LSAT-Section-1-Logical-Reasoning Section One : Logical Reasoning - Practice Questions

Question 94

Economist: To the extent that homelessness arises from a lack of available housing, it should not be assumed that the profit motive is at fault. Private investors will, in general, provide housing if the market allows them to make a profit; it is unrealistic to expect investors to take risks with their property unless they get some benefit in return.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the economist's argument by the phrase "To the extent that homelessness arises from a lack of available housing"

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It limits the application of the argument to a part of the problem.
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It suggests that the primary cause of homelessness is lack of available housing.
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It is offered as evidence crucial to the conclusion.
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It expresses the conclusion to be argued for.
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It suggests a possible solution to the problem of homelessness.

Question 95

Physical education should teach people to pursue healthy, active lifestyles as they grow older. But the focus on competitive sports in most schools causes most of the less competitive students to turn away from sports. Having learned to think of themselves as unathletic, they do not exercise enough to stay healthy.

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the statements above, if they are true?

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Physical education should include noncompetitive activities.
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Competition causes most students to turn away from sports.
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People who are talented at competitive physical endeavors exercise regularly.
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The mental aspects of exercise are as important as the physical ones.
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Children should be taught the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

Question 96

Political opinion and analysis outside the mainstream rarely are found on television talk shows, and it might be thought that this state of affairs is a product of the political agenda of the television stations themselves. In fact, television stations are driven by the same economic forces as sellers of more tangible goods. Because they must attempt to capture the largest possible share of the television audience for their shows, they air only those shows that will appeal to large numbers of people. As a result, political opinions and analyses aired on television talk shows are typically bland and innocuous.

An assumption made in the explanation offered by the author of the passage is that

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most television viewers cannot agree on which elements of a particular opinion or analysis are most disturbing
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there are television viewers who might refuse to watch television talk shows that they knew would be controversial and disturbing
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each television viewer holds some opinion that is outside the political mainstream, but those opinions are not the same for everyone
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there are television shows on which economic forces have an even greater impact than they do on television talk shows
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the television talk shows of different stations resemble one another in most respects

Reference / correct answer:

there are television viewers who might refuse to watch television talk shows that they knew would be controversial and disturbing

The author concludes that political opinions on TV talk shows are bland and innocuous.

Why is that? Not, as some might think, because the TV stations have their own political agenda. According to the author, it’s because stations air only those shows that will appeal to large numbers of people, and that’s because the stations are driven by economic forces. If you look at this author’s conclusion, that the talk shows are innocuous, and then look at the reason why, because the stations are trying to appeal to lots of people, then you can spot a missing link: that only bland opinions appeal to lots of people. That works as a central assumption in this argument. A prephrase similar to this will help you attack the answer choices. When you do, option [there are television viewers who might refuse…] should jump out. For the author’s argument to work, he must assume that some viewers would not watch something they found controversial. If that were not the case, and everyone tunes in even when something is controversial, then stations could run these programs and still hope to gain as many viewers as possible.

LSAT-Section-1-Logical-Reasoning – Section One : Logical Reasoning