Sections 3

Library preservationist: Due to the continual physical deterioration of the medieval manuscripts in our library’s collection, we have decided to restore most of our medieval manuscripts that are of widely acknowledged cultural significance, though this means that some medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect will be restored. However, only manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process will be restored, and manuscripts that are not frequently consulted by researchers will not be restored.

Summary

Most of our medieval manuscripts that are of widely acknowledged cultural significance will be restored, and some medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect will be restored. Only manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during restoration and manuscripts frequently consulted by researchers will be restored.

Notable Valid Inferences

Some medieval manuscipts whose authenticity is suspect are frequently consulted by researchers.

Some medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect can have their safety ensured during restoration.

Most medieval manuscripts that are of widely acknowledged cultural significance are frequently consulted by researchers.

A

Some of the medieval manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect are frequently consulted by researchers.

Must be true. As shown below, we can combine the statements that some manuscripts whose authenticity is suspect will be restored and that only frequently consulted manuscripts will be restored.

B

All of the medieval manuscripts widely acknowledged to be of cultural significance are manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process.

Could be false. The stimulus tells us that most manuscripts widely acknowledged to be of cultural significance will be restored. We cannot infer an “all” statement from a “most” statement.

C

All of the medieval manuscripts whose safety can be ensured during the restoration process are frequently consulted by researchers.

Could be false. As shown on our diagram, there are no necessary conditions attached to the condition of a manuscript’s safety being ensured. It is possible that some manuscripts exist whose safety can be ensured but are not frequently consulted.

D

The medieval manuscripts most susceptible to deterioration are those most frequently consulted by researchers.

Could be false. The stimulus does not give us any information to determine what manuscripts are most susceptible to deterioration. This answer choice is outside of the scope of our conditions.

E

None of the medieval manuscripts that are rarely consulted by researchers is widely acknowledged to be of cultural significance.

Could be false. The stimulus does not give us any information about manuscripts that are rarely consulted by researchers. This answer choice is outside of the scope of our conditions.

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LSAT 148 - Section 3 - Question 25

July 25, 2014

Direct-mail advertising usually consists of advertisements for products to be purchased from the home, so the perception that it is bad for the environment is misguided. Because of direct-mail advertising, millions of people buy products by phone or online—products whose purchase would otherwise require the use of a car, thus adding pollutants to the air.

Summarize Argument

The author concludes that direct-mail advertising is not bad for the environment. This is because direct-mail advertising usually advertises products to be purchased from home. This leads to millions of people buying products from home. If they didn’t purchase these products at home, purchase of these products would require using a car, which would add pollutants to the air.

Notable Assumptions

The author assumes that a significant proportion of the products bought as a result of direct-mail advertising would still be bought had direct-mail advertising not existed. The author also assumes that there’s no aspect of purchases from home that produce more environmental damage than those purchases would have been had they been purchased after using a car.

A

Although the primary intent of most direct-mail advertisers is to convince people to buy products from their homes, direct mail can also lead to increased sales in stores by customers who prefer to see a product prior to purchasing it.

This weakens the argument by showing that direct-mail advertising might increase sales in stores, which would generally require use of a car, which would add pollutants to the air.

B

Most of the products purchased in response to direct-mail advertisements would be purchased even without the direct-mail advertisements.

This confirms that without direct-mail advertising, pollutants from in-person sales would actually have occurred. In theory, direct-mail advertisements might have just caused purchases that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred. (B) eliminates this possibility.

C

A person who receives and reads a direct-mail advertisement is more likely to purchase the product advertised than is a person who reads an advertisement for a product in a magazine that they subscribe to.

The comparative effectiveness of direct-mail ads and magazine ads has no clear impact. We already know that people buy products from home due to direct-mail ads. Even if these are more effective than others, we still don’t know the environmental impact of direct-mail ads.

D

Usually, a company that sends out direct-mail advertisements has good reason to think that the person to whom the advertisement is sent would be more interested in the product than would the average person.

(D), unlike (B) doesn’t establish that the people who buy products from home would have bought those products without the direct-mail ads. There might be signs those people are more interested in the products, but that doesn’t mean they would buy without the ads.

E

Products purchased as the result of direct-mail advertising comprise an increasingly large portion of the consumer products purchased each year.

This doesn’t reveal anything about the environmental impact of direct-mail ads. We still don’t know whether direct-mail ads are causing people to buy from home products that would otherwise be purchased by using a car.

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LSAT 148 - Section 3 - Question 26

July 25, 2014

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LSAT 148 - Section 3 - Question 20

July 25, 2014

Agricultural scientist: Wild apples are considerably smaller than cultivated apples found in supermarkets. In one particular region, archaeologists have looked for remains of cultivated apples dating from 5,000 years ago, around the time people first started cultivating fruit. But the only remains of apples that archaeologists have found from this period are from fruits the same size as the wild apples native to the region. So apples were probably not cultivated in this region 5,000 years ago.

Summarize Argument

The author concludes that apples were probably not cultivated in this region 5,000 years ago. This is based on the following:

Today, wild apples are much smaller than cultivated apples found in supermarkets.

In this region, apples of 5,000 years ago were the same size as wild apples native to the region.

Identify and Describe Flaw

The author assumes that cultivated apples 5,000 years ago must have been larger than wild apples from that time. But this overlooks the possibility that wild apples were similar in size to cultivated apples from that time, even if today wild apples are smaller than cultivated apples.

A

fails to consider that even if a plant was not cultivated in a given region at a specific time, it may have been cultivated in nearby regions at that time

The argument concerns only “this region.” Whether apples were cultivated in other regions does not affect the reasoning of the argument.

B

fails to consider that plants that have been cultivated for only a short time may tend to resemble their wild counterparts much more closely than plants that have been cultivated for a long time

The author overlooks the fact that, 5,000 years ago, cultivated and wild apples might have been more similar in size compared to their relative sizes today. We cannot rely on their relative sizes today to conclude that the smaller apples of 5,000 years ago were not cultivated.

C

takes for granted that all apples are either the size of wild apples or the size of the cultivated apples now found in supermarkets

The argument concerns remains of apples in a particular region that are the same size wild apples. The existence of other apples sized in between wild/cultivated doesn’t weaken the argument. So the author doesn’t need to assume there are only two sizes for apples.

D

employs a premise that is incompatible with the conclusion it is supposed to justify

There is no premise that contradicts the conclusion. The conclusion is that apples probably weren’t cultivated 5,000 years ago in this region. None of the premises makes the conclusion impossible to be true.

E

uses a claim that presupposes the truth of its main conclusion as part of the justification for that conclusion

(E) describes circular reasoning. None of the premises assume the truth of the conclusion. The premises include comparison between sizes of apples today, and a claim about sizes of remains of certain apples. The conclusion is about whether those apples were cultivated.

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