LSAT 118 – Section 4 – Question 12

LSAT 118 - Section 4 - Question 12

December 2004

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT118 S4 Q12
+LR
Method of reasoning or descriptive +Method
Analogy +An
A
76%
166
B
9%
159
C
6%
160
D
5%
159
E
3%
156
142
152
162
 +Medium 147.106 +SubsectionMedium

Columnist: If you received an unsigned letter, you would likely have some doubts about the truth of its contents. But news stories often include statements from anonymous sources, and these are usually quoted with the utmost respect. It makes sense to be skeptical of these sources, for, as in the case of the writer of an unsigned letter, their anonymity makes it possible for them to plant inaccurate or slanted statements without ever having to answer for them.

Summarize Argument
The columnist concludes that it is reasonable to doubt statements from anonymous sources in news stories. To support this position, the columnist draws an analogy to doubting the truth of an unsigned letter, reasoning that in either case, anonymity gives a writer more freedom to speak dishonestly without worrying about personal consequences.

Describe Method of Reasoning
The columnist concludes that a response is reasonable in one case by offering an analogous case where that response is considered reasonable, and showing that the response can be justified by the same reasoning in both cases.

A
pointing out that a certain attitude would presumably be adopted in one situation, in order to support the claim that a similar attitude would be justified in an analogous situation
The attitude of doubt adopted in the situation of receiving an unsigned letter is used to justify an attitude of skepticism toward reading statements from anonymous sources in newspapers—two situations presented as analogous.
B
drawing an analogy between an attitude commonly adopted in one situation and a different attitude commonly adopted in another situation, and establishing that the latter attitude is better justified than the former
The columnist doesn’t argue about different attitudes being adopted in two different situations. Rather, the columnist argues that the same attitude should be adopted in analogous situations.
C
inferring that an attitude would be justified in all situations of a given type on the grounds that this attitude is justified in a hypothetical situation of that type
The columnist doesn’t make any generalizations about a “type” of situation, only justifying one situation—doubting anonymous sources in newspapers—using another, analogous situation of doubting the contents of unsigned letters.
D
calling into question a certain type of evidence by drawing an analogy between that evidence and other evidence that the argument shows is usually false
The columnist isn’t showing that any evidence is false, instead only arguing that it is reasonable to doubt statements from certain sources by comparing them to analogous sources that are usually doubted—not shown to be false.
E
calling into question the motives of those presenting certain information, and concluding for this reason that the information is likely to be false
The columnist doesn’t conclude that any information is likely to be false, only concluding that skepticism about some information is justified.

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LSAT PrepTest 118 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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