the author in forecasting
such a vicious circle.
According to the author, the vicious circle starts when the
tax authorities raise the rate of tax for the reason that evasion
by some people of the existing rate of tax has resulted in less
tax being collected than targetted. He obvious assumes that,
while fixing the target of collection at the present rate of tax,
the authorities had not made adequate provision for possible
evasion of the tax by some people. (On the other hand, if they
had fixed the target after providing for such evasion, the
target would have been achieved even when some people
evaded the tax, and there would have been no need for the
rate to be increased. In this case, the vicious circle would not
have started at all.)
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
8. The conclusion reached in the passage is “Therefore,
secretaries who smoke should be offered enclosed offices’. This
conclusion is reached as a consequence of the previous
sentence, “Virtually all employees with enclosed offices are
at the professional level, and virtually all secretarial
employees lack enclosed offices”, meaning that the new
smoking regulations allow all professional-level employees
to smoke, while preventing all secretarial-level employees
from smoking. So, the demand that the secretarial staff who
smoke must also be offered enclosed offices is based on the
assumption that all employees who smoke must be given an
equal opportunity to do so, without an invidious distinction
being made based on their job levels. It is (D) which states
this, and is the answer.
(A) is obvious because, under the new regulations, among
the professional-level employees, even those who smoke can
retain their enclosed offices. But (A) is not a necessary
assumption for the conclusion that non-professional-level
employees should be given enclosed offices.
(B) contradicts the new regulation, and is not an
assumption made by the author while arriving at his
conclusion.
There are two ways of maintaining equality between the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
professional and secretarial staff in the matter of smoking:
(i) the secretarial staff should be exempt from the new
regulation, and be allowed to smoke at their desks; or (ii) the
secretarial staff who smoke should also be given enclosed
offices. The author is advocating the latter as his conclusion.
(C), which proposes the former, is not a necessary assumption
made by the author for recommending the latter. So, (C) is
not the answer.
(E) talks of the right of the non-smokers in the office, and
is not relevant to the conclusion of the author regarding the
right of the secretarial staff who smoke.
9. (A) is wrong because the passage is about the possibility
of any form of life existing on another planet, and is not about
how they look. (In fact, even on earth, there are millions of
forms of life, each looking very much different from the
others!)
The statement that ‘the greatest chance for the existence
of extra-terrestrial life is on a planet beyond our solar system’
does not preclude some chance of existence of life on another
planet in the solar system itself. So, (B) is wrong.
The phrases ‘greatest chance’ and ‘suitable abodes of life’
indicate that the author believes that, if appropriate physical
conditions exist, existence of life is a great possibility. He does
not presume that, in such a case, life is an inevitable
consequence. So, (C) is wrong.
159
The definitive statement in (D) is not warranted by the
information in the passage in which the author only guesses
that ‘many of the suns in the galaxy could be accompanied by
earth-like planets’.
By linking the possibility of existence of life to the possibility
of ‘earth-like planets’ in other solar systems, the author
obviously assumes that earth-like conditions are necessary
for life to thrive on any other planet. So, (E) is the answer.
10. When a person tells a lie, he undergoes some stress of
mind. A lie-detector is useful because, by measuring and
revealing such stress, it indicates whether a person is telling
a lie or not.
The first two sentences say that a widely used tranquilizing
drug suppresses the stress that one undergoes while telling a
lie, and therefore can be used effectively to mislead a lie-
detector.
From this statement, the conclusion is reached in the third
sentence that the same tranquilizer can be used for reducing
stress in everyday situations also.
The obvious assumption that is made while coming to this
conclusion is that the stress that one undergoes while telling
a lie is similar to the stress that one undergoes in everyday
situations. Otherwise, the same tranquilizer will not have
the same effect on that person.
Thus, (C) is the answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 5
'WEAKENS' QUESTIONS
SET 1 (D) would mean that both australopithecies and other
Answers animals might have been hunted and eaten by another species
1.E 2.C 3.D 4.C 5.B 6.A 7.C 8.D 9.A 10.E of larger animals which were living in these caves. If this is
Analysis true, australopithecies would have been victims of a predator,
and not great hunters themselves. This would seriously
1. The given argument is that the contributions made to
weaken the author’s conclusion. So, (D) is the answer.
charities by corporations reduce the profits of the corporations,
(E) would only mean that australopithecines did not hunt
and consequently reduce the dividends that their
this particular elephant-like animal for some reason (example:
shareholders, who are the real owners, are entitled to receive;
they did not like its meat). It will not weaken the author’s
therefore corporations should not contribute to charities.
conclusion that they were great hunters. (In fact, no great
This is prime-facie a logical and valid statement, but we
skill is required to hunt down a slow-moving, elephant-like
have been asked to identify the choice which would weaken
animal.)
the reasoning in this argument.
We should therefore look for that choice which states or
4 The first sentence attributes the improvement in the
implies that contributions made by corporations to charities
future prospects for success of the children (who were subjects
in fact increase their profits, and not reduce them. It is (E)
of a research study) solely to a particular educational program
which specifically points this out, and is the answer.
that these children had recently undergone.
The other choices do not directly relate corporate charity
We have been asked to locate that statement among the
to increase in their profits.
choices which will weaken this argument.
We should therefore look for the choice which give another
2. The given passage says that Tocqueville’s biographers
probable reason for such improvement in their prospects.
claim that his dislike of centralized government arose from
(C) provides such a reason, because it says that a
the fact that he considered the centralized rule of Napoleon
substantial number of the children who had been the subjects
responsible for his own childhood poverty in Normandy.
of this research had previously been exposed to another
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
educational enrichment program. If this is true, their
cast the most serious doubt on the biographers’ claim.
improved prospects for success may well be due to this
We should therefore look for that choice which says or
previous program, and not to the recent program whose
implies that Tocqueville himself considered his childhood
efficacy was the subject of the research study. So, (C) is the
poverty to be due to some reason other than Napoleon’s rule.
answer.
(A) refers to the knowledge of current historians, and not
The other choices do not constitute an alternative
of the nineteenth-century Tocqueville, who might well have
explanation for the expected result, and do not weaken the
agreed with the popular view of his time. So, (A) does not
given argument.
weaken the claim of his biographers.
(B) neither strengthens nor weakens the claim of
5. The speculation of the researchers is that people arrived
Tocqueville’s biographers.
in South America from the old world after voyaging across
(C) implies that Tocqueville himself believed that his
the Pacific some 32,000 years ago, and then spread northward.
childhood poverty was due to his father’s ill health, and was
This speculation is based on the discovery of human shelters
not because of Napoleon’s rule. If true, it is this choice that
in South America dating from 32,000 years ago.
will cast the most serious doubt on his biographers’ claim.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would be
So, (C) is the answer.
pertinent evidence against this speculation.
While (D) is irrelevant to the biographers’ claim, (E) would
Choice (B) says that some North American sites of human
strengthen their claim because it implies that there was an
habitation predate any sites found in South America. If this
all pervasive poverty in Normandy during Napoleon’s rule
is true, it is pertinent evidence against the theory that people
and such poverty could have been blamed on that rule.
arrived in South America first and then spread northwards.
So, (B) is the answer.
3. From the fact that bones of australopithecines (who are
(In fact, (B) would also provide strong evidence against
considered to be ancient ancestors of human species) and some
the earlier theory that people first reached America less than
bones of animals are found together in caves, the author comes
20,000 years ago.)
to the conclusion that australopithecines must have been
The other choices are not relevant to the researcher’s
great hunters.
speculation that people arrived first in South America and
We have been asked to identify the choice which weakens
then spread northwards.
this conclusion most.
If (A) is true, it would only explain why animal bones are
6. The passage suggests that private environmental groups
found not in just one cave but in many caves. It will not weaken
may be put in charge of operating and financing the national
the author’s conclusion that australopithecines were great
park system so that conservation objectives might in general
hunters.
be better served.
(B) would imply that, just like modern human beings,
We have been asked to identify the choice, assuming that
australopithecines were living as families. It will not in any
it is a realistic possibility, that argues most strongly against
way weaken the conclusion that they were great hunters.
this suggestion.
(C) would imply that australopithecines did not cook the
(A) says that persons who wish to exploit the natural
meat of animals before eating it. This will also not weaken
resources of the national parks may infiltrate into the private
the conclusion that they were great hunters.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
environmental groups, and eventually take over their
leadership. If this possibility is real, the administration of
the natural parks would ultimately fall into the hands of these
undesirable persons, and they would start exploiting the
natural resources of the park. In this case, the very aim behind
the proposal, namely, “conservation objectives would be better
served” would be defeated. So, (A) itself is a strong argument
against the suggestion, and is the answer.
Since, in case of disagreements among members of any
group, it is the majority view that is always allowed to prevail,
(B) is not a strong argument against the suggestion, and is
not the answer.
The proposal in the passage is about the administration of
the present national park system, and not about financing
the extension of the system. So, (C) is irrelevant to the given
suggestion, and is not a strong argument against it.
(D) is not an argument against the suggestion at all; in
fact, if there is competition among various groups, the
responsibility could be vested with the most resourceful among
them so that the intended aim is served best.
(E) implies that some endangered species may die out in
spite of the private environmental groups having sufficient
resources to try to protect them. If so, they may die out even
if the administration of the national parks continues to be
with the government. So, (E) is not a strong argument against
the given suggestion.
7. Based on the fact that machine tool imports from two
major exporters to US have been restricted recently, the
analysts have predicted that domestic sales of locally made
machine tools are bound to increase substantially in the very
near future.
We have been asked to identify the choice which is likely
to render this prediction inaccurate.
The fact that a bill is being debated in parliament cannot
by itself adversely affect the sale of machine tools. So, (A) is
wrong.
(B) talks of the proportion of the purchase of one type of
machine tools vis-a-vis the others in the last year, and can
neither support nor invalidate the analysts’ prediction.
(C) refers to the worldwide sales of US machine tools, while
the prediction relates to sales within the US. So, (C) is
irrelevant to the prediction.
(E) talks of trends in demand for machine tools in many
countries, and is irrelevant to the prospects of US-made
machine tools registering higher sale within US itself in the
very near future.
From the fact that machine-tool imports from two foreign
countries into US has been substantial, we can infer that
many of the users of machine tools in US prefer these imported
tools to locally-made ones for some unstated reason. So, if a
substantial inventory of these imported machine tools had been
stockpiled in the US during the past year, US buyers are likely
to continue to buy them till these stocks get exhausted. In
that case, the prediction that sales of locally made machine
tools are bound to rise considerably in the very near future is
likely to prove inaccurate. So, (D) is the answer.
8. The claim of the pesticides manufacturers is that there
has been really no increase at all in the number of birds which
die in the agricultural areas because of the spraying of the
pesticides.
They argue that, formerly, these dead birds went unnoticed
but, because of the publicity given to the theory that the use of
pesticides resulted in more bird deaths, more number of people
161
go specifically looking for dead birds and conclude that every
bird that had died even due to natural causes had suffered
the fate only because of the use of pesticides by the farmers.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would refute
this argument of the pesticide manufacturers.
The argument of the pesticides manufacturers will be
refuted if it is proved that, even during the times or in areas
where there was no publicity to this theory, the number of
dead birds reported had registered an increase. It is (D) which
states this, and is the answer.
(A) does not mention either pesticide spraying, or the
publicity given to the theory, and is therefore not the answer.
(B) talks of the insects killed by the pesticides, and not of
the birds killed by them, and is therefore irrelevant to the
argument.
(C) means that a single dead bird would be reported by
many volunteers and would be counted as more than one
number; this will, in fact, strengthen and not weaken the claim
of the pesticides manufacturers that there has really been no
increase in the actual number of bird deaths recently.
(E) would also strengthen and not weaken the argument of
the pesticides manufacturers that pesticides were not the real
cause of more bird deaths being reported.
9. The politician’s refutation of the Governor’s claim that
the State’s economy is prospering is based only on his assertion
that the State has lost 26,000 manufacturing jobs during her
term of office.
We have been asked to spot that choice which, if it has
happened during the Governor’s four year tenure, would most
seriously weaken the politician’s conclusion.
(A) says that an influx of non-manufacturing industries in
the State has led to a net gain of 200,000 new jobs in the
State. If this is true, the politician’s conclusion that the State’s
economy is not doing well (just because it has lost 26,000
manufacturing jobs) will be very seriously weakened, because
the economy has, in fact, added 226,000 new jobs during the
same period. So, (A) itself is the answer.
(B) would only imply that such of those workers who are
still holding their jobs are not worse off than before, but the
20,000 persons who had lost their jobs are suffering from
unemployment. So, (B) does not weaken the politician’s
conclusion that the State’s economy is not doing very well.
So, (B) is not the answer.
If 26,000 jobs have been lost, and the average level of
training required for entry level jobs in the State also
increased, it would only strengthen the politician’s conclusion,
and will not weaken it. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) would only imply that the level of social security in the
State had increased during the governor’s tenure, and does
not by itself weaken the politician’s conclusion that the State’s
economy is not doing very well. In fact, (D) may even imply
that the unemployment created by the loss of jobs had been
the main reason for the increase in the expenditure on social
security, in which case it would strengthen the politician’s
conclusion, and not weaken it. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) talks of the opinion of the majority of the employed
workers in the state, and not of the 26,000 workers who had
lost their jobs. So, (E) by itself does not weaken the conclusion
of the politician, and is not the answer.
10. The view of the soil scientist quoted is that decaying
organic mater on forest floor is a greater source of acidity in
mountain lakes than acid rain (presumed to be caused by
industrial pollution) and, therefore, reducing acid rain will
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
not significantly reduce the acidity of mountain lakes. argued that, if this is done, the teen-age unemployment rate
We have been asked to identify the choice which most will no longer rise.
seriously weakens this argument. We have been asked to spot the choice which will weaken
We should therefore look for that choice which says that this argument.
the acid rain itself contributes to an increase in the amount of This argument will obviously be weakened if it is shown
decaying matter on the forest floor. that teen-age unemployment rate had risen even when the
(E) says just this, and is the answer. minimum wage for them was either constant, or had been
The other choices do not strengthen or weaken the reduced. It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
argument of the soil scientists. (A) will support, and not weaken the argument in the
passage.
SET 2 (C) refers to seasonal employment, and implies that such
Answers employment is available to teenagers in spite of the higher
minimum wage. This choice therefore weakens the argument
1.E 2.C 3.B 4.E 5.A 6.C 7.E 8.C 9.A 10.B
in the passage that, for teenagers to get employed, it is
Analysis
necessary for the minimum wage to be reduced.
1. The first sentence says that the average weight of a 3-
(D) and (E) do not mention the levels of minimum wage
month old baby born in the United States is between 12 and
during the periods mentioned and so, neither support nor
14 pounds. From this statement, the second sentence draws
weaken the given argument.
the conclusion that, if a 3-month old baby weighs only 10
pounds, its weight gain is below the United States average.
4. Governments are today attaching a lot of importance to
We have been asked to identify the flaw in this reasoning.
environmental purity, and they periodically bring new
The flaw is in the words italicized above. The only
regulations which industries must comply with in order to
conclusion that can be drawn from the given statement is
keep down pollution.
that if a 3-month-old baby weighs only 10 pounds, its weight
The first sentence says that industries can and will build
is below the United States average. The statement that its
new plants conforming to environmental standards, but the
weight gain is below United States average does not
second sentence argues against the uncertainty in this regard.
necessarily follow from the first statement.
What the narration implies is that if, after permission is
(For example, if the average weight at birth of a US-born
given for the construction of a factory as per the existing
baby is 9 pounds, and it increases to 12 to 14 pounds in 3
regulations, the Government changes the regulations and
months, the average weight gain in 3 months is between 3 to
asks the factory to suspend further construction till the new
5 pounds. It is quite possible that the baby in question was
regulations are also satisfied, then it will affect the growth of
born prematurely and had a weight of only 6 pounds at birth.
industry because the industry may not be able to meet the
If it weighs 10 pounds at the end of 3 months, its weight gain
additional cost required to meet the new standards. In such
is 4 pounds, which is not below the United States average.)
a case, entrepreneurs will not even attempt to invest in new
So, the flaw in the reasoning is that average weight is wrongly
factories.
equated with average weight gain.
This threat to the growth of industry would be minimized,
It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
if it is laid down that environmental standards for any factory
will not be altered after the construction has started, and that
2. The given passage says that, because shrimp can tolerate
the new standards would be applicable only to new
salinity in water much better than can other types of fish,
constructions.
increased concentration of salt in the bay will not hurt the
It is (E) which says this, and is the answer.
shrimp industry.
We have been asked to spot the statement which will
5. The passage says that parents have no longer much say
weaken this argument.
in the kind of education that their children receive, since the
We should therefore look for that choice which points out
function has been taken over by professional educators, who
a fact relating to concentrated salinity which will have an
have themselves become ineffective because of the
adverse effect on shrimp’s survival.
centralization and bureaucratization of schools. We have been
Among the choices, it is (C) which points out such a fact,
asked to spot that choice which weakens the claim that there
because, if the other organisms on which shrimp usually feed
is continuing erosion of parent’s control over their children’s
cannot thrive in water with high salinity, the shrimp will die
education.
of starvation, thereby affecting the shrimp industry adversely.
(B) and (E) do not even mention parental control, and can
So, (C) is the answer.
be rejected straightaway.
Choices (D) and (E) will strengthen the argument of the
(C) and (D) will in fact strengthen the given claim and not
author, while the other choices will neither strengthen nor
weaken it.
weaken it.
(A) says that growing numbers of school administrators
follow the recommendations made by parents. If this is true,
3. The passage implies that the minimum wage fixed by
the claim that there is continuing erosion of parents’ control
the government for teenagers (who are capable of being
over their children’s education gets weakened.
employed to give ‘extra help’ to the adult workers) is too high
So, (A) is the answer.
and too disproportionate to their productivity levels.
Consequently, employers cannot afford to use them, and this
6. From the statement that squinting gives at least as much
has resulted in the rate of teenager unemployment increasing
protection from ultraviolet rays as do nonprescription glasses,
since 1960.
the author has come to the conclusion that there is, therefore,
The solution offered in the passage is that Government
no health advantage to be gained by wearing nonprescription
must fix a still lower minimum wage for teen-agers, and it is
sunglasses rather than by squinting.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
We have been asked to locate the choice which will weaken
this conclusion.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
squinting leads to some other health disadvantage which is
not caused by wearing nonprescription sunglasses.
(A) can straightaway be ruled out, because it talks of
prescription sunglasses, and not nonprescription sunglasses.
(B), if true, will strengthen and not weaken the conclusion
in the passage that nonprescription sunglasses do not provide
any health advantage over squinting. So, (B) is not the
answer.
(C) says that squinting strains facial muscles and causes
headaches and fatigue. If this is true, there is certainly a
health advantage in wearing sunglasses rather than
squinting. So, it is (C) which weakens the conclusion of the
author, and is the answer.
(D) neither strengthens nor weakens the conclusion of the
author that sunglasses do not offer any health advantage to
the wearer that is not offered by squinting, and is not the
answer.
(E) is a mannerism of only “some people”. So, it neither
strengthens nor weakens the general and universal conclusion
of the author that sunglasses do not offer any health
advantage to the wearer. So, (E) is also wrong.
7. The conclusion that the quality of care in university
hospitals is lower than that in private hospitals is arrived at
only on the ground that the death rate in the university
hospitals is higher.
This argument will be undermined if it is known that more
number of patients whose chances of survival are bleak usually
get admitted in the university hospitals than in private
hospitals. (E) is what states this, and is the answer.
(D) would appear to be plausible answer but is not true,
because even the research activity in a hospital must be aimed
towards curing the patients.
(A), (B), and (C) do not logically weaken the given argument.
8. What the given para states is that, since there has
actually been an increase in the number of job-related
accidents under OSHA, it has been an ineffective agency.
The choice which weakens this argument must be one
which implies that OSHA has, in fact, helped in the reduction
in the number of possible accidents.
(A) would imply that there may have been no reduction in
the number of accidents in jobs which are outside OSHA’s
jurisdiction. This would neither strengthen nor weaken the
conclusion that OSHA has been ineffective in reducing
accidents under its jurisdiction. So, (A) is not the answer.
The statement that OSHA has been assigned a greater
number of workplace activities to monitor, implying that it is
too understaffed to monitor all of them effectively, would only
strengthen the given argument, and not weaken it. So, (B) is
not the answer.
(C) says that “the ratio of work-related deaths and injuries
to size of work force has fallen”. Let us presume that, before
OSHA was established, there were 1000 workers and the
number of accidents was 15 and that, after the establishment
of OSHA, the number of workers has increased to 5000, while
the number of accidents has increased to 30. If this is true, it
implies that, if OSHA had not been established, and the same
ratio of accidents had continued, the actual number of
accidents would have been 75, and not a mere 30. So, it is (C)
which weakens the argument in the passage that OSHA has
been ineffective, and is the answer.
163
9. The passage first says that the treatment for
hypertension prevents strokes and heart disease, thereby
saving the medical expenses that would otherwise have been
incurred in treating them. It then points out that the money
so saved forms only one-fourth of the expenditure required
to treat the hypertensive population (implying that treating
all the hypertensive patients would cost as much as four times
the expenditure incurred in treating strokes and heart
diseases that some of them may suffer as a result of
hypertension.) It therefore concludes that there is no economic
justification for the preventive treatment of hypertension.
We have been asked to spot the choice which is most
damaging to this conclusion.
The conclusion relates to ‘economic justification’ for the
preventive treatment of hypertension, and we must therefore
look for that choice which points out an economic justification
for it.
(A) points out that though the many fatal strokes and heart
attacks resulting from untreated hypertension cause
insignificant medical expenses (perhaps because, by the time
they are admitted in the hospital, their condition is hopeless),
they cause large economic losses of other sorts. (Two examples
could be: the loss of expertise available to the community
because of the death of a rare expert in a highly strategic
field; the loss of a bread-earning parent of a newborn baby).
So, it is (A) which weakens the conclusion drawn in the
passage, and is the answer.
(C) looks like a possible answer, but it is only a contrary
opinion and is not a fact.
10. (Spouse means the husband or the wife.) In the first
sentence, the author says that a study of the medical records
of people below the age of forty shows that those whose
spouses have died have a significantly lower chance of
surviving upto the age of forty than those with living spouses.
From this statistics, the author comes to the conclusion
that the emotional stress of losing one’s spouse affects the
health of the surviving widow or the widower leading to her
or his own premature death.
We have been asked to spot that choice which, if true, casts
most doubt on the author’s conclusion (that it is the emotional
stress of having lost the spouse that had affected the health of
the surviving partner leading to his or her death before
reaching the age of forty.)
(A) strengthens, and does not weaken, the author’s
conclusion, and is not the answer.
(B) says that the medical records on which the author has
based his conclusion included cases of accidents in which both
of the married couple had received fatal injuries (meaning
injuries that had ultimately led to their death). If this is true,
it means that, in the statistics relied on by the author, a
number of deaths of the surviving widow or widower were
due to the injuries sustained in the accidents, and not due to
the emotional stress of having lost the spouse. So, it is (B)
that weakens the conclusion of the author, and is the answer.
(C) would strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s
conclusion that the separation from the spouse causes
deterioration in one’s health. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) would also strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s
conclusion that it is the separation from the spouse that had
caused deterioration in the health of the surviving partner.
So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) would also strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s
conclusion that the separation from the spouse causes
deterioration in the health of the surviving partner. So, (E)
is not the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
SET 3 their operations through the sale of the seized cargo. If the
Answers Florida man’s proposal is accepted, the new privateers must
also be able to finance their operations through the sale of
1.D 2.B 3.C 4.C 5.B 6.E 7.D 8.D 9.A 10.E
the seized cargo. But the seized cargo in this case will be
Analysis
“illegal drugs”. So, the newly licensed privateers will not be
1. The first sentence says that the recent decline in the
able to sell them without violating the law. It is (C) which
value of the dollar was triggered by (meaning started by) a
states this, and is the answer.
prediction of slower economic growth in the coming year. The
(A) is not the answer, because the privateers can very well
second sentence, however, concludes that such prediction by
acquire ships which are faster than those of the drug
itself would not have resulted in the decline in the value of
smugglers.
the dollar, if there had not been a huge budget deficit of the
(B) in fact strengthens and does not weaken the Florida
government.
man’s proposal, because the Constitution does not have to be
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
amended in order to implement the proposal.
would most seriously weaken the conclusion in the narrative.
(D) does not represent a flaw in the Florida man’s proposal,
We should therefore look for that choice which points out
because the new privateers can also plunder ships of
an instance in which a prediction of slower economic growth
smugglers belonging to countries other than USA.
had in fact caused a decline in the value of the dollar, even
(E) also does not constitute a flaw in the Florida man’s
when there was no significant budget deficit of the government.
proposal, but may make it easier for the privateers with more
It is (D) which makes such a statement, and is the answer.
sophisticated ships to plunder them.
(A) does not even refer to the decline in the value of the
dollar, and is not the answer.
4. The given passage argues against the proposed high-
The conclusion under examination is that a prediction of
speed train line in favour of buying a plane stating that the
slower economic growth and a huge budget deficit have
former, in addition to being three times as costly as a plane,
together caused a decline in the value of the dollar, and not
is a fixed-linear system in a world in which consumers prefer
that the budget deficit, by itself, had caused a slower economic
the free-wheel system consisting of cars, buses and planes
growth. So, (B) is irrelevant to the conclusion in the narrative,
which can go anywhere.
and is not the answer.
We have been asked to spot the choice which severely
The conclusion that is under examination is that dollar
weakens this argument.
values will not decline unless there is a huge fiscal deficit of
(A) strengthens the author’s argument that the train is a
the government. (C) merely gives an instance when dollar
fixed-linear system that is not favoured by consumers, and
values had declined when there was no prediction of slower
does not weaken it.
economic growth. So, (C) is also irrelevant to the conclusion
The author’s argument is about the superiority of airplane
under examination, and is not the answer.
to the proposed high-speed train line. (B), on the other hand,
(E) in fact strengthens, and does not weaken, the conclusion
talks of the superiority of the high-speed train line to cars
in the given passage.
and buses, and is not relevant to the author’s argument.
(C) controverts the author’s basic premise that the planes
2. The argument states that, at higher altitudes, the
are a free-wheel system, by pointing out that they can fly only
human body has more red blood cells per unit volume of blood
between airports, which are less convenient for consumers than
than at sea level, and this improves the performance of the
the high-speed train’s stations would be. So, it is (C) which
athletes.
severely weakens the author’s argument, and is the answer.
We have been asked to spot that choice which is most
(D) and (E) strengthen the author’s argument against the
damaging to the above conclusion.
proposed high-speed train line, and do not weaken it.
If (B) is true, and the volume of blood in the body is less by
25% in higher altitudes than at the sea level, then even a
5. Arguing that, in a free society, people have the right to
25% increase in the red blood cells per unit volume will be
take personal risks as long as such risks do not harm others,
offset by such decline. If this percentage is less, then the
the opponents of laws that require automobile drivers and
athlete’s performance at high altitude will be even worse than
passengers to wear seat belts conclude that each person
his performance at sea level. So, (B) is the answer.
should be left to decide for himself whether or not to wear a
(A), (C), (D) and (E) have no relevance to the scientific
seat belt.
statement made in the argument and do not weaken it.
We have been asked to spot that choice which weakens
Even if (A) is true, the athlete can start his practice after
this conclusion.
he had been acclimatized to the higher altitude.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
The given argument only says that any particular athlete
the risk taken by those who do not wear seat belts while
can perform better at high altitudes than he can at sea level,
driving or travelling in a car affects not only themselves, but
and does not say that all runners who trained at high level
also others.
will beat all runners who trained at sea level.
Obviously, (A) and (C) do not have any such implication.
(D) neither strengthens nor weakens the given argument.
(D) and (E) emphasize the risk that non-wearers of seat
(E) in fact strengthens the given argument, and does not
belts expose themselves to, and do not imply that others are
weaken it.
adversely affected thereby.
(B) says that, because the insurance companies are obliged
3. Note that we have to identify the drawback, or flaw, in
to pay compensation for the increased number of injuries and
the Florida man’s proposal, in order to explain why the
deaths of people not wearing seat belts, they have been forced
proposal is not practicable.
to increase the insurance premium rates for all automobile
The first two sentences state that the privateers who had
owners (including those who wear seat belts voluntarily). If
been licensed to plunder enemy ships in 1812 could finance
this is true, the argument that whether a person wears the
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
seat belt or not affects only him and not others will be
considerably weakened. So, (B) is the answer.
6. The proposed ordinance will make it compulsory for all
new homes to install sprinklers that will automatically go
into action if there is a fire and quench it.
A home builder questions the necessity of this ordinance
by pointing out that, even now, ninety percent of residential
fires are put out by a household member, and the installation
of automatic sprinklers would only marginally decrease
property damage caused by residential fires.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
most seriously weaken the home builder’s argument.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies
that it is the remaining 10% of the fires, which are not
extinguished by a household member for some reason or other,
which cause the maximum property damage in household
fires, and that the automatic sprinklers would be effective in
extinguishing these fires and averting the consequential
damage.
(E) says that the largest proportion of property damage in
residential fires in caused by fires that start when no
household member is present. If this is true, the installation
of automatic sprinklers will prevent such damage, thereby
weakening the home builder’s argument. So, (E) is the answer.
Even if (A) is true, it only implies that no formal training
is required for extinguishing most household fires, because,
even without such formal training, 90% of the household fires
are now being extinguished by householders themselves. So,
(A) does not weaken the home builder’s argument. So, (A) is
not the answer.
(B), in fact, strengthens, and does not weaken, the home
builder’s argument that the proposed ordinance would have
only a marginal effect in reducing overall property damage
in household fires. So, (B) is not the answer.
The argument of the home builder is not related to the
cost of installing the sprinklers at all. So, (C) neither
strengthens nor weakens his argument.
The response time of the city fire service in meeting
emergency calls is not an issue at all in the home builder’s
argument. So, (D) also neither strengthens nor weakens his
argument.
7. The given argument first states the fact that more
number of people have been affected by natural disasters
during the past decade than during the previous decades.
It then draws the conclusion that Earth has therefore
become more inhospitable and dangerous to human beings
than before. We have been asked to identify the choice which,
if true, will weaken this conclusion.
(A) and B, if true, will undermine the truth of the fact
stated in the first sentence itself, and will not either weaken
or strengthen the conclusion.
(C) talks of indefinite periods such as ‘distant past’ and
‘recent past’ which may even mean centuries, and does not
mention the number of people affected by these disasters in
the last decade or in the immediate previous decades. So it
also does not weaken the conclusion.
(E) is only relevant to the weather conditions, and cannot
explain why more people have been affected by earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions during the last decade. It does not
therefore weaken the conclusion.
If (D) is true, it would mean that certain areas of the earth
have always been dangerous and inhospitable to people
because of being prone to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions
165
etc, and people had avoided living in those places till recently.
If, in the recent decades, people had occupied these areas
because of population pressure and poverty, they would have
been affected by these disasters. From this we cannot draw
the conclusion that the earth, as a whole, has become more
dangerous for habitation in the recent decades. So it is (D)
which weakens the given conclusion, and is the answer.
8. From the facts that the life-cycle of a red blood cell is
only 120 days, and that a malarial-fever parasite that resides
in a red blood cell is not capable of travelling to a new
generation of red blood cells, the author draws the conclusion
that any fever that a person develops beyond 120 days of his
moving over to a malaria-free region could not have been
caused by the malarial parasite.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
most seriously weaken the above conclusion.
(A) is irrelevant to the information in the given passage,
and neither strengthens nor weakens the given conclusion.
(B) merely implies that some parts of the world are still
vulnerable to malarial epidemic, and neither strengthens nor
weakens the conclusion in the given passage.
While the given conclusion talks of fever, (C) talks of
symptoms other than fever. So, it neither strengthens nor
weakens the given conclusion.
(D) implies that the malarial parasite can reside not only
in the red blood cells of a person but also in his spleen. It adds
that, if the parasites had reached the spleen, they are not
eliminated within 120 days. If this is true, a person, in whose
case the malarial parasite had reached the spleen, can develop
malarial fever even beyond 120 days of his moving to a
malaria-free region. So, it is (D) which weakens the conclusion
in the given passage, and is the answer.
While the given passage is about persons who are
vulnerable to malaria, (E) talks of persons who are immune
to malaria. So, (E) also neither strengthens nor weakens the
given conclusion.
9. The argument of the judicial experts is that multiple
opinions by different judges accompanying a single ruling
create problems for lower courts and other branches of
government which require guidance. We are asked to state
which of the three statements, if true, would weaken this
argument of the judicial experts.
I means that the lower courts and other government
branches can just follow the ultimate ruling in the case
ignoring the opinions accompanying it, and the ruling itself
would constitute sufficient guidance to them. If this is true,
it would weaken the argument of the judicial experts.
II means that the (Supreme) Court is as much divided as
the rest of the nation itself on controversial issues. This, if
true, will strengthen and not weaken the argument of the
judicial experts, because it is in such a situation, when there
in a widespread controversy over an issue, that Supreme
Court is expected to give an unambiguous opinion for the
guidance of the lower courts.
III, if true, will lead to confusion and misunderstanding
among the lower courts and other government agencies, and
will only strengthen the argument of the judicial experts.
Thus, (A) is the answer.
10. The police chief of the city attributes the fall in crime
rate in 1982, as compared to that in 1981, solely to the
innovative police program put into effect by him in the
beginning of 1982.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
In trying to locate the choice which seriously weakens this (that privatisation of services will improve their quality) on
conclusion, we should look for that statement which cites the basis of only one sample, which may not be representative.
another possible cause (unconnected with the innovative police (It is quite likely that there are other instances where the
program) for the reduction in the crime rate in the city. privatisation either did not improve the quality of the services,
(A) tantalizingly looks like the correct choice, but is wrong or may even have resulted in their deterioration.) So, (D) points
because it talks of increased expenditure on police programs out a logical flaw in the author’s argument, and is the answer.
in other cities, whereas the police chief of this city attributes (E) is wrong, because there is no word in the narrative
the reduction in crime rate of ‘the innovative police program’ which has been used with two different meanings in two
put into effect by him. If the programs implemented in the different places.
other cities had not been similar to the one implemented in
this city, their success or failure can neither strengthen nor 3. The ruling of the court is that it is legal for a company
weaken the argument of this city’s police chief. to reject a job applicant if ‘working on the job would entail a
Among the other choices, (E) states that the size of the 90 percent chance of the applicant suffering a heart attack’.
age-group most likely to commit crimes decreased considerably We have been asked to spot that choice which, if true, would
in the city in 1982 as against 1981, because of a declining render the ruling of the court ineffective in regulating
birth-rate. If this is true, this gives another possible employment practices.
explanation for the reduction in the crime rate in 1982 as (B) says that no legally accepted methods exist for
compared to that in 1981, and will thereby weaken the calculating the risk of a job applicant’s having a heart attack
argument of the police chief. So, (E) is the answer. as a result of being employed in a particular occupation. If
this is true, a company which wants to reject a job applicant
SET 4 for some other legally unacceptable reason may falsely claim
Answers that working on the job would entail a 90 percent chance of
the applicant suffering a heart attack, and the rejected
1.B 2.D 3.B 4.C 5.C 6.A 7.E 8.C 9.C 10.C
applicant would have no legal way of proving the fraudulent
Analysis
intention of the company.
1. From the fact that 86% of the 5000 teachers who
So, it is (B) which, if true, will render the ruling of the
responded to survey questionnaires expressed a high level of
court ineffective in regulating employment practices, and is
interest in microcomputers, the author comes to the
the answer.
conclusion that the popular notion that teachers are generally
You may be tempted to choose (E) as the answer. But (E)
apathetic (meaning indifferent) to microcomputer technology,
merely points out a practical difficulty that a company may
is false.
face in attracting applicants, but the passage deals with cases
We have been asked to locate the choice which would be
where there is an applicant for a job, but the company rejects
most damaging to this conclusion.
him on the basis that working on the job would entail a
(A) will not damage, but will strengthen the conclusion,
possibility of heart attack for him. So, (E) is not the answer.
because it would mean that there was overwhelming interest
for the microcomputers among all the teachers irrespective
4. On the basis of the assertion that only forty-five percent
of whether they had previous exposure to computers or not.
of the owners of jogging shoes jog more than once a year, and
(B) implies that the number of questionnaires actually sent
only seventeen percent of such owners jog more than once a
out was much larger than 5000, but only those teachers who
week, the author comes to the conclusion that “most
had previous exposure to computers chose to reply. If this is
consumers do not get much use out of the sports equipment
true, the conclusion reached by the author would be based on
that they purchase”.
minority opinion, and would not be valid. On the contrary, it
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
will confirm the popular notion that teachers are generally
casts most doubt on this conclusion.
apathetic about microcomputer technology. So, (B) is the
If (A) is true, it only gives a plausible reason why a majority
answer.
of consumers who buy jogging shoes stop using them, but will
(C), (D) and (E) neither strengthen, nor weaken, the author’s
strengthen the conclusion of the author that most consumers
conclusion.
do not get much use out of the sports equipment purchased by
them.
2. (Turnpike means a highway for using which the motorists
If (B) is true, it means that even the figures of 45% (for
have to pay a toll.) On the basis of the statement that the
those who jog at least once a year) and 17% (for those who jog
turnpike system became a more reliable system after it was
at least once a week) are exaggerated figures. So, (B) would
taken over from the government by private organizations, the
strengthen, and not weaken, the conclusion of the author that
author argues that private ownership of services will improve
most consumers do not get much use out of the sports
the quality of those services.
equipment purchased by them.
We have been asked to spot that choice which will describe
If (C) is true, and many consumers in fact purchase jogging
a significant flaw in the argument of the author.
shoes for use in activities other than jogging, it implies that
(A) is wrong because there is no “appeal to a person of
the question whether they get much use of these shoes cannot
authority” in the given narrative.
be judged on the basis of the percentage of those among them
(B) is wrong, because the author mentions only his own
who actually jog. It is quite likely that more than 90% of the
view on the subject, and does not even refer to any “opposing
jogging shoe owners are actually using the shoes for the real
view”.
purpose for which each one of them had bought them. In this
(C) is factually incorrect, because the author considers the
case, the claim of the author would be wrong. So, it is (C)
handing over of services to private institutions not as a wrong
which casts most doubt on the claim of the author, and is the
action, but as a right action. So, (C) is wrong.
answer.
The author makes a generalized and conclusive statement
Obviously, (D) and (E) neither strengthen nor weaken the
166
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
claim of the author, and are both wrong.
5. The given passage refers to the compilation of lists of
hospitals on the basis of their patient death rates (namely,
how many patients died in the hospital out of every 100
patients admitted). It also says that the data have been
adjusted to allow for differences in the ages of patients.
One may be tempted to draw the conclusion from this list
that the quality of treatment in a hospital, where the death
rate is higher, is inferior to the quality of treatment in another
hospital where the death rate is lower.
The given question implies that four of the five given
choices are logical grounds for hospitals to object to such
interpretation, while one of them is not. We have been asked
to spot this particular choice.
(A) will be a valid objection because, if the 10th ranking
hospital has a death rate of 26 per hundred, and the 11th
ranking hospital has a death rate of 27 per hundred, one
cannot come to the conclusion that the quality of health care
in the latter is worse than the quality of health care in the
former (because the number of deaths could depend on the
relative seriousness of the condition in which the patients had
been admitted initially).
(B) will also be a valid objection, because a hospital which
has a policy of compulsorily discharging incurable patients
(thereby avoiding their deaths within its premises) cannot be
considered to be more efficient in health care provision than
another hospital which has a policy of allowing them to remain
as inpatients till the end (thereby having a higher death rate).
It is (C) which cannot be a valid objection, because the
passage specifically states that the death rates had been
adjusted to allow for differences in the ages of patients. So,
(C) is the answer.
(D) and (E) are valid objections for the same reason as (B).
6. From the fact that wholesale price of raw cotton fell
considerably in the last year, the author argues that the retail
prices of cotton clothing at clothing stores are likely to fall
soon.
We have been asked to locate the choice which will seriously
weaken the argument above.
We should therefore look for that choice which points out
that the expense incurred in an intermediate stage (from the
time that the raw cotton is purchased at the wholesale level
and the time that it is converted into cotton clothing and made
available for sale at the retail level) have increased in such a
way as to offset last year’s fall in raw cotton prices.
Among the choices, it is (A) which states this, and is the
answer.
The reference to the price of raw wool in the given passage
is irrelevant, and has been given only to confuse you. The
argument is limited to the prices of cotton clothing, without
comparison with the corresponding prices of woolen clothing.
So, (B) is irrelevant to the issue, and is not the answer.
(C) would support (and not weaken) the argument that the
retail price of cotton clothing would shortly fall because of
the lower price of raw cotton last year, and is not the answer.
The argument is not that the retail price of cotton clothing
will fall immediately on the fall of the wholesale price of raw
cotton; it only says that ‘it will inevitably fall (in future)’. So,
(D) supports and does not weaken the author’s argument, and
is not the answer.
Even if (E) is true, it only means that, in spite of such a
rise in the cost of harvesting, the wholesale cotton price had
fallen last year. (E) is irrelevant to the argument why the
167
retail prices of cotton clothing should fall in the immediate
future. So, (E) is not the answer.
7. The engraving work has to be done by the artisan by
keeping the coins within a foot from the eye.
If it is proved that there is no difference between the
eyesight of near sighted individuals and those with ordinary
vision if the objects viewed are less than a few feet away, the
researchers’ argument that nearsightedness is an advantage
for work on coins will be weakened.
So, (E) is the answer.
None of the other choices weakens the conclusion of the
author.
8. The athletic director adds all the numbers; and comes
to the conclusion that his program serves 250 different
individuals. The one condition given is that no athlete is on
two teams during any one season. But there is no stipulation
that a single athlete cannot be on different teams in different
seasons - for example, a footballer in the first season being in
the swimming team in the second season. If this be the case,
then the program will serve less than 250 different individual
athletes, because there will be overlapping of at least some
athletes. It is (B) which the athletic director fails to consider,
and is the answer.
(A) is wrong, because it is prohibited by the given rule.
(C) is already implied in the numbers which add up to
250.
(D) is also implied in the given numbers which add up to
250.
(E) contradicts the penultimate sentence. But, even if an
athlete does not participate in all practice sessions, but
participates in only some of them, the fact remains that the
program serves him also.
9. The argument underlying the two given sentences is
that “only those who know computer programming can use
computers effectively”.
We have been asked to identify that choice which weakens
this argument.
We should therefore look for that choice which gives an
example of persons who do not know computer programming
but are still able to use computers effectively.
It is (C) which gives such an instance, and is the answer.
10. On the plea that the number of crimes reported had
increased after the installation of the closed-circuit television
in the two subway stations, city officials had decided to remove
the television, stating that the installation of the television
had led to an increase in the number of crimes.
We have been asked to identify that choice which most
seriously weakens this claim of the city officials.
A), even if it is true, makes no reference to the increase in
the number of crimes reported after the installation of the
closed-circuit television, and does not either strengthen or
weaken the claim of the city officials. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B), if true, only supports the claim of the city officials that
the installation of the closed-circuit television had led to an
increase in crime, and does not weaken it. So, (B) is not the
answer.
(C) says that the percentage of all crimes that were
committed at the two subway stations and which were
reported rose because of increased instances of observations
of crime on the short-circuit televisions. If this is true, it means
that the increase in the number of crimes reported was not
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
because of increase in the number of crimes committed, but were studied, of whom 501 pairs had been raised together
because of their being observed through the closed-circuit and 499 pairs had been raised separately. The results of this
television. If so, the experiment must be deemed to have been study cannot be considered to be invalid merely because the
a success and not a failure. In this case, the decision of the number of pairs who had been raised separately was
city officials to discontinue the experiment with the claim marginally less than 50%. So, (A) cannot be stated to cast the
that the installation of the closed-circuit television had led to most doubt on the results of the study, and is not the answer.
an increase in the number of crimes, can be clearly described By the very nature of the experiment, the twins who were
as a wrong decision. So, (C) is the answer. the subjects of the study must have been in a narrow age
range for the results to be valid. (For example, the results of
SET 5 the study will not be valid if one pair of twins are each aged
Answers 5, and another are each aged 75.) So, the fact that the ages of
all the twins studied fell within a 10-year range would validate
1.D 2.C 3.C 4.E 5.A 6.B 7.E 8.A 9.E 10.A
the results of the study, and would not cast doubts on them.
Analysis
So, (B) is not the answer.
1. The passage first says that early buyers of video recorders
(C) says that even the twins who were raised separately
lost interest in watching video movies after about six months.
grew up in similar families. This means that they had grown
It goes on to say that video movie sellers and hirers have
up in similar environments. So, if they had shown some
not so far been affected by this fact, because more and more
similar personality traits, these traits could have been
new people are still buying video recorders, and there has till
contributed by the similar environments in which both of them
now been a net expansion for the market for video movies.
had grown up, and may not be attributable solely to hereditary
The passage then predicts that, once all the people who
factors. So, it is (C) which casts the most doubt on the study’s
can afford to buy video recorders have purchased them, their
results, and is the answer.
interest in video movies is likely to be sustained for only about
What the study concluded was that 7 of the 11 traits
six months thereafter, and the market for video movies will
studied were hereditary. For this purpose, a comparison of
thereafter start shrinking, thereby adversely affecting the
the nature of these traits among themselves is irrelevant. So,
businesses of video movie sellers and hirers.
(D) does not cast any doubt on the study’s results, and is not
We have been asked to identify the argument among the
the answer.
choices which will weaken this prediction.
(E) merely states the usual mechanism of selection of the
The prediction that video movie business will shrink is
traits taken up for study, and does not cast doubt on the results
based on the behaviour of the early buyers of video recorders
of the study. So, (E) is not the answer.
who got tired of watching movies in them after six months.
The argument that will weaken this prediction is the one
3. The first sentence does not talk of the number of people
which differentiates between the behaviour of early buyers
who had been affected by the intestinal disease in that rural
and that of later buyers of the video recorders. (D) says that
county, but of those diagnosed as having been affected by it.
early buyers of a novel product are always people who are
The second sentence says that the health officials of the
quick to acquire novelties, but also often as quick to tire of
rural county claim that it is the improvement in the sanitary
them. If this is true, the early buyers of video recorders are
conditions at the water treatment plants in that county that
not representative of the general run of consumers, and the
has led to the reduction in the incidence of the disease.
behaviour of the latter cannot be predicted on the basis of the
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
behaviour of the former. So, it is (D) which weakens the
weaken this claim of the county’s health officials.
prediction of the author that businesses distributing videos
The claim of the health officials is not about increase in
face hard times, and is the answer.
the number of new water-treatment plants during the last
2. What the first sentence means is: if identical twins who
year, but about the improvement in the sanitary conditions
are raised separately show certain similar traits of personality,
in the existing water-treatment plants. So, (A), which talks
it can be surmised that these traits are hereditary, and are
of new water treatment plants built in the last five years,
not influenced by the environment in which they were raised.
neither strengthens nor weakens the claim of the county’s
If, on the other hand, some other traits of their personality
health officials.
are different, it can be surmised that those traits are not
Since one can contact an intestinal disease by consuming
hereditary, but are influenced by the environment in which
contaminated water even once, the total quantity of piped
they were raised.
water or spring water consumed in a year by a person is not
The second sentence then refers to an experimental study
relevant to the health officials’ claim. So, (B) neither
of 11 key traits of different pairs of identical twins, some of
strengthens or weakens their claim.
whom were raised together and the rest of whom were raised
(C) implies that many people who had been diagnosed as
separately, and says that it was found that 7 out of the 11
having the particular intestinal disease in the previous year
traits are primarily products of heredity, implying thereby
did not really suffer from that disease at all, but had intestinal
that these 7 traits were found to be the same even in pairs of
ulcers. This means that the claim that there has been a
twins who had been raised in different places.
reduction in the incidence of the intestinal disease is itself
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
not real, but is imaginary. If so, the claim of the health officials
cast the most doubt on the study’s results.
that there has been a reduction in the incidence of the disease
We should therefore look for that choice which states that
because of improvements in the sanitary conditions in the
the fact that identical twins who were raised separately
water treatment plants would be baseless. Thus, it is (C)
showed the some traits does not necessarily mean that these
which weakens the claim of the health officials, and is the
traits are hereditary, but can also be attributed to the
answer.
environments in which they grew up.
Obviously (D) and (E) are not relevant to the health officials’
(A) may refer to a situation in which totally 1000 pairs
claim, and are wrong.
168
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
4. The given narrative implies that free import of steel
from foreign steel mills into USA is adversely affecting the
interests of big American steel mills and, therefore, a proposal
to impose quotas on the import of foreign steel into USA is
under consideration.
The narrative then argues that such imposition will not
help the big American steel mills at all but, on the contrary,
these big mills are likely to be affected even more because
the “mini-mills” in USA will take even more business from
big American mills than what has been taken by foreign steel
mills till now.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
cast the most serious doubt on the conclusion arrived at in
the narrative.
Since the given narrative does not make any specific
reference to the relative quality and price of the three
categories of steel - produced by the big American steel mills,
produced by the “mini-mills” in USA, and imported from
abroad, (A) neither confirms nor casts doubt on the claim made
in the given narrative, and is not the answer.
(B) talks of the relative qualities of the steel produced by
foreign steel mills and the big American mills, and is therefore
irrelevant to the claim that the small American mills will
take away business from the big American mills.
(C) talks of American “goods” in general, and is therefore
irrelevant to the claim that the small American steel mills
will take away business from the big American steel mills.
So, (C) is not the answer.
(D), if true, would strengthen, and not cast doubt, on the
claim made in the last sentence of the given narrative.
(E) says that the domestic mini-mills and the big American
mills produce totally different types of steel. If this is true,
then the mini-mills will not be able to “take away” the
business of the big American mills if import quotas are
imposed. So, it is (E) which casts the most serious doubt on
the claim made in the last sentence of the passage, and is the
answer.
5. The prediction made in the passage is that, since tropical
forests produce a large percentage of the Earth’s supply of
oxygen, the continued destruction of these forests is likely to
reduce the Earth’s oxygen supply to levels that will endanger
the existence of all oxygen-dependent life on earth.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
most seriously weaken this argument.
If (A) is true, it implies that oxygen-dependent life-forms
living in parts of the world other than tropical forests are
even now not dependent on oxygen produced by tropical forests.
Therefore, the destruction of the tropical forests will have no
adverse effect on them. The prediction of the author will
therefore be seriously weakened if (A) is true. So, (A) is the
answer.
(B) merely implies that destruction of tropical forests would
deplete the oxygen content of the upper atmosphere, but this
will not affect the oxygen-dependent life on earth either way.
(C) and (E) will strengthen, and not weaken, the prediction
of the author.
(D) is an information which merely confirms a part of the
author’s statement.
6. (‘Tenuous’ means ‘weak’) The author’s argument is that,
since cigarette consumption among teenagers in Italy, where
cigarette advertising is prohibited, has been rising, it can be
concluded that there is very little connection between cigarette
advertisement and the increased consumption of cigarettes.
169
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
weaken this argument.
Obviously, the choice must be the one which says that the
increasing consumption of cigarettes by Italian teenagers is
in fact due to their continued exposure to cigarette
advertisements, in spite of the ban by the Italian government.
(B) says that most Italian teenagers watch television
channels which are broadcast from countries where cigarette
advertisement is not banned. This means that they are even
now getting exposed to cigarette advertisements in spite of
the ban by their own government. So, (B) is the answer.
7. The given passage argues that major stockholders in
corporations are interested only in short-term increases in
their values, and therefore pressurize the management to
neglect the corporation’s long-term growth.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will
weaken this argument.
Obviously, what will weaken the argument is a statement
that persons holding huge stocks in these corporations know
that there can be no short-term growth in the value of their
stocks unless there are prospects of long-term growth for the
corporation itself. If this were true, these stock holders would
not compel the management to neglect the long-term growth
of the corporation even when their prime concern is short-
term increase in stock value.
(E) states just this, and is the answer.
8. The given paragraph states that, because the bovine
growth hormone has the effect of increasing the milk yield of
cows by 10-40%, the FDA of US Government is proposing to
license the commercial production of this hormone.
We have been asked to identify the strongest criticism of
this move of the FDA.
The aim of the FDA in the proposed licensing of commercial
production of the hormone is increase in milk production. The
strongest criticism of this move will therefore be one which
points out that the commercial production of the hormone,
and administering it to a large number of cows would, in fact,
result in a decrease in milk production, and not in its increase.
It is (A) which points out that, while the milk-yield from
cows may initially increase because of the administration of
the hormone, the cows are likely to develop a variety of diseases
soon, and this may either lead to their mortality or reduction
in their milk-yield. If this is true, the aim of the FDA is likely
to be defeated by its own action.
So, (A) is the answer.
None of the other choices gives a reason which will defeat
FDA’s main aim of increasing milk yield.
9. From the mere fact that a larger number of newspapers
are sold in Town S than in Town T, the author comes to the
conclusion that the citizens of Town S are better informed
about major world events than are the citizens of town T.
We can understand from the question that follows that
each of four of the five given choices weakens the above
conclusion, and only one choice either strengthens it or is
irrelevant to it.
We have been asked to identify this choice and select it as
the answer.
If (A) is true, it means that the only reason that more
newspapers are sold in Town S than in Town T is that the
former has a larger population. So, (A) will weaken the
conclusion that citizens of Town S are better informed on
world affairs than are the citizens of Town T.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
If (B) is true, it implies that a sizable number of newspapers SET 6
sold in Town S are actually sold to and read by citizens of Answers
Town T. This will also weaken the conclusion that citizens of
1.B 2.B 3.C 4.B 5.E 6.E 7.E 8.D 9.C 10.C
Town S are better informed about world affairs than the
Analysis
citizens of Town T.
1. On the basis of the information that the new Environ-
(C) will also obviously weaken the conclusion that citizens
mental Party, which had won 2 seats out of 7 in the town
of Town S are better informed about world affairs than the
council in 1988, had lost both of them in 1992, the author
citizens of Town T.
argues that the decline in the party’s fortunes clearly demon-
If (D) is true, and a considerable part of the total circulation
strates that environmental concern faded in significance in
of newspapers in Town S consists of the circulation of this
the town during this period.
newspaper which covers only local events, it will also weaken
We have been asked to locate that choice which most seri-
the conclusion that citizens of Town S are better informed
ously weakens this argument.
about world events than those of Town T.
(A) merely says that both the number of voters and the
(E) does not dispute the fact that more copies of newspapers
number who voted increased between 1988 and 1992, but does
are sold in Town S than in Town T, and gives a possible reason
not give a reason which strengthens or weakens the author’s
why it is so. Therefore, if the number of newspapers sold in a
theory why the Environmental Action party lost its seats.
town can be taken as an index of the awareness of its citizens
(B) says that the town’s leading political party (which had
of major world affairs, (E) would strengthen, and not weaken
won the majority of the other 5 seats in 1988) had revised its
the conclusion drawn by the author. So, (E) is the answer.
platform adopting a strongly environmental stance. If this is
(Even if no such correlation is assumed, we can only say that
true, voters who are in favour of environmental action might
(E) neither confirms nor weakens the conclusion, and would
have voted for the leading political party itself this time in-
still be the answer.)
stead of for the Environmental Action party. So, the defeat of
the members of the EA party would not mean that the envi-
10. On the basis of the fact that there was a slowdown in
ronmental concerns had faded in significance in the minds of
the growth of industrial productivity in USA between 1968
the voters. On the contrary, the reason why the dominant
and 1978, in spite of the investment in industrial research
party adopted a strong environmental stance may itself be
by private industrial firms remaining steady as a percentage
because the public concern for environment had become more
of sales (after correcting for inflation), the author argues that
intense, and the dominant party wanted to go along with that
the growth of industrial productivity is not directly
popular sentiment. So, it is (B) which seriously weakens the
proportional to the amount invested in industrial research.
argument of the author, and is the answer.
We have been asked to locate that choice which weakens
(C) neither strengthens nor weakens the argument, and is
this argument.
not the answer.
The narrative says that investment in industrial research
(D) strengthens the argument of the author, and does not
by private industrial firms remained steady. But if, as stated
weaken it.
in (A), federal government funds, which constituted a
(E) would give a reason why the voters could have been
significant portion of the support for industrial research, fell
disillusioned with the Environmental Action party, because
annually and substantially during that period, then the total
of which environmental concerns could have faded in signifi-
amount invested in industrial research during that period
cance. So, (E) strengthens the argument of the author, and
(by private industries and the government together) would
does not weaken it.
have been less during that period than in the previous periods.
This would satisfactorily explain why there was a slowdown
2. The program described is in the nature of insurance
in industrial productivity during that period, consistent with
against future increases in college tuition fees.
the notion that the growth of industrial productivity is directly
It suggests that the parents participating in the program
proportional to the amount invested in industrial research.
should pay an amount equal to the present day tuition fee
So, (A) is the answer.
now itself, and the administrators of the program will then
(B) is immaterial to the argument, because the narrative
meet the actual enhanced tuition fees when the child grows
specifically says that the figure of the amount spent on
older and enrolls in any public college in the state.
industrial research by private industrial companies has been
We have been asked to identify the choice which is the
adjusted for inflation.
most appropriate reason for parents not to participate in the
The given argument refers to the total expenditure on
program.
industrial research, and does not differentiate between
Obviously, attraction of any such program would lie in the
expenditure on product development and on basic research.
probability that the rate of enhancement in tuition fees will
So, (C) is not relevant to the argument. (In fact, if the emphasis
be greater than the rate of interest that a person can earn by
had been on short term product development, the productivity
depositing an amount equal to the present day tuition fees in
increase must have accelerated, and not slowed down, during
appropriate savings bonds. If the rate of interest that can be
the period.)
earned is likely to be more than the rate of enhancement of
(D) will strengthen the argument, and not weaken it.
the tuition fees, it will be more prudent for a parent not to
The argument relates to the period 1968-78; what
participate in the program, but to invest the money in such
happened after 1978 is irrelevant to the issue. So, (E) is not
interest-bearing bonds. (B) says this, and is the answer.
the answer.
(A) need not deter a parent from participating in the pro-
gram, because the program will cover the fees in any of the
public colleges in the state.
(C) is an argument in favour of, and not against, joining
the scheme.
170
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
(D) is also an argument in favour of joining the scheme.
The scheme covers only the tuition fee in any public col-
lege. So, if the student is to stay in a hostel, the parent has to
bear the cost of room and board, irrespective of whether he
joins the scheme or not. So, (E) is a consideration neither in
favour nor against joining the scheme.
3. Ecological balance is best maintained by ensuring that
existing species of life in their present environment are not
threatened with extinction.
(C), if it is true, would mean that, if people ate abalone
instead of tuna, all abalones will be destroyed sooner or later.
Thus, if (C) is true, the author’s suggestion would defeat the
very purpose for which it is made, namely, preservation of eco-
logical balance.
The other statements are not directly relevant to ecologi-
cal balance, and are not correct.
4. The conclusion drawn by the author is that, since it is
the insurance companies which reimburse the expenditure
incurred by health-care providers, such providers are under
the control of the insurance companies, and insurance compa-
nies can therefore decide who shall take to the profession of
providing health-care. This is the meaning of the last sen-
tence which says, “it is the insurers who decide who is a healer
in modern society’.
(A) implies that all expensive health services are covered
by health insurance. This will strengthen and not weaken the
argument of the author that it is the insurance companies
which decide who is the healer in modern society. So, (A) is not
the answer.
(B) points out that it is the state agencies in charge of regu-
lation of health-care who license health providers, and health
insurance companies are bound to reimburse such providers
for the services rendered by them to the insured persons. This
means that it is the state agencies, and not the insurance com-
panies, who decide who are the healers in modern society. So,
it is (B) which weakens the argument of the author, and is the
answer.
(C) talks of a situation in which the insurance companies
are not bound to reimburse a health-care expenditure, and is
therefore not relevant to the author’s argument. So, (C) is not
the answer.
(D) and (E) are also not relevant to the author’s argument,
and can be discarded.
5. The passage says that, though coffee does not itself con-
tain cholesterol, middle-aged men who drink more than two
cups of coffee a day have been found to be more prone to cho-
lesterol-related heart disease than are other middle-aged men.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will
weaken the drawing of the logical conclusion from the above
finding that coffee is responsible for heart attack in sedentary
middle-aged men.
(A) does not mention the drinking of coffee at all, and nei-
ther weakens nor strengthens the given conclusion.
(B) strengthens, and does not weaken, the conclusion that
coffee increases the risk of heart attack, and is not the an-
swer.
(C) also does not weaken the conclusion that coffee increases
the risk of heart attack, and is not the answer.
(D) neither strengthens nor weakens the given conclusion,
and is not the answer.
The last sentence of the passage says that coffee by itself
does not contain cholesterol. If, as stated in (E), the middle-
171
aged men who drank more than two cups of coffee a day also
ate more foods which are high in cholesterol, then the high
level of cholesterol in their blood would have been caused by
these foods and not by coffee. If true, it is (E) that weakens the
conclusion that coffee increases the risk of heart disease, and
is the answer.
6. What is being doubted by the author is the hypothesis
that the daily biological rhythm in the functions of many
plants and animals is stimulated by the alteration in the in-
tensity of incident light.
We have been asked to identify that choice which is in the
nature of an evidence that contradicts this hypothesis.
We should therefore look for that choice which describes
an experiment in which the daily biological rhythms in func-
tions was noticed even while the intensity of light was kept
constant.
Photosynthesis is normally noticed in plants, including
algae, during daylight hours. (E) describes an experiment in
which some algae were exposed to constant light intensity
both during the day and the night, and it was found that they
displayed rates of photosynthesis which was much greater
during daylight than at night (even though they were ex-
posed to the same intensity of light at night also), thereby
conforming to their natural biological rhythm. This experi-
ment weakens the hypothesis that the daily biological rhythms
are stimulated by the alterations in the intensity of incident
light. So, (E) is the answer.
(A) would strengthen the theory that biological rhythms is
controlled by intensity of light because there is much more
light during the afternoon than just before dawn.
The hypothesis does not say that, in respect of all animals
and plants, biological activity is directly proportional to the
incident light. In fact, for the class of nocturnal animals, bio-
logical activity is greater during night than during day, but
this also conforms to the hypothesis that their biological ac-
tivity is controlled by the incident light. So, (B) does not weaken
the hypothesis.
(C, in fact, conforms to the hypothesis and does not repudi-
ate it.
(D) does not talk of incident light at all, and is irrelevant
to the hypothesis.
7. The only reason advanced by the author to support his
statement that the deregulation of airlines has harmed the
economy of the United States is that it has resulted in a cut
by major airline companies of 3000 of their employees.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will
weaken this conclusion.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
the same deregulation of the airlines has contributed to the
creation of more than 3000 jobs in some other sector in the
United States.
(E) says that smaller carriers of passengers have thrived
as a result of deregulation, and they now provide more new
jobs than the major airlines have eliminated since 1978. This,
if true, weakens the argument of the author that the deregu-
lation of airlines has harmed the economy of the country. So,
(E) is the answer.
(B) looks like a possible answer, but is wrong, because the
fact that fewer number of passengers now travel on commer-
cial airlines may itself be a direct consequence of the deregu-
lation of the airlines, and this will strengthen, and not weaken,
the given argument.
(B) is wrong because, it only says that several of the major
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
airlines in US have higher levels of employment today than
they had before the deregulation, but it does not refute the
statement that, when all major airlines are considered to-
gether, there has been a net elimination of 3000 jobs.
8. (Metabolism is the process by which chemical reactions
in plants and animals create the energy needed by them to
live. Palate is the roof of the mouth.) The author’s assertion is
that breathing while eating is necessary to maintain the high
rate of metabolism of mammals, and that this facility is pro-
vided by the secondary palate.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will most
weaken this assertion.
The author’s assertion relates to mammals with high rates
of metabolism. So, (B), (C) and (E), all of which relate to
animals with a low rate of metabolism, can straightaway be
ruled out.
(A) will only conform to the general property of mammals
referred to by the author, and will strengthen, and not weaken
his assertion.
(D) would prove that the lack of a secondary palate and
the consequential incapability to breathe while eating are
not necessary for a high rate of metabolism in all mammals,
and will therefore weaken the author’s assertion. So, (D) is
the answer.
9. From a study of the average ages of CEOs in ‘a large
sample of companies’ a general conclusion has been arrived
at, which is then presumed to be applicable to all companies.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
cast the most doubt on this conclusion.
We should therefore look for that statement which implies
that the sample companies studied did not represent the
majority of companies in some important respect, and that it
is therefore unscientific to arrive at a general conclusion based
on this unrepresentative sample. (A ‘large sample’ may still
constitute a minority of the total number of companies.)
The phrase ‘in those same companies 20 years ago’ in the
third line of the passage implies that the companies taken
up for the sample study were limited to those which have been
operating for more than 20 years. If a vast majority of existing
companies are, in fact, less than 20 years old, the phenom-
enon prevailing in the older companies cannot be inferred as
being applicable generally to all companies. It is quite likely
that the average age of the CEO’s of newer companies is much
less than 57.
It is (C) which implies this, and is the answer.
10. With a view to offset the budgetary cut that it had
faced, the government agency plans to earn an interest of
$180 million a year through a deliberate delay in the reim-
bursement of medical expenses to its clients by forty days. It
claims that, by implementing this plan, it would neither cut
reimbursements nor otherwise harm its clients financially.
We have been asked to identify that choice which can be
described as the best criticism of the agency’s plan.
Since the agency’s claim is that its plan will neither result
in cutting reimbursements nor otherwise harming its clients
financially, we should look for that choice which implies ei-
ther that the reimbursement is in fact reduced, or that the
clients are otherwise financially harmed by this plan.
The first sentence of the passage specifically states that
the schemes of reimbursement means that the clients have
to first pay the bills to the hospitals or the physicians, and
only later can claim reimbursement from the government
172
agency. So, (A) states the obvious, and is not relevant in evalu-
ating the effect of the delay in reimbursement by 40 days. So,
(A) is not the answer.
(B) means that the agency is not in a position to save on
its administrative costs. This, if true, will justify, and not
weaken, the agency’s plan to make savings through other
means such as a deliberate delay in making reimbursements
and earning interest thereby. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) means that these clients will be financially harmed by
the planned delay by the government agency in reimbursing
their claims, thereby contradicting its claim that the plan
would not harm its clients financially. So, (C) would be the
best criticism of the agency’s plan, and is the answer.
(D) only means that, in respect of such delayed claims, the
agency has already been benefiting by interest-earning. There-
fore (D), by itself, does not constitute a criticism of the agen-
cy’s present plan to delay reimbursement of claims by an-
other forty days.
The given passage does not claim that the interest of $180
million earned by the deliberate delay in the reimbursement
of claims was intended to cover the budget cut fully. So, (E)
even if it is true, is not a valid criticism of the agency’s plan.
SET 7
Answers
1.D 2.C 3.D 4.E 5.A 6.A 7.D 8.C 9.A 10.B
Analysis
1. What W says is that the rapid rise in the rate of unem-
ployment will cost the ruling party a lot of votes in the im-
pending election.
What W means is that, if the rate of unemployment when
the present ruling party came to power was 5%, and it re-
mains at 5% even now, the ruling party may not suffer. But
the rate of unemployment has risen to a much higher figure
in the course of the last 4 years when the ruling party has
been in power, this fact is likely to affect its fortunes adversely
in the next election.
Z counters this argument stating that statistics of the last
40 years show that there is no significant relationship be-
tween the prevailing level of unemployment and the political
fortunes of the ruling party.
What he means is that, according to his statistics, a ruling
party has been returned to power even while the prevailing
unemployment level was high. His statistics would cover even
those cases in which the unemployment level was high when
the ruling party was elected to power and continued to re-
main at the same high level during its tenure in office, but
this is not a situation that W was talking about.
(D) correctly points out that the weakness in Z’s argument
is that he focuses on the level of unemployment, rather than
the direction of change in that level, on which W's statement
is based. So, (D) is the answer.
2. The Corporate Officer first says that the previous year
had been an “unusually poor one” for the chemical division
which traditionally contributed about 60% of the corporation’s
profits. Then, he says that the fact that, in the same year, the
pharmaceutical division had contributed 45% to the corpora-
tion’s profits, up from 20% of the previous year, was evidence
that the pharmaceutical division was growing stronger.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
form the best critique of the “evidence” cited by the corporate
officer.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
the increase in the percentage of the profits of the corpora-
tion attributable to the pharmaceutical division does not nec-
essarily mean that the pharmaceutical division has grown
stronger in the last two years.
(A) merely gives a possible reason why the pharmaceuti-
cal division contributed a higher percentage of profits of the
corporation in the previous year. If the new product intro-
duced is an important one, it is quite likely that its sales
would increase further in the future years. In that case, the
statement of the Corporate Officer that the pharmaceutical
division is growing stronger would be strengthened, and not
weakened, by (A). So, (A) cannot be considered to be a criti-
cism of the evidence cited by him, and is not the answer.
Even if (B) is true, it only means that the pharmaceutical
division of this corporation, which had been much weaker
than the pharmaceutical divisions of other corporations, had
grown stronger during the previous year, thereby approach-
ing the norm in the other corporations. So, (B) is not a criti-
cism of the evidence presented by the corporate officer, and is
not the answer.
(C) says that the percentage of the corporation’s profits
attributable to the pharmaceutical division could have in-
creased even if that division’s performance had not improved,
If this is true, the statement that the increase in the percent
of contribution by this division from 25% to 40% to the over-
all profits of the corporation is evidence of the growth in
strength of this division, would be wrong. (Consider the situ-
ation in which the previous year’s overall profit of the corpo-
ration was $100,000, of which the chemical division contrib-
uted 60% ($60,000) and the pharmaceutical division contrib-
uted 25% ($25,000). If, last year, which has been an “unusu-
ally poor year” for the chemical division, the chemical divi-
sion had not made any profit at all, its contribution to the
overall profits of the company would have been nil. So, the
overall profits of the corporation could have come down to
$40,000. The 45% contribution of the pharmaceutical divi-
sion to this figure would be $18,000, which is even less its
profit during the previous year. This means that the pharma-
ceutical division has not grown stronger as inferred by the
Corporate Officer, but has, in fact, grown weaker.) So, it is (C)
which constitutes the best criticism of the evidence and the
inference presented in the passage, and is the answer.
What the Corporate Officer claims is that the pharmaceu-
tical division had grown stronger between the last year and
the year previous to it. For evaluating this claim, it is not
necessary to determine whether there had been an improve-
ment between the year previous to the last year and the year
even previous to that. So, (D) does not constitute a criticism of
the Corporate Officer’s claim, and is not the answer.
(E) is factually wrong, because the passage does give infor-
mation about the percent of total profits attributable to the
pharmaceutical this year as 45%. There is no need to know
the actual percent of profit attributable to the chemical divi-
sion to evaluate the claim that the pharmaceutical division
was becoming stronger. So, (E) is not a valid criticism of the
evidence or the inference of the Corporate Officer, and is not
the answer.
3. The given narrative says that the purpose of the mes-
senger molecules is to fight the damage to the lungs from nox-
ious (meaning poisonous) air by telling the muscle cells (en-
circling the lungs’ airways) to contract, thereby sealing off
the lungs partially.
It adds that these messenger molecules are also sometimes
activated unnecessarily, in response to harmless things such
173
as pollen or household dust, and that it is this unnecessary
activation that gives rise to asthmatic attacks.
It then talks of a possible development of a medication
that will block the receipt of any messages sent by the messen-
ger molecules.
We have been asked to identify the choice which, if true,
will constitute the most serious flaw in the plan to develop
such a medication.
Since the problem is not how the messenger molecules are
produced, but how they act after they are produced, (A) by
itself does not constitute a flaw in the proposed plan. Prob-
ably, in the course of further research, the researchers will be
able to even close the gap in knowledge that is mentioned in
(A). So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) also talks of the limitation in the present knowledge of
the researchers. Probably, in the course of further research
during the development of the proposed medication, this gap
would be filled. So, (B) by itself does not constitute a flaw in
the proposed plan.
If (C) is true, it only emphasizes the need for starting the
research without any further delay, and does not constitute a
flaw in the proposal.
If (D) is true, and if the proposed medication will be un-
able to distinguish between messages triggered by pollen and
household dust and messages triggered by noxious air, and if
it suppresses both of them, it means that the proposed medi-
cation will totally nullify the very purpose of the existence of
the messenger molecules. This is because a person to whom
the medication is administered will inhale even the poison-
ous air without any hindrance, and will suffer adverse conse-
quences that may even prove fatal to the person. This will be
a much more serious consequence than occasional asthmatic
attacks that are caused by the unnecessary activation of the
messenger molecules. So, it is (D) which, if true, constitutes
a serious flaw in the proposed plan, and is the answer.
Since prevention is better than cure, (E) is not an argu-
ment against the development of the proposed medication,
but supports the proposal. So, (E) is not the answer.
4. The first sentence states that Ms. Friedman noticed that
the average productivity of day-shift workers fell at about 3
p.m. The next sentence says that, she hypothesized that, since
this is the time that many children leave school, the reason
for this fall in productivity was that employees’ minds turned
to their children at this time instead of focussing on their jobs.
We have been asked to spot that choice which casts the
most doubt on the truth of this hypothesis.
If (A) is true, it would strengthen and not weaken Ms. Freed-
man’s hypothesis, because the workers could have been wor-
rying about the safety of their children who are alone at home,
thereby losing concentration on their work. So, (A) is not the
answer.
(B) would also strengthen, and not weaken Ms. Friedman’s
hypothesis, and is not the answer.
Even if (C) is true, the employees could be worried about
the safety of their children from the time they leave school
and reach the after-school centers. So, (C) by itself does not
weaken Ms. Friedman’s hypothesis, and is not the answer.
(D) talks of some difference in average daily productivity
between employees with one child and employees with sev-
eral children. This choice neither strengthens nor weakens Ms.
Friedman’s hypothesis about the reason for the average fall
in productivity of all employees at about 3 p.m. So, (D) is not
the answer.
(E) implies that the average fall in productivity after 3
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
p.m is observed in all workers irrespective of whether they
have children or not. If this is true, it most certainly weakens
the hypothesis that the fall in productivity is mainly due to
the workers worrying about their children returning home
alone. So, (E) is the answer.
5. The author of the statement makes the point that the
death rate of persons who are ten percent underweight is al-
most twice what it is for persons of normal weight. On this
basis, he derives the conclusion that being underweight is
‘dangerous to health’, because it can lead to death.
If it is known that many of the underweight persons (who
subsequently died) had lost weight as a result of illness, it is
possible to conclude that what really caused their death was
the illness which they were suffering from. In that case, their
being underweight would only have been an intermediate re-
sult of the illness which led to their ultimate death. If this is
true, it follows that persons who are naturally underweight
because of genetic reasons, but are otherwise active and healthy,
need not be afraid of the findings mentioned in the given pas-
sage.
So, it is (A) that makes the danger of being underweight
look less serious.
The phrase ‘supported by the statistics above’ in the ques-
tion implies that the author is not doubting the validity of
the statistics themselves. So, (B), which casts doubts on the
definition of ‘underweight’ and ‘overweight’, and therefore on
the validity of the quoted statistics, is not the answer.
Both (C) and (D) would, in fact, support the conclusion in
the passage and do not cast doubt on it, and are not the cor-
rect choices.
(E) would imply that the words ‘underweight’ and ‘over-
weight’ were also defined equally narrowly (or more precisely),
and would support the conclusion and not cast doubt on it.
6. This question raises the issue of which is the cause and
which is the effect between two observed phenomena.
According to the given statement, researchers found that
those using the drug amphetamine became schizophrenic (a
form of madness), while those using drugs known as depres-
sants became depressed. The researchers therefore concluded
that amphetamine causes schizophrenia, while depressants
cause depression.
But, if it is proved that, it is those who are already prone to
schizophrenia who always choose amphetamine as their fa-
vourite drug in preference to other drugs, and it is those who
are already prone to depression who always choose depres-
sants as their favourite drugs in preference to other drugs,
then it follows that the choice a particular drug is a result of
a particular psychiatric illness, and is not the cause of that
illness. In this case, the researchers’ conclusion will be con-
siderably weakened.
Among the given choices, it is (A) which states exactly such
a situation, and is the answer.
7. The statement ‘only a Japanese woman wears Kimono’
does not mean that ‘a woman who does not wear Kimono is
not a Japanese’.
Similarly, the statement that ‘only a member of a Region-
alist party will oppose the bill’ does not mean that ‘a person
who supports the bill cannot belong to a Regionalist party’,
because the first sentence does not rule out the possibility
that some members of a Regionalist party may be in favour of
the bill. It is (D) which points this out, and is the answer.
174
8. It can be easily seen that the generalization is true only
if the birth years had ended in ’12, ‘23’, ’34, ’45, ....etc, in which
the last digit is one greater than the second last digit. So, (C)
is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is ar-
ithmetically correct.
9. The author’s conclusion is that, since large companies
will have to incur more expenditure in altering their equip-
ment, governmental safety regulations create more serious
hardships on them than on smaller companies.
This will not be true if the real situation is that big compa-
nies have large funds at their disposal that are sufficient to
meet the expenditure, while smaller companies do not have
even the smaller cash resources which are needed to comply
with government requirements.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
10. The argument that we have to examine is: “The (new)
regulations (stipulating that manufacturers should draw up
detailed plans for reducing the pollutants by at least 50%
over a period of five years) will not result in significant pollu-
tion reduction since the regulations do not force the manu-
facturers to implement the plan”.
(A) will strengthen the argument that there will not be a
significant reduction in pollution, and will not weaken it.
(B) implies that the stipulated preparation of detailed plans
for reduction of pollutants will reveal to the industries that
they can simultaneously reduce the costs for materials, waste
disposal and legal services. If this is true, industries are likely
to implement the plans in their own interest even when the
regulations do not force them to do so. This will weaken the
argument of the author, and is the answer.
(C) refers to only direct pollutants, and not the indirect
ones. In the case of industries where the pollutants are re-
leased into the environment indirectly, the argument of the
author will be strengthened, and not weakened.
(D) and (E) do not weaken the given argument.
SET 8
Answers
1.B 2.E 3.D 4.E 5.C 6.D 7.A 8.C 9.A 10.B
Analysis
1. The point made by the author is that, since nuclear phys-
ics has made it possible to make copper from other metals,
copper available for industrial use need not be considered to
be limited by the quantity of copper deposits, known or un-
known.
We have been asked to locate the choice which will form
the strongest argument against the author’s conclusion.
(A) is not an argument against the author’s conclusion,
because it does not refute the possibility of copper made from
other industrial metals after fifty years.
(B) says that the cost of copper produced from other met-
als will be prohibitively expensive. Since the cost of the input
is an important consideration in any industrial venture, com-
panies using copper today for their manufacturers will not
be able to afford the proposed substitute. So, if (B) is true,
copper available for industrial use will continue to be limited
by the quantity of copper deposits directly contradicting the
author’s conclusion. So, (B) is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other three choices con-
tradicts the author’s conclusion.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
2. Normally, children are expected to live with both the
natural parents.
But, from the fact that the ratio of divorces to marriages
has increased since 1940, the author comes to the conclusion
that the proportion of children living with only one natural
parent must also have increased. We have been asked to lo-
cate the weakness in this argument.
What the author has assumed is that the contingency of
children having to live with only one natural parent arises
out of only divorce between the parents.
We should therefore look for that choice which cites an-
other possible reason for children having to live with only one
natural parent, and any developments which might have af-
fected this other reason during the last 50 years.
Another obvious reason why a child is forced to live with
only one natural parent is the death of the other parent. (E)
states that, during the last 50 years, the proportion of chil-
dren who must be raised by only one parent because of the
death of the other parent has decreased as a result of medical
advances. If this is true, such decrease might have either
offset, or even exceeded, the number of children who have to
live with only one natural parent because of divorce between
them. So, it is (E) which will weaken the inference drawn by
the author.
(A) tantalizingly looks like the answer, but is wrong be-
cause, even if less number of women got married during this
period, the proportion of greater divorces among them would
still result in a greater proportion of children having to live
with only one natural parent.
3. The example cited by the author is that we normally
say that a person who has N hairs on his head, and another
person who has (N–1) hairs on his head both have hair, be-
cause one hair less does not make any difference. If we kept
on comparing such pairs of persons each with just one hair
less than the previous person (say, one with (N – 2) hairs and
another with (N – 1) hairs), we should continue to say that
each of them has hairs.
But, starting from the other end, a person with no hair at
all on his head, and another person with just one hair, are
both called bald. Similarly, a person with one hair on his
head and another with two hairs on his head are also both
called bald, because one hair more also does not make any
difference. If we kept on comparing such pairs of persons,
each with just one hair more than the previous person, we
should continue to say that each of them is bald. So, at some
point of time, the same person will be called both ‘with hair’
and ‘bald’, because there is no precise value of N for which we
can say that a man is either having hair, or is bald.
The author therefore argues that words are meaningless,
and there is really no distinction between the seemingly
antonymous phrases ‘having hair’ and ‘being bald’.
The example cited by the author is one in which there is
lack of precise definitions for the phrase ‘having hair’ and the seriously weakens this argument.
word ‘bald’. This example does not prove that there is no
meaning at all to the word ‘bald’ or to the phrase ‘has hair’.
The argument of the author is wrong because he confuses
absence of precision with total lack of meaning. It is (D) which does not constitute a statement that can be said to most seri-
points this out, and is the answer.
None of the other choices counters the argument of the
author.
4. It can be inferred from the first sentence that respect-
able periodicals give less space for the review of likely
bestsellers than they do for books which are not likely to be-
175
come best sellers.
This means that these periodicals do publish reviews of
likely bestsellers also, though such reviews may be short.
So, the conclusion in the last sentence that buyers of
bestsellers do not get any guidance whatever from these peri-
odicals is unwarranted. It is (E) which says this, and is the
answer.
(A), (B), (C) and (D) do not even refer to the statement in
the first sentence from which the conclusion in the last sen-
tence is drawn, and are therefore wrong.
5. The argument given in the passage is that, because it is
cheaper and faster than any currently existing model, Re-
gent microcomputer will quickly establish itself as the fast-
est-selling computer in the market. We have been asked to
locate the choice which will LEAST WEAKEN the above ar-
gument.
(A) will greatly weaken the argument, because, if the re-
tailers refuse to stock the Regent computer, it cannot estab-
lish itself in the market as the best selling model.
(B) will also result in the Regent computer being pushed
out of the market, and will therefore weaken the argument of
the author greatly.
(D) implies that the potential market for Regent is already
saturated, which will again weaken the argument in the pas-
sage greatly.
(E) means that the Regent computer is not perceived by
the prospective buyers as being superior in speed to the other
computers. If so, there is no possibility of the Regent comput-
ers becoming the best sellers in the market. So, (E) also con-
siderably weakens the given argument.
The passage first says that the new Regent computer is of
high quality, is fast, and costs less than any currently existing
competing model, and then predicts that it will quickly es-
tablish itself as a fast-selling, low-priced alternative to cur-
rently available microcomputers. (C) says that this computer
can be used in conjunction with higher-priced microcomput-
ers manufactured by other companies. Therefore, anyone who
wishes to buy a second computer is likely to choose Regent
computer because of its high quality and low price, because
he can easily exchange files between his older computer and
the new, less-expensive one. So, even if Regent computer does
not establish itself as a low-priced alternative to currently
available microcomputers, it has good chances of establish-
ing itself as a low-priced addition to the existing computers.
So, it is (C) which least weakens the given argument, and is
the answer.
6. The argument of the author is that, because both union-
ized and non-unionized women workers earn the same wages
in those industries in which only a part of the workers are
unionized, unionization does not raise women’s wages.
We have been asked to identify that choice which most
Note that (A) does not say that unions succeed in getting
benefits such as medical insurance of its members, but only
says that unions bargain for such benefits. So, (A) by itself
ously weaken the argument that unionization does not result
in wage increases for women. So, (A) is not the answer.
The given argument is based on wages earned by compa-
rable employees in the same type of industries, of whom some
are unionized and some are not. But (B) is a statement relat-
ing to one class of employees, namely executives, none of whom
are unionized. So, (B) neither strengthens nor weakens the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
argument that unionization does not raise women’s wages,
and is not the answer.
The phrase “their non-unionized counterparts in these in-
dustries” in the second sentence of the given passage implies
that the author is comparing unionized and non-unionized
workers in the same geographical areas. So, (C), which com-
pares the wages in industries in different geographical areas,
is not relevant to the author’s argument, and is not the an-
swer.
(D) says that whenever unionized women workers win a
wage increase in an industry through union activities, such
increases are made applicable to non-unionized workers also
in that industry. This implies that unionization of even part
of the women workers in an industry results in an increase in
the wages of all women workers in that industry including
those who are not unionized. If this is true, the parity in wages
between the unionized and the non-unionized women work-
ers that the author relies upon to buttress his argument is,
in fact, at a higher level than what it would have been if
there had been no partial unionization of women workers.
So, (D) is the answer.
(E) talks about spread of unionization, and does not say
anything about increase in wages. It neither strengthens nor
weakens the argument that unionization does not result in
increase in women’s wages, and is not the answer.
7. The given passage says that, through the method of “his-
torical costing”, the government allows military contractors
(meaning those who supply standard weapons to it) to protect
their profits by allowing a percentage increase in their prices
based on the current rate of inflation.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
form the best basis for a criticism that “historical costing” is
an economically unsound pricing method for military con-
tracts.
The phrase “past inefficient use of funds” in (A) implies
that the price agreed to be paid last year was higher than
what was warranted, and had allowed the contractors to make
undue profits. If this is true, protecting their profits by con-
ceding even higher prices this year (in order to compensate
them for the inflation) would result in the continuance of the
inefficient use of funds. So, (A) itself would form a basis for
the criticism that historical costing is not an economically
sound pricing method, and is the answer.
(B) merely implies that the prices paid to the contractors
would have varied considerably during the last twenty years.
This does not constitute a criticism of the historical costing
method.
(C) forms a justification, and not a basis for the criticism of
the historical costing method, and is not the answer.
Whatever is the money spent on military contracts, a pro-
cedure has to be adopted for pricing the weapons. (D) neither
supports nor criticizes the historical costing method for such
contracts, and is not the answer.
The given passage is about “standard weapons”, and not
about “innovative” weapons. So, (E) is irrelevant to what is
stated in the passage, and is not the answer.
8. The first three sentences of the narrative give the infor-
mation that a particular variety of Agrostis tenuis, a wild
grass, is capable of growing even in areas covered by mine
waste where the soil is contaminated by heavy metals.
The last sentence says that a mining company has there-
fore decided to plant this variety on contaminated areas and
turn them into cow pastures, planning to sell the dairy prod-
176
ucts from these cows.
We have been asked to spot that choice which most strongly
suggests that the mining company’s plans will fail.
(A) merely implies that the profit made by the mining com-
pany by selling the dairy products may not be much, but does
not mean that the company’s plan will totally fail. This is
because the company is now getting no revenue at all from
these lands, and even a little revenue from them will be wel-
come to it. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) is irrelevant to the plan of the company, because the
company wishes to grow only that variety of Agrostis tenuis
that grows in contaminated areas. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) says that dairy products from cows that eat Agrostis
grown in contaminated areas cannot be sold at all because
they will contain unacceptably high levels of heavy metals. If
this is true, the mining company’s plan of selling dairy prod-
ucts from these cows will most certainly fail. So, (C) is the
answer.
(D) talks of the growth of Agrostis in ‘normal’ soil, and is
not relevant to the plan of the mining company to grow it in
contaminated soils. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) is also irrelevant to the plan of the mining company to
sell dairy products from cows grazing on Agrostis grown in
the soil contaminated by heavy metals. So, (E) is not the
answer.
9. The first sentence says that people who marry have a
longer average life span than do people who never marry.
From this information, the second sentence advises the
reader that if he/she gets married, he/she can live longer.
We have been asked to spot the choice which, if true, would
cast the most serious doubt on the validity of that advice.
(A) says that the group of “people who never marry”, re-
ferred to in the first sentence (whose average life span is less
than the average life span of those who marry), includes also
those who had died before they were old enough to get mar-
ried. In other words, this group also included babies, infants,
children and teenage boys and girls. If the age of each one of
these had been included while working out the “average life-
span of people who never marry”, it would obviously be less
than the “average life-span of people who marry”, because
each of the latter would have been older than 18 or 19. Arriv-
ing at a conclusion, based on this information, that an adult
who never marries will live for a shorter period than an adult
who marries would therefore be absurd. So, (A), if true, would
seriously weaken the validity of the advice tendered in the
second sentence, and is the answer.
The given narrative does not distinguish between the life-
spans of men and women. So, (B) is irrelevant to the advice in
the second sentence, and neither strengthens nor weakens it.
Again, the given narrative does not distinguish between
the life-spans of those who marry only once and of those who
marry more than once. So (C) is also irrelevant to the advice
in the second sentence, and neither weakens nor strengthens
it.
For a similar reason, (D) is also irrelevant to the advice in
the second sentence, and neither weakens nor strengthens it.
10. (Surge means a sudden increase; lull means stagna-
tion.) In the first sentence, the author says that the increase
in consumer spending has benefited also the service indus-
tries in USA, meaning that people have been spending more
money not only on goods but also on services. As proof of his
statement, he cites the fact that, after a lengthy lull, pay-
ments to medical doctors have increased significantly in the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
past year, implying that the medical doctors have benefited
thereby.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would most
weaken the assertion that medical doctors have drawn such
a benefit from the surge in consumer spending.
(A) would only strengthen the author’s assertion that the
end of the period of economic recession (as evidenced by the
increase in consumer spending) has enabled consumers of
medical care to go for the treatment of minor medical prob-
lems which they had postponed earlier. If this is true, then
the surge in consumer spending would indeed have benefited
the medical doctors. So, (A) does not weaken the author’s as-
sertion, but strengthens it, and is not the answer.
(B) states that the increases in the cost of malpractice in-
surance (payable by the doctors to the insurance companies)
have required the doctors to increase their fees accordingly. If
this is true, it means that the increase in payments to medi-
cal doctors last year by the consumers had been passed on by
the latter to the insurance companies which had raised their
premia. In this case, it is not the medical doctors but the
insurance companies which had been benefited by increased
consumer spending. So, it is (B) which weakens the author’s
assertion that the medical doctors had benefited from the re-
cent surge in consumer spending. So, (B) is the answer.
(C) neither strengthens nor weakens the author’s assertion,
and is not the answer.
(D), if true, would even contradict the factual statement
that payments to medical doctors have increased last year. It
neither strengthens nor weakens the author’s assertion that
consumer spending has benefited medical doctors.
The given passage talks of “increase in payments to medi-
cal doctors”, and does not distinguish between the proportion
of the medical fees paid by individuals and the proportion
met by insurance companies. So, (E) also neither strengthens
nor weakens the author’s assertion.
SET 9
Answers
1.D 2.A 3.B 4.A 5.D 6.D 7.E 8.A 9.B 10.E
Analysis
1. The first sentence says that the purpose of the program
is to “conserve the genetic diversity of soybean seeds” and, in
order to achieve this purpose, all known varieties of soybean
seeds will first be collected and centrally stored.
The second sentence says that all seeds tend to become in-
fertile in the long run and, therefore, the seeds would periodi-
cally be replanted at the storage center to produce new seeds
as needed.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
would most strongly indicate that the program, if carried out
as planned, would not achieve its intended result.
The intended result of the program is to “conserve the ge-
netic diversity of soybean seeds”. We should therefore look
for that choice which states or implies that the procedure
suggested is not likely to result in the conservation of the ge-
netic diversity of soybean seeds.
(A) gives, in fact, a valid justification for the program be-
ing undertaken, because all the other varieties of soybean
are likely to become extinct in the long run. (A) does not state
a reason why the procedure proposed to be adopted is likely
to fail in its aim of conserving the other varieties.
The given narrative does not mention the cost aspect of
the program at all, and we can therefore presume that those
who have formulated the program are confident of mobiliz-
177
ing the required funds to meet its cost. So, (B) does not consti-
tute a reason why the program is likely to fail to achieve its
aim.
The phrase “as needed” in the second sentence of the nar-
rative implies that the different varieties of soybean seeds
will be replanted before each of them becomes infertile. So,
even if (C) is true, the program plans to take care of it by
replanting the short-life varieties more often than the long life
varieties.
The narrative states that all the different varieties of seeds
will be replanted at the storage center. (D) states that re-
planting the seeds in a single environment can eventually
lead to the loss of genetic traits. So, if (D) is true, the very
purpose of the program (namely, the conservation of the ge-
netic diversity of soybean seeds) would be defeated. So, it is
(D) which most strongly indicates that the program will not
achieve its intended result. So, (D) is the answer.
(E) talks of programs to conserve the genetic diversity of
seeds other than soybeans, and is not relevant to this passage.
2. The author’s contention is that, by reducing the number
of cases in which oral argument is heard, the court can ‘dra-
matically increase’ the number of cases that it decides each
year. This will be true only if a large amount of time spent in
deciding cases now is on hearing oral arguments. But if, even
now, the time spent on orally hearing a case is only a small
part of the time spent on deciding it, then the discontinuance
of oral hearing will not produce a ‘dramatic’ improvement in
the disposal of cases. So, (A) is the most effective argument
against the given suggestion, and is the answer.
(B) is not the best argument against the author’s solution,
because he calls it a ‘long range solution’ which does not de-
pend upon the position this year or next year.
You can easily see that (C), (D) and (E) are completely off
the mark.
3. From the fact that bones scratched with stone tools pro-
duced scratches similar to those found on fossils, the author
argues that stone tools had been used on bones that became
fossilized.
We have been asked to locate that choice which seriously
weakens this argument.
(B) says that trampling on sand in which a bone is buried
produces similar scratches as found on the fossils. If this is
true, the scratches found on the fossils could well have been
caused by people trampling on the sand above the bone for
many centuries, and not necessarily by the ancient stone tools.
So, it is (B) which undermines the argument of the author,
and is the answer.
The other choices do not have direct relevance to the argu-
ment of the author, and can be discarded.
4. The question implies that four of the five given choices
support the experts’ claim that appliances produced by com-
puterized technologies would be “better built”, while one choice
does not support it. We have been asked to spot this particu-
lar choice.
We can easily see that choices (B), (C), (D) and (E), if true,
would all lead to an improvement in the quality of the appli-
ances, or in the appliances becoming “better-built”.
If choice (A) is true, it would merely lead to greater effi-
ciency in the productivity of the factory, and might not result
in a better-quality product.
So, it is (A) which would LEAST support the experts’ claim
that the use of computerized technology would necessarily
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
result in better-built products. So, (A) is the answer.
5. (‘Contraband’ means items that are legally prohibited
from being imported into a country by a passenger.) The only
fact before the customs inspector is that, whenever he sus-
pected a passenger of carrying contraband, a search of the
latter’s baggage always yielded the prohibited stuff.
From this fact, he comes to the conclusion that nobody can
cheat him.
We have been asked to spot that choice which constitutes
a logical flaw in his reasoning.
If (A) is true, tourists who might otherwise have carried
contraband did not do so because of the fear that they might
be searched and found out. So, they were not trying to deceive
the inspector at all. (A), therefore, does not constitute a logi-
cal flaw in the inspector’s claim that he always caught the
passengers who were actually carrying contraband.
The inspector’s claim has no relevance to the percentage of
passengers who intentionally carry contraband. So, (B) does
not amount to a logical flaw in his reasoning.
The inspector does not claim that he is more efficient than
all his other colleagues. So, (C) also does not amount to a
logical flaw in his claim.
If it is true that some tourists whom the inspector decided
not to search had intentionally carried contraband but still
passed through the customs, it implies that he was indeed
deceived by these persons. Therefore coming to a conclusion
that nobody could deceive him merely because he was always
right whenever he suspected a person of carrying contraband
is logically flawed. (D) says this and is the answer.
Tourists mentioned in (E) were not trying to cheat the in-
spector at all. So, (E) is not relevant to his claim that he could
not be cheated by anyone.
6. (Peers means persons of the same age group, or social
class.) The conclusion that “being an only child does not af-
fect a child’s social development” is stated to have been ar-
rived at on the basis of the study of the behavior of 30 “only-
children” and 35 “first-born children” upto the time each at-
tained the age of three, because this study showed that both
groups behaved in the same manner toward their peers, par-
ents and other adults.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would weaken
the conclusion as drawn from this observation.
Even if the behaviour of five children in the second group
had been left out of consideration, the same conclusion as in
the passage could be logically arrived at. So, the fact that the
strength of the second group of children was larger by 5 does
not weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage. So, (A) is
not the answer.
Even if (B) is true, and even if it is surmised therefrom
that some significant differences could have been observed
between the behavior patterns of the “only children” and the
“first-born children” towards their fathers, it would not very
much weaken the argument that “being an only child has lit-
tle to do with a child’s social development”, because the be-
haviour patterns of the two groups had been observed to be
the same towards their peers, mothers and other adults.
The behaviour of the two groups of children, or the obser-
vation of such behaviour, had no relationship to the fact
whether the observers had any brothers or sisters of their
own. So, (C) neither strengthens nor weakens the conclusion
in the given paragraph.
(D) implies that, during a major part of the period of obser-
vation by the researchers, the “first-born” children had also
178
been “only children”. This means that both the groups whose
behaviour had been studied had all been “only children” for
most of the period that their behaviour was under observa-
tion. So, the observed uniformity in their behaviour could
only be expected, and cannot lead to the conclusion that be-
ing an “only child” does not affect a child’s social develop-
ment. So, it is (D) which very much weakens the given con-
clusion, and is the answer.
(If the second group of children had consisted of those whose
parents had their second child when the first child was just
about a year old, then the conclusion would have been valid.)
Obviously, (E) neither weakens nor strengthens the conclu-
sion in the passage.
7. (Cartographers are specialists in drawing maps.) The
inference drawn by the scholars is that, since modern explor-
ers had never seen Antarctica till 1820, but since some six-
teenth-century European maps show a body that resembles
the polar landmass, this continent must have been discovered
and mapped by the ancients whose maps had been copied by
16th century European cartographers. We have been asked
to spot the choice which is most damaging to this inference.
(A) talks of the identity of the modern explorer who had
first sighted Antarctica around 1920, and can neither support
nor damage the inference that the ancients had discovered
the continent.
The passage does not define the “ancients”, and so could
very well refer to people who had lived just 2500 years ago,
when the polar mass was as big as it is now. Nor does the
passage say that the 16th century maps represent the size of
the polar mass as the same as what we know of it now. So,
even if we assume that the polar mass had been smaller in
ancient times, the inference in the passage that the ancients
knew about its existence would still be valid. So, (C) does not
weaken the inference drawn by the scholars.
Since the existence of even a single 16th century map show-
ing the existence of a polar land mass is sufficient to support
the scholars’ inference, (C) does not weaken, but strengthens
it, and is not the answer.
The fact that most other attributions of surprising accom-
plishments to ancient civilizations have eventually been dis-
credited will not, by itself, lead to the conclusion that every
attribution of accomplishment to them is wrong. So, (D) by
itself does not damage the inference of the scholars.
(E) concedes the possibility that the maps drawn by the
ancients had indeed shown a southern polar mass, and that
these had been copied by the 16th century cartographers. But
it says that the depiction of a large polar mass in the maps of
the ancients had not been based on the discovery of that fact
by explorers, but had been based on a belief by philosophers
that the world was basically symmetrical and should there-
fore have a southern mass in order to balance the northern
continents. If this is true, the depiction of a southern land
mass in the ancient maps would have been based on an un-
scientific speculation, and would be most damaging to the
inference of the scholars that Antarctica must have been “dis-
covered and mapped by the ancients”. So, (E) is the answer.
8. From the fact that younger children, unlike older chil-
dren, assigned similar punishments for similar harms irre-
spective of whether the harm was caused intentionally or acci-
dentally, the author comes to the conclusion that younger
children do not consider people’s intentions as relevant to the
quantum of punishment to be awarded to them.
We have been asked to spot that choice which could most
seriously weaken this conclusion.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
While arriving at his conclusion, the author obviously pre- their resumes.
sumes that the younger children who participated in the ex- We have been asked to spot the choice which casts the most
periment were capable of deciding which among the harms serious doubt on the value of the ‘simultaneous interview’ tech-
had been caused intentionally and which had been caused nique.
accidentally. If, as is pointed out in (A), it requires a relatively (A) talks of resumes and not of the new method, and is
mature sense of human psychology in order to tell whether therefore not the answer.
harm was caused intentionally or accidentally, which the (B) is not the answer, because, the passage specifically says
younger children would not have possessed, then the author’s that the ‘simultaneous interview’ method will be confined to
conclusion that younger children consider people’s intentions the top candidates only, and not to all candidates who had
as irrelevant to punishment would be seriously weakened. applied for the job.
Therefore (A) itself is the answer. (C) will support, and not cast doubt, on the new method.
(B) does not talk of the intention of the perpetrator of the The objection in (D) can be easily met by extending the
harm, but of the severity of the harm itself, and is not relevant time duration of each interview.
to the conclusion of the author. (E) states that the simultaneous interview distorts each
The passage is about the reactions of younger and older candidate’s response style because it induces stresses in him,
children to the stories told to them; (C), which talks of the the like of which he is not likely to meet in his subsequent
capacity of the younger and the older children to cause harm appointment. This means that the performances of the can-
by themselves, is not relevant to the author’s conclusion. didates in the simultaneous interview are not relevant to the
(D) is implicit in the narration, and only strengthens the practical needs of the job. If this is true, this will cast a seri-
author’s conclusion, and does not weaken it. ous doubt on the value of the simultaneous interview.
The issue is whether the punishment assigned by the So, (E) is the answer.
younger children for a particular harm depended upon the
intentional or unintentional nature of the harm; the issue is SET 10
not whether the punishment assigned by the younger chil- Answers
dren was proportionate to the severity of the harm or not. So,
1.A 2.A 3.A 4.D 5.B 6.D 7.D 8.E 9.D 10.B
(E) is irrelevant to the conclusion of the author of the pas-
Analysis
sage.
1. The given passage says that when a recession (meaning
a period of economic depression) deepens, the stock market
9. (The phrase ‘property crime without contact between per-
goes up, and that, later, after the economy has strengthened,
petrator and victim’ means ‘crimes such as housebreaking and
the stock market often appears to become shaky.
theft when the owners of the houses are away’.) From the fact
From these statements, the author comes to the conclu-
that cities with the densest populations have the highest ra-
sion that the stock market is a poor indicator of economic
tio of police officers to citizens, and that, in these cities, the
trends.
rates of ‘property crimes without contact between perpetra-
There is an obvious flaw in the author’s conclusion. He
tor and victim’ are also the lowest, the author comes to the
himself says that, often the stock market goes up when a
conclusion that maintaining a high ratio of police officers to
recession deepens. So, the only conclusion that can be logi-
citizens can serve as an effective deterrent to some types of
cally drawn is that the stock market does not indicate the
crime.
current state of the economy.
We have been asked to locate the choice which, if true,
His statement that the economy had strengthened later
would weaken this argument.
shows that the soaring of the stock market even in the midst
The correct choice must therefore be the one which gives
of a recession really foreboded this subsequent strengthening.
another possible explanation, unconnected with the strength
So, even according to the evidence presented by him, the
of the police, as to why the rates of burglaries and house-
stock market is a reliable indicator of the future trends in the
breakings are low in densely populated cities.
economy, and his conclusion to the contrary is wrong.
(B) says that a high population density, by itself, makes it
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
difficult to commit such burglaries and housebreaking (be-
None of the other choices point out such a basic flaw in the
cause neighbours are being forced to live close together be-
author’s conclusion.
cause of the high population density, and this deters burglars
and housebreakers.). It is this choice which grossly under-
2. Note that we have been asked to identify the choice that
mines the argument in the given passage, and is the answer.
would weaken the given argument.
(A) and (C) do not even refer to either the strength of police
The premise of the author is, “Young people know that ciga-
force, or property crimes, and can straightaway be discarded.
rettes exist, and they also know how to get them, and they do
If (D) is true, the number of property crimes should show
not need the advertisements to supply that information”. From
an increase, and not a decrease, because the unarrested crimi-
this premise, he argues, “Banning cigarette advertisements
nals will be emboldened to repeat their crimes.
in the mass media will not reduce the number of young people
You may be tempted to choose (E) as the answer, but it is
who smoke.”
wrong, because the conclusion reached by the author is not
Obviously, his assumptions are that the purpose of ciga-
that overall crime rate has come down in these cities, but
rette advertisements is to enable people to know about the
only some kinds of property crime have become less.
existence of cigarettes and how to get them, and that anyone
who knows that cigarettes exist and where they can buy it will
10. (In this question, the word ‘resume’ means ‘bio-data’ or
start smoking them.
a ‘write up’ by a job applicant about himself.) The leading
If, on the other hand, it is true that mere knowledge about
company referred to in the passage has preferred to adopt
the existence and availability of cigarettes is not sufficient to
the method of ‘simultaneous interview’ of all top candidates
make a person start smoking, but it is the repeated exposures
to the earlier method of judging their merits on the basis of
179
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
to cigarette advertisements that instill a desire in him to smoke,
the author’s argument that cigarette advertisements play no
role regarding smoking habits would be most weakened. It is
(A) which states this, and is the answer.
If the places in which cigarettes are sold are found in many
places, (B) will repeatedly expose many persons to these ad-
vertisements, and would persuade them to smoke. So, (B)
does not weaken, but strengthens the author’s argument, and
is not the answer.
(C) may have an effect on the profits of cigarette compa-
nies, but neither strengthens nor weakens the argument of
the author.
(D) talks of advertisements against cigarette smoking, and
not of advertisements promoting cigarette smoking, and is
not relevant to the author’s argument.
(B) is a comparison between older and younger people, and
has no relevance to the author’s argument which talks only
of younger people.
3. (‘Toxic’ means ‘poisonous’.) Two reasons are given for
the need for passengers to leave airplanes swiftly after acci-
dents: (i) the gases that are released inside the aircraft fol-
lowing an accident are poisonous; and (ii) these gases often
explode soon after being released.
The safety officials’ recommendation of providing smoke
hoods to passengers is limited to the prevention of their deaths
due to inhalation of the toxic gas.
We have been asked to locate that choice which mentions
the strongest reason for not implementing this recommen-da-
tion.
(A) says that, during test evacuations, it was seen that
putting on the smoke hoods added considerably to the overall
time it took for passengers to leave the cabin of the aircraft.
Therefore, while the smoke hoods may protect passengers
from inhalation of the poisonous gases, the delay in putting
on the hood exposes them to the greater risk of dying in a gas
explosion, because it has been stated that the gases often ex-
plode soon after being released. So, (A) is a strong reason for
not implementing the recommendation of the safety officials,
and is the answer.
(B) cannot be a strong reason for not implementing the
recommendation, since passenger safety should be the pri-
mary consideration irrespective of the cost incurred.
If putting on the gas hoods does not result in any delay in
evacuation, the fact that passenger hoods can do nothing to
prevent the gases from igniting will not be an argument for
not using them, because the hoods can avert at least one of
the two mishaps that can befall the passengers, namely the
inhalation of poisonous gases and consequent death. So, (C) is
not the answer.
(D) advocates a reason for stricter measures of safety and
not for giving them up. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) would support the proposal for wearing of the smoke
hood, and not weaken it.
4. The narrative first states that a study has shown that,
if the sleeping and waking times of the two partners in a
marriage are different, they share fewer activities with each
other, and also have more violent arguments than couples who
share the same waking and sleeping hours.
Based on this study, the author argues that mismatched
sleeping and waking cycles can seriously jeopardize a mar-
riage.
We have been asked to identify that choice which most
seriously weakens this argument.
180
(A) says that couples who follow the same sleeping and
waking cycles also ‘occasionally have arguments’ which can
jeopardize their marriage. Since the author does not assert
that couples with the same sleeping and waking cycles will
never argue nor have their marriage threatened, (A) does not
weaken his argument, and is not the answer.
(B) by itself does not either strengthen or weaken the au-
thor’s argument regarding couples whose sleeping and wak-
ing cycles are not the same.
In developing his argument, the author is merely concerned
with the quarrels between the husband and the wife. Whether
they tend to quarrel with their office colleagues or not is irrel-
evant to his reasoning. So, (C) does not weaken the argument.
(D) says that people in unhappy marriages express hostil-
ity by adopting a different sleeping and waking cycle from
that of their spouses. If this is true, the mismatched sleeping
and waking cycles are a result of the unhappy marriage, and
are not the cause of the unhappiness. This seriously weakens
the author’s argument that mismatched sleeping and wak-
ing cycles can seriously jeopardize a marriage, because the
marriage has already been jeopardized. So, it is (D) that is
the answer.
(E) neither strengthens nor weakens the author’s argument,
and is not the answer.
5. The given passage says that the only reason why the ice
on the front windshield melted quickly was that the defrost-
ing vent had been turned on full force on it.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would weaken
this explanation for the quick melting of the ice on the front
windshield.
We should therefore look for that choice which says either
that ice on another part of the car, which did not have a de-
frosting vent blowing on it, melted equally quickly or that ice
on another part of the car, which also had a defrosting vent
blowing on it with equal force, melted much more slowly.
(B) mentions the first of the two contingencies stated above,
and is the answer.
(A) is not the answer, because the question is about the
melting of ice that has already been formed, and not about its
initial formation.
(C) also relates the speed of melting of ice to the tempera-
ture of the air blown on it, and will strengthen, and not weaken,
the explanation in the passage.
(D) means that the defrosting vent acting on the front
windshield will have no effect on the ice on other parts of the
car, and will neither strengthen nor weaken the explanation
given in the passage for the quick melting of the ice on the
front windshield.
(E) also strengthens, and does not weaken, the explanation
in the passage.
6. The contention of the environment group is that ‘bats
are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy ani-
mals that are active only at night’.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would cast
the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group’s conten-
tion.
We should therefore look for that choice which states that
another type of animal or bird, which is also equally shy and
is active only at night, is not feared and persecuted by people.
It is choice (D) which makes such a statement, and is the
answer.
7. The passage cites just one instance of fraud, that too
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
relating to a year as early as 1870, and then draws a general
conclusion that ‘this example demonstrates that the doctrine
of spiritualism is worthless’. This is like concluding that all
college students are addicted to drugs on the basis of the drug
addiction of just a single student.
The flaw in the conclusion is that it draws a general con-
clusion on the basis of a single cited instance. (D) is the best
argument against the conclusion, and is the answer.
(A) is wrong because it is not in the nature of a general
conclusion drawn on the basis of a single instance.
(B) questions the truth of the report regarding the 1870
incident, but this argument will be valid only if a general
conclusion can be legitimately drawn from a single instance
even if its truth has been verified beyond doubt. The argu-
ment in (D) which says that a general conclusion cannot be
drawn from a single instance is a better argument than the
one in (B).
The evidence cited is intended to ‘prove’ that spiritualism
is false, and does not presuppose it. So, (C) is also wrong.
(E) is wrong for the same reason as (B) - even if the report
had not been biased and had stated only the truth, it cannot
lead to the general conclusion that the doctrine of spiritual-
ism is worthless.
8. (Beef is cow meat.) The second sentence states that fish
are an excellent source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fat (for
human beings).
The next sentence does not say that beef is an excellent
source of omega-3, but says that cows obtain omega-3
polyunsaturates when they eat grass.
So, the second sentence can only mean that cows have less
risk of heart disease for themselves by eating grass.
If, on the other hand, it is true that the omega-3
polyunsaturates that the cows eat are converted into satu-
rated fats in their own body, then the beef obtained by slaugh-
tering them and consumed by human beings would contain
these saturated fats, and will increase the risk of heart dis-
ease in human beings. (E) states just this, and therefore weak-
ens the conclusion in the passage that a diet which is rich in
beef and a diet which is rich in fish are equally effective in
reducing the risk of heart disease. So, (E) is the answer.
The ultimate effect on human beings is not decided by what
the fish or the cows themselves eat, but what the meat ob-
tained by killing them contains.
So, (A) neither strengthens nor weakens the conclusion in
the passage.
(B) does not refer to either the fish meat or beef, and nei-
ther strengthens nor weakens the conclusion in the passage.
(C) differentiates between people who eat fish and people
who do not eat fish, and not between people who eat fish and
people who eat beef. So, it also neither strengthens nor weak-
ens the conclusion in the passage.
(D) talks about future research, and is not relevant to the
conclusion reached in the given passage which is based on
currently available knowledge.
9. The conclusion of the author is that the higher rate of
injuries which usually accompanies the increased workload
of a firm is caused by a higher accident rate for inexperienced
workers who are temporarily hired to cope with such increased
workload.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would most
weaken this conclusion.
We should therefore look for that choice which says that
increased workload of a firm is usually accompanied by a
181
higher accident rate for experienced workers also.
(D) states just this, and is the answer.
The other choices neither weaken nor strengthen the con-
clusion of the author.
10. The author says in the first sentence that, though the
human population in Middlesex County has increased, the
extent of forest land in the county has not decreased. He con-
cludes from this information that the decrease in the county’s
songbird population cannot be attributed to the growth in
the county’s human population.
We have been asked to spot the choice which would most
seriously weaken this conclusion.
The obvious assumption behind the author’s conclusion is
that it is only a decrease in the extent of forest land that can
lead to a decrease in the songbird population. If there can be
some other logical reason for the diminution of the songbird
population, which can be directly attributed to the growth in
human population, it would weaken the author’s conclusion.
We should therefore look for that statement among the choices
which mentions such a reason.
(A) does not give a logical reason to relate the increase in
the number of shopping malls to a decrease in the songbird
population, and is not the answer.
(B) says that an increase in human population results in a
corresponding increase in the number of garbage cans, and
that such increase in the number of garbage cans ensures the
survival of more raccoons (a species of small hairy animals)
which prey on songbird eggs whenever available.
Thus (B) gives a logical reason connecting an increase in
human population to a decrease in the songbird population
even when there has been no diminution in the extent of forest
land. So, if (B) is true, one can conclude that it is the increase
in human population in Middlesex County which has resulted
in a decrease in the county’s songbird population, thereby
weakening the author’s conclusion.
So, (B) is the answer.
If (C) is true, the decrease in the songbird population in
Middlesex could be attributed to the decrease in the extent of
rain-forest land in Central and South America, and not to the
increase in human population in Middlesex County. This
would only strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s conclu-
sion.
(D) merely confirms the author’s statement that songbird
population in Middlesex County is decreasing, and does not
add any more information which either strengthens or weak-
ens his conclusion that such decrease has not been caused by
the increase in human population in the County. So, (D) is
not the answer.
(E) predicts that a decrease in the songbird population
could ultimately lead to a decrease in the extent of forest land.
This is, however, irrelevant to the author’s conclusion that
the decrease in songbird population so far has not been caused
by an increase in the human population. So, (E) is not the
answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
SET 11 Since many colleges are apprehending reduced enrollments
Answers because of the decrease in the college-age population, we can
presume that admission in these college has become easier
1.C 2.D 3.D 4.B 5.E 6.C 7.A 8.E 9.D 10.A
than usual, and most of these applicants are likely to be
Analysis
offered admission in other colleges which are their first
1. We learn from the passage that the Mayor of the town
preferences. If so, most of these students who have applied
started a publicity campaign for its bus service six months
for admission in Nice College are not likely to join it eventually,
back and that, since then, there has been a 7% reduction in
and Nice College would therefore not require any additional
the morning automobile traffic entering the city’s midtown
faculty. So, it is (D) which suggests that the decision of the
area, along with a 7% rise in the number of persons travelling
management of Nice College is flawed, and is the answer.
by bus to the midtown area. The author of the passage
None of the other choices is germane to the decision of the
concludes that the mayor’s campaign has successfully
New College management to appoint additional faculty
persuaded people to leave their cars at home and travel by
members for all courses taken by freshmen.
bus to their places of work in the midtown area.
We have been asked to spot that choice which, if true, casts
3. The passage says that a drug that is highly effective for
the most serious doubt on this conclusion.
treating many types of infection is at present obtained only
We should therefore look for that choice which gives
from the bark of the ibora tree which is a rare species that is
another equally convincing reason why people are leaving
found in the wild, and that it takes the barks of as many as
their cars at home and taking the bus to the downtown area
5000 trees to obtain a mere one kilogram of the drug. The
for work.
passage therefore argues that continued production of the
(C) says that road construction has greatly reduced the
drug will ‘inevitably lead to the ibora’s extinction’.
number of lanes available to commuters in major streets
We have been asked to spot that choice which most
leading to the midtown area during the last six months. If
seriously weakens this argument.
this is true, there would have been consequent traffic jams
We must therefore look for that choice which indicates that,
which would have repeatedly prevented car-owners from
in spite of the continued production of the drug, ibora is not
reaching their work spots on time, resulting in their preferring
likely to become extinct.
to travel by buses which, apparently, have right of way in
(D) says that the ibora can be propagated from cuttings
other lanes. This is likely to have happened even if the mayor
and can be grown under cultivation. If this is true, ibora will
had not started his publicity campaign. So, it is (C) which
no longer be a rare tree that is found only in the wild, and
casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion in the passage,
many farmers will undertake its cultivation because of its high
and is the answer.
financial value, and it will not become extinct. So, it is (D)
If car-owners have preferred to travel by bus in spite of a
which weakens the argument in the passage, and is the
5% increase in the bus fare in the last six months, the mayor’s
answer.
campaign must be considered to be even more successful than
None of the other choices will weaken the prediction that
what the author of the passage thinks. So, (A) would
the continued exploitation of ibora’s barks will lead to the
strengthen, and not weaken, the conclusion in the passage,
extinction of the species.
and is not the answer.
(B) is irrelevant to the conclusion in the passage, and
4. The mayor proposes to levy an entry fee of 5 dollars per
neither strengthens nor weakens it.
day on private vehicles entering the city from outside areas
(D) means that these buses had been running with at least
with the view to alleviate the city’s traffic congestion. His
7% empty seats six months ago necessitating the campaign
reasoning is that, since the fee will exceed the cost of a round-
undertaken by the mayor to popularise bus travel, and that
trip bus fare from many nearby points, many people will
these seats are now being occupied. This choice would
switch from using their cars to using the bus.
strengthen, and not weaken, the conclusion in the passage.
We have been asked to spot the choice which ‘provides the
(E) implies that there has been no improvement in the
best evidence that the mayor’s reasoning is flawed’.
efficiency of bus service in the last six months. The increase
With the expected increase in the price of gasoline, together
in the number of users of the bus service in spite of this
with the proposed entrance fee, the cost of using one’s own
perception strengthens the conclusion that the mayor’s
car for trips to the city will further increase, and car-owners
publicity campaign has been effective, and does not weaken
may be tempted to use the bus instead. (A) will therefore
it.
strengthen the mayor’s reasoning, and not weaken it, and is
not the answer.
2. The first sentence says that, because of a decrease in
The mayor’s reasoning is that, if the cost of travelling to
the college-age population, many colleges are anticipating
the city by car costs more than travelling by bus, many car-
that there will be decreasing number of enrollments in
owners will switch over to travelling by bus. (B) contradicts
freshman classes in the coming years. But Nice College has
this reasoning by pointing out that, even now, travelling to
surprisingly received 40% more applications from qualified
the city by car costs considerably more than travelling by
applicants this year, and therefore plans to appoint more
bus, but that has not deterred car owners from preferring to
faculty members to cope with the increased enrollment.
use their own cars. (There could be valid reasons for such
The five choices in the question contain statements about
preference such as having to wait inordinately for the bus,
these applicants, and we have been asked to spot that choice
overcrowding in the bus, bus-stops being located far away
which indicates that the plan of the college management is
from the work spots etc.). Thus, (B) provides factual evidence
flawed.
that the mayor’s reasoning is flawed, and is the answer.
(D) states that a substantially lower percentage of the
The mayor’s plan is to persuade people owning cars to use
applicants than usual have indicated Nice College as their
the bus instead. (C) relates to those who do not own cars, and
first choice among the colleges to which they are applying.
is irrelevant to the success of the mayor’s plan.
182
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
(D) does not say ‘most commuters but ‘many commuters’,
without quantifying what is meant by ‘many’. It is equally
likely that ‘many other commuters’ may support the mayor’s
proposal. So, (D) does not provide evidence that seriously
weakens the mayor’s reasoning.
(E) indicates that 80% of the traffic congestion in the city
is caused by vehicles from outside the city. This choice justifies
the mayor’s proposal, and does not constitute evidence of a
flaw in his reasoning.
5. The given narration says that, in order to take advantage
of the increase in the sales of telephones in the last year,
Mammoth Industries plans to expand the production its own
model of telephone and also to continue the very extensive
advertising of this product.
We have been asked to identify the choice which provides
most support for the view that Mammoth Industries cannot
increase its sales of telephones by adopting the above plan.
The two elements of Mammoth Industries’ plan are (i) to
expand the production of its model; and (ii) to continue the
very extensive advertising of the model.
We must therefore look for that choice which indicates that
these two elements of the plan, together, are not likely to result
in the increased sale of the model.
(E) points out that, in spite of the dramatic increase in the
sale of phones in the market, in spite of a reduction in its
retail price, and in spite of very extensive advertising, sales
of Mammoth Industries’ telephone had fallen last year. This
shows that the company has not benefited from the boom in
the telephones market and has not been able to sell even the
existing production of its model in spite of very extensive
advertising. (The reason could be that its model is outdated,
or its price, even after reduction, is higher than those of more
popular models etc.). So, unless these other causes are
identified and corrected, the mere increase in production of
the same model and continuance of the same level of
advertising, is not likely to produce the intended result. So,
(E) is the answer.
(A) would imply that the company had lost its market share
only because its production was not sufficient to meet the
demand in the market. It will therefore justify the plan of
the company to increase production in order to regain its
market share and also maintain its level of advertising, and
is not the answer.
(B) will also justify the plan of the company to increase
the production of its model.
The purpose of the advertisements of consumer products
is to popularise the brand name, and, according to (C), the
present advertisement policy of the company has achieved
this purpose very well. The sale of the phones does not depend
on the consumers knowing the name of the company that
produces it. So, (C) does not constitute a flaw in the company’s
plan to continue the same level of advertisement.
(D), by itself, neither strengthens nor weakens the proposal
of the company.
6. In the light of the discovery that, after four weeks of
use, toothbrushes become contaminated with bacteria that
cause pneumonia and strep throat, the passage concludes that
people should replace their toothbrushes at least once a month.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would weaken
this conclusion.
The lack of knowledge on why it takes four weeks (and not
less) for toothbrushes to get contaminated with bacteria does
not, by itself, weaken the conclusion that toothbrushes should
183
be replaced at least once a month. So, (A) is not the answer.
The conclusion is about the desirability of using
toothbrushes contaminated with bacteria that cause
pneumonia and strep throat. Lack of research about similar
contamination by viruses, yeasts and other micro-organisms
does not, by itself, weaken this conclusion. So, (B) is not the
answer.
(C) says that the same researchers found that the
contaminated toothbrushes did not expose the user to any
greater risk of pneumonia or strep throat than the use of new
toothbrushes. If this is true, then the conclusion that one
should necessarily change one’s toothbrush at least once a
month loses its force. So, (C) is the answer.
(D) means that even the washing of toothbrushes in hot
water after each use did not prevent them from getting
contaminated. This will strengthen, and not weaken, the
conclusion in the passage that toothbrushes should be
changed at least once a month.
The conclusion in the passage is that the use of a
contaminated toothbrush is risky after a 4-weeks’ use. The
finding that the risk remains stationary after a 6-weeks’ use
does not weaken this conclusion. So, (E) is not the answer.
7. The author first says that “putting patients on diets
that eliminate those foods to which the patients have been
demonstrated to have allergic migraine reactions frequently
does not stop headaches”. He then comes to the conclusion
that ‘obviously, some other cause of migraine headaches
besides food allergies must exist’.
We have been asked to identify the choice which most
weakens the above conclusion.
(A) says that, because most common foods elicit an allergic
response only after several days, it is difficult to observe links
between specific foods that the patients eat and the headaches
that they develop. If this is true, eliminating foods, the eating
of which is followed immediately by migraine headache (as is
meant by the phrase ‘foods to which the patients have been
demonstrated to have allergic migraine reactions’), is not likely
to stop the headache, because these foods may not have been
the cause for the headaches at all, and the headaches may
have been caused by some other food that the patient had
eaten many days earlier. If this is true, the conclusion that
the cause of the migraine headache is not food allergy would
be wrong. So, (A) is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices leads
to a weakening of the conclusion in the last sentence of the
narration.
8. After stating that robot satellites, which relay important
communications and identify weather patterns, would
eventually malfunction and can be repaired only in orbit by
astronauts, the author argues that space flights carrying
astronauts must continue.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
most seriously weaken this argument.
(A) would strengthen, and not weaken, the author’s
argument, because malfunctioning satellites, because of their
importance in communications and weather-forecasting, must
be repaired before they fall from orbit and burn up in the
atmosphere.
(B) emphasizes the continued importance of weather
satellites, and strengthens the argument of the author.
(C) is irrelevant to the argument of the author.
(D) merely implies that repairing a malfunctioning satellite
in orbit is expensive. But if the cost of replacement of a
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
malfunctioning satellite is much higher than the cost of
repairing it, it will be prudent to undertake the repairs. So
the information in (D), by itself, does not weaken the argument
of the author.
(E) points out that repairing a malfunctioning satellite is
much more expensive than sending a new and improved
satellite into orbit. If this is true, there will be no need to send
astronauts into orbit to repair the malfunctioning satellites.
So, it is (E) which most seriously weakens the argument of
the author, and is the answer.
9. To achieve its laudable aim of reducing the generation
of non-biodegradable waste and to preserve the environment,
the council of the small town proposes to ban the sale of
disposable plastic goods within its jurisdiction.
We have been asked to identify the choice which indicates
that the plan to ban the sale of disposable plastic goods is not
likely to lead to the fulfillment of the town council’s
environmental goal.
(D) says that most townspeople prefer plastic goods to paper
goods in many instances, and are likely to continue to purchase
them from shops in neighbouring towns where such a ban is
not imposed. If this is true, the town council’s aim to preserve
its environment will not be achieved by its proposed action.
So, (D) is the answer.
None of the other choices gives a reason why the plastic
goods will continue to be bought and used by the residents of
the town even after a ban on its sale is imposed by the town’s
184
council.
10. After stating that delays at the nation’s busy airports
have increased by 25% after the deregulation of airlines, the
author says that the problem can be alleviated by allocating
more of the take-off and landing slots to commercial airlines
(in preference to private aircrafts).
We have been asked to spot that choice which casts the
most doubt on the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
(A) says that the major causes of the delays at the nation’s
busiest airports are bad weather and overtaxed air traffic
control equipment. If this is true, then the mere allocation of
more landing and take-off slots for commercial airlines is not
likely to reduce the delays, and other steps will have to be
taken to solve these two problems. So, (A) itself is the answer.
The conclusion is related to traffic in the busiest airports
of the nation. (B) and (D), which do not refer to traffic in the
busiest airports, are not relevant to this conclusion.
(C) says that, even now, over 60 percent of the take-off
and landing slots in the nation’s busiest airports are reserved
for commercial airlines. This information, by itself, does not
cast doubt on the effectiveness of the proposed solution,
namely, that more of these slots must be reserved for
commercial airlines. So, (C) is not the answer.
(E) also emphasizes the need for some meaningful steps to
be taken to reduce the delays, and does not cast doubt on the
effectiveness of the proposed solution. So, (E) is not the
answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 6
'STRENGTHENS' QUESTIONS
SET 1 (B) is not the answer.
Answers (C) says, “the greater the performance demands placed on
satellites, the more frequently they break down”. If this is
1.B 2.B 3.C 4.E 5.E 6.B 7.C 8.A 9.B 10.D
true, “squeezing more performance out of currently operating
Analysis
satellites” will result in their breaking down more frequently,
1. The author says first that, between personal merit and
resulting in still further increases in their insurance
money, the society respects money more than personal merit.
premiums. If such a spiral continues, the cost of television
In the experiment that he suggests, he forecasts that a
satellites will continue to increase. So, it is (C) that best
man to whom you give money will respect you more than a
supports the conclusion in the passage, and is the answer.
man to whom you give a lecture on morality. His argument
will be validated if it can be stated that the existence of
4. In this question, we have been asked to select the choice,
personal merit is demonstrated by giving a lecture on morality.
which, if true, is not a valid objection to the given argument
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
that the banning of the use of fireworks by the legislature
deprived the entire population of liberty and happiness, which
2. (Be careful about double negatives like the ones in this
is a violation of the Declaration of Independence, and
question. The phrase ‘valid objections’ and ‘except’, ‘together,
therefore amounts to dictatorship.
mean ‘confirmation’.) The author of the original statement
(A) contradicts the statement in the second sentence in
seeks to refute the theory that off-shore blasting in oil
the given argument that the entire population derives
exploration would hurt fishing. He points out that this year’s
happiness from fireworks and is a valid objection to the
salmon catch has been the largest in a long time in spite of
author’s conclusion.
there having been off-shore blasting during the period.
(B) is also a valid objection to the author’s argument that
The question states that four of the five choices would
banning of fireworks amounts to dictatorship, because such
disprove the author’s contention while just one of them will
banning was something voted by the people themselves
support it. We have been asked to choose that statement
indirectly through their representatives, and not imposed on
which supports the author’s contention that off-shore blasting
them by an arbitrary authority.
is in fact beneficial for fishing.
(C), if true, is also a valid objection because, if the use of
It is easily seen that (B) is the correct choice, because it
fireworks deprives many people of their lives, it directly
implies that blasting would result in an increase in the salmon
violates the right to life that has been guaranteed by the
population which, in turn, would lead to larger catches of
Declaration of Independence.
salmon during the fishing season.
(D), if true, is also a valid objection, since it means that
(A) would mean that coming to the conclusion that blasting
banning of fireworks does not offend the Declaration of
is beneficial for fishing on the basis of the catches of just one
Independence.
species of fish alone would be wrong, and that the catch of
The statement that few legislators profit financially from
other species of fish might have been less during the year. This
the sale of fireworks is irrelevant to the argument in the
would weaken the conclusion in the passage.
passage that banning of fireworks amounts to dictatorship,
If (C) were true, the salmon population must have
and does not constitute a valid objection to it. So, (E) is the
dwindled, and the author’s statement would not have been
answer.
substantiated. So, (C) would weaken the conclusion in the
passage.
5. The trend indicated in the argument is that the number
(D) also implies that there could have been other reasons
of persons living together as a single family unit has been
for the largest salmon catch this year (such as more number
steadily decreasing from 1930’s.
of fishermen fishing in the area) and therefore the author’s
Five choices have been given below, of which four are
conclusion could be wrong.
capable of being identified as factors contributing to this trend,
(E) would also directly result in the dwindling of the fish
while the fifth is not such a factor. We have been asked to
population and would go counter to the author’s theory.
spot this choice.
The increase in the divorce rate can certainly be considered
3. The first sentence says that there has recently been a
as one of the contributing factors for the reduction in the
spate (meaning undue increase) of failures in the launching
average household size. So, obviously is the decrease in the
and operation of television satellites, resulting in their
birth-rate. So, neither (A) nor (B) is the answer.
insurance premiums going up.
What (C) means is that old persons (beyond the age of 65)
The last sentence says that, because of this increase, users
are nowadays more commonly left in Homes for the Aged for
of currently operating satellites are trying to squeeze more
proper care, instead of being allowed to stay in the homes of
performance out of them.
their sons and daughters. If this is true, this will also be a
We have been asked to identify the choice which best
contributing factor for the reduction in the average household
supports the conclusion that the cost of television satellites
size, and is not the answer.
will continue to increase.
(D) says that there used to be substantial tax advantages
(A) merely implies that the insurance premiums on
earlier for keeping dependent family members with oneself,
television satellites will continue to remain high; it does not
but these have been reduced now. If this is true, this could
give any valid reason why they should increase further. So,
also be a contributing factor for the reduction in the average
(A) is not the answer.
household size, because earning members would no longer
(B) neither strengthens nor weakens the statement that
have any financial incentive to support dependents living with
the cost of television satellites will continue to increase. So,
185
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
them.
What is left is (E), which says that enrollment of children
at day-care centers has increased. These are centers in which
working mothers leave their children during daytime, but
pick them up on their way back home from their office. Since
these children will continue to be counted as members of the
mother’s household, the proliferation of such day-care centers
does not contribute to a reduction in the average household
size. So, it is (E) which does not help to account for the trend
of reduction in the number of persons living in each household,
and is the answer.
6. The passage argues that, if high speed ground
transportation is provided between major cities which are
between 200 and 500 miles apart, airport congestion can be
reduced considerably.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
form a valid evidence supporting the above argument.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
a considerable proportion of the present airline traffic consists
of travel between cities which are less than 500 miles apart.
Among the choices, it is (B) which makes such a statement,
and is the answer.
7. We learn from the given information that new collision-
avoidance systems have been developed for aircrafts, but they
have not yet been fully tested to discover potential
malfunctions.
Yet, the airline management wants these systems to be
installed immediately in its passenger planes, arguing that
their mechanical warnings would enable pilots to avoid
crashes.
The pilots, on the other hand, refuse to fly the planes in
which these collision-avoidance systems (which have not been
fully tested) are installed, arguing that, if they malfunction,
they would mislead the pilots, thereby causing crashes.
We have been asked to identify the choice which, if true,
would strengthen the objection of the pilots.
(A) is a statement that is applicable to any mechanical
device, and does not, by itself, strengthen the argument of
the pilots, unless it is asserted that a malfunctioning collision-
avoidance system will cause a crash in a situation in which a
plane without such a system will not be involved in a crash.
Since this assertion has not been made, (A) is not the answer.
(B) is a statement about jet engines, and is irrelevant to
the controversy about collision-avoidance systems. In fact, if
the collision-avoidance devices also behave in the same
manner as the jet engines, and result in exemplary
performance and safety records, the objection of the pilots
will be weakened, and not strengthened. So, (B) is not the
answer.
(C) states that the collision-avoidance systems, when they
are functioning properly, will enable pilots to avoid some
crashes, but, if they malfunction, they will cause even more
crashes. If this is true, it will undoubtedly strengthen the
objection of the pilots to fly the planes fitted with these
systems until they are fully tested against possible
malfunctioning. So, (C) is the answer.
If (E) is true, any help from a mechanical device should be
welcomed by the pilots, and not resisted. So, (E) does not
strengthen the argument of the pilots, but weakens it.
Since the controversy is regarding the immediate
installation of the new devices in passenger planes, (E) will
weaken, and not strengthen, the objection of the pilots. So,
(E) is not the answer.
186
8. The first part of the given narrative says that extinction
is a process that depends on a variety of ecological,
geographical and physiological variables which affect different
species of organisms in different ways, and that, therefore,
different species of organisms must logically be expected to
become extinct in different periods of time.
The second part of the narrative points out that, on the
contrary, fossil record shows that many species had vanished
at the same time in the past.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
will constitute at least a partial explanation for the fact that
many species had become extinct at the same time in the past.
(A) says that widespread environmental disturbances can
result in major episodes of extinction affecting numerous
different species at the same time. This, if true, will give an
explanation for the fossil record referred to in the given
narrative. So, (A) itself is the answer.
(B) will confirm what is stated in the first part of the
narrative, but will not provide an explanation for the
contradictory result mentioned in the second part. So, (B) is
not the answer.
(C) also does not give an explanation for “many species
vanishing at the same time”. So, (C) is not the answer.
What is required is a possible explanation for the
extinctions during the early periods for which we have fossil
records. (D), which does not refer to this early period at all
but talks of ‘geologically recent times’, is not relevant to the
issue, and is not the answer.
(E) also confirms the statement in the first part of the
narrative, but does not provide an explanation for the
contradictory statement in the second part that many species
had become extinct at the same time. So, (E) is not the answer.
9. The narrative states that researchers, who have noted
that different local populations of bowerbirds of the same
species build bowers that exhibit different building and
decorative styles, have concluded that the bowerbirds’ building
styles are culturally acquired (meaning ‘learnt by watching
other bowerbirds’) and not genetically transmitted.
We have been asked to identity that choice which will most
strengthen this conclusion of the researchers.
If (A) is true, it would imply that the common features in
the bowerbuilding styles are due to the fact that
bowerbuilding skills are genetically acquired. This would, in
fact, weaken, and not strengthen, the conclusion of the
researchers. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) first says that young male bowerbirds lack the skills
required for bowerbuilding, implying that bowerbuilding
skills are not genetically transmitted. It then says that they
however become accomplished in bowerbuilding after
watching their elders for years. This implies that
bowerbuilding is a culturally acquired skill. So, (B)
strengthens the conclusion drawn by the researchers, and is
the answer.
If the bowers of one particular species of bowerbirds are
significantly different from the bowers of all other species, it
implies that their bowerbuilding skill is genetically inherited.
This weakens, and does not strengthen, the conclusion of the
researchers.
Neither (D) and (E) refers to the building styles of
bowerbirds. So, they neither strengthen nor weaken the
conclusions of the researchers.
10. The first sentence says that bats detect, locate and
catch their prey (or victims) by using the echoes of the sounds
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
produced by them as reflected by such prey.
The second sentence says that the capacity of bats to catch
their prey through this method is not as effective in the case
of certain categories of moths which are able to hear their
sounds.
What will best support the above claim is an assertion
which states that bats find it more difficult to catch the
categories of moths which can hear their sounds (and can
therefore take evasive action to escape from them) than those
categories of moths which cannot hear their sounds.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) talks of moths living in an environment which is
continuously free of such bats, and is therefore irrelevant to
the given statement.
(B) implies that the efficiency of the bats is not affected by
the behaviour of the moths which are able to hear their
sounds. This contradicts the claim in the passage, and is not
the answer.
(C) is also irrelevant to the given statement, because it
refers to the sound made by the moths, and not about the
reflection of the sound made by the bats.
If (E) were true, it will weaken, and not strengthen the
given statement.
SET 2
Answers
1.A 2.A 3.D 4.E 5.D 6.E 7.A 8.A 9.A 10.C
Analysis
1. We learn from the given narration that the range of
water temperature (meaning the difference between the
highest temperature in summer and the lowest temperature
in winter) in the portion of the Emerald river below the dam
had been reduced from 50º (prior to the construction of the
dam) to 6º (after its construction).
We also learn that, two decades after the construction of
the dam, it has been found that none of the eight fish species
native to the river are reproducing adequately below the dam.
The author states that scientists have hypothesized that
“sharply rising river temperatures” (resulting in a larger
temperature difference) is required to signal the native fish
species to begin the reproductive cycle, and that it is the
narrowing of the temperature difference after the construction
of the dam that is responsible for the reduction in the
population of these fish species in the river below the dam.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
would most strengthen the scientists’ hypothesis.
(A) says that, in the side streams of the river below the
dam, where the annual temperature range remains
approximately 50º, the native fish species continue to
reproduce as before. If this is true, it can be concluded that
the major factor in the reproductive capacity of the native
fish species is the wide range of temperature difference in the
water, thereby strengthening the scientists’ hypothesis. So,
(A) itself is the answer.
(B) will imply that it is the existence of backwaters, and
not an adequate temperature difference that is needed for the
breeding of the native fish species in the Emerald river. If
this is true, it will weaken, and not strengthen, the scientists’
hypothesis. So, (B) is not the answer.
While the scientists’ hypothesis relates to “sharply rising”
water temperature, (C) talks of the lowest recorded
temperatures before and after the construction of the dam.
So, (C) by itself does not either strengthen or weaken the
scientists’ hypothesis, and is not the answer.
187
If (D) is true, it will itself form a valid and alternative
explanation for the reduction in the population of native fish
in the Emerald river, and will weaken the scientists’
hypothesis. So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) is just a factual statement, and neither strengthens nor
weakens the scientists’ hypothesis. So, (E) is not the answer.
2. (Antibiotics are drugs that kill bacteria.) The first part
of the narrative says that routine use of antibiotics can give
rise to resistant bacteria that are capable of surviving any
further administration of antibiotics, and that the presence
of such resistant bacteria in people is probably due to their
having used such antibiotics repeatedly.
The second part says that some scientists believe that this
is not the real cause, but that most of the resistant bacteria
in people are derived from their consumption of bacterially
infected meat.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
will most significantly strengthen the belief of these scientists.
(A) says that antibiotics are routinely included in livestock
feed to increase the rate of growth of animals. If this is true,
it could result in the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
in the meat of these animals, and consequently in the people
who consume such meat. Thus (A) itself strengthens the belief
of these scientists, and is the answer.
Even if (B) is true, it means that it is not the eating of
bacterially infected meat, but the subsequent administration
of the antibiotics to get rid of the poison from the infection,
that causes the development of resistant bacteria in people.
This strengthens what is stated in the first part of the
narrative, and not the belief of the scientists. So, (B) is not
the answer.
Since it is not the “quality of meat” that is at issue, but the
presence of resistant bacteria in it, (C) is not relevant to the
belief of the scientists.
(D) strengthens not the scientists’ belief but what is stated
in the first sentence of the passage, and is not the answer.
If the claim of the livestock producers mentioned in (E) is
true, it will weaken, and not strengthen, the scientists’ belief.
So, (E) is not the answer.
3. {You should understand that the first sentence gives
Panovich’s conclusion, but the second sentence (which is the
view of the author) refutes it.} The only evidence on which
Panovich argues that dinosaurs (the huge animals which lived
on earth millions of years ago) were cold-blooded is that
dinosaur teeth (which have been discovered in archaeological
explorations) exhibit annual growth rings just as those of
percent day crocodiles which are cold-blooded.
The author, in the second sentence, refutes this conclusion
by stating that desert bighorn sheep (which are warm-
blooded) also exhibit annual growth rings in their teeth, and
therefore Panovich’s conclusion is incorrect.
We have been asked to spot that choice that would
strengthen Panovich’s reasoning.
Now, we can agree with Panovich, provided there is some
other valid explanation why desert bighorn sheep exhibit
annual growth rings in spite of being warm-blooded.
(D) says that warm-blooded animals exhibit annual growth
rings in their teeth only if they are living in areas with extreme
seasonal variations in temperatures, whereas cold-blooded
animals (such as dinosaurs) exhibit such rings wherever they
live. If this is true, this gives a valid explanation why desert
bighorn sheep (which live in deserts where the temperature
is very high in summer and very low in winter) exhibit annual
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
growth rings in their teeth in spite of being warm-blooded. In
this case, the objection to Panovich’s theory by the author of
the passage will not be valid. So, (D) is the answer.
4. According to the passage, there are two methods of
producing ethanol – from sugarcane and from corn.
The former method requires more energy than the latter,
but yet the producers prefer the former method.
We have been asked to spot the choice which gives a valid
reason for such preference, in spite of the higher energy
requirement in the case of the former.
When will this preference of the producers be justified?
Obviously when, in spite of the higher requirement of energy,
the overall cost of producing ethanol from sugarcane is less
than that in the second method.
Among the choices, it is (E) which provides this reason,
since the required additional energy can be obtained
practically free of cost by burning the sugarcane residue.
So, (E) is the answer.
5. What the scientists wished to show was that (i)
hummingbirds pollinate only red flowers, and that too only
during day, and (ii) hawk moths pollinate only white flowers,
and that too only during night.
Their contention will be strengthened if red flowers which
are covered during day, and white flowers which are covered
during night, do not get pollinated. It is (D) which says this,
and is the answer.
6. If the census had been perfect, and the separated
husband and wife were both living in the US, then the number
of separated men must be equal to the number of separated
women. (Because of the law of bigamy in the US, a separated
man or woman cannot remarry, unless there is a legal divorce,
in which case each of them would be counted as divorced and
not as separated).
It is explanations II and III which will account for the fact
that the census recorded more number of separated women
than of separated men.
I is not relevant for the census of separated couples.
So, (E) is the answer.
7. From the fact that Luis has just seen two ravens, the
author predicts that the next bird that Luis sees will also be
a raven.
This assumes that there are more than two ravens in the
vicinity, and that they fly in close formation, or in flocks. It is
(A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) in fact, will weaken the author’s prediction, because, if
it is true, there will be a considerable time-lag before the
next raven comes into the field of vision of Luis, and, in the
meantime, other types of birds may pass by her.
(C) says that ravens are seen only occasionally, and not
frequently, in Luis’ state of residence, and this will again
weaken, and not strengthen, the author’s prediction.
(D) neither strengthens nor weakens the author’s prediction.
(E) does not imply that the next bird that Luis sees will
only be a raven and not any other species.
8. If the total number of contributors to the Alliance is 100
at present, 70 of them have enrolled by seeing three
advertisements in the Grange Report.
By advertising in 9 more issues, the president of the
Alliance hopes to increase the number of contributors to at
least double this number, namely 140.
188
So, she assumes that the potential number of contributors
among the readers of the magazine is not less than 70 + 140
= 210
This means that, according to her, the advertisements
which appeared in the three issues were noticed by less than
one third (namely 70) of the potential contributors to the
Alliance (210 plus).
So, (A) is the answer.
None of the other choices strengthens the expectation of
the president.
9. The given statement says that the political power of
retired people will expand faster than their numbers.
We have been asked to spot the choice which does not
support this statement.
The given statement will be valid only if a number of people
who had not taken any interest in politics before their
retirement start taking such interest after their retirement.
Any choice which states the opposite of this will be the one
which does not support the given statement.
(A) says that people who had not taken interest in politics
before their retirement are not likely to take interest in it even
after their retirement. If this is true, it will weaken the logic
of the given statement. So, (A) is the answer.
All the other choices support the statement in the passage,
and do not weaken it.
10. The question implies that, of the five given choices,
four represent a benefit to the farmers arising from the new
cloning technique, and only one choice does not represent a
benefit. We have been asked to spot this particular choice.
(A) will be beneficial to farmers, since they will then have
much quicker access to superior strains of plants.
Since identical copies of a plant are likely to grow at fairly
uniform rates, (B) means that farmers will find it less difficult,
or more easy, to care for them; this is also beneficial to the
farmers.
If (C) is true, genetic uniformity among the plants grown
by a farmer would enable the diseases and pests to spread
rapidly, and will adversely affect his economic interests. So,
it is (C) which is not only not beneficial, but is even detrimental
to farming, and is the answer.
Since identical clones will be uniform in size, (D) will also
be beneficial to the farmers.
(E) enables desirable traits being introduced in the clones,
and will again be beneficial to the farmers.
SET 3
Answers
1.A 2.A 3.B 4.B 5.A 6.A 7.D 8.B 9.D 10.B
Analysis
1. The belief till recently was that Y causes Z. It has since
been seen that both Y and Z are often observed to be preceded
by X. The suggestion in the new report is that it is X, and not
Y, that causes Z.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would best
support the suggestion in the new report.
The new suggestion will be strengthened if a number of
cases are observed in which Z has directly followed X, without
there being an occurrence of Y in between.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) and (C) would strengthen the old theory that Y causes
Z, and not the new theory that X causes Z.
(D) merely means that X causes Y, but does not give any
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
information about whether X or Y causes Z.
(E) can be an argument equally in favour of both the old
and the new theories, and does not specifically confirm the
new theory.
2. The last two sentences of the passage together mean
that laws requiring employers to provide parental leave and
day-care centers for children would lead to ‘happier, better-
adjusted families’ because such laws would decrease the stress
levels of employees who have responsibility for small children.
We have been asked to locate a statement which will
strengthen this conclusion.
The statement that will strengthen this conclusion is one
which asserts either that more stress levels result in unhappy
families, or less stress levels result in happier families. (A)
states the first, and is the answer.
(B) does not relate the higher stress level to unhappiness
in the family, and therefore does not support the conclusion
in the last two sentences in the passage.
The other choices also do not relate the stress level of
employees to the happiness in their family lives.
3. The author first gives the factual information that the
average age and average years of experience of race drivers at
Indianapolis race increased every year between 1965 and 1980.
He then attributes such increase to the fact that high-speed
racing drivers were living longer than their predecessors, and
this, in turn, was because race-car safety features had reduced
the severity of the crashes of the kind which used to result in
the deaths of race drivers earlier.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would
strengthen this conclusion of the author.
If, because of improvement in the race tracks or in the
design features of the racing cars, the number of accidents
that occurred on the race tracks had diminished substantially
between 1965 and 1980, then the reason why race drivers
are living longer now must be attributed to these factors, and
not to the race-car features that had reduced the severity of
the crashes of the kind that used to be fatal to the drivers
earlier. So, the choice that strengthens the author's conclusion
must be the one that states that there has been no significant
reduction in the number of major crashes on the race track. It
is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
If (A) is true, and these younger drivers had lost their lives
in these accidents, the average age of race-drivers must have
increased and not decreased during this period. So, (A) even
contradicts a factual information given in the narration, and
is not the answer.
(C) refers to the age of persons attempting to qualify as
race car drivers, and not to those who have actually become
such drivers, and is not the answer.
(D) talks of accidents on highways in USA, and is irrelevant
to a conclusion about race track safety.
If the reduction in the fatalities in racing is attributable
to the factors mentioned in (E), it would weaken the conclusion
of the author, and not strengthen it. So, (E) is not the answer.
4. Three trends are mentioned in the given statement: (i)
the research and development expenditure in the
pharmaceutical industries has been going up, (ii) the number
of new drugs invented and patented has come down steadily,
and (iii) profits of the pharmaceutical industry have been
steadily increasing.
We have been asked to spot the single choice which will
explain, at least partly, all these three trends.
189
(A) will explain only (ii).
(C) and (D) will explain only (i).
(E) is not relevant to any of the three trends.
(B) mentions that there is still a large market for some
drugs, and this explains (iii).
(B) also says that research competition has increased
among different pharmaceutical companies, which means
that the research staff can exploit this situation to demand
much higher salaries and amenities. This explains (i) also.
(B) also says that, because of its high cost, research is now
being restricted to only a few drugs for which there is a large
market. This explains (ii) also.
So, (B) is the answer.
5. The passage may be summarized as follows: “In America,
Black Americans as well as White Americans consume the
same type of food. Yet, studies show that Black Americans
are more prone to high blood pressure than White Americans.
In Africa itself, westernized Black Africans and the White
Africans take more or less the same type of food. Again, the
former are more prone to high blood pressure than the latter.
From these facts, researchers hypothesize that high blood
pressure results when a group of people who have been fed
for generations on low salt food (meaning Black Africans in
general) suddenly take to high-salt food.”
We have been asked to spot the choice which relates to the
present-day westernized Black Africans and which would
confirm this hypothesis.
We should therefore look for that choice which says that
westernized Black Africans who have descended from people
who have had salt-rich diet for generations continue to have
low blood pressure.
Of the choices, (A) gives an instance of the former, and is
the answer.
(B) talks of the general population, and not of westernized
Africans, and is not the answer.
(C) does not state whether the blood pressure level of these
persons subsequently came down or not, and is therefore not
the answer.
(D) refers to the general Yoruba population, and not to the
westernized ones among them, and neither confirms nor refutes
the researchers’ hypothesis.
(E) refers to people whose food habits have not changed,
whereas the hypothesis concerns those whose food habits have
changed in this generation. So, (E) also neither confirms nor
refutes the researchers’ hypothesis.
6. The author first states that, on the basis of a study of
the ratio of the number of rider injuries to the number of riding
hours of each of the two brands of cycles Xylo and Zenon
during the period 1981-84, a consumer agency had concluded
that Xylo was safer than Zenon. (This implies that this ratio
was smaller in the case of Xylo than in the case of Zenon.)
He then states that, since 1985, the number of injuries
among the riders of Xylos has been twice as great as the
number of injuries among the riders of Zenons, and then
asserts that, consequently, the agency’s conclusion would have
been different for the period subsequent to 1985.
This conclusion could either be that both Xylo and Zenon
are equally safe, or Zenon is a safer cycle than Xylo.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
support the author’s claim.
Note that the consumer agency’s conclusion was not based
on the actual number of injuries to riders of Xylo and Zenon,
but on the ratio of the number of rider injuries to the number
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
of riding hours on each brand. Therefore, if the agency’s
conclusion had to be different for the period after 1985, the
ratio of the number of rider injuries to the number of rider
hours in the case of Xylos must have been equal to or greater
than the corresponding ratio in the case of Zenons.
If, for example, the number of rider injuries and the
number of riding hours in Xylos had been 100 and 1000
respectively, and the number of rider injuries and the number
of riding hours in Zenon had been 50 (half as that in Xylos)
and 400 respectively, the ratio in the first case would have
been 1/10 and the ratio in the second case would have been 1/
8. In this case, Xylo would still be considered to be a safer
vehicle than Zenon, and there would be no change in the
consumer agency’s conclusion.
But if the figures had been 100 and 1000 in the case of
Xylo, and 50 and 500 in the case of Zenon, then the
corresponding ratios would be 1/10 and 1/10, and the
conclusion of the consumer agency would have been that both
cycles were equally safe.
If the figures had been 100 and 1000 in the case of Xylo,
and 50 and 600 in the case of Zenon, the corresponding ratios
would be 1/10 and 1/12 respectively, and the consumer agency
would have concluded that Zenon was safer than Xylo.
So, while asserting that the conclusion of the consumer
agency would be different for the period since 1985, the author
is assuming that the number of riding hours for Zenon was
at least half the number of riding hours for Xylo.
It is (A) which says this, and is the answer.
(B) looks like a possible answer, but is wrong because it
does not mention the number or ratio of riding hours on each
cycle.
7. The assertion in the given passage is that people often
make irrational decisions, without analyzing which choice
would bring them maximum benefits and minimum harm.
The given question implies that, of the five choices, four
constitute evidence in support of this assertion, while the fifth
either weakens the assertion or is irrelevant to it. We have
been asked to identify the last one.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
the decision taken is rational, and is likely to bring maximum
benefits and minimum harm to the person taking that
decision.
(A) gives an instance of an irrational decision which is likely
to harm the decision maker, and is not the answer.
(B) is also an instance in which the decision maker is taking
an unnecessary risk, and is not the answer.
(C) is also an instance of a person taking a potentially
dangerous decision in spite of being cautioned by others, and
is not the answer.
An illustration of (D) is a person preferring to go in a
crowded road by a bicycle than by a bus, on the assumption
that more number of people are likely to be hurt if there is an
accident to the bus. This decision is irrational because a cyclist
is more likely to be involved in an accident on a crowded road
than a bus is. So, (D) is also an illustration of an irrational
decision, and is not the answer.
(E) is what any cautious or rational person should do, and
does not form an illustration of the author’s assertion that
people often take irrational decisions. So, (E) is the answer.
8. (“Temperance movement” means the movement that
supported the prohibition of alcoholic drinks.) The first
sentence mentions a fact: that about 80% of the towns in New
York State had banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in 1846.
190
The first part of the second sentence then refers to the
traditional assertion that it was the residents of the remote
rural areas in the State who were the supporters of the
temperance movement during the mid-nineteenth century. The
second part of the second sentence mentions the conclusion
that, on the contrary, the supporters of the temperance
movement were concentrated in “centers of economic
opportunity”.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
best support the latter conclusion.
(A) talks of what happened during the second half of the
nineteenth century, whereas the conclusion drawn in the
article is about the situation in the mid nineteenth-century.
Moreover, (A) does not also throw any light on whether the
support for the temperance movement during this period was
in the remote rural areas or in the centers of economic
opportunity. So, (A) neither supports nor refutes the conclusion
drawn in the article, and is not the answer.
(B) states that support for the ban on alcohol was strongest
in those towns of New York State where the economy was
based on new, growing industries. Since the areas where the
economy was based on new, growing industries would have
been the same as those which were the centers of economic
opportunity, (B) strongly supports the conclusion reached in
the article, and is the answer.
(C), in fact, supports the traditionally held view that
support for the temperance movement was mainly among
residents of the rural areas, and contradicts the conclusion
reached in the article. So, (C) is wrong.
(D) implies that it was not support to the temperance
movement, but opposition to the temperance movement, that
had been concentrated in the centers of economic opportunity.
This also contradicts, and does not support, the conclusion
reached in the passage. So, (D) is wrong.
(E) also contradicts the conclusion drawn in the article,
and does not support it.
9. The statement in this question has been phrased in a
deliberately confusing manner. The author first says: People
first predict that a certain result will not take place unless a
certain action is taken. They then believe that their prediction
was correct if the prescribed action was taken and the
predicted result also takes place.
The author then disagrees with this belief (as can be
understood from the use of the word “however”) because,
according to him, the result can admit of more than one
interpretation.
We have been asked to identify that choice which supports
this claim of the author.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
the linking of a particular action with a particular result, or
the linking of the absence of a particular action with the
absence of a particular result may not always be correct.
It is (D) which throws doubt on the correctness of such a
linkage, and is the answer.
10. Mr. Primm’s argument is that teaching hospitals are
very expensive to run and, therefore, if hospitals depend only
on profits for their survival, teaching hospitals will cease to
exist.
He implies that it is not possible for teaching hospitals to
charge high enough fees to cover their cost.
Ms. Nakia disagrees with Primm, and argues that teaching
hospitals attract the very best physicians, and also treat non-
routine cases successfully.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
But these two arguments of Nakia, by themselves, do not imports. This gives a possible reason why, as a last resort,
meet Primm’s point that teaching hospitals will find it difficult the industry has seen it fit to raise the issue of national security
to balance their budgets. in support of its petition. So, (C) is the answer.
The additional argument that will meet Primm’s point is The other choices do not explain why this particular
that, because teaching hospitals attract the very best of industry should emphasize the national security aspect while
physicians, they are capable of treating non-routine cases pleading for its own interests.
which command a high price. This would enable the teaching
hospitals to increase their revenue and balance their budgets. 3. The reason given by the local board of education why
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer. physics classes no longer attract high school students is that
None of the other choices meets Primm’s argument. the current physics curriculum has little direct relevance to
today’s world.
SET 4 It is in order to rectify this defect that the board has
Answers proposed a curriculum that emphasizes the principles of
physics involved in producing and analyzing visual images.
1.D 2.C 3.E 4.B 5.E 6.C 7.B 8.B 9.E 10.D
We have been asked to locate that choice which provides
Analysis
the strongest reason to expect that the new curriculum will
1. What we have been asked to do is to spot that choice
be successful in attracting students.
which can provide evidence for determining whether physical
Since the reason for the present curriculum not attracting
fitness helps one react better to stress.
students is that it is irrelevant to today’s world, the new
We should therefore look for that statement among the
curriculum, to be successful in its aim, must be relevant to
choices which cites an instance of a person’s capacity to face
today’s world.
situations of stress having either increased or decreased after
In other words, the production and analysis of visual
a period of physical fitness training.
images, which the new curriculum emphasizes, must be
(A) does not mention how many among the men and how
relevant to today’s world. The correct choice must therefore
many among the women who participated in the laboratory
be the one which emphasizes this point.
tests had earlier undergone the program of aerobic exercises.
(E) states, “In today’s world, the production and analysis
So, (A) does not furnish the required evidence.
of visual images is of major importance in communication,
(B) looks like a plausible answer, but is wrong because it
business and recreation”. This means that a person who has
says that a group of men who underwent a weight-lifting
studied this subject is likely to obtains a job easily in these
training program for six-months encountered fewer stressful
fields. Therefore, it is choice (E) which provides a strong
situations during a subsequent period. This does not help us
reason to expect that the proposed curriculum will be
to state whether the weight-lifting program had improved
successful in attracting students, and is the answer.
their capacity to cope better with the stressful situations when
While (A) is true, it will not, by itself, persuade students
they actually encountered them.
to study physics, unless it is known that producing and
(C) talks of persons who had undergone a course in
analyzing visual images is relevant to today’s world. Since
‘relaxation techniques’ and is irrelevant to this passage which
(A) does not state this, it is not the answer.
is concerned with ‘physical fitness’.
(B) is a general statement about ‘technology used in today’s
(D) specifically refers to a group of college students who
world’, and does not explain why the new physics curriculum
showed a markedly reduced reaction to stressful events after
should lay particular emphasis on the principles involved in
training in aerobics for six months. Thus (D) furnishes
producing and analyzing visual images. So, (B) is not the
evidence for concluding that physical fitness really helps one
answer.
to react better to stress. So, (D) is the answer.
(C) merely implies that the school administering the new
(E) says that persons with high self-esteem participated
curriculum may save some money, but it does not explain
more in physical exercise programs than persons with low
why the students should opt to study physics under the new
self-esteem. This statement does not provide evidence on
curriculum.
whether physical fitness helps one to face situations of stress
(D) merely restates the problem, which is the reason why
better. So, (E) is not the answer.
the board of education had decided to change the curriculum,
but this choice makes no reference to the proposed solution
2. (Industries in USA want their government to restrict
which lays special emphasis on visual images laid in the new
imports from abroad, so that indigenous industries are able
curriculum. So, (D) is not the answer.
to have unfettered business locally. The ‘petition for import
quota’ in the last line of the passage means ‘request to the
4. The given narrative states that the proposed legislation
government to impose restrictions on imports’). Normally,
(i) seeks to substantially raise the minimum wages to be paid
when petitioning for import quotas, the machine-tool
to employees, and (ii) will simultaneously exempt, for the first
manufacturing industry should have stressed commercial
time, all small business from paying any minimum wage.
aspects as well as the need for protecting the employment
The narrative then expresses surprise why small business
opportunities for local citizens in the industries. But the
groups are still lobbying to get the legislation defeated.
passage says that the industry had raised the issue of national
We have been asked to locate that choice which would best
security in its petition for import quotas.
explain why small business groups are opposed to the new
We have been asked to spot the choice which gives a
legislation even though, on the face of it, it is beneficial to
plausible explanation as to why the machine tool industry
them because it exempts them from paying even the existing
raised the national security issue.
lower statutory minimum wage for the first time.
Among the choices, (C) states that the other grounds that
(B) says that, in order to attract workers, small businesses
had been raised earlier by the industry did not convince the
must match the wages offered by their larger competitors,
government of the need for imposing quotas for machine-tool
and that these larger competitors have to necessarily pay the
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
higher minimum wages stipulated under the new legislation.
This implies that, though the new law would not compel small
businesses to pay the higher minimum wages, the market
conditions would force them to do so. As a result, the proposed
legislation would harm small businesses. Thus, (B) best
explains the rationale behind the opposition of small
businesses to the proposed legislation, and is the answer.
(A), by itself, should lead to the conclusion that small
businesses would support the new legislation which exempts
them from paying the minimum wage. It does not explain
why they are opposing it. So, (A) is not the answer.
The absence of information about the number of small
businesses that will benefit by the exemption cannot by itself
explain why small business groups are against the proposed
legislation. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) refers to state legislation and not to federal legislation,
and is irrelevant to the given issue.
The narrative says that ‘small business groups’ are
lobbying to defeat the proposed legislation. If service
companies make up the majority of small businesses as stated
in (E), this implies that they are also an important part of
these lobbying groups. (E) does not explain why they are
opposing the new legislation when it should, in fact, be more
beneficial to them than to the other small businesses. So, (E)
is not the answer.
5. (A cluster of commercials means a group of consecutive
commercial advertisements.) The second statement says that
television viewers are able to recall the first and the last in a
cluster of advertisements more easily than they can recall
the other advertisements broadcast in between.
The first statement says that the proportion of brand names
covered in TV advertisements that the viewers are able to
recall is slowly decreasing.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
would render the second statement a logical conclusion of
the first.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
the proportion of the number of intermediate advertisements
to the number of first and last advertisements has been
showing an increase recently. It is (E) which implies this,
and is the answer. (E means that, if the average number of
advertisements in a cluster was, say 5, till recently, it has
been increased to, say 9, now. If so, viewers would have been
able to recall 2/5 of the advertisements earlier, while they
are now not able to recall only a reduced proportion of 2/9 of
the advertisements.)
6. The question implies that, of the five given choices, four
constitute valid reasons why treatment in an emergency room
costs more than treatment in a physician’s private office, and
the remaining one does not constitute such a reason. We are
asked to identify this choice.
You can easily see that (A), (D) and (E) are valid reasons
why hospital emergency room treatment is costlier.
(B) is a valid explanation why treatment in a private
physician’s office is cheaper.
(C) compares the variety of illnesses treated in emergency
rooms and by private physicians, but does not give a reason
why, when the same illness is treated in an emergency room
and by a private physician, the former should be costlier. So,
(C) is the answer.
7. In the light of the information given in the narration,
the question asks us to spot that choice which is a factor which
192
explains the disparity between the wages in the auto and
garment industries.
A manufacturer is not likely to increase the wages of his
workers if such an increase is likely to make a big dent in his
profit margin. If, for example, the wages form only 4% of the
selling price of $1000 of a car (or just $40), an increase of
25% in the wages will reduce his profit by only $10 out of a
sale price $1000.
But, if the wages form 60% of the selling price of $100 of a
garment, or $60, an increase of 25% in the wages will reduce
his profit by $15, out of a sale price of only $100. So, it is this
aspect which can be an important contributing factor to the
low wage levels in the garment industry.
So, (B) is the answer.
(A) talks of the variations in wages within the garment
industry and within the auto industry, and is not relevant to
the issue which deals with variation in wages between the
workers in the garment industry and the workers in the auto
industry.
You can easily see that none of (C), (D) and (E) mentions a
factor which is relevant to the existence of the disparity in
wages between auto and garment industry workers.
8. (An incumbent member means a sitting member.) The
author’s claim is that since incumbent members of the
Congress get a lot of press publicity, and are also entitled to
free mail privileges and generous travel allowances, they enjoy
an overwhelming advantage over their challengers in elections
for the United States Congress.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
best supports this claim.
(A) says that incumbent Congressmen had met with a
larger number of lobbyists than the challengers did during
the last congressional election. Since nothing had prohibited
the challengers also from meeting with an equal number or
more of lobbyists, (A) by itself does not support the claim that
the incumbents enjoy an overwhelming advantage over the
challengers, and is not the answer.
The author’s claim is that the incumbents enjoy an
overwhelming advantage over their challengers in the
elections for the US Congress. If 98% of the incumbents in
the Congress who were seeking re-election actually won the
election, as stated in (B), it will certainly be a conclusive proof
of the existence of such an advantage. So, it is (B) which
strengthens the author’s claim, and is the answer.
The fact that incumbent members of the Congress are often
critical of the attention given to them by the news media
implies that, much of the time, such media attention is adverse
to them. If so, the author’s contention that such media
attention gives them an overwhelming advantage over their
challengers will be weakened, and not strengthened. So, (C)
is not the answer.
(D), if true, in fact weakens, and does not strengthen, the
claim of the author that incumbent members have an
overwhelming advantage over their rivals. So, (D) is not the
answer.
Since 98% of the incumbent members actually getting
elected is a much stronger proof of their advantage over their
contenders than 78% of them having hoped to win the
elections, (E) is not a better answer than (B).
9. After indicating in the first sentence that, at present,
government relies more on general tax revenue than on
passenger fares to finance public bus and train service, the
author argues that, to be fair, the users should be made to
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
meet the full cost of running these services through increase SET 5
in fares if necessary, since it is only the users who benefit Answers
from public transportation.
1.D 2.C 3.B 4.E 5.A 6.E 7.D 8.D 9.C 10.D
We have been asked to identify that choice which
Analysis
constitutes a principle underlying the author’s argument.
1. The passage implies that there is a shortage of teachers
Obviously, the principle that the author relies on is that
in public schools at present.
general tax revenue should be used only for purpose which
In the first sentence, the author makes a categorical
benefit the general public, and not for purposes which benefit
statement that the primary reason for this shortage is not
only a section of the public. It is (E) which states this, and is
the toughening of the hiring standards (meaning prescription
the answer.
of higher qualifications for appointment). In the next
(A) would imply that the more the number of people using
sentence, he makes an equally categorical statement that the
a public service, the more should be the amount of government
primary causes for such shortage are: (i) there have been no
financial support for that service. This would contradict, and
improvements in working conditions of teachers in recent
not form the basis for, the author’s argument that transport
times; and (ii) the salaries of teachers have not kept pace
users should pay all the operating costs of the transportation
with salaries in other professions.
service. So, (A) is not the answer.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
(B) would imply that, if the operating cost of a
most support the author’s statements.
transportation service is high, the government should restrict
(A) implies that many teachers already in the profession
that service. This is not what the author of the passage says.
had been recruited on the basis of lesser qualifications than
His argument is that government can provide as much service
what have been prescribed at present. This statement neither
as is necessary, provided the cost of such service is recovered
supports nor disproves the author’s contentions, and is not
from its users. So, (B) is not a necessary assumption in the
the answer.
author’s argument.
(B) merely implies that the new recruiting regulations are
Both (C) and (D), in fact contradict, and do not form the
being strictly enforced. This also neither supports nor
basis for, the author’s argument.
disproves the author’s thesis, and is not the answer.
(C) and (E) both cite new recruiting standards as a reason
10. The given narrative is: Since the export of vanilla beans
for the shortage of teachers. These weaken and not strengthen
from a particular island in the Indian Ocean had dropped
the author’s theory that tougher recruitment standards are
drastically after the secret formula of the soft drink Voltage
not the primary reason for the shortage of teachers.
was changed, analysts have concluded that the original secret
(D), if true, confirms the author’s theory that the shortage
formula of Voltage contained vanilla from these beans and
of teachers is due to inadequate pay scales and unsatisfactory
the new formula does not.
working conditions. So, (D) is the answer.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
would most strengthen the conclusion of the analysts that
2. The author’s conclusion is that there is a critical early
the earlier formula of Voltage contained vanilla as an
period in the life of a living being (namely, the very first weeks
ingredient.
after it was born) when the living being must be exposed to
If (A) is true, and if this second island has started to
light for it to develop normal vision for the rest of its life. He
successfully compete with the first island in exporting vanilla
draws this conclusion from experiments in which one of the
beans to the rest of the world, it will form a different and
two eyes of newborn kittens or monkeys were covered with
probably valid explanation for the drop in the export of vanilla
patches for two weeks and they never developed normal vision
beans from the first island. So, (A) weakens, and does not
for the rest of their lives.
strengthen, the conclusion of the analysts that the drop in
His argument will be strengthened if it can be proved by
vanilla export from the first island was only due to the change
experiment that, once normal vision has already been
in the formula of Voltage. So, (A) is not the answer.
developed during such a critical early period, subsequent
(B) will also constitute another different and valid
wearing of a patch over the eye does not affect the future vision.
explanation for the drop in the export of vanilla beans from
(C) describes an experiment which proved this, and is the
the Indian Ocean island, and will weaken, and not strengthen,
answer.
the conclusion of the analysts. So, (B) is not the answer.
(A) talks of adult men and women, and neither strengthens
(C) will also constitute another different and valid
nor weakens the author’s argument.
explanation for the drop in the export of vanilla beans from
(B) is already an assumption contained in the argument
the Indian Ocean island, and will weaken, and not strengthen,
of the author, and does not add to the strength of his
the conclusion of the analysts. So, (B) is not the answer.
argument.
The given narrative states that the export of vanilla beans
(D) is wrong, since ‘young children’ is too vague an
from the Indian Ocean island has drastically come down ever
expression and may mean the age of one day to 7 years.
since the formula of Voltage was changed. Choice (D) says
(E) is in fact a conclusion that can be drawn from the
that, simultaneously, the import of vanilla beans has dropped
author’s argument, and is not an independent evidence to
in countries where Voltage is made. (D) will obviously
support his argument.
strengthen the conclusion of the analysts that the original
secret formula of Voltage had contained vanilla, while the
3. According to the passage, the reason why some residents
new formula does not contain it.
of large cities move to small towns and small cities is that
So, (D) is the answer.
they are fed up with big government. Their objections against
(E) will also independently constitute a valid explanation
‘big government’ are that (i) big government is unresponsive
for the drop in export of vanilla beans from the Indian Ocean
and (ii) it interferes with their lives.
island, and will weaken the conclusion of the analysts. So,
We have been asked to identify the choice which will imply
(E) is not the answer.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
that moving to a small town will not, by itself, solve these
problems.
Obviously, the correct choice is the one that would imply
that, even after moving into small towns, these people will
have to continue to deal with the same type of government
agencies.
(A) refers to people who have decided to continue to live in
big cities, and is not the answer.
(B) says that the government agencies which are often
perceived as being unresponsive are national agencies whose
policies are uniform across the nation, meaning that they are
the same in large cities as well as in small towns. If this is
true, moving into small towns is not a solution for the problem
of having to deal with unresponsive government agencies.
So, (B) is the answer.
(C) talks of migrants from rural areas to small towns, while
the given passage refers to migrants from big cities to small
towns. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) would imply that there is no problem at all in big cities,
and this contradicts the very basis of the given narration,
and is not the answer.
(E) does not talk of government interference at all, and
can be rejected for that reason.
4. (A county is a geographical unit similar to a municipal
ward in India). From the statistics that the incidence of
encephalitis is least in counties which had the greatest number
of TV sets per hundred persons, the researchers have
concluded that the persons in these counties stay indoors
more, and thus are less exposed to the mosquitoes which only
thrive outdoors and which cause this disease.
We have been asked to select that statement among the
choices which will strengthen this conclusion.
The mere possession of TV sets by itself does not mean
that people spend more time indoors than outdoors, unless
this fact is supplemented by the information that the persons
in this county also watch TV for a longer hours per day than
those in the other counties which have less number of TV
sets per capita. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) is wrong because it does not even mention the number
of TV sets per capita.
(B) implies that the occupations of county residents is more
outdoors than indoors, but it does not connect the number of
TV sets per capita to the incidence of the brain disease. So,
(B) is not the answer.
(C) may be the result of other protection measures taken
independently by the authorities of the county, and may not
at all be related to TV watching by the citizens. So, this choice,
by itself, does not strengthen the conclusion of the researchers.
(D), in fact, contradicts the conclusion of the researchers,
because it implies that encephalitis will be least prevalent in
counties in which people spend more time outside their homes.
5. According to the author, the similarity in the use of verbal
patterns (including the frequency of specific words and
recurrence of certain phrases) in four known works of an
author, and in a work of uncertain authorship establishes that
the same author wrote all the five works.
We have been asked to identify that choice which, if true,
most strengthens the conclusion of the author.
(A) says that no two authors are likely to display similar
verbal patterns in their works. If this is true, the fifth work
which displays verbal patterns similar to the four works of
the known author could not have been written by anyone else,
and must have been written only by that author himself.
194
Obviously, (A) strengthens the author’s conclusion, and is the
answer.
Since the author does not refer to meanings of words and
phrases, (B) is irrelevant to the conclusion of the author.
(C) would imply that the authorship of an unknown work
cannot be determined on the basis of similarity of verbal
patterns with known works of an author. This, if true, would
weaken, and not strengthen, the conclusion of the author. So,
(C) is not the answer.
(D) implies that some verbal patterns will occur in every
work irrespective of who its author is. If this is true, works by
different authors will also exhibit the same verbal pattern.
This will weaken, and not strengthen, the conclusion of the
author. So, (D) is not the answer.
The author’s conclusion is based on the assumption that
word choice is a conclusive indicator of authorship. (E)
contradicts this, and therefore weakens the conclusion of the
author. So, (E) is wrong.
6. The first sentence states that, as an energy source, wood
is preferable to coal, oil and gas because of the consideration
of cost. The second sentence says that, nevertheless, wood
will never supply more than a modest (or small) fraction of
the nation’s energy needs.
We have been asked to spot that choice which does not
support this claim.
The choice must therefore be one which gives a valid reason
why wood is capable of supplying a considerable portion of
the energy needs of US.
Among the choices, it is (E) which gives such a reason and
is the answer.
All the other choices will strengthen the claim of the author
that wood will never be able to supply more than a small
fraction of the nation’s energy needs.
7. In the first sentence, the author states that, in the early
1980’s, many makers of car radiators switched over from
copper to aluminum because aluminum was then cheaper
than copper.
In the next sentence, he first gives the information that
aluminum prices have risen sharply this year, but predicts
that, in spite of such increase, radiator manufacturers are
not likely to revert to copper, because car makers have used
aluminum radiators to design better-performing cars, and are
likely to insist on the continued use of aluminum radiators
in spite of their higher price.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would
support the prediction of the author, but for a different and a
more valid reason.
If the price of aluminum radiators goes up because of the
increase in the price of aluminum, and if all car makers
continue to use aluminum radiators, the price of all cars will
go up simultaneously. So, the buyers’ preference for a lower
priced car will play no role in the radiator manufacturers’
anticipated decision either to stick to aluminum or to revert
to copper. So, (A) is not a valid reason that would support the
author’s prediction. So, (A) is not the answer.
If (B) is true, it will give an added reason for the radiator
manufacturers to revert to copper, and will contradict the
author’s prediction that the radiator manufacturers are likely
to continue to use aluminum. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) implies that a great majority of car owners who have
been used to better performing cars (whose design had been
made possible because of the use of lighter aluminum
radiators) come to value superior performance highly, and
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
are therefore likely to insist on the continued use of aluminum We have been asked to locate that statement among the
in spite of its higher price. This is the same reason given by choices which does not support this argument.
the author for his forecast, and is therefore not the answer. (D) means that State support can be given only to artists
(D) says that this year’s high aluminum prices reflect a who already have gained public approval. If this is true, this
temporary shortage, and that its prices are likely to collapse weakens the given argument, because the same artist cannot
and stabilize at levels even below those of the early 1980’s. If have two basically contradictory styles. So, (D) is the answer.
this is true, it is obvious that radiator manufacturers will (A) strengthensthe last sentence in the argument, and is
continue to use aluminum for economical reasons, thereby not the answer.
confirming the author’s forecast. (D) thus gives a much more (B) strengthens the second sentence in the argument, and
valid reason to support the author’s prediction than what is not the answer.
has been given in the passage. So, (D) is the answer. (C) follows from the first and second sentences and is not
Whether radiator manufacturers had reduced the price of the answer.
their products or not in early 1980’s is not relevant to their (E) also is a restatement of the second sentence, and is not
present option either to continue to use aluminum in spite of the answer.
its present higher price or to revert to copper. So, (E) does not
constitute a reason for the continued use of aluminum in spite SET 6
of its present higher prices. So, (E) is not the answer. Answers
1.D 2.C 3.B 4.A 5.D 6.B 7.D 8.D 9.D 10.D
8. From the fact that the weekly spendable earnings of
Analysis
nonsupervisory workers in the private sector has steadily
1. The narration refers to the recent proposal of a number
declined during the 1970’s, the author draws the conclusion
of writers that ‘our ancestors were influenced by visits from
that economic disparity among various classes in the USA
extra-terrestrials (meaning creatures from other planets), and
has been widening.
that it is these visitors who had built such monuments as the
The author’s argument would be weakened if someone
pyramids of Egypt.
points out that the weekly spendable incomes of supervisory
We have been asked to spot that choice which will
workers and owners of companies have also declined equally
constitute the strongest evidence in favour of this proposal.
or more during this period, because it would mean that the
(A) will, in fact, contradict the proposal, since it would mean
disparity either remains as it was, or is in fact getting
that our ancestors were themselves capable of building these
narrowed down. If, on the other hand, it is pointed out that
monuments and had probably done so.
there has been no decline in the earnings of supervisors and
Since all structures (including those built by us during
owners during this period, the author’s argument would be
our own generation) generally point to the sky, (B), by itself,
strengthened. Thus, (D) is the answer.
cannot prove that such structures were built by extra-
(A) is irrelevant to the argument, and neither strengthens
terrestrial visitors.
nor weakens it.
While (C) may be an argument in favour of the theory of
(B) can be said to strengthen the argument, only if it is
visits by extraterrestrial beings to various parts of the earth,
simultaneously mentioned that the earnings of supervisors
it cannot by itself lead to the conclusion that monuments such
and owners have either increased or remained the same.
as pyramids were built by them.
(C) and (E) would in fact weaken the author’s argument
(D) is the answer, since it would mean that our ancestors
that the trend was most noticeable in the 1970’s.
did not possess the technology which would have enabled them
to build these monuments by themselves and, therefore, these
9. What the author says is that robots will not only
monuments must have been built by persons who had visited
eliminate jobs, but will also diminish the quality of working
the earth from other heavenly bodies.
life, even in factories where they do not eliminate all the
(E) also has the same effect as (C), and cannot prove that
workers.
pyramids were built by extraterrestrial visitors.
This argument of the author will be strengthened if it is
shown that, even where robots do not eliminate all the
2. The passage says that forestry experts are beginning to
workers, they take over all the jobs which the workers usually
question the policy of attempting to extinguish all forest fires
find enjoyable, and leave for the workers those jobs which
instead of allowing some of them to run their course. This is
the workers find difficult or boring, thus diminishing the
based on the observations about the results of forest fires
‘quality of working life’ of the workers. It is (C) which states
which have indicated that their effects may, in the long run,
this, and is the answer.
be beneficial to the overall ecology of the forest.
(D) weakens the conclusion that robots diminish the
We have been asked to spot that choice which could be one
‘quality of working life’ of the workers.
of the ‘observations’ which had persuaded the forestry experts
None of the other choices has a nexus with the ‘quality of
to come to their conclusion.
life’ of the workers, and is the answer.
(A) mentions the cause of most forest fires, and does not
give a reason why some of these fires, once they start, should
10. The question implies that four of the five given choices
be allowed to ‘run their course’. So, (A) is not the answer.
strengthen the given argument, while the remaining choice
(B) may constitute a reason for not extinguishing the forest
either weakens it, or is irrelevant to it. We have been asked to
fires in order to save human lives, but not in order to preserve
spot this remaining choice.
the overall ecology of the forest, which is the concern of the
The argument in the statement implies that one artist who
forestry experts. So, (B) is not the answer.
is supported by the State and another artist who has to please
(C) says that frequent small forest fires prevent the
the public for earning his income would have basically
accumulation of highly flammable dead brushwood and
different styles, the former resorting to self-indulgence and
timber, which can subsequently support massive,
waste, and the latter catering to the pleasure of the public.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
uncontrollable fires. It is obviously the observation of such imagination.
small fires that has persuaded the forestry experts to conclude (A) refutes the hypothesis and does not support it, and is
that not all forest fires are harmful to the ecology of the forest, not the answers.
and that the small fires are in fact beneficial to it, and should (B) furnishes evidence that chiru was, in fact, one of the
be allowed to run their course. So, (C) is the answer. inhabitants of the river valley at some time in the past. If the
(D) and (E) do not constitute reasons why some fires should fossil that has been discovered is 16,000 years old, it is quite
be allowed to run their course. possible that the species had lived in that valley during the
next 100 years also, in which case the artist could have
3. The ‘paradox’ mentioned is that, even though Japanese personally seen it. So, it is (B) which strengthen the given
factory owners have to continue to pay the workers the earlier hypothesis, and is the answer.
rates of wages even after they install ‘labour-saving’ (C) and (D) neither support nor weaken the hypothesis that
machinery, they still find the installation of such machinery the particular artist who had drawn the chiru had actually
advantageous. seen it.
We have been asked to spot that choice which logically The hypothesis is not that the artist had painted the
explains why this is so. Himalayan chiru, but that he had painted the chiru that he
When ‘labour-saving’ machinery is installed in one section was familiar with. The given narrative does not say that the
of the factory, the employees in that section have to be painting is identical with the Himalayan chiru, but only says,
retrained to work in some other section, and such retraining “it seems to resemble the chiru, a rare antelope of the
results in expenditure to the management. But, if the labour- Himalayas”. So, the fact that the antlers (the horns) in the
saving machinery increases the productivity of the factory painting are longer than those of the Himalayan chiru neither
and yields an additional profit which is more than the cost of supports nor weakens the given hypothesis. So, (E) is not the
such retraining, then the installation of the machinery is answer.
advantageous to the owners.
(B) states just this, and is the answer. 7. To support his argument that colour-tinting of movies
The other choices do not resolve the ‘paradox’ of factory which had been originally photographed in black and white
owners installing labour-saving machinery and willing to is inappropriate, the author gives the reason that, if the
continue to pay the employees their earlier wages. movies had been originally filmed in colour, hundreds of the
original artistic choices would have been made differently. As
4. The view expressed in the passage is that all members one of the artistic choices, he mentions the lighting on the
of a community are interdependent, and, therefore, any sets, which had been so arranged that highlights and shadows
particular member cannot argue that, if he does not protect looked right in black & white. He thereby implies that the
himself against accidents or illnesses, none else in the lighting parameters are different for black & white movies
community suffers thereby. and colour movies.
We have been asked to spot that choice which would We have been asked to locate that choice which gives a
strongly support this view. similar illustration to support the author’s argument.
(A) states that the cost of avoidable accidents and illnesses We should therefore look for another of the artistic choice
increases the insurance rates for everyone. If this is true, a that had been made keeping the requirement of black and
person who exposes himself voluntarily to accidents or white filming in view.
illnesses affects others also adversely. Therefore (A) itself Choice (D) says that makeup for the artistes in the old
supports the argument of the author, and is the answer. movies had been applied so as to look best in black and white
(B) contradicts the author’s view, and is not the answer. films, implying that they significantly differ from the makeup
(C) says that a life without minor risks may be boring to that has to be applied if the movie is to be shot in colour. If
the person concerned, and does not say how one person taking this were true, giving colour tinting to these films will not
such risks will affect other persons. So, it neither strengthens give the best results, and such tinting will indeed be
nor weakens the author’s view, and is not the answer. inappropriate. So, (D) is the answer.
(D) is also irrelevant to the author’s view, and is not the While (A) also gives a reason why colour tinting is not
answer. appropriate for black & white films, it does not ‘lend the same
(B) weakens the author’s view, and is not the answer. type of support’ to the argument of the author as the one
given by him.
5. The main point in the argument is that, because of The other choices are obviously inappropriate.
extensive inbreeding, the elephant seals all have a genetic
uniformity and are thereby in greater danger of becoming 8. (‘Egregious’ means ‘glaring’. ‘Tuition’ means ‘tuition fee’)
extinct (meaning ‘ceasing to exist’) than any other species. The given narrative first says that, in Borkland University,
This implies that genetic uniformity is not desirable in any $ 4.2 million worth of scholarship stipends were unclaimed
species of animals, and that those species, in which members last year, even though a large number of promising students
are genetically different from one another, have a better chancewere in need of scholarships but could not fulfill the criteria
of survival (because a disease which destroys those with a stipulated for them.
particular genetic property cannot kill others without that It therefore draws the conclusion that the qualifying
genetic property). (D) is what states this, and is the answer. criteria of many of these scholarships must be revised.
The other choices are not related to the consequences of We have been asked to identify that choice which will
‘inbreeding’. strongly support this conclusion.
The solution for (A) is that the availability of the
6. We have been asked to identify that choice which scholarships should be given wide publicity. (A) does not
supports the hypothesis that the artist had painted the chiru therefore call for any change in the qualifying criteria, and is
from personal knowledge of its features, and not out of pure not the answer.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
(B), if true, will require an increase in the funds earmarked
for the scholarships, and not any change in their qualifying
criteria. Therefore, (B) does not strengthen the conclusion in
the narrative.
(C) means that the problem mentioned in the narrative is
not real and there is, therefore, no need for any change in the
qualifying criteria. It weakens, and does not strengthen, the
given conclusion.
If (D) is true, and if those scholarships had earlier been
earmarked for certain fields of study which are no longer
offered by Borkland University, it is obvious that, for these
funds to be utilized, the conditions relating to those
scholarships must be revised. So, it is (D) which strongly
supports the conclusion in the narrative, and is the answer.
(E) would imply that it is not worthwhile revising the
criteria at a huge cost. This will weaken the conclusion in the
narrative, and will not strengthen it.
9. The first sentence says that, instead of the usual prison
sentences, approximately 5000 people convicted of non-violent
crimes in the state have been given community-service
197
sentences.
We have been asked to identify that phrase among the
choices which could have been the major contributory cause
for the introduction of such a community-service sentence
instead of a prison sentence in the state.
The direct result of the community-service program is a
substantial reduction in the number of persons who had to be
accommodated in prisons. Its introduction was, therefore,
most probably prompted by the overcrowding of prisons in
the state. So, (D) is the answer.
The other choices do not give a plausible reason why
community service sentence was awarded instead of the usual
prison sentence in the case of this type of offenders.
10. If the trail of volcanic craters and cinder cones were
formed when the continental mass slid westward over a
stationary plume, earlier craters must be on the western side
of the trail, while later craters must be on the eastern side of
the trail.
So, it is (D) that follows logically from the given passage,
and is the answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 7
'COMPLETION' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.E 2.B 3.B 4.E 5.A 6.E 7.B 8.C 9.B 10.E
Analysis
1. The use of word “because” preceding the blank implies
that we should identify that choice which gives a logical reason
why new managers are more likely to successfully accomplish
the task of terminating the failing projects than the old
managers are.
(A) will be a logical conclusion to the sentence if the
intention is to save the project, and not if the intention is to
terminate the project.
(B) would also be appropriate if the task of the new
manager is to overcome the problems and enable the project
to survive, and not when his task is to terminate the project.
The passage is about the appointment of a new manager
after a final decision has been taken to terminate a failing
project. (C), which talks of action to be taken before the decision
is taken to terminate a project, cannot therefore be a logical
conclusion to the second sentence.
(D) gives a possible reason why the project had got into
difficulties, and may be a possible conclusion to the passage
if the intention were to save the project (by appointing a more
competent manager who can foresee any future problems)
instead of to terminate it.
When a project shows symptoms of failing, the normal
reaction of the original managers (who had been in charge of
its implementation) will be to put the blame on others, and
ask for additional resources to keep the project alive. These
managers will usually advance reasons to justify why the
project should be maintained and not terminated. Obviously,
a decision taken by the management to terminate the project
will not be implemented by the old managers wholeheartedly.
On the other hand, a new set of managers can successfully
accomplish the task because they have no need to justify the
earlier decision to maintain the project. So, (E) is the most
logical completion to the given paragraph, and is the answer.
2. The first two sentences imply that, in buying a premium
(meaning expensive) product, people are motivated by a desire
to be associated with something special.
The first part of the next sentence says that, while trying
to market such premium products, “mass-marketing
techniques and price-reduction strategies should not be used”.
We have been asked to identify the choice which gives a
valid reason behind this advice.
If the motivation that impels people to buy a product, in
spite of its being expensive, is that they want to be associated
with something special, we can deduce that many of them
would not buy that product if it becomes commonplace and
cheaper. This means that continued sales of such a product
depends on preserving the special nature of the product, or on
“the maintenance of an aura of exclusivity” as stated in (B).
So, (B) is the answer.
(A) would, in fact, contradict the advice because, if affluent
purchasers are a shrinking proportion of the population of
purchasers, reduction of prices and mass-marketing
techniques would increase the sales of the product, and are
therefore desirable business strategies.
(C) would also contradict the advice because, if the
prospective purchasers are concerned about the price,
198
reduction in price would increase the sales, and would not be
an undesirable business strategy.
(D) would also contradict the advice because, if the
expansion of the market niche will increase profits, one should
advocate mass-marketing techniques, and not advise against
it.
(E) would also contradict the advice, because achieving
more sales of such a premium product through mass-
marketing techniques would be more profitable, and should
be supported and not opposed.
3. The first sentence of the narrative says that most
participating countries favoured uniform control over the
quality of the effluents, whether or not specific environmental
damage could be attributed to a particular source of effluent.
The second sentence says, “What must, of course, be shown,
in order to avoid excessively restrictive controls, is that ....”.
The concluding part of the sentence must therefore be that
choice which is an illustration of the avoidance of excessively
restrictive controls.
(A) talks of the need for quick implementation of any
control that is adopted, and does not form an illustration of
the avoidance of excessive controls. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) says that it must be shown that any substance that is
made the subject of controls can actually cause environmental
damage. If this stipulation is made, it is only the damage-
causing effluents that will be subject to control, and harmless
effluents which do not cause damage to environment will not
be subjected to the proposed controls. This will certainly
result in the avoidance of excessively restrictive controls. So,
(B) is the answer.
(C) will merely ensure that even those countries which
are presently generating the largest quantities of effluents
are conscious of the need to control environmental damage.
So, (C) will not result in the avoidance of excessively restrictive
controls, and is not the answer.
(D) implies that some quantity of a pollutant that is now
generated may not actually be reaching the North Sea at
present, while the remaining quantity is reaching the North
Sea. If so, what is required, in order to combat environmental
threats to the North Sea, is that even that limited quantity of
this pollutant that presently reaches the North Sea must be
controlled. So, the statement in (D) that control over any
pollutant must be exercised only if it is shown that the entire
quantity of that pollutant reaches the North Sea is not logical.
So, (D) is not the answer.
(E) is obviously irrelevant to the avoidance of excessive
restrictive controls on future pollution, and is not the answer.
4. (The word ‘objectivity’ means ‘truth’ or ‘neutrality’.) In
the first sentence, the author says that critics often question
the objectivity of government-owned news media (such as
State-owned TV networks), because such media are usually
financially dependent on the government. In the next sentence,
he says that the critics’ point is that one cannot take an
objective view of one’s patron.
In the first part of the last sentence, he says that the same
point applies in the case of privately owned news media also,
because “privately owned news media ....”
We have been asked to spot that choice which best
completes the last sentence.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
We must therefore look for that choice which implies that
the privately owned news media also depend financially upon
the patronage of a limited number of persons or groups, and
such news media also cannot be objective while reporting the
news about these persons or groups, or about subjects in which
these persons or groups have vested interests.
Among the choices, it is only (E) which states this, and is
the answer.
(A) would only imply that news gathered by privately
owned news media may be incomplete, but does not constitute
a reason why privately owned news media may not be
objective. So, (A) is not the answer.
(B) talks of the relative security of employment in privately
owned and government-owned news media, and is not
relevant to their relative objectivity. So, (B) is not the answer.
(C) by itself does not constitute a reason why the privately
owned news media may not be objective, and is not the answer.
(B) will, in fact, strengthen the critics’ point of view, and
not the contrary view of the author (as can be guessed from
the use of the adverb ‘However’) in the last sentence, and is
not the answer.
5. The last sentence in the paragraph must follow logically
from the previous sentence.
Henry Miller, according to George Orwell, wrote the way
many ordinary people talked, and, like the ordinary people,
he shrugged off the contradictions of life. Where he stood
apart from them was in his piercing clarity which was
revolutionary. He lived till the ripe old age of eighty-eight.
During the long years of his writings (which, because they
were written in the same way as was spoken by people), he
had converted the people to his ways of thinking, particularly
in relation to politics. What was revolutionary when he started
writing had thus become the common attitude of the middle
class, mostly because of his writings.
Among the given choices, it is (A) which is the logical last
sentence for the paragraph, and is the answer.
(B) is wrong since Orwell has been mentioned only in the
first sentence, and there is nothing in the subsequent
sentences which can logically connect him to the last sentence.
(C) is wrong since we hear nothing about the contradictions
of life after the second sentence, and it cannot suddenly recur
in the last sentence.
(D) is wrong because what Orwell said was that Henry
Miller wrote in the way many ordinary people talked, and
there is nothing in the subsequent sentences to show that
Miller had changed his style later.
(E) is a factually wrong statement, since the penultimate
sentence says that, by the time Miller was eighty-eight,
ordinary people shared Miller’s views.
6. This is a very clever question and the answer, which at
first glance is surprising, is (E).
A moment’s reflection would tell you why the paintings
will be true images of the subjects in spite of the painter’s
astigmatism.
This is because, in the eyes of the painter, the paintings
will also be as distorted as the subject as seen by him.
Therefore, for the viewers who do not have a defective vision,
the painting will be a true image of the original, and will
reproduce the actual proportions!
7. In claiming that it is losing millions of dollars through
illegal and free copying of programs, the computer industry
is obviously assuming that, if such copying is not allowed, all
199
those who have copied their programs illegally would be
purchasing them after paying their price. In the first sentence
of the passage, the author says that this estimate is greatly
exaggerated, and goes on to say that most of the illegal copying
is done by people with no serious interest in the programs.
The obvious inference from this statement is that, if paying
for these programs is the only way of obtaining them, most of
these illegal copiers (who have no serious interest in them)
will not purchase them at all, and the real loss of revenue to
the computer industry because of such illegal copying is,
therefore, much smaller than estimated. It is (B) which
imparts this meaning to the last sentence, and is the answer.
8. The last sentence starts with the phrase ‘The clearest
example of this defensive strategy is the fact that .....”. The
previous two sentences explain the defensive strategy as that
of ‘established companies’ who tend ‘not to be innovative
themselves and tend to underestimate the effects of the
innovations of others’. The author implies by the phrase ‘tend
to underestimate the effects of the innovations of others’ that
such companies would come to grief by such shortsightedness.
Among the choices, the most appropriate illustration of a
company that came to grief on such basis is (C), which talks
of a ‘once-successful’ manufacturer of slide rules who reacted
to the introduction of electronic calculators by not entering
the electronic calculator market themselves, but by producing
better slide rules. (We now know that slide rules have become
museum pieces within two decades.) So, (C) is the answer.
(A) does not imply that the manufacturers of ballpoint pens
and soft-tip markers are different from the manufacturers of
fountain pens. Nor does it say that fountain pens have become
totally outdated. On the contrary, they are now being
marketed as ‘luxury’ or ‘prestige’ items at higher prices. So,
(A) is not an illustration of what is stated in the first two
sentences of the passages, and is not the answer.
(B) talks of two innovations by the same manufacturer (of
which one failed), and is not an illustration of one established
manufacturer underestimating an innovation by another new
manufacturer, and is not the answer.
(D) talks of a product intended for one category of
consumers being used also by another category of consumers,
and is not an apt illustration of the author’s viewpoint.
(E) refers to a product aimed at one category of consumers
that has become much more popular with another category
of consumers, and is not an apt illustration of the author’s
viewpoint.
9. An obvious illustration of the proposition that ‘greater
risk must be offset by the chance of greater rewards’ is the
demand of a higher rate of interest on unsecured loans than
on loans backed by collateral. So, (B) is the answer.
Obviously none of the other choices illustrates the
proposition so aptly.
10. The first two sentences state that cars fuelled by
methanol have much lower levels of emissions of carbon
monoxide and environmentally harmful hydrocarbons than
gasoline-fuelled cars, but have somewhat higher level
(meaning only a slightly higher level) of emission of
formaldehyde than gasoline-fuelled cars.
The first part of the next sentence concludes that,
nevertheless, a methanol-powered car actually produces less
atmospheric formaldehyde pollution than a comparable
gasoline-powered car.
The use of the conjunction ‘because’ implies that the
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
missing portion of the sentence should give a valid reason
why it is so.
(E) points out that, while methanol-powered cars emit
formaldehyde directly, most formaldehyde pollution generated
by gasoline-powered cars results from the photochemical
conversion of other hydrocarbon emissions into formaldehyde
in the atmosphere. Combining this information with the
statement that methanol-powered cars emit much lower levels
of hydrocarbons than gasoline-powered cars do, and only a
somewhat higher level of formaldehyde, we can come to the
conclusion that a methanol-powered car actually produces
less atmospheric formaldehyde pollution than a comparable
gasoline-powered car. So, (E) is the most appropriate ending
to the last sentence of the passage, and is the answer.
You might have been tempted to choose (A) as the answer.
But (A) only says that formaldehyde pollution is a less serious
threat to environment than carbon monoxide and some
hydrocarbons, but does not give a reason why a methanol-
powered car produces less formaldehyde pollution than a
comparable gasoline-powered car.
You can easily verify that all the other choices are very
much wide off the mark.

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 Analysis - Chapter 8
'EVIDENCE ANALYSIS' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.D 2.A 3.A 4.C 5.C 6.E 7.C 8.B 9.B 10.C
Analysis
1. From the first sentence, we can say that the persons
who have the least risk of contracting type A influenza are
either (i) those who had already been attacked by it once, or
(ii) those who had been vaccinated against it.
(D) mentions the first group, and is the obvious answer.
None of the other choices mentions either of these two
categories of persons.
2. The fear of the insurance companies is that the amount
covered by the claims may be more than the premium income,
leading to losses to them.
The best way to minimize such possible losses is to make
the policies attractive enough for a large number of people
who are not likely to submit claims immediately to join the
scheme. Attracting ‘middle-aged’ customers, as suggested in
(A), is the best way to achieve this purpose. So, (A) is the
answer.
The proposed policy is specifically intended to cover the
services required by elderly people who are likely to suffer
from diseases that affect the elderly. The fact that a person
had not suffered serious diseases as a child does not mean
that, when he grows old, he will not be affected by diseases
which generally affect the elderly. So, (B) will have no impact
on the losses of the insurance companies either way, and is
not the answer.
(C) and (D) will add to the losses of the companies if their
pay-out continues to be more than their premium income.
The question whether the insured persons are rich or poor
will make to difference to the quantum of losses incurred by
the company if its pay-outs are more than its premium
income. Moreover, the very purpose of insurance is to help
persons with less income to get the best medical benefit. So,
(E) is also wrong.
3. The second sentence of the given narrative asserts that
both a rising standard of living and a balanced trade are
required for establishing a country’s ability to compete in the
international marketplace.
We have been asked, based on the above, to identify that
choice which would form a proper test of the country’s ability
to be competitive.
Obviously, the proper test is the country’s ability to achieve
both a balanced trade and a rising standard of living
simultaneously. (A) itself states this, and is the answer.
All the other choices lack either one or both of these criteria,
and are wrong.
4. There are two ways of selling beverages (i) in throwaway
bottles, and (ii) in recyclable containers (meaning containers
(such as bottles) which can be collected back from the
consumers and used more than once).
US laws require that beverages must be sold only in
recyclable containers. Some people object to this law on the
ground that this law makes the manufacture of beverages
more expensive, because the collection and transport of the
used bottles from the consumers requires gasoline (petrol),
and washing them clean requires water.
201
What is implied in this criticism is that the law would
result in an increase in the beverage prices.
The third sentence starting with ‘However’ represents the
view of the author. He counters the argument given in the
second sentence by pointing out that the quantity of water
needed for washing the used bottles is much less than the
quantity of water needed to manufacture throwaway
containers, and also that the saving in the cost of this water
is more than the cost of the gasoline needed to transport the
used containers.
If what the author states is true, then the use of recyclable
bottles is cheaper than the use of throwaway bottles, and
therefore the law objected to by some people will not lead to
an increase in beverage prices. So, (C) is the answer.
5. (A) is wrong, because it would further deplete the number
of young shrimps that go out into the sea, and would reduce
the shrimp harvest in South Atlantic still further.
(B) will not only not add to the number of shrimps that
migrate into the sea, but may even reduce the shrimp harvests
in the sea still further, because of the limitation on the number
of fishing trips.
(E) is wrong, because there has been no ban at any time
against recreational fishermen moving out into the open sea,
and so the question of allowing them to move into the South
Atlantic now does not arise.
So, the answer is either (C) or (D).
The passage says that young shrimps usually live in
estuaries where they mature, and move into the sea after
they mature. So, the best method to increase the shrimp
harvest in the sea is to allow all young shrimps to mature in
the estuary and then migrate to the sea, and not allow any of
them to be caught by the recreational fishermen. Since even a
fully grown shrimp is only about 4 inches long, the young
and immature ones will be much shorter. So, a regulation
that recreational fishermen should use only large mesh nets
(meaning nets with large holes) in estuaries will help all the
young shrimps to escape from the nets, so that they can
subsequently mature and migrate into the sea. So, (C) is the
best method to help increase the shrimp harvest in the sea,
and is the answer.
It is only after the fish that are caught are landed that the
recreational fishermen would know what types of fish or
shrimps have been caught in his net. By that time the fish or
the shrimps would have died. So the suggestion in (D) of
‘putting an upper limit on the size of the shrimp that
recreational fishermen are allowed to catch’, by itself, does
not make sense. In fact, (C) mentions a practical way of
implementing the suggestion in (D), and is the better answer.
6. The passage says that the biggest threat to the burn
patients is from various types of bacteria. Therefore the best
protection is to keep the patient away from any possible
bacterial infection.
So, keeping the burn patients in a maximally sterile
environment is the most effective precaution to enhance the
effectiveness of the standard treatment.
(E) is what states this, and is the answer.
While the suggestions in the other four choices are also
desirable ones, they fall short of meeting the ‘biggest threat’
to the burn patient, namely from the bacteria.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
7. The given passage means that, if the cost of production
of a radio in country Y is $100 and its cost of production in
country Q is only $90, then, even after the transportation fees
and tariff charges are added, the radio produced in country
Q can be sold in country Y for less than $ 100.
We have been asked to spot that choice which is best
supported by the given information.
The given information means that the tariff charges on
the radio produced in country Q, but sold in Y, is less than
$10 (which is 10% of its cost of production in country Y).
It is (C) which says this, and is the answer.
8. The problem faced by the ocean freight industry,
according to the given passage, is that, in spite of the increase
in the speed of ships and their reduced fuel consumption while
at sea, the industry’s economics has grown worse.
The author of the passage says that this is because the
real cost of operation of the ships is not incurred while they
are travelling in the sea, but when they are remaining idle in
the ports during loading and unloading of the cargo.
We have been asked to spot that choice which is likely to
solve the problem faced by the industry.
Obviously, the effective solution must be one that reduces
the time spent by the ships at the ports during the loading
and unloading operations.
Among the choices, it is only (B) which would result in an
improvement in the speed of the loading and unloading of
cargo, thereby reducing the time in the port, and is the answer.
The actions in the other choices will not result in the
reduction of time spent in ports which has been identified as
the major cause of the industry’s unsatisfactory economics,
and will not lead to a solution to the problem faced by the
industry.
9. Bravo Airlines grants free-travel coupons to frequent
travellers as an incentive to retain them as its clients, and
expects the recipients of the coupons to use them for their
own flight trips. If these coupons are sold to others at a price
less than the actual airfare, Bravo Airlines loses its revenue,
since these travellers would otherwise have purchased tickets
from it paying their full price.
The obvious way of discouraging the sale of such coupons
by their recipients to third parties is to stipulate that the
coupons can be used only by those to whom they were awarded,
or by their close relatives. It is (B) which states this, and is
the answer.
(A) will make the airline unpopular with its regular
passengers, while not eliminating the misuse of the free
coupons awarded. So, it is not only not a solution to the
problem, but may result in Bravo Airlines losing even some
of its regular frequent-flying clients.
(C) also will not eliminate the problem, because the illegal
202
purchasers of the coupons can still use them on the permitted
days, which also happen to be the busy weekdays.
(D) and (E) will not also eliminate the problem, because
the illegal purchasers of the coupons could still use them
subject to these conditions.
10. We can understand from the given passage that,
normally, a resident of State X has to pay income-tax for each
year at a specified rate of the total taxable income earned by
him during that year. But, if his income in a particular year
has exceeded his average income of the previous three years
by over 40%, he has to pay a lower rate of tax on a part of his
income, and the prescribed higher rate only on the remaining
part. Such a person will therefore have to pay less tax than
another person who had the same amount of income during
that year, but which did not exceed 40% of his average income
during the previous three years. This procedure is given the
name “income-averaging”.
We have been asked to identify that group among the given
choices who would be most seriously affected if the procedure
of income-averaging is discontinued.
We should, therefore, look for that choice which mentions
a group of persons whose income in the current year is at
least 40% more than their average income during the previous
three years.
In the case of the person in (A), this year’s income will be
less than the average of the previous three year’s income. Such
persons will not be entitled to the benefit of “income-
averaging”, and its discontinuance will therefore have no
adverse effect on them. So, (A) is not the answer.
In the case of the persons mentioned in (B), the current
year’s income will be the same as the average of the previous
three year’s income, and they will therefore not be entitled to
the benefit of “income-averaging”. So, its discontinuance will
not have any adverse effect on them either. So, (B) is not the
answer.
(C) refers to persons whose income this year is 100% more
than their average income during the previous three years.
So, they will be eligible for the benefit of “income-averaging”,
and its discontinuance will result in their having to pay the
higher rate of tax on their full income for the year. So, the
group in (C) will be most adversely affected by such
discontinuance. So, (C) is the answer.
(D) refers to persons whose income this year is less than
their average income during the previous three years. So, they
will also not be entitled to the benefit of “income-averaging”,
and its discontinuance will not affect them adversely. So, (D)
is not the answer.
The current year’s income of the group of persons in (E)
will be equal to their average income during the previous three
years. So, the “income-averaging” does not apply to them, and
its discontinuance will not affect them adversely. So, (E) is
not the answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 9
'RELEVANCE' QUESTIONS
SET 1 in measuring the productivity of the postal workers. So, we
Answers can say that he will doubt the truth of the statement that the
quality of the service rendered can be ignored while computing
1.C 2.D 3.B 4.A 5.E 6.C 7.E 8.D 9.E 10.B
productivity. So, (D) is the answer.
Analysis
If the author had doubted the truth of the proposition that
1. (‘Custom-made’ means ‘made especially to suit a
postal workers are representative of service workers in general,
particular person after taking his measurements’ as contrasted
he would not have cited the example of postal workers for
with ‘readymade in standard sizes’.) The first part of the
asserting his view that correctly measuring the productivity
narrative says that custom-made prosthetic bone
of service workers is complex. So, (A) is not the answer.
replacements (produced through a computer-aided design
If the author had doubted the truth of the statement that
process) cost more than twice as much as ordinary
the delivery of letters is the primary activity of the postal
replacements.
service, he would not have said that losing of letters and
The second part of the narrative says that in spite of such
delaying the delivery of letters should also be taken into
higher price, the custom-made replacements are still cost
consideration while assessing the productivity of postal
effective, because they last longer, thereby reducing the need
workers. So, (B) is not the answer.
for further hospital stays.
By citing the example of postal workers as a category, and
We have been asked to identify that choice which contains
not of individual postal workers, the author shows that he
a proposition that should be studied in order to evaluate the
believes, and does not doubt, the statement that productivity
argument given above.
should be ascribed to categories of workers and not to
We can surmise from the given narrative that both the
individuals. So, (C) is not the answer.
custom-made replacement and the ordinary replacement of
The author does not imply that the number of letters
the prosthetic bone last for only limited periods (the former
delivered is not at all relevant to measuring the productivity
for a longer period than the latter), and that the patient will
of postal workers. He only implies that this is only one
have to undergo repeated periodical surgeries for implanting
measure of their productivity, and that two other measures
a fresh replacement. So, if the custom-made replacement is
which should also be taken into consideration are the number
considered to be still cost-effective in spite of its price being
of letters lost and the number of letters delayed. So, we cannot
more than double that of the ordinary replacement, its higher
say that his argument is based on doubts about the truth of
price must be offset by a considerably less number of
(E). So, (E) is not the answer.
additional times that the patient will have to undergo the same
surgery, and be hospitalized therefor. Among the choices, it
3. The first part of the given statement only talks of the
is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
percentage rates of decline of the costs of the logic device and
(A) does not distinguish between custom-made replacement
memory device. On this basis, the conclusion is arrived at
and ordinary replacement, and is not the answer.
that, at the end of three years, the cost of the average
The author’s argument is based on the present high price
computer memory device will have declined by a greater
of the custom-made replacement. (B) and (E), which talk of
amount than the cost of the average computer logic device.
possible future reduction in these prices, are not relevant to
We have been asked to spot that choice which represents
the evaluation of his argument.
an information that is relevant for evaluating the correctness
(D) talks of the relative care with which the ordinary
of this conclusion.
replacements and the custom-made replacements are
If the initial costs of these two devices were $1000 and
produced, and is not relevant to the argument of the author
$10 respectively, the decline in their costs will respectively
regarding the cost-effectiveness of the latter. So, (D) is wrong.
be $(250+187.50+140.64) and $(4+2.40+1.44). In this case,
the former will be greater than the latter.
2. The author first makes an assertion that correctly
If, on the other hand, their initial costs were $10 and $1000
measuring the productivity of service workers is complex. As
respectively, the decline in their respective costs will be
an illustration, he points out that postal workers are often
$(2.5+1.87+1.40) and $(400+240+144). In this case, the former
considered to be more productive if they deliver more letters
will be less than the latter.
per postal worker.
Therefore, unless the actual initial prices of the two devices
He questions the validity of this theory by pointing out
are known, we cannot evaluate the correctness of the given
that it may so happen that, at the same time that a postal
conclusion.
worker delivers more letters than the norm (and is therefore
So, (B) is the answer.
considered productive), he may also lose more letters than
the norm, or may delay more letters than the norm, and
4. The fact that a majority of the population have expressed
therefore cannot be considered to have become more productive.
a particular view can only mean that the legislators, when
We have been asked to identify that choice whose truth is
they vote in favour of that view, are being responsive to the
considered as doubtful by the author while raising the above
will of the public. But the passage also adds “without
objection.
alienating any special interest groups”.
After stating that it is generally believed that the
This will be true only if the special interest groups were
productivity of postal workers can be measured merely by
not part of the 17% who expressed themselves against the
the number of letters delivered per postal worker, the author
renewal of the Act, but formed part of the 80% who were in
implies in the second part of the narrative that the quality of
favour of the renewal.
the service (which is reflected in less number of letters lost,
On the contrary, if the ‘special interest groups’ were part
and less number of letters delayed) is also equally important
203
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
of the 17% who had expressed themselves against the renewal
of the Act, then the legislators who voted for the renewal will
be alienating them.
So it is (A) which will be useful to us in evaluating the
logic of the given argument, and is the answer.
The issue is regarding the renewal of the Act for future
enforcement, and so, the period it has already been in force is
of no relevance to the argument. (B) is therefore wrong.
Since the economic effect of the Act is not even referred to
in the passage, (C) is not the answer.
Even if it is assumed that the author may be trying to
influence the voting of some legislators, this assumption does
not help us in evaluating the logic of the argument. So (D) is
wrong.
(E) would have been a valid answer if the first sentence of
the passage had stated that 80% and 17% of those who
responded to the survey had voted in favour of and against
the Act respectively. But this sentence says that 80% and
17% of the public gave views as mentioned. So it is only 3% of
the public who chose not to respond. So, this small percentage
will not affect the validity of the given argument.
5. (Parakeet is a kind of parrot.) From the statement that,
in a census of parakeet owners in selected comparable
countries, the United States ranked second in the percentage
of population owning parakeets, the conclusion is drawn that
‘people’ in the United States are more likely to own parakeets
than are people in most other countries’.
We have been asked to locate that choice, the information
in which will be most useful in judging the accuracy of the
conclusion.
Note that the census was not taken in all, or even in most,
other countries, but only in selected comparable countries
(whose number is not given). Therefore, it is not possible to
straightaway arrive at the conclusion that people in the
United States are more likely to own parakeets than are
people in most other countries. To judge whether this
conclusion is true or not, we will have to know the pattern of
ownership of parakeets in countries not included in the census
already taken. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
You can easily see that the other choices are not relevant
to the conclusion that people in US are more likely to own
parakeets than are people in most other countries, and cannot
help us to evaluate this conclusion.
6. (In this narrative, the word “graduate” does not mean a
“degree holder”, but a person who has passed out of school.)
From the result of a survey which found that, on the average,
students who had attended secretarial schools lived four years
longer than those who had attended other high schools, the
author comes to a possible conclusion that attending
secretarial schools is beneficial to one’s health.
We have been asked to spot that choice the answer to which
would be most relevant for evaluating the above conclusion.
It is known (as is implies by the word “given”) that women
generally have a longer life expectancy than men. So, if a
preponderant proportion of secretarial school graduates are
women, then the phenomenon of secretarial school graduates
living longer may merely be due to the fact that most of them
are women. In this case, the conclusion mentioned in the
narrative, which attributes their longevity only to the fact
that they had gone to secretariat schools, would be baseless.
On the other hand, if a majority of secretarial school graduates
are men, the phenomenon of secretarial school graduates
living longer could possibly reinforce the conclusion that
204
attending secretarial schools is beneficial to one’s health. So,
the answer to the question in (C) would be very relevant for
an evaluation of the conclusion in the given narrative. So, (C)
is the answer.
(A) refers to the average age at which students of secretarial
schools and students of high schools graduate. Knowing the
answer of this question cannot by itself enable us to evaluate
the conclusion that attending secretarial schools enables one
to live longer. So, (A) is not the answer.
The information whether some secretarial school graduates
subsequently get college degrees will not, by itself, enable us
to evaluate the claim that attending secretarial school enables
one to live longer. So, (B) is not the answer.
The given narrative is based on information about the life
expectancy of secretarial graduates vis-a-vis that of graduates
from other high schools, and is not based on information about
the life expectancy of women secretarial graduates vis-a-vis
that of other women. So, any additional information on “what
proportion of all women attend secretarial school?” is not
relevant for the evaluation of the given conclusion. So, (D) is
not the answer.
The given conclusion is based on a differentiation between
secretarial school graduates and high school graduates. So,
the information on the proportion of high school graduates
going to secretarial schools subsequently is not relevant to
the given conclusion. So, (E) is not the answer.
7. From the fact that several of the largest senior citizens’
organizations (namely, organisations which represent the
interests of old people) are constituted almost exclusively of
middle-class elderly people, the critics hold that these
organizations are not likely to speak out on behalf of the needs
of economically disadvantaged (or poor) elderly people.
We have been asked to identify that choice which would
substantiate, or strengthen, this criticism of the attitude of
these organizations.
We should therefore look for that choice which would imply
that (i) the needs of middle-class elderly people are different
from the needs of economically disadvantaged elderly people;
and (ii) an organization which consists predominantly of
middle-class elderly people is not likely to speak out on behalf
of the needs of the economically disadvantaged elderly people.
If (E) is true, it implies that middle-class elderly people
have joined these organizations in a big way because the
purpose of these organizations has been perceived to be to
further the economic, political or social interests of middle-
class elderly people. This choice will also imply that
economically disadvantaged elderly people have not joined
these organizations because they felt that these organizations
do not advance their economic, political or social interests.
So, it is (E) which would substantiate the criticism that the
largest senior citizens’ organizations do not have a
commitment to speaking out on behalf of the needs of
economically disadvantaged elderly people, and is the answer.
Since the passage says nothing about the politics or the
location of the senior citizens’ organizations, (A) neither
substantiates nor weakens the criticism against them, and is
not the answer.
The passage implies a distinction between the needs of
middle-class elderly people and the needs of the needs of poor
elderly people. It does not imply a distinction between poor
elderly people and other poor groups within society. So, (B)
also does not either substantiate or weaken the criticism in
the passage, and is not the answer.
(C) talks of the bargaining strength of groups vis-a-vis that
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
of individuals, and does not explain why an organized group
of middle class senior citizens cannot speak out on behalf of
poor senior citizens. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) is a fact that can be inferred from the given passage,
and does not strengthen a criticism of the attitude of the
organizations.
8. From the fact that, during the period of the Second World
War, 375,000 civilians had died at home as against only
408,000 US army personnel who died overseas, the conclusion
is arrived at that it was not much more dangerous to have
fought in the war than to have stayed back in US.
The basic absurdity in this argument is that the number
of 375,000 civilian deaths was out of a total population of
USA running into a few billions (of whom a sizeable number
might have died of old age), while the number of 408,000
armed forces deaths was out of a total armed strength of just
a few millions (almost all of them in their prime age) proving
that the risk to life was much greater in the army abroad
than in civilian life at home.
In other words, while interpreting such figures, it is not
the absolute numbers of deaths that must be taken as the
criterion, but the number of deaths per thousand of each
group.
It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
The other choices do not bring out the absurdity of the
argument so forcefully.
9. What we learn from the passage is that Energy
Incorporated is a corporation which owns both Coalco, a coal
mining company, and Gasco, which owns gasoline stations.
The miners’ union has been on strike because the
management of Coalco has not agreed to the union’s new
contract proposal. The union leaders are therefore
contemplating organizing a consumer boycott against Gasco’s
gasoline stations in order to pressurize the parent corporation
to force the management of Coalco to agree to their terms.
Of the five choices, four are relevant considerations for the
union leaders to judge whether a boycott of Gasco’s gas
stations will lead to the acceptance of their demands by the
Coalco management. One of the choices is not relevant, and
we have been asked to identify this choice.
If the revenue losses suffered by Gasco because of the
proposed boycott seriously affect Energy Incorporated, the
parent organization, it will sooner or later compel Coalco
management to yield to the union’s demands. So, (A) is a
205
relevant consideration for the union for going ahead with the
proposed boycott, and is not the answer.
Gasco customers are not directly involved in the dispute.
So, if they cannot easily obtain their needs of gasoline
elsewhere, they are not likely to participate wholeheartedly
in the boycott and, even if they participate initially, the boycott
is likely to fizzle out soon. So, (B) is also a relevant
consideration for the union leaders to decide whether they
should embark on the proposed boycott. So, (B) is not the
answer.
If other miners’ unions have won contracts similar to the
one proposed by this union, it implies that the union’s demands
are not irrational or without precedent, and therefore, the
users of gasoline, who are not directly concerned with the
dispute, will lend the union moral support by agreeing to the
boycott. So, (C) is also a relevant consideration for the union
before finally deciding on the boycott.
If other unions have adopted a similar strategy earlier
against their managements and have been successful, such
success is also a relevant and encouraging consideration for
the union leaders for deciding in favour of the proposed
boycott. So, (D) is not the answer.
Obviously, the question whether other corporations which
own coal companies also own coal stations is a consideration
that is totally irrelevant to the proposed boycott of Gasco’s
gas stations. So, (E) is the answer.
10. We learn from the passage that there had been an
accident in the factory due to a problem in the control panel,
and that the problem had been mentioned earlier in a safety
inspector’s report.
But the company says that it should not be held responsible
for failing to correct the problem, because Industry Standard
No. 42 requires corrective action only when an accident arising
out of the problem is foreseeable.
We have been asked to spot that question among the
choices, the answer to which is most relevant to decide whether
the company had violated Industry Standard No. 42.
Obviously, the question must be the one that asks whether,
in this particular case, the problem in the control panel that
was pointed out by the safety inspector was of a type that is
known to indicate that an accident is likely to happen if it
was not immediately corrected.
It is (B) which asks this question and is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices are
relevant to Standard No. 42.
 Analysis - Chapter 10
'ARGUMENTATION' QUESTIONS
SET 1 We have been asked to spot the best logical evaluation of
Answers Edward’s response to Teresa’s statement from among the
choices.
1.C 2.C 3.D 4.A 5.B 6.A 7.B 8.C 9.C 10.D
The statement of Edward neither disproves nor supplies
Analysis
evidence against what Teresa says.
1. We learn from the passage that the international price
So, (A) and (B) are wrong.
of copper is less than the price at which US copper mining
While safety is important in all endeavours, we cannot
companies are able to sell their copper. The mining companies
say that an enterprise must be definitely undertaken,
therefore argue that the Government should restrict the
irrespective of its cost, just because it is safe. So, we cannot
import of copper from abroad so that the users of copper will
conclude that Edward’s statement outweighs Teresa’s
be forced to buy local copper at the higher prices, since
argument. So, (C) is wrong.
otherwise the US mining companies will not be able to stay
(D) is the answer, because, as pointed out above, Edward
in business.
does not meet Teresa’s point that the cost of manned space
On the other hand, a major consumer of copper, namely
flights is their greatest impediment and he assumes that, so
the copper wire manufacturers (who purchase as much as
long as their safety record holds, it is desirable to undertake
70% of all the copper mined by US companies) argue that, if
them.
they are forced to pay a price for local copper which is higher
Teresa’s argument is about the inherent cost of a manned
than the international price, they will not be able to compete
space flight, irrespective of whether it is undertaken with
in the international market for exporting the copper wire
government or with private funds, and she does not refer to
manufactured by them. They will, then, be compelled to reduce
the national budget at all. So, there was no need for Edward
their purchase of raw copper from the US copper mining
to argue as to whether space flight should have priority over
companies even below the present levels.
other items in the national budget. So, (E) cannot be
If both these statements are factually correct, the
considered to be a logical evaluation of Edward’s argument.
argument of the copper wire companies means that the
proposal of the mining company will not only not benefit the
4. The point made by the author in the first two sentences
mining company, and will, on the contrary, have a negative
is that government programs reduce unemployment in two
effect on the mining company’s own existing business.
ways; (i) directly through the jobs created in government itself,
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
and (ii) indirectly through the jobs created in the private
sector as a consequence of government programs.
2. The passage is: "Many pregnant women suffer from
To prove his point, he gives the example of government’s
vitamin deficiency, but this is not due to vitamin deficiency
mass-transit project which produces jobs not only in the
in their diets; most often,it is because they have higher
project itself, but also in the private sector which has to
requirements for vitamins than do the rest of the population".
produce the tools required for the project.
We have been identify the best criticism of this reasoning
He thus cites a case in which there is a relationship between
from among the given choices.
a cause (mass-transit project), and its effect (jobs created in
(A) is wrong, because the reasoning in the passage does
the private sector). So, (A) is the answer.
not require the specification of the exact percentage of
pregnant women who suffer from vitamin deficiency.
5. The author’s argument is that, since intellectuals no
(B) is wrong, because the reasoning in the passage does
longer act as advocates for oppressed groups, they can be
not require information about why pregnant women require
considered as having ceased to be ‘clarifiers of fundamental
higher does of vitamins.
moral issues’.
(D) is wrong, since the passage is only about pregnant
Obviously, he closely links the clarification of fundamental
women, and has no information about other groups which
moral issues with the advocacy on behalf of oppressed groups.
also require higher vitamin dosages.
So, (B) is the answer.
Since there is no ambiguity about the phrase ‘higher
(A) appears tantalizingly as the correct answer, but the
requirements’, (E) is also wrong.
equation of intellectualism with clarification of fundamental
So, by elimination, (C) is the answer. The phrase ‘vitamin
moral issues is the ‘widely held perception’ but the author
deficiency’ is used twice in the same sentence. In the first
differs from it. The question we have been asked is on the
instance it is used to describe pregnant women having less
author’s view, and not on the view of the general public. So,
vitamins than what they themselves need. In the second
(A) is not the answer.
instance it is used to describe diets which have less vitamins
The other choices do not explain the logical structure of
than what their consumers need. Thus the passage fails to
the passage.
employ the same reference group for both uses of this phrase,
and is its flaw.
6. The author calls the view of some people that the
economic problems of Western Europe have been caused by
3. Teresa’s argument is that manned space flight is too
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
expensive, and that the objectives of manned space flights
as nonsense, and points out that, though Great Britain is
can be achieved more economically through cheaper
not dependent on OPEC oil, it also suffers the same economic
alternatives.
problems that afflict France and West Germany.
Edward does not touch upon the cost aspect of manned
We have been asked to identify the tactic which the author
space flight at all, but says that manned space flight has a
employs to make his point.
very bright future because it is relatively safe.
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 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
Obviously, the author seeks to make his point by citing
Great Britain as a counter-example of a country which is not
dependent on OPEC oil but still suffers from the same
economic malaise that affects two other countries which are
dependent on OPEC oil. So, (A) is the answer.
Except stating that France and West Germany face
economic problems (which are similar to those of Great
Britain), the author does not analyze these difficulties. So,
(B) is wrong.
The author uses just a fact to refute the views of some
people, and does not point out any misconception in the
reasoning of those who hold the contrary view. So, (C) is
wrong.
Since no alternative explanation for the economic
difficulties of Great Britain, France or Germany is given in
the passage, (D) is wrong.
(E) is wrong because France and Germany are just paired
together, and no ‘analogy’ is drawn between them.
7. The first sentence says that Jones’s new book contains
information that is likely to destroy the reputation of persons
who have held high government responsibility during a period
of national crisis.
Any person who is interested in protecting the reputation
of these persons must therefore try to prove either that (i)
the information contained in the book is not authentic, or (ii)
that the conclusions drawn from the information are not
logical.
But the author of the letter does not talk about the merits
of the book at all, but says that Jones’s criticisms should be
dismissed only because of the two reasons that (i) Jones is
known to be generally anti-government, and (ii) that he himself
has never been in a responsible position.
Thus, the letter-writer assumes that personally attacking
the author of the book is sufficient to invalidate the information
in his book. This is the questionable technique followed by
the author.
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) is wrong, because the term “responsibility” has been
employed in the same sense in both the places where it occurs
in the passage.
(C) is a factually incorrect statement, because the letter-
writer merely says that Jones’s criticisms will convince “only
people like himself”, and does not say that such people are in
a majority.
The question is about the argument contained in the letter,
and has nothing to do with the person to whom the letter is
addressed. So, (D) is wrong.
The passage refers neither to a “cause” nor to an “effect”,
and therefore, the question of a confusion between the two
does not arise at all. So, (E) is also wrong.
8. What the author says is that, in the same manner that
a mechanical system such as a watch will be damaged by
interfering with its working, living organisms too will be
damaged when subjected to technological alteration.
He is obviously drawing an analogy between a natural
system and a mechanical device. So, (C) is the answer.
(A) is obviously wrong, because opinions of informed
observers are not referred to at all in the passage.
The analogy of a watch, cited in the passage, is not
representative of a natural system, but is representative of a
mechanical system. So, (B) is also wrong.
(D) is wrong for the same reason.
(E) is far off the mark, and can be rejected straightaway.
207
9. The argument consists of only three sentences, and we
have been asked to identify the logical weakness in the
argument. We should therefore see whether the last sentence,
which incorporates the conclusion, follows necessarily from
the previous two sentences, and if not, why not.
It is well known that the use of fossil fuels (which mean
coal and petroleum products) has been ever on the increase,
and is likely to go on increasing with the increase in
population, and with more and more countries on the road to
development. It is also known that the consumption of these
fuels does produce carbon dioxide. What the ecologists say is
that increased emission of carbon dioxide may result in
increase in the temperature of the atmosphere.
Thus, while the ecologists’ prediction is that increased use
of fossil fuel can result in increase in the atmospheric heat,
the author goes many steps further and concludes that it is
only the consumption of fossil fuels that can lead to the
increase in atmospheric heat. The author does not consider
the possibility, for example, of the atmospheric heat getting
increased as a result of other causes such as repeated nuclear
tests.
Thus, it is (C) which points out the weakness of the author’s
argument, and is the answer.
(You can also see that the other four choices are views of
the ecologists, and not arguments of ‘the author’.)
10. The first recommendation of the readers, namely,
“newspapers should emphasize events closer to the readers’
lives” really means that newspapers should not be satisfied
with purveying international and national news alone, and
that sufficient importance should be given to the coverage of
local news also.
The second recommendation is that newspapers should
also periodically publish articles about the reporters
themselves.
This has been misinterpreted by the author of this passage
to mean that the readers wanted articles about events in the
readers’ own personal lives to be written by the reporters,
along with embellishments of the reporters’ own
autobiographical details.
Thus, (D) is the answer.
SET 2
Answers
1.A 2.C 3.C 4.C 5.D
Analysis
1. The first sentence merely states that a program of steady,
moderate exercise coupled with a diet that is low in saturated
fats and cholesterol has been associated with reduced risk of
heart attacks and strokes.
From this premise, the author comes to a sweeping
conclusion that if one exercises moderately and eats only foods
that are low in saturated fats and cholesterol he will not get
a heart attack or stroke at all.
By using the phrase ‘reduced risk’, the first sentence, from
which the author draws his conclusion, does not itself rule
out the possibility of some people getting heart attacks and
strokes regardless of the diet and the level of exercise. The
author ignores this possibility while coming to his
unwarranted and sweeping conclusion.
(A) is therefore the best criticism of the author’s conclusion,
and is the answer.
You can see that none of the other choices points out the
flaw in the author’s conclusion that he arrives at based on
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
the information in the first sentence alone.
2. From the statistics that the number of farms in Otsego
county had come down from 800 in 1850 to 81 in 1988, the
author comes to the conclusion that the land in the county
that is devoted to farming has dropped by about 90 percent
in the past 140 years.
The author’s conclusion would be wrong if the 800 farms
in the county in 1850 had an average extent of only 10 acres,
while the average extent of the 80 farms in 1988 was 100
acres each. In this case, there would have been no reduction
in the land that is devoted to farming in that county.
So, the major flaw in the author’s argument is that he
ignores the possibility that the average size of the farms might
have changed during this period.
(C) is what states this, and is the answer.
3. Miko argues that since any computer software developed
by the faculty of the university is the result of their work for
which they have already been paid salary, the copyright to
the software must belong to the university and not to the
faculty.
Kofi responds to this argument by stating that a copyright
policy which is so restrictive can impede the university’s
primary mission of generating and disseminating knowledge.
We have been asked to spot that choice which mentions
the relationship of Kofi’s response to Miko’s argument.
(A) is not the answer because Miko himself presents only
an argument and does not provide evidence for it; nor does
Kofi contradict him.
(B) is wrong because neither does Miko’s argument have a
hidden assumption nor does Kofi points it out.
(C) is the answer because what Kofi does is to point out a
problematic consequence (of the university not fulfilling its
primary mission) if the copyright policy of the university is
made as restrictive as is suggested by Miko.
208
(D) and (E) are wrong because Miko’s argument is neither
circular nor a generalization from an atypical case, and Kofi
does not attempt to establish it to be one of these.
4. X says that people respond irrationally when a serious
but rare industrial accident occurs by believing that such
accidents are becoming more frequent. He draws the analogy
of a person who has been dealt four aces in a hand of poker
(which is a very rare event) believing that he will be dealt
such similar hands quite often in the future.
Y responds to X’s claim by stating that, to the contrary, the
belief of the people (that such accidents are becoming more
frequent) is rational because it ‘results in their sensing a
danger to themselves not sensed before and taking
precautionary actions to prevent similar accidents in the
future’.
We are asked to spot that choice which best describes how
Y responds to X’s claim.
Since, in his response, Y does not even refer to the analogy
of poker cards used by X, (A) is wrong.
Y does not say that people vary in their responses to a
serious accident. So, (B) is wrong.
While X says that it is irrational to believe that a rare
accident, once it has occurred, will occur more frequently in
future, Y says that, once a rare accident has occurred, it is
only rational on the part of people to take precautionary action
to prevent similar accidents in the future. So, Y is trying ‘to
shift the basis for judging rationality to considerations of
utility’, as stated in (C), which is the answer.
5. After stating first, “The burden of taxation on the back
of the people is not unlike the burden of weight on the back of
a horse”, the author proceeds to explain why it is so. Obviously,
he makes his point using an analogy.
So, (D) is the obvious answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices is apt.
 Analysis - Chapter 11
'PARADOX' QUESTIONS
SET 1 consumption of a half-empty freezer is more than the energy
Answers consumption of a fully stocked freezer.
1.C 2.A 3.E 4.D 5.B 6.C 7.E 8.B 9.C 10.B (D) is what can be inferred from the statement in the
Analysis passage, and does not explain the statement itself.
(E) would contradict and not explain the author’s statement
1. The passage states that, in spite of a sharp reduction in
that fully stocked freezers consume less energy than half-
the average weekly volume of trade for many weeks after
empty freezers and are therefore more energy-efficient.
October, 1987, as compared to the weekly average of 1986,
there was no appreciable shortfall in the annual volume of
3. Car insurance claims are paid on two counts: (1) to
trade in 1987 as compared to the annual volume of trade in
reimburse the cost of treatment of injury to the victims; and
1986.
(2) to reimburse the cost of repairs to the vehicles involved in
We have been asked to spot the choice which would explain
the accident.
this apparent contradiction.
The narrative says that, in 1960, only 10% of the claims
This question is based on a simple principle of arithmetic
was paid towards treatment of injuries but, in 1990, the
and averages. If the total sales volume in 1987 had been equal
percentage went up to 50%, even though the cars were much
to the total sales volume of 1986, the weekly average sales
safer in 1990 than in 1960.
volume in 1987 must have been equal to the weekly average
We have been asked to locate that choice which explains
sales volume in 1986.
this discrepancy.
So, if the weekly average had been less than this figure in
(A) does not explain the discrepancy, because fewer
some weeks, it must have been compensated by the weekly
accidents must normally have resulted in less, and not more,
average being more than this figure in some other weeks. It is
percentage of claims on injuries.
(C) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) would also imply that the insurance compensation for
(A) contradicts the information in the passage that sales
injuries must have been less in 1990 and not more. So, (B)
volume of stocks dropped in spite of a drop in their prices. It
does not explain the discrepancy noticed.
does not explain how the annual volume remained the same
(C) would imply that the percentage of compensation
while the weekly volume dropped in a few weeks. So, (A) is
claims on car repairs, between 1960 and 1990, must have
not the answer.
grown, and not become less, whereas they had actually got
The passage relates to the volume of stocks traded, which
reduced from 90% to 50%. So, (C) does not explain the
could increase or decrease irrespective of the number of stock
discrepancy.
buyers being the same or different. So, (B) does not explain
(D) does not explain why, between claims on injuries and
the contradiction pointed out by the author, and is not the
claims on car repairs, the proportion of the former had grown
answer.
so fast between 1960 and 1990. So, (D) is not the answer.
Since the conclusion in the passage does not relate to the
If, as stated in (E), health care costs had risen sharply
average price per share, but relates to the volume of stocks
between 1960 and 1990, an injury which cost x dollars for
traded, (D) also does not explain the contradiction pointed
treatment in 1960 would now be costing many times that
out, and is not the answer.
figure. If so, even a lesser number of injuries in accidents
(E) does not specifically say that the volume of trade had
could have resulted a much larger payout because of the higher
risen during a corresponding period in 1987, and does not
cost of treatment. So, (E) gives a possible reason why the
therefore adequately explain the contradiction.
percentage of insurance payouts for automobile accident
injuries could have gone up from 1960 to 1990, in spite of
2. The author first says that many people keep their electric
cars having become much safer during the period. So, (E) is
freezers half-empty on the assumption that the process of
the answer.
freezing food consumes energy.
He then points out that freezers that are half-empty often
4. The paradox that is to be explained in this case is why a
consume more energy than they would if they were kept fully
community which consists of retired people and very few
stocked.
families with small children should actively patronize
We have been asked to spot that choice which explains
businesses renting out furniture for infants and small
this apparent discrepancy.
children.
When only half of a freezer is filled with food, the other
Among the choices, the obvious answer is (D) which states
half is not really empty, but is filled with air. (A) states that a
that many residents of these communities must provide for
given volume of air requires more energy to be maintained at
the needs of visiting grandchildren several weeks a year.
a below-freezing temperature than a corresponding volume
None of the other choices explains why families with no
of frozen food. If this is true, it perfectly explains why freezers
children should frequently hire furniture intended for
that are half-empty often consume more energy than freezers
children.
that are fully stocked with food. So, (A) itself is the answer.
(B) is a scientific fact, but is applicable to both fully stocked
5. Two personal battle armours of King Henry VIII, made
and half-empty freezers. It does not explain why a half-empty
in 1510 and 1540 respectively, have been discovered, and the
freezer should consume more energy than a fully-stocked
latter weighs 40 pounds more than the former.
freezer.
The five choices give five possible explanations for this
(C) says that the temperature of a given volume of air
discrepancy, and we have been asked to identify the choice
inside the freezer rises only temporarily. It does not explain
which contributes LEAST to such an explanation.
why, even later, after the food has been frozen, the energy
209
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
(A) says that Henry was slim in 1510 and had grown bulky
later in his life. So, (A) is a rational explanation for the
difference in weight between the two armours, and is not the
answer.
If, as stated in (C), Henry VIII had started the fashion of
decorating battle armour with heavy and elaborate metal
pieces, it would also explain why the 1540 armour was much
heavier than the 1510 armour. So, (C) is not the answer.
(D) says that Henry ascended the throne in 1510 while
still an adolescent, and grew three inches during his first 5
years as king. (D) does not constitute a strong explanation as
to why the armour made for him nearly 25 years later should
weigh 40 pounds more than the one made in 1910. So, (D) is
a possible answer.
(E) says that, during the 1530’s, all armour was given a
multi-layered design. Thus (E) is also a rational explanation
for the heaviness of the 1540 armour of Henry VIII.
(B) says that nearer the close of his reign, Henry VIII had
increased his arsenal (meaning the total inventory of weapons
in his kingdom) because of his growing unpopularity. This
statement, by itself, is totally irrelevant to why his own
personal armour was heavier by 40 pounds.
So, we have to choose between (B) and (D). Between the
two, (D) at least refers to Henry VIII’s physical dimensions,
and gives information why his armour, made in the beginning
of his reign, must have been quite light - because he was just
an adolescent whose growth had not yet been completed. So,
we can eliminate (D) and choose (B) as the answer.
6. The narrative first says that passenger boardings on
airlines increased by nearly 100% between 1977 and 1987,
but the actual number of trips made by passengers increased
by only 40% during this period.
The second sentence in the narrative explains this
discrepancy by pointing out that, in those cases when a
passenger has to take more than one flight to complete a trip,
the trip is counted as only one, but the number of his boardings
is counted as more than one. (For example, if a passenger
making a trip from New York to Chicago flies first from New
York to Pittsburgh and transfers there to a flight from
Pittsburgh to Chicago, he is considered to have made only
one trip (from New York to Chicago), but the number of his
boardings is counted as two.)
We have been asked to spot that choice which best helps to
explain why the increase in the number of passenger
boardings had exceeded the increase in the number of airline
passenger trips between 1977 to 1987.
(C) states that the proportion of passenger flights requiring
passengers to change planes en route to their final destinations
increased significantly between 1977 and 1987. (For example,
there might have been 10 direct flights between New York
and Chicago before 1977, but this number might have been
reduced to 5 by 1987, forcing many passengers intending to
fly from New York to Chicago to change planes en route at
Pittsburg.) If this is true, many boardings that had been
counted as only one (at New York) before 1977 would be
counted as two (one at New York and one at Pittsburg) in
1987, while the trip would continue to be counted as only one
(namely from New York to Chicago). So, it is (C) which best
helps to explain why the increase in the number of boardings
exceeded the increase in the number of passenger trips
between 1977 and 1987. So, (C) is the answer.
(A) merely states that the number of airports in USA
handling flights by major airlines increased significantly
during the period. While this fact would explain the increase
210
in the number of passenger trips (because a number of persons
who had earlier been traveling by car or by train to these
places may now be travelling by airplanes), it does not explain
why the increase in the number of passenger trips was less
than the increase in the number of boardings. So, (A) is not
the answer.
(B) states that the number of airlines declined significantly
between 1977 and 1987. If, in spite of such decline, the
number of passengers had increased by nearly 100%, it only
implies that a number of smaller airlines had been absorbed
by the bigger airlines. (B) does not constitute a reason why
the increase in the number of airline trips was less than the
increase in the number of airline boardings. So, (B) is not
the answer.
(D) would have been the answer, only if it had been
mentioned that business travellers more often take connecting
flights at intermediate airports than pleasure travellers do.
Since this information is not given, (D) by itself does not
explain in the discrepancy between the increase in the
number of trips and the increase in the number of boardings.
So, (D) is not the answer.
While (E) may be a cause for the increase in the number
of airline passengers, it does not explain the discrepancy
between the increase in passenger trips and the increase in
passenger boardings. So, (E) is not the answer.
7. The passage implies that exposure to polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) is harmful to health, and causes a specific
disease. It says that, even though exposure of people to PCBs
had significantly decreased during 1975 to 1985, the incidence
of the disease caused by PCB exposure doubled from previous
levels, namely the levels before 1975 which were already high.
We have been asked to identify that choice which resolves
this apparent contradiction in the passage.
(E) says that the time interval between the time of exposure
to PCBs and the onset of the disease caused by that exposure
is often longer than 10 years. If this is true, the higher
incidence of PCB-related disease during 1975-1985 must have
been caused by the higher level of exposure during the previous
decade 1965-1975. This satisfactorily explains the apparent
contradiction in the passage, and is the answer.
(A) and (B) are irrelevant to the observed fact that the
incidence of the PCB-related disease was inversely
proportional to exposure to PCB during 1975-1985.
(C) contradicts the information in the passage that the
incidence of the disease was already at a high level in the
decade 1965 to 1975.
The information in (D) relates to the period after 1985,
and it does not give information about the level of incidence
of the disease during this period. So, it does not resolve the
apparent contradiction in the passage.
8. Zooplanktons are minute organisms growing in sea
water and constitute the primary food for many varieties of
fishes. In this passage, the author gives information about
two species of zooplankton, named D-hyalina and D-galeata.
The ‘paradox’ mentioned is that while the latter, which lives
near the surface of the sea grows and reproduces much faster,
its population is often less than the population of the former,
which lives near the bottom of the sea and grows and
reproduces much slower.
One possible explanation for this paradox is that the
population of fish varieties which consume zooplankton is
more near the surface of the sea than at the bottom. So, (B) is
the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
None of the other choices can explain the paradox in the
passage.
9. The passage says that, though the normal rule of
economics is that the demand for a particular item falls when
its price increases and vice versa, the price of canned soups
rose in USA in 1980 but the demand for it also rose
simultaneously.
We have been asked to spot that choice which satisfactorily
explains this apparent contradiction.
Among the choices, (C) says that the retail prices of other
foodstuffs rose faster than the price of canned soup, and
canned soup therefore became cheaper relative to other
foodstuffs. This, if true, satisfactorily explains the apparent
contradiction in the passage, and is the answer.
All the other choices, if true, should have resulted in
reduced demand for canned soups, thereby contradicting the
information contained in the passage.
10. The passage says that 11% of those who received
certification in a certain profession during the last twenty
211
years were women, and all of them have taken to professional
practice, but women constitute only 5% of the total number
of members in the profession now.
We have been asked to spot the choice which could explain
the difference in these two percentages.
(B) points out that the majority of those currently in the
profession had entered it more than twenty years ago when
no woman had been certified. If this is true, and if the career
span in the profession is 30 years or more, it would
satisfactorily explain why women constitute only 5% of its
members now. (If the percentage of certification continues to
remain at 11%, it would take a period of time equal to the
total span in the profession for women to achieve the figure
of 11% among the actual practitioners of the profession) So,
(B) is the answer.
(E) makes the further point that, women form only 2% of
the supervisory positions, but it does not explain why they
form only 5% of the overall membership in the profession.
None of the other choices is relevant to the difference in
percentages of the women certified and the women who are
actually in the profession
 Analysis - Chapter 12
'ANALOGY' QUESTIONS
SET 1
Answers
1.B 2.C 3.B 4.B 5.C
Analysis
1. (A hamster is a type of mouse that is kept as a pet. It is
also used in medical experiments.) What the result of the
experiment suggests is that variations in the lighting
arrangement in the place where sick hamsters were kept had
a positive effect on their rate of recovery.
We have been asked to spot that question among the
choices for answering which a similar method of research will
be appropriate.
(B) poses the question, “Can hospital lighting be improved
to promote the recovery of patients?”. This question can be
answered experimentally by similarly exposing patients to
continuous fluorescent light and observing the result. So, (B)
is the answer.
None of the other choices relates to the health of the
subjects of the experiment, and can be discarded for that
reason alone.
2. The first sentence says that, after the amendment to
the copyright law in 1978, books that are less than 50 years
old should not be photocopied without the publishers’
permission. The second sentence draws the conclusion that
any book that has been photocopied after1978 without the
publisher’s permission must therefore be at least 50 years
old.
The question says that there is a flaw in the reasoning in
the above conclusion, and asks us to spot that choice which
has a similar flaw in its reasoning.
We should first try to locate the flaw in reasoning in the
given narrative. Obviously, the flaw lies in the author’s
assumption that, if a law has been passed, nobody breaks it.
He does not consider the possibility that some persons might
have photocopied even books which are less than 50 years old
without the publishers’ permission, thereby deliberately
violating the copyright law.
There is no logical flaw in (A) (though it is factually not
correct). So, (A) cannot be compared to the given narrative
which has a logical flaw which we have identified above.
(B) is also a logical and rational statement, and there is no
flaw in it. So, (B) is not the answer.
(Even if you argue that it is not obligatory on the part of
Demetrios to ride on a city bus just because he has bought a
212
pass for it, this flaw is not similar to the one in the given
narrative, because there is no violation of a rule or a law in
this example.)
(C) is not worded correctly in the manner in which we
understand it in India. In the given context, the meaning of
the phrase “must not have turned right” is not “should not
have turned right”, but “has not turned right”.) When you
understand choice (C) in this manner, you can realize that
this choice has the same type of flaw as the one in the given
narrative because here also the author assumes that no driver
ever breaks a traffic rule. So, (C) is the answer.
(D) is a logical statement, and there is no flaw in it. So,
(D) is not the answer.
(E) is also a logical statement, and there is no flaw in it.
So, (E) is not the answer.
3. Robots are an example of ‘intelligent’ machines. The
given narration first gives the author’s view on a particular
item (‘industrial robots’), and then generalizes it to the entire
class (‘intelligent’ machines) to which that item belongs.
Among the choices, (B) has a similar structure because,
the author’s view about a particular item (‘bacon’) is
generalized to cover the entire class (‘fatty foods’) to which
that item belongs.
So, (B) is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices has a
similar structure.
4. The first sentence says that more sophisticated artificial
intelligence programs can be developed if only computer
scientists knew more about how human beings think.
The author counters this view by pointing out the analogy
that airplane design has not progressed very far in spite of
new insights into how birds fly.
Obviously, the author thinks that ‘artificial intelligence
programs’ and ‘airplane designs’ are similar, just as ‘how
human beings think’ and ‘how birds fly’ are similar.
So, (B) is the answer.
You can easily verify that none of the other choices explains
the analogy.
5. The given passage gives two instances of items which
started as a hobby or means of amusement but later found
commercial applications.
Among the five given choices, it is only (C) which gives
another such instance, and is the answer.
 Analysis - Chapter 13
'MULTIPLE' QUESTIONS
Remember that, in questions of this type, the choices in the
two questions under each passage are independent of each
other, and you should not assume the truth of a choice in one
question for evaluating a choice in the second.
SET 1
Answers
1.B 2.B 3.D 4.E 5.A 6.D 7.D 8.B 9.C 10.E
Analysis
1. The meteorologists’ claim is that, if an accurate math-
ematical model of the atmosphere could be designed, they
would be able to predict the weather precisely.
What the author implies in the second sentence is that,
even if such an accurate mathematical model is made avail-
able to them, the meteorologists may still commit human
errors resulting in wrong predictions, and will then put the
blame for the errors on the model itself as being inaccurate.
He therefore concludes that it is not possible to evaluate
the claim of meteorologists that they would be able to accu-
rately forecast the whether if they could design an accurate
mathematical model of the atmosphere.
We have been asked to spot that choice which could form a
basis for arguing against the author’s conclusion.
We should therefore look for that choice which implies that
greater accuracy in the mathematical models has in the past
resulted in greater accuracy in weather prediction.
(B) states just this, and is the answer.
None of the other choices relates the degree of accuracy of
the mathematical model with the degree of accuracy of weather
prediction.
2. Any mathematical model has to depend on quantifiable
data.
So, if some factors which impact on the constitution of the
atmosphere are not quantifiable and are liable to arbitrary
changes, then no accurate mathematical model can be made
that can help meteorologists to predict the weather accurately.
It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
3. From the facts that (i) the current number of caterers
can serve only 55% of the weddings likely to occur each year,
and (ii) 70% of the readers of the Weddings magazine want a
catered marriage reception, the author comes to the conclu-
sion that “now is an excellent time to invest in the catering
business”.
We have been asked to locate the statement which is a
weakness in this evidence.
(A) does not by itself constitute a weakness, because the
cost of paying the labour can be passed on to the clients.
(B) will, in fact, strengthen the given evidence because it
will give scope to the prospective investor to choose an area
where there is a felt and greater need for new caterers.
(C) implies that the trend is likely to continue, and this
will strengthen and not weaken the given evidence.
(E) means that, in spite of reading articles about prepar-
ing food oneself for one’s wedding reception, most readers of
the Weddings magazine prefer a catered reception. This will
also not weaken the evidence cited in the passage.
In stating that the existing caterers can serve only 55% of
the likely weddings, and that 70% of the prospective wedding
213
couples who are readers of Weddings magazine want a ca-
tered reception, the author is assuming that the readers of
the Weddings magazine form a representative sample of all
the prospective wedding couples. If this is not true and the
percentage of those who prefer to have a catered wedding is
much lower among all prospective wedding couples than
among the readers of the Weddings magazine, the author’s
conclusion will be wrong. So, it is (D) which reveals a weak-
ness in the evidence cited by the author, and is the answer.
4. The investment advice given in the passage is based on
(i) an opinion poll among the readers of the Weddings maga-
zine, 70% of whom stated that they wanted a catered wed-
ding reception, and (ii) the fact that the existing caterers are
capable of serving only 55% of the estimated weddings in each
year.
We have been asked to pick out that choice which would
undermine the validity of this investment advice.
Since the investment advice does not relate to the number
of guests at each wedding reception, (A) neither strengthens
nor weakens the investment advice given in the passage.
Even if (B) is true, it means that 75% of the weddings take
place with a reception while the existing caterers can serve
only 55% of them. So, (B) will strengthen, and not undermine,
the validity of the investment advice.
(C) neither strengthens nor undermines the investment
advice, because, for the purpose of the advice, it is immate-
rial as to who pays the bill.
(D) is also irrelevant to the soundness of the advice.
If (E) is true and, even if we assume that the readers of
Weddings magazine form a representative sample of all pro-
spective wedding couples, it means that, though 70% of them
said that they preferred a catered reception, only 35% of them
will actually hire the service of caterers, as against the ca-
pacity of the existing caterers to cater to 55% of the prospec-
tive weddings. This implies that the catering business is al-
ready overcrowded, and that there is no scope for any fresh
caterer to thrive in the business. If so, the advice that now is
the time to invest in catering business will be seriously un-
dermined. So, (E) is the answer.
5. Blood banks normally screen all prospective donors for
various infections. We learn from the passage that NANB
hepatitis was not one of the infections for which donors were
screened till now. The first sentence says that screening for
this disease, before a donor’s blood is accepted by the bank, is
going to commence soon.
The second sentence says that the new screening test is
not foolproof, and that, even though 15% of all prospective
blood donors would carry the infection, it would detect its
presence in only 5% of them.
The second sentence then forecasts that, therefore, among
all actual donors of blood, 10% would still pass on the hepa-
titis-contaminated blood.
We have been asked to identify the assumption that has
been made while making this forecast.
According to the first part of the second sentence, it is 10%
of all prospective donors who would be cleared for donation in
spite of their carrying the hepatitis infection. The second part
forecasts that 10% of the actual donors would pass on the
hepatitis-contaminated blood.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
This forecast, therefore, equates the prospective donors
undergoing the hepatitis test (minus the 5% who would be
disqualified) with the subsequent actual donors. It thereby
assumes that none of those who is cleared in the hepatitis
test will be disqualified in any of the other routine screening
tests.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
6. The passage implies that, with the introduction of the
new test to screen NANB hepatitis, an additional 5% of all
prospective blood donors will be disqualified.
The immediate consequence of the introduction of the test
will therefore be a reduction in the amount of blood available
with the blood bank. So, (D) is the answer.
None of the other choices is a necessary consequence of the
information given in the passage.
7. The author of the passage states in the first sentence
that record companies defend the introduction of the com-
pact discs in place of the cheaper long-playing vinyl records
by claiming that “the audio market is ruled by consumer de-
mand for ever-improved sound reproduction rather than by
the record manufacturers’ profit motivated marketing deci-
sions”. In the second sentence, the author refutes this claim
by stating that, if this claim were true, the record companies
should have made digital audio tape commercially available
to the public, because it produces even better sound than the
compact discs.
The author implies thereby that the non-introduction of
the digital audio tape commercially is only because it does
not suit the profit-oriented marketing interests of the record
companies.
In this question, we have been asked to identify that choice
which would reconcile the record companies’ claim (that the
audio market is governed solely by consumer demand for ever
improving quality) with the fact that digital audio tapes are
not available for the commercial market. We should therefore
look for that choice which gives a valid reason, other than
profit-related interest of the recording companies, for the fact
that digital audio tapes have not yet been introduced by them
in the commercial market.
(A) implies that the consumer preference is for audio tapes
as compared to long-playing records or CDs. If so, according
to the companies’ own statement that the audio market is
governed by consumer preference, audio tapes must have been
made available commercially, which has, however, not hap-
pened. So, (A) does not constitute an explanation as to why
digital audio tape is not available for the commercial mar-
ket, and is therefore not the answer.
(B) mentions the use of digital audio tapes in recording
studios, and does not explain why they have not been made
available commercially. So, (B) is not the answer.
If (C) is true, and digital audio tape gives better reproduc-
tion of music than compact discs, then digital audio tapes
must have been made available commercially by now. (C) cer-
tainly does not explain why digital audio tapes are not so
available, and is not the answer.
(D) specifically states that record companies have not yet
solved several quality control problems involved in the com-
mercial production of digital audio tapes. If this is true, it
will constitute a valid reason why the record companies have
not made available digital audio tapes in the quality-conscious
commercial market. So, (D) is the answer.
If (E) is true, and digital audio tapes of acceptable quality
can be produced commercially, they will sell at least as briskly
214
as compact discs. So, (E) gives a reason why digital tapes
must be available commercially, and does not explain why
they are not. So, (E) is not the answer.
8. This question is the reverse of the last, and asks us to
identify that choice which would weaken the record compa-
nies’ claim that the non-availability of digital audio tapes in
the commercial market is not because of profit-motivated
marketing decisions by them.
The record companies’ claim relates only to the quality of
reproduction, and does not refer to the prices or the selec-
tions. So, (A) by itself neither refutes nor strengthens that claim,
and is not the answer.
(B) implies that the recording companies had invested
substantial amounts in the development of compact-disc
manufacturing technology, that the profits so far made by
them through the sales of compact discs are less than such
investments and that they are reluctant to introduce the new
digital tapes in the commercial market till they recover the
investments on the development of the compact disc technol-
ogy. If this is true, it would strengthen the argument of the
author in the second sentence of the passage that the claim
of the companies that profit-motivated marketing decisions
do not govern the audio-market is not true. So, (B) is the an-
swer.
(C) is a normal phenomenon arising out of demand and
supply, and only strengthens the claim of the recording com-
panies that the audio market is governed only by consumer
demand. So, (C) is not the answer.
Neither (D) nor (E) is relevant to the claim of the recording
companies that the audio market is governed only by the
quality of reproduction, and not by profit-motivated decisions
of the companies.
9. From the information about what happened in the past
when women entered the professions of teachers, bank tell-
ers and secretaries, the author predicts similar results if they
enter the professions like accounting, law and medicine in
the future.
Obviously, his argument is based on an analogy between
the past and the future. So, (C) is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices is appro-
priate.
10. In this question, we have been asked to spot the choice
which would refute the conclusion that the entry of women
into the professions of accountants, lawyers and medicine will
result in the incomes and prestige of these professions drop-
ping, in the same way that their earlier entry into the profes-
sions of teachers, bank tellers and secretaries led to a fall in
the pay and status of those professions.
(A) refers to what happened in the past, and does not ei-
ther confirm or refute the author’s conclusion as to what is
likely to happen in the future when women enter these pro-
fessions in large numbers.
(B), in a reverse way, will confirm, and not refute the au-
thor’s conclusion that the same occupation will get higher pay
and status when it is male-dominated than when it is female-
dominated.
(C) makes no reference to the occupations of accounting,
law and medicine, and neither confirms nor refutes the au-
thor’s conclusion.
The author’s argument sets no time limit, and merely says
that, if women become the majority in the accounting, legal
or medical professions at any time in the future, their pay and
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
prestige will drop; so, the statement in (D) that women are the assumptions made by the economist while advancing his
likely to become a majority among lawyers only after two dec- argument.
ades neither confirms nor refutes the author’s argument. Only one argument of the economist, namely that govern-
If (E) is true, and the pay and status of females in the new ment insurance is one of the reasons for bank failures - is
professions are governed by significantly different sociologi- mentioned in the narrative. For advancing this argument, he
cal and economic forces than were the earlier professions, then does not have to assume that bank failures are caused only
the analogy drawn by the author will be inapplicable, and the when big borrowers do not repay the loans. The failure could
results predicted by him will not fructify. So, it is (E) which also be due to a very large number of small borrowers not
would refute the conclusion drawn by the author, and is the repaying the loans. So, (A) is not the answer.
answer. (B) also is not a necessary assumption in the author’s ar-
gument.
SET 2 The argument is about all depositors, and is not limited to
Answers only those who deposit big amounts. So, (C) is also not a neces-
sary assumption of the economist.
1.A 2.C 3.E 4.B 5.A 6.B 7.C 8.E 9.C 10.D
That different banks give different rates of interest is also
Analysis
not relevant to the economist’s argument, and (D) is not a
1. The fear of the private electronic transmittal operators
necessary assumption for him.
is that, if the Postal Service enters their field, it will keep its
The argument of the author is that, because the govern-
electronic transmittal rates lower than theirs, thereby driv-
ment is insuring all deposits, the depositors do not have the
ing them out of business, because it can afford to subsidize
incentive or need to determine which banks are secure against
such lower rates from the profits that it is able to make out of
failure so that they would deposit their savings only in them.
the first-class mail on which it has a monopoly.
He obviously presumes that all depositors have sufficient
We have been asked to spot the choice which would allay
knowledge and access to information that will enable them to
this fear of the private electronic mail operators.
evaluate which banks are secure against failure and which
We should therefore look for that choice which says that,
banks are not. It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
once the postal department offers electronic mail transmis-
sion, it will not be able to make a profit on first-class mail,
4. The economist’s argument is that one of the reasons for
and therefore no money will be available to it for subsidizing
the high rate of bank failures is the practice of the govern-
the former, implying that it cannot charge a rate less than
ment insuring all individuals’ bank deposits.
what private operators do.
In this question, we have been asked to locate that choice
(A) says just this (because the messages that are capable
which weakens this argument.
of being sent electronically are precisely those that are now
(A) will strengthen, and not weaken, the economist’s argu-
being sent by first-class mail.). So, if the Postal Service’s elec-
ment, and is not the answer.
tronic mail business is successful, its revenue from first-class
(B) states that, before the Government started insuring
mail will dwindle, and it cannot, therefore, use the latter to
deposits, frequent bank failures occurred as a result of de-
subsidize the former.
positors’ fears of losing money in bank failures. (This used to
So, (A) is the answer.
happen because, when the depositors apprehend, rightly or
wrongly, that a bank was becoming weak, all of them would
2. The question implies that the queries in four of the five
demand repayment of their deposits at the same time, thereby
given choices cannot be answered from the information given
causing a run on the bank and its consequential collapse.)
in the passage, and the query in only one of them can be an-
If this is true, the removal of such fear (through insurance
swered. We have been asked to spot that choice which can be
of their deposits by the government) would have removed one
so answered.
major cause of the banks’ frequent failures. In this case, the
You can easily see that none of (A), (B), (D) and (E) can be
insurance of the deposits by the government would have re-
answered from the information available in the given pas-
sulted in averting bank failures and not in causing them. So,
sage.
it is (B) which seriously weakens the economist’s argument,
From the second sentence of the given passage, we learn
and is the answer.
that the electronic transmittal operators believe that the Postal
(C) strengthens the economist’s argument, and does not
Service is presently making profits from the monopoly of first-
weaken it.
class mail, and apprehend that this profit will be used by the
(D) implies that the deposits of most of the depositors are
Postal Service to subsidize electronic transmission, thereby
insured by government. This will only strengthen the econo-
driving them out of business.
mist’s argument, and not weaken it.
So, the question in (C) can be answered in the affirmative
The argument of the economist is based on depositors’ at-
from the information available in the given passage. So, (C)
titudes, and not on the borrowers’. So, (E) is irrelevant to the
is the answer.
issue.
3. The argument in the narrative is that, because govern-
5. According to Roland, the fact that 90% of the people re-
ment has insured all individuals’ bank deposits, there is no
port that they know at least one person who is unemployed is
incentive for depositors to evaluate different banks regarding
‘alarming’, because it implies that unemployment is presently
the relative security of their deposits with them, and that this,
a very serious problem in the country.
in turn, has resulted in banks becoming lax in ensuring that
Sharon’s reply is that unemployment of 5% of the workers
they are secure. The economist therefore argues that insur-
(1 out of every 20) at any point of time may be considered as
ance by government of the depositors’ money has been partly
normal or moderate, and need not be taken as ‘alarming’. She
responsible for the high rate of bank failures.
adds that, if a person knows approximately 50 workers, it is
We have been asked to locate that choice which is one of
quite likely that as many as 5% of them (2.5) are unemployed
215
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
at any given time.
We have been asked to spot choice which can be arrived as
a conclusion based on Sharon’s argument.
Since the Sharon’s contention is that 2.5 out of every 50
are likely to be unemployed even under a normal and moder-
ate level of unemployment, she implies that the fact that 90%
of the people know at least one person who is unemployed is
not an indication that unemployment is abnormally or alarm-
ingly high. It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
(B) is factually wrong, because that Sharon implies is just
the opposite as we have seen in (A).
None of the other choices logically follows from Sharon’s
statement.
6. By stating that a normal, moderate level of unemploy-
ment is 5%, Sharon argues that one out of 20 workers is likely
to be unemployed at any given time, which means that, if a
person knows approximately 50 workers, 5% of them are likely
to be unemployed at any given point of time.
We have been asked to spot that choice which forms a nec-
essary assumption by Sharon while advancing her argument.
By stating that 5% is a normal level of unemployment,
Sharon implies that any percentage higher than 5% can be
considered to be an abnormal level. She does not presume
that the percentage of 5% is never exceeded. So, (A) does not
follow from the passage.
Sharon’s statement, ‘A normal, moderate level of unem-
ployment is 5%, with 1 out of 20 workers unemployed. So, at
any given time, if a person knows approximately 50 workers,
1 or more will very likely to be unemployed” implies that the
percentage of 5% is uniform throughout the country. But, if
there are some geographical regions in the country where the
unemployment rate is presently 50% or above, the fact that
the national average is only 5% would imply that there are a
number of other geographical areas where the unemployment
rate is usually much lower, say 0 to 1%. So, the ‘normal, mod-
erate’ level of unemployment in these areas should be con-
sidered to be 0 to 1%, and not 5%. If this is so, then it is out of
every 100 workers (and not out of every 50), that one is likely
to be unemployed during normal times. Sharon’s argument
will be wrong in this case. So, for her argument to be valid,
she has to make the necessary assumption that unemployment
is not normally concentrated in certain geographical segments.
So, (B) is the answer.
None of (C), (D) and (E) is a necessary assumption for vali-
dating Sharon’s argument.
7. The first sentence says that if, among the private planes,
only those equipped with radar are allowed to use the air-
space around centrally located airports, most of the private-
plane traffic would be forced to use outlying fields.
From this statement, we can draw the ready conclusion
that most of the private planes presently using centrally lo-
cated airports are not equipped with radar now.
So, (C) is the answer.
8. The conclusion in the second sentence of the passage is,
“Such a reduction in the amount of private plane traffic would
reduce the risk of midair collision around the centrally lo-
cated airports”. From the information in the previous sen-
tence that most of the private planes presently using the cen-
trally located airports are not equipped with radar, we can
draw the conclusion that, at present, private planes not
equipped with radar systems are the cause for a large number
of midair collisions around centrally located airports.
216
So,(E) is the answer.
None of the other choices is germane to the conclusion in
the second sentence of the passage.
9. (In this passage, ‘stock’ means the shares in company
equity, and not the ‘inventory’ of raw materials and finished
products.) Professor A says, “We must make a strong moral
statement against Country X’s policies”, while Professor B
says, “Our aim must be to encourage X to change its policies”.
So, they state different goals.
Again, while Professor A advocates ‘total divestment’,
namely the sale of all stocks in companies that have factories
or business offices in X, Professor B argues for ‘partial divest-
ment’, namely the sale of stocks only of companies that either
sell goods to X’s government, or do the majority of their busi-
ness in X. So, they propose different ways of achieving the
respective goals.
So, (C) is the answer.
You can easily verify that the other choices are all inap-
propriate.
10. A University buys stocks in companies with a view to
get dividend income from them. Professor A’s recommenda-
tion is to totally ‘divest’ (meaning sell) the stocks in compa-
nies which have factories or business offices in country X.
With the funds obtained from the sale of these stocks, the
University will then buy stocks in other companies which
have no connection with country X.
We have been asked to pick out that choice which would
ensure that the university would not be economically harmed
by such divestiture.
Obviously, the university’s present dividend income will
be protected if the financial return from the new stocks are
not less than the financial returns from its current stocks.
(D) is what states this, and is the answer.
SET 3
Answers
1.C 2.B 3.C 4.E 5.E 6.B 7.A 8.B 9.D 10.C
Analysis
1. The statistical finding is that children born in Hawaii
have a longer average life-span than children born in Louisi-
ana.
If this longevity is due to factors relating to geographical,
atmospheric and ecological conditions in Hawaii, the child
born in Hawaii to the newly-wed Louisiana couple can be
expected to have the prospect of the same longer life that chil-
dren born to permanent Hawaiian parents enjoy.
But, in this question, we have been asked to identify a
possible weakness in this argument.
Therefore, the correct choice must be that statement which
attributes the longevity of Hawaiians to a factor which is not
attributable to external conditions in Hawaii, but to some-
thing inherent in the people who have always been living there.
It is (C) which gives such a reason and is the answer, be-
cause, if the longevity of the current population in Hawaii is
attributable to genetically determined factors, the conclusion
must be that Hawaiians would have the same average lon-
gevity even if they migrate to other States, and that non-
Hawaiians migrating to Hawaii will continue to be governed
by the longevity related to their own genetic factors.
2. This question is the reverse of the last question, but the
reasoning is the same. The argument which will strengthen
the conclusion that the children of a Louisiana couple mi-
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
grating to Hawaii will gain an advantage in longevity is the
one which states that external conditions favouring such lon-
gevity are more abundant in Hawaii than in Louisiana. It is
(B) which states this, and is the answer.
If (A) is true, it will foil the hope of the Louisiana couple,
because the Hawaiian average may in due course fall below
the Louisiana average.
Even if (C) is true, the greater probability is that the chil-
dren born to the Louisiana couple will be counted in the re-
maining 75 percent. So, we cannot say that (C) will automati-
cally strengthen the conclusion in the passage.
(D) will also weaken the argument in the passage, because
it implies that the Louisiana couple would be better off by
staying in Louisiana itself.
(E) will also weaken, and not strengthen, the given argu-
ment, because it implies that the longevity of Hawaii resi-
dents is attributable to the genetic factors, and not to the eco-
logical conditions in Hawaii.
3. (Most countries have imposed restrictions on advertise-
ment of legal services by lawyers. In the US, a lawyer is per-
mitted to advertise the legal services rendered by him, pro-
vided that he simultaneously specifies in the advertisement
itself the fees that he will charge for such services. The first
sentence of the passage states that the lawyers who adver-
tise a specific service usually charge less for that service than
lawyers who do not advertise. The passage argues that, if the
above-stated restriction is removed, and lawyers are allowed
to advertise their legal services without having to mention
the fees they will charge for them, the litigant public will be
benefited.)
In this question, we have been asked to spot the choice
which will harmonize with the argument in the passage.
(A) will result in the litigant public having to pay more for
legal services, and will therefore militate against the argu-
ment in the passage, and not harmonize with it.
(B) implies that the liberalization of the rules relating to
the advertisement of legal services will increase the income
of lawyers. It does not therefore strengthen the conclusion in
the passage that it will help the litigant public. So, (B) is not
the answer.
(D) refers to the situation in which the current compul-
sion to state the fees in the advertisement continues to be in
force, and is therefore not relevant to the argument in the
passage.
Since the author’s plea is for the removal of only some of
the restrictions on legal advertisements, and not all of them,
(E) is not relevant to the conclusion in the passage.
The passage first states that lawyers who advertise a spe-
cific service usually charge less for their service than lawyers
who do not advertise, meaning that litigant public now pay
more fees to the lawyers who do not advertise; later, it argues
that, if the compulsion to state the fees in the advertisement
is removed, the overall legal costs to the litigant public would
be lower. These statements imply that the author believes
that the removal of the compulsion to state the fees in the
advertisement will result in more lawyers advertising their
services; and that, therefore, clients of more number of law-
yers will have to pay less fees, thereby bringing down the over-
all legal costs. It is (C) which states this, and is the answer.
4. The basic premise on which the author bases his conclu-
sion is that a lawyer who advertises his services charges a
lesser fee than a lawyer who does not advertise his services.
If this premise is wrong, the conclusion of the author would
217
be seriously weakened. It is (E) which contradicts the author’s
premise, and thereby weakens his conclusion. So, (E) is the
answer.
You can easily see that the other choices are not related to
the correlation between a lawyer’s decision to advertise his
services and the fees charged by him.
5. Different companies even in the same industry spend
different percentages of their gross receipts towards promo-
tional advertisements, though the overall average of the in-
dustry may be 10%.
It is quite likely that one company spent 20% of its in-
come, and induced 25% of the smokers of another brand (which
had utilised only 5% of its receipts on advertisement) to switch
over to its own brand. If this be the case, the general conclu-
sion that ‘cigarette companies would have been no worse off
economically if they had dropped their advertising’ would be
erroneous. So, the flaw in the argument is the assumption
that figures for the cigarette industry as a whole is applica-
ble to each company in the industry.
It is (E) which states this, and is the answer.
6. (A) deals with the economic welfare of magazine pub-
lishers, and not of cigarette companies, and is irrelevant to
the conclusion.
If (B) is true, the stoppage of cigarette promotion will re-
sult in the dwindling of the number of smokers, thereby ad-
versely affecting the economics of the cigarette companies. So,
(B) is the answer.
(C) means that there is no conclusive research that ciga-
rette advertising is not related to increases in smoking, and
cannot therefore be chosen as the answer.
(D) is wrong, because the question is not whether ciga-
rette manufacturers are likely to drop the practice of adver-
tising or not, but whether stopping advertising will affect their
economics.
Since no information has been given of the percentage that
the sales of inexpensive brands of cigarettes contribute to the
total sales income in the cigarette industry, we cannot say
that (E) will most seriously weaken the conclusion in the pas-
sage.
7. The argument of the lobbyists is against legislation ban-
ning smoking in workplaces on health grounds, and the rea-
son given by them is that “there is no statistical evidence that
breathing other people’s tobacco smoke increases the incidence
of heart disease or lung cancer in healthy nonsmokers’.
We have been asked to identify the choice which will
weaken the argument of the lobbyists that smoking in work
places should not be banned on health grounds.
(A) makes a definitive statement that breathing smoke-
filled air increases the incidence of headaches and coughs in
healthy non-smokers. If this is true, then, obviously, there is
justification for banning smoking in workplaces on health
grounds, and the argument of the lobbyists is weakened. So,
(A) is the answer.
Since the “dislike” of nonsmokers to the odor of smoke-
filled air is not an adequate ground for banning smoking on
health grounds, (B) is not the answer.
(C), obviously, is also not a sufficient justification for ban-
ning smoking on health grounds, and is not the answer.
(D) mentions the preference of most workers, and is not a
sufficient justification for banning smoking in work places
on health grounds.
(E) may be a reason for banning smoking in workplaces on
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
grounds of industrial peace, and would not justify such ban-
ning on health grounds.
8. This question is also based on the argument of the lob-
byists that there is no justification for the banning of smok-
ing in workplaces on health grounds, because of the absence
of statistical evidence that breathing other people’s tobacco
smoke increases the incidence of heart disease or lung can-
cer in healthy nonsmokers.
This question asks us to identify the best criticism of this
argument.
(A) is irrelevant to the argument of the lobbyists relating
to the banning of smoking due to health reasons, and is not
the answer.
The lobbyists’ argument talks of the absence of statistical
evidence connecting inhalation of tobacco smoke with higher
incidence of heart disease or lung cancer in healthy nonsmok-
ers. The argument does not talk of the existence or otherwise
of statistical evidence relating to the adverse effect of inhala-
tion of tobacco smoke on nonsmoking workers who are not
healthy.
So, (B) is the best criticism against the argument of the
lobbyists, and is the answer.
(C) is irrelevant to the argument relating to the banning of
smoking in workplaces on health grounds, and is not the an-
swer.
Since the fact that nonsmokers inhaling smoke-filled air
may become concerned about their health cannot be a reason
for banning smoking in workplaces on grounds of health, (D)
is not as strong an argument as (B) against the lobbyists’
contention.
(E) will in fact support, and not go against, the lobbyists’
argument that there is no case for banning smoking in
workplaces on health grounds, and is not the answer.
9. The passage says that if international oil-supply is dis-
rupted resulting in higher international oil prices, even do-
mestic oil prices in open-market countries will increase in
spite of the fact that they do not import any of the oil required
by them.
We have been asked to identify the choice which would be
an effective policy in an open-market nation for reducing the
long-term economic impact of sharp and unexpected increases
in international oil prices.
An “open-market nation” is one whose government does
not impose any restriction on either import or export of goods.
So, when the international oil prices rule high, oil producing
companies in such open-market nations would like to exploit
the situation, and sell much more oil in the international
market, correspondingly reducing the supply of oil for local
consumption. This will push up the price in the local market
also, in spite of the fact that the nation does not import any
oil. So, a long-term strategy for stabilizing oil price in such
nations will be to reduce the local consumption of oil to the
minimum, so that, even in times of high international oil
prices, local companies can meet the local needs fully, and
still exploit the international situation. This would also en-
able the nation to continue to rely on its own oil resources for
a longer period. It is (D) which states this, and is the answer.
(A) will contradict the intended purpose, because import-
ing the same quantity of oil even during periods of high in-
ternational oil prices will push up the domestic market price,
and not stabilize it.
The passage does not say that international oil-supply in-
terruptions are caused only by the non-availability of oil tank-
218
ers. (For example, they could be due to an outbreak of war or
other production problems.) So, an increase in the size of the
oil-tanker fleet will not, by itself, help a nation to achieve
long term price stability. So, (B) is not the answer.
The question is about the steps to be taken to achieve long-
term stability in the price of oil. Such a policy must therefore
operate even during periods when the international oil-prices
are stable at low levels. Obviously, a country like US cannot
suspend diplomatic relations with major oil-producing coun-
tries during periods when the international oil prices are low!
So, (C) is not the answer.
(E) will, in fact, make the nation even more vulnerable to
changes in international prices of oil, and will therefore go
against the stated objective. So, (E) is not the answer.
10. The given passage states that, when international oil
prices rise, there is a corresponding increase in domestic oil
prices of open-market countries even if they are self-sufficient
in oil.
We have been asked to identify the choice which can be
considered to be a valid conclusion from this statement.
If domestic oil prices in a nation rise or fall with interna-
tional oil prices, the logical conclusion is that its domestic oil
market is also closely linked to international oil market in
some way even if it neither imports or exports oil. It is (C)
which says this, and is the answer.
(A), in fact, contradicts the given statement, because ex-
cluding domestic oil producers from international market will
increase local oil supplies, and will therefore reduce its local
prices.
(B) and (D) clearly contradict the given statement, and are
not logical conclusions that can be drawn from it.
(E), apart from not being a logical conclusion that can be
drawn from the given statement, is against commonsense
because, when international oil prices are higher than do-
mestic oil prices, the tendency of oil marketing companies in
open market nations will be to export more, and not to import
more.
SET 4
Answers
1.B 2.D 3.E 4.C 5.D 6.C 7.E 8.D 9.D 10.B
Analysis
1. The first sentence of the narrative says that, if televi-
sion editors did not exercise control over television commer-
cials, many commercials would make exaggerated claims for
their products. The second sentence (starting with “After all
.....") seeks to substantiate this statement by pointing out
that one third of the commercials reviewed each year by tel-
evision editors are rejected and returned for revisions, because,
in many cases, claims made in the advertisements are not
sufficiently documented.
We have been asked to identify that choice which consti-
tutes a basic assumption behind the argument.
The evidence cited by the author is that many commer-
cials are returned by the television editors because the claims
made in them are not sufficiently documented. The argument
that he builds on this evidence is that, if there is no such
review, many commercials would make exaggerated claims
for their products. What he obviously assumes is that claims
are not sufficiently documented only because they are exagger-
ated. It is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
The narrative says that “one-third” of the commercials re-
viewed are rejected each year, of which many are rejected be-
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
cause the claims made in them are not sufficiently docu-
mented. The narrative neither assumes nor implies that,
before the review was introduced, “most” commercials (mean-
ing “over 50%” of them) had made exaggerated claims for their
products. So, (A) is not the answer.
(C) is also wrong because of the phrase “most of the claims
made in commercials”, which is inconsistent with the fact
that only one-third of them are being rejected, whereas a
majority of two-thirds are still being accepted.
The argument is confined to the truth of the claims, but
does not speak of whether the TV viewers believe the claims
or not. So, (D) is not a necessary assumption for the author’s
argument based on the evidence cited by him.
The second sentence of the narrative states that, of the
one-third commercials reviewed and returned each year, many
(and not all) are returned because the claims made in them
are not sufficiently documented. This implies that at least
some others are returned because of other reasons (such as
obscenity, violence, poor production values, loud music etc.).
(E), which implies that all of the commercials returned each
year by the review committee make exaggerated claims for
their products contradicts the evidence cited, and is not the
answer.
2. From the evidence that many of the commercials which
had been returned by the review committee had not suffi-
ciently documented the claims made in them, the author ar-
gues that, if there were no such review, many commercials
would make exaggerated claims about their products.
In this question, we have been asked to identify that choice
which would most strengthen the author’s argument.
(A) merely implies that, while the average of returned com-
mercials is only around one-third, it is nearly 50% in the case
of some of the advertising agencies. This only means that
some advertising agencies are more prone to exaggerations than
the others. Therefore, (A), by itself, neither strengthens nor
weakens the author’s argument, and is not the answer.
(B) says that the standards used by television editors for
judging whether a commercial’s claims are sufficiently docu-
mented have varied widely over a period of time. (The stand-
ards might have become either more strict or less strict dur-
ing this period.) This statement, by itself, neither strengthens
nor weakens the author’s argument that, if there had been no
control by the review committee, many of the commercials
would make exaggerated claims for their products. So, (B) is
not the answer.
(C) merely cites one source from which the television edi-
tors get their information while reviewing the commercials,
and neither strengthens nor weakens the author’s argument
that, if such review were not there, many commercials would
make exaggerated claims for their products. So, (C) is not
the answer.
(D) says that many of the commercials that were rejected
and returned by the television editors were subsequently
resubmitted to them with more moderate claims and were
accepted for broadcast in the revised form. This, if true, cer-
tainly strengthens the author’s argument that, if there had
been no control by television editors, the commercials would
have been broadcast with the exaggerated claims that they
had made initially. So, (D) is the answer.
(E) would in fact weaken, and not strengthen, the author’s
argument that many commercials are returned because of
exaggerated claims. So, (E) is not the answer.
3. (You need not worry about the meaning of ‘astral projec-
tion’. Apparently, it is some form of occult practice. A ‘propo-
219
nent’ is a person who propagates an idea) The argument of
the proponents of astral projection can be summarized as:
Astral projection is beneficial to social well-being because, in
areas where more people have taken to astral projection, crime-
rates have come down.
The given argument connects two seemingly unconnected
phenomenon as a cause and its effect.
It is choice (E) which has the same reasoning as above,
namely, connecting two apparently unconnected phenomena
as a cause and its effect, and is the answer.
In all the other choices, the cause and the effect are closely
related to each other.
4. Assuming that the crime rate had come down in the
areas mentioned by the author, it is quite likely that the rea-
sons for such fall are totally different from an increase in the
number of persons practicing astral projection - such as (a) a
strengthening of the police machinery in that area or (b) an
improvement in the economic conditions of the people in that
area etc. The proponents not having considered any other
explanation for the drop in the crime rate is the strongest ob-
jection to their theory. So, (C) is the answer.
You can easily see that none of the other choices consti-
tutes a strong objection to the theory of the proponent that
the increase in the number of astral projectors in an area and
the fall in the crime rate in that area are directly related as a
cause and its effect.
5. It is quite likely that both B and C were copied inde-
pendently from A, with one mistake having been made in B
and two mistakes having been made in C. I is therefore a
possibility overlooked by the scholar.
It is also likely that C was first copied from A incorporat-
ing two mistakes in the process and then B was copied from C
correcting one of the mistakes. Thus, II is also a possibility
overlooked by the scholar.
III is not possible since, as per the given information, A
was written at least five years prior to C.
Thus (D) is the answer.
6. Since the scholar’s logic was that a manuscript with two
mistakes must have been copied imperfectly from a manu-
script with one mistake, he would most probably conclude that
a manuscript with three mistakes must have been copied
imperfectly from a manuscript with two mistakes. So, (C) is
the answer.
7. It is easy to see that the author of this statement is
critical of the experts. The question is what his criticism is
based on.
The assumption of the experts is that there is a surplus of
doctors in the country, and their conclusion (indicated by the
word ‘consequently’) is that the number of admissions in
medical colleges must therefore be restricted, so as to main-
tain the high quality of medical care. We cannot infer from
this statement that the assumption and the conclusion are
the same. So, (A) is wrong.
(B) is incorrect, since the author does not mention the
names of the experts either directly or indirectly. There is no
‘personal’ attack of the experts by him, but he only questions
their conclusion.
It is quite obvious that, if the intake into medical colleges
is restricted, the number of practicing doctors will progres-
sively decline. The author does not dispute this obvious in-
ference. So, (C) is also incorrect.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
There is no ambiguity in the meaning of the word ‘re-
stricted’, which obviously means reduced or curtailed. The
author’s criticism of the experts has no reference to this word.
So, (D) is not the answer.
In the last sentence, the author, while conceding that there
is indeed an overabundance of doctors in high-income areas,
mentions the fact (or introduces evidence) regarding the short-
age of doctors in the low-income areas. In the light of this
evidence, restricting the admission of students in medical
colleges will further aggravate the shortage of doctors in the
low-income areas and, consequently, the quality of medical
care in these areas will deteriorate still further. The aim of
the experts will therefore be defeated by their own remedy.
Thus the evidence introduced by the author throws a new light
on the theory of the experts. So (E) is the answer.
8. The first sentence of the passage states the experts’ claim
as “there is a surplus of doctors and that access to medical
schools must consequently be restricted so that the high qual-
ity of medical care could be maintained”.
The obvious assumption of the experts that a surplus of
doctors undermines the high quality of medical care.
So, (D) is the ready answer.
None of the other choices is a necessary assumption for the
experts’ conclusion.
9. The last sentence in the paragraph states that, by imi-
tating the poisonous coral snake, the non-poisonous snake
gets a protection that it would not otherwise have. This pro-
tection must obviously be due to its enemies mistaking it for
the poisonous variety and therefore avoiding it. So, (D) is the
answer.
(A), (B) and (E) are obviously irrelevant to the passage.
(C) is wrong since the imitation is meant for protection
from enemies and not for misleading potential victims.
10. (A) is wrong since, according to the second sentence of
the passage, the coral snakes in the dry areas do not have red
bands.
(B) is the logical inference from the passage, since, if the
non-poisonous snake had to imitate the poisonous ones, the
characteristics of the poisonous ones must have developed
earlier. So, (B) is the answer.
Neither (C) nor (D) necessarily follows from the given pas-
sage.
(E) also need not be factually correct.
SET 5
Answers
1.D 2.D 3.E 4.B 5.C 6.D 7.B 8.A 9.A 10.A
Analysis
1. The Transportation Authority hopes to raise all the re-
quired funds for making improvements to the main commuter
rail line by raising automobile tolls on the two highway bridges
along the rail route for a period of five years.
This question asks us to spot the choice which will cast the
most doubt on the success of the financial plan of the Author-
ity.
(D) says that, when the tolls were last increased on the
same two bridges, almost 20% of the regular commuter traf-
fic switched to a slightly longer alternative route. Because
that alternative route has been much improved since then,
even a higher percentage of drivers are likely to switch over
to that alternative route now, thereby avoiding the payment
220
of the proposed higher toll. If this happens, the funds required
by the Authority may not be collected in the time-span of 5
years that is projected, and may take a longer time. So, (D) is
the answer.
2. The plan proposes to raise the required funds for the
improvement of the rail line from road users, and the objec-
tion to the proposal is that it ‘would unfairly force drivers to
absorb the entire cost of something from which they receive
no benefit’.
In this question, we have been asked to spot that choice
which can be the strongest counter-argument against this
objection.
We should therefore look for that choice which points out
that the improvement to the railway line is, in fact, of benefit
to the road users also.
It is (D) which gives such an argument by saying that the
roads along the route served by the railway line are highly
congested now and that the drivers would benefit when com-
muters are diverted from these congested roadways to the
mass transit railways, and is the answer.
3. By pointing out that the wholesale prices of most illegal
drugs dropped substantially in 1987, the author of the pas-
sage argues that the program to control the entry of illegal
drugs into the country was a failure in 1987.
We have been asked to spot the choice which is a necessary
assumption made by the author while advancing this argu-
ment.
The price of a commodity can drop for either of the two
reasons: (i) increase in its supply; or (ii) decrease in the de-
mand for it.
By basing his argument on the first of these two reasons,
the author is assuming that there was no decrease in demand
for the illegal drugs during this period that could have caused
the reduction in their prices. So, (E) is the answer.
4. As pointed out above, the author’s argument is that it
was the entry of larger quantities of illegal drugs into the
country in 1987 that had led to a substantial fall in the prices
of these drugs. This argument will be most seriously weak-
ened if it is true that the domestic production of illegal drugs
had increased substantially in 1987 (to a level that had more
than offset the fall in smuggled illegal drugs).
It is (B) which says this, and is the answer.
5. According to the author, a study comparing 217 million
acres of common grazing land with 433 million acres of pri-
vate grazing land showed that the common land was in bet-
ter condition, and that this falsifies Hardin’s claim that the
common grazing land will always be used less carefully than
private grazing land.
We have been asked to spot that choice the answer to which
will be most useful in evaluating the significance of the study
with particular reference to Hardin’s claim.
If the common grazing land had been in a far, far superior
condition to the private grazing land before both of them were
put to grazing use, the fact that the common grazing land
was in a ‘better condition’ than private grazing land at the
time of the study would prove Hardin’s point. But if both were
in the same condition before they were put to grazing use,
but the common grazing land is now in a better condition,
then Hardin’s theory will be falsified.
So, the answer to (C) is most useful in evaluating the sig-
nificance of the study. So, (C) is the answer.
 American Education Aids - LSAT - Logical Reasoning - Analysis
6. Had it been known to the ranchers that, if one user of
common land overuses it even slightly, the other users are
likely to do so even more, with the consequence that the costs
to each user outweigh the benefits, then each of them would
have used the common grazing land even more carefully than
they use their own private grazing land, and this would ex-
plain why the common grazing land is in a better condition
than the private grazing land.
It is (C) which says this, and is the answer.
7. The author points out that corporations which intro-
duce automated equipment in order to reduce manpower and
thereby save money will have to eventually pay for the gov-
ernment unemployment assistance through increased taxes
and unemployment insurance premiums.
It is (B) which summarizes this, and is the answer.
8. The author’s argument is that the government will be
forced to extend financial assistance to those who are thrown
out of employment through automation, and will have to raise
taxes and unemployment insurance premiums for that pur-
pose.
This argument of the author will be weakened if the work-
ers who lose their jobs because of automation in their compa-
nies are able to readily find alternative jobs elsewhere. Like-
wise, what strengthens his argument is that these persons
221
are not able to find alternative jobs and, therefore, the gov-
ernment has to extend to them the unemployment benefits.
It is (A) which says this, and is the answer.
9. The first sentence says that, in order to protect certain
new industries in the country, the government banned the
imports of the types of products which these industries were
starting to make. The second sentence says that, as a conse-
quence, the export-dependent industries in the same country
had to pay a higher price for these products.
The obvious inference that can be drawn from this infor-
mation is that it was cheaper to import these products than to
make them within the country by the fledgling industries.
It is (A) which states this, and is the answer.
10. The last part of the passage says that the cost of these
products to the export-dependent industries went up, thereby
limiting the ability of these industries to compete effectively in
the export markets.
The conclusion that can be drawn from this information is
that the profit margins in these industries were not high
enough to enable them to absorb the rise in the cost thereby
keeping their export prices at the same level as earlier and
continue to compete successfully in the international mar-
ket.
It is (A) which says this, and is the answer.