LSAT 122 – Section 4 – Question 23

LSAT 122 - Section 4 - Question 23

June 2006

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT122 S4 Q23
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Eliminating Options +ElimOpt
A
9%
162
B
7%
156
C
21%
161
D
41%
166
E
22%
164
153
170
180
 +Hardest 146.485 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Counselor: Constantly comparing oneself to those one sees as more able or more successful almost invariably leads to self-disparagement. Conversely, constantly comparing oneself to those one sees as less able or less successful almost invariably leads to being dismissive of others. So, those who for the most part refrain from comparing themselves to others will most likely be, on the whole, self-accepting and accepting of others.

Summarize Argument
The author concludes that people who refrain from comparing themselves to others will most likely be self-accepting and accepting of others. This is based on the fact that constantly comparing oneself with those one sees are more successful leads to self-disparagement. And, constantly comparing oneself with those one sees as less successful leads to be dismissive of others.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that there are no other ways to be self-disparaging and dismissive of others besides comparing oneself to those one sees as more successful or less successful. This overlooks the possibility that even if you stop comparing yourself to others, you might still self-disparage or dismiss others. The argument also assumes that if you’re not self-disparaging, you’ll be self-accepting, and that if you don’t dismiss others, you’ll accept others.

A
overlooks the possibility that one can compare oneself both to those one perceives to be more able and more successful than oneself and to those one perceives to be less able and less successful than oneself
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument. Perhaps someone can compare oneself both to people thought of as more successful and people thought of as less successful. The author’s conclusion concerns what happens if you stop comparing yourself to anybody at all.
B
overlooks the possibility that constantly comparing oneself to others may have beneficial effects that those who refrain from making such comparisons are deprived of
The conclusion is not a recommendation that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. It’s simply a description of what the author thinks will happen regarding self-acceptance and acceptance of others. Other benefits from comparison have no impact on this conclusion.
C
takes for granted that if one is both dismissive of others and self-disparaging, one will not be self-accepting and accepting of others
One assumption is that NOT being self-disparaging implies self-acceptance, and NOT being dismissive of others implies accepting others. (C) wrongly turns this into the idea that being self-disparaging implies NOT self-accepting, and being dismissive implies NOT accepting others.
D
overlooks the possibility that self-disparagement and being dismissive of others can result from something other than comparing oneself to others
If this possibility were true, the conclusion does not follow. Refraining from comparisons could not be expected to lead to avoidance of self-disparagement and dismissiveness if there were other things that caused these feelings. So overlooking this possibility is a flaw.
E
takes for granted that whenever one compares oneself to others one sees them as more successful and more able than oneself or less successful and less able than oneself
The author is open to the idea that not all comparisons involve people you think of as better/worse. The author simply asserts that if you don’t compare yourself to anyone, you’ll avoid things that we know result from comparing yourself to people you think of as better/worse.

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LSAT PrepTest 122 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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