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

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Showing 169–171 of 430 questions

Question 169

Legal theorist: It is unreasonable to incarcerate anyone for any other reason than that he or she is a serious threat to the property or lives of other people. The breaking of a law does not justify incarceration, for lawbreaking proceeds either from ignorance of the law or of the effects of one's actions, or from the free choice of the lawbreaker. Obviously mere ignorance cannot justify incarcerating a lawbreaker, and even free choice on the part of the lawbreaker fails to justify incarceration, for free choice proceeds from the desires of an agent, and the desires of an agent are products of genetics and environmental conditioning, neither of which is controlled by the agent.

The claim in the first sentence of the passage plays which one of the following roles in the argument?

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    It is offered as a premise that helps to show that no actions are under the control of the agent.
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    It is offered as background information necessary to understand the argument.
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    It is offered as the main conclusion that the argument is designed to establish.
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    It is offered as evidence for the stated claim that protection of life and property is more important than retribution for past illegal acts.
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    It is offered as evidence for the stated claim that lawbreaking proceeds from either ignorance of the law, or ignorance of the effects of one's actions, or free choice.
Question 170

A certain gene can be stimulated by chemicals in cigarette smoke, causing lung cells to metabolize the chemicals in a way that makes the cells cancerous. Yet smokers in whom this gene is not stimulated have as high a risk of developing lung cancer from smoking as other smokers do.

If the statements above are true, it can be concluded on the basis of them that

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    stimulation of the gene by chemicals in cigarette smoke is not the only factor affecting the risk for smokers of developing lung cancer
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    nonsmokers have as high a risk of developing lung cancer as do smokers in whom the gene has not been stimulated
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    smokers in whom the gene has been stimulated are more likely to develop lung cancer than are other smokers
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    the gene is more likely to be stimulated by chemicals in cigarette smoke than by other chemicals
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    smokers are less likely to develop lung cancer if they do not have the gene
Question 171

In a poll of eligible voters conducted on the eve of a mayoral election, more of those polled stated that they favored Panitch than stated that they favored any other candidate. Despite this result, another candidate, Yeung, defeated Panitch by a comfortable margin.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to a resolution of the discrepancy described above EXCEPT:

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    Of Yeung's supporters, a smaller percentage was eligible to vote than the percentage of Panitch's supporters who were eligible to vote.
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    A third candidate, Mulhern, conducted a press-conference on the morning of the election and withdrew from the race.
    The poll, conducted on a Monday, surveyed persons in the downtown area, and the percentage of Yeung's supporters who work downtown is lower than that of Panitch's supporters.
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    The poll's questions were designed by staff members of Panitch's campaign.
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    Of the poll respondents supporting Yeung,70 percent described the election as "important" or "very important," while 30 percent of respondents supporting Panitch did the same.