LSAT 117 – Section 2 – Question 21

LSAT 117 - Section 2 - Question 21

October 2004

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT117 S2 Q21	+LR	Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw Quantifier +Quant	A 2% 156 B 20% 158 C 1% 154 D 1% 155 E 77% 163	135 147 160	+Medium	146.765 +SubsectionMedium

It is highly likely that Claudette is a classical pianist. Like most classical pianists, Claudette recognizes many of Clara Schumann’s works. The vast majority of people who are not classical pianists do not. In fact, many people who are not classical pianists have not even heard of Clara Schumann.

Summarize Argument

The argument claims that Claudette is probably a classical pianist. This is because most classical pianists recognize Schumann's works, and Claudette happens to also recognize them. Further, most people who aren’t classical pianists would not have recognized them.

Identify and Describe Flaw

These two ‘most’ relationships only tell us how likely someone may be to recognize or not recognize Schumann’s works. They say nothing about how likely someone is to be a classical pianist. It’s entirely possible that most people who recognize her works aren’t classical pianists. The argument’s flaw lies in the mistaken assumption that, among everyone in the world who recognizes Schumann's works, most of them are classical pianists. This flaw amounts to the author interpreting a ‘most’ relationship in the wrong direction.

ignores the possibility that Claudette is more familiar with the works of other composers of music for piano

This is irrelevant. The argument claims that she’s probably a classical pianist because she recognizes Schumann’s works. This claim is unaffected by how many other works she does or doesn’t recognize.

presumes, without providing justification, that people who have not heard of Clara Schumann do not recognize her works

This is irrelevant. Whether these other people recognize Schumann or not has no bearing on whether Claudette is likely to be a classical pianist.

presumes, without providing justification, that classical pianists cannot also play other musical instruments

The argument doesn’t presume this, and even if it were to, it wouldn’t matter. Whether classical pianists play other instruments or not is irrelevant to whether Claudette is likely to be one.

relies for its plausibility on the vagueness of the term “classical”

The term “classical” is not vague since it consistently refers to a specific kind of pianist.

ignores the possibility that the majority of people who recognize many of Clara Schumann’s works are not classical pianists

This describes the fact that while most classical pianists may recognize Schumann’s works, many other kinds of people may recognize them as well. Claudette could easily be one of those other people who recognize the works without being a classical pianist.

LSAT 117 – Section 2 – Question 21

LSAT 117 - Section 2 - Question 21

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LSAT PrepTest 117 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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