LSAT-Test – Law School Admission Test: Logical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning

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Question 1 (Logical Reasoning)

It is impossible to do science without measuring. It is impossible to measure without having first selected units of measurement. Hence, science is arbitrary, since the selection of a unit of measurement — kilometer, mile, fathom, etc. — is always arbitrary.

The patteni of reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to that in the argument above

Select an option, then click Submit answer.

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Long hours of practice are necessary for developing musical skill. One must develop one's musical skill in order to perform difficult music. But long hours of practice are tedious. So performing difficult music is tedious.
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You have to advertise to run an expanding business, but advertising is expensive. Hence, it is expensive to run a business.
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It is permissible to sit on the park benches. To sit on the park benches one must walk to them. One way to walk to them is by walking on the grass. So it is permissible to walk on the grass.
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It is impossible to be a manager without evaluating people. The process of evaluation is necessarily subjective. Thus, people resent managers because they resent being evaluated subjectively.
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Some farming on the plains requires irrigation. This irrigation now uses water pumped from aquifers. But aquifers have limited capacity and continued pumping will eventually exhaust them.
Thus, a new source of water will have to be found in order for such farming to continue indefinitely.

Reference / correct answer:

Long hours of practice are necessary for developing musical skill. One must develop one's musical skill in order to perform difficult music. But long hours of practice are tedious. So performing difficult music is tedious.

The most efficient way through this Parallel Reasoning question is to recognize the kinds of statements that comprise the original argument, and then to search for the argument that contains not only the same types of statements, but the same number of them as well. Hopefully you recognized the first two sentences as statements of necessity: Paraphrasing, these boil down to “science requires measuring” and “measuring requires selecting units.” These of course can be combined (science requires selecting units), another feature we’ll be looking for in the correct choice. Moving on, let’s hold the conclusion (signaled by “hence”) for last and finish with the evidence: “Selecting units is always arbitrary” — that’s a simple statement of fact — and that brings us to the conclusion that science is therefore arbitrary. So what do we have here? Two linked statements of necessity, a fact and a conclusion. That’s certainly enough to go on.

Question 2 (Logical Reasoning)

A music store carries exactly ten types of CDs — both new and used of each of jazz, opera, pop, rap, and soul. The store is having a sale on some of these types of CDs. The following conditions must apply:

Used pop is on sale; new opera is not.

If both types of pop are on sale, then all soul is.

If both types of jazz are on sale, then no rap is.

If neither type of jazz is on sale, then new pop is. If either type of rap is on sale, then no soul is.

If exactly four of the five types of used CDs are the only CDs on sale, then which one of the following could be true?

Select an option, then click Submit answer.

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Used jazz is not on sale.
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Used opera is not on sale.
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Used rap is not on sale.
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Neither type of jazz is on sale.
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Neither type of rap and neither type of soul is on sale.

in no time. If all the rap and soul (R, r, S, s) are crossed out, then we cannot fulfill the requirement that 4 out of 5 used CDs be on sale.
We’re down to options [Used opera is not on sale.] and [Used rap is not on sale.]. Suppose option [Used opera is not on sale.] is the statement that “could be true”; suppose used opera is not on sale. Can the four on-sale CDs be “p, j, r, s”? No way! Putting both a rap and a soul CD on sale simultaneously is a blatant violation of Rule 5. And indeed, if “p, j, o, s” are all on sale and everything else is not, no rules are violated.

Reference / correct answer:

Used rap is not on sale.

The only CDs on sale are exactly four of the five used ones. So your sketch needs first to have all the new CDs (i.e. the CAPITALIZED LETTERS) crossed out; and then you have to deal with the 4/1 split. One of those 4 on-sale CDs is used pop (Rule 1). What about the others? More importantly, which is the one and only used CD not on sale?

Jazz may come to mind first because its rule (Rule 4) is the only one that begins in the negative. Suppose used jazz, j, is the one and only crossed-out used CD. What happens then? Rule 4 kicks in and says that new pop is on sale. But that can’t happen: In this question, none of the new CDs is on sale. So our original premise is wrong. Used jazz must be on sale, so options [Used jazz is not on sale.] and [Neither type of jazz is on sale.] are false statements; toss them out. Meanwhile, your eye might alight on E., and you can toss

E. in no time. If all the rap and soul (R, r, S, s) are crossed out, then we cannot fulfill the requirement that 4 out of 5 used CDs be on sale.

We’re down to options [Used opera is not on sale.] and [Used rap is not on sale.]. Suppose option [Used opera is not on sale.] is the statement that “could be true”; suppose used opera is not on sale. Can the four on-sale CDs be “p, j, r, s”? No way! Putting both a rap and a soul CD on sale simultaneously is a blatant violation of Rule 5. And indeed, if “p, j, o, s” are all on sale and everything else is not, no rules are violated.

Question 3 (Logical Reasoning)

Barnes: The two newest employees at this company have salaries that are too high for the simple tasks normally assigned to new employees and duties that are too complex for inexperienced workers. Hence, the salaries and the complexity of the duties of these two newest employees should be reduced.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which Barnes's argument depends?

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The duties of the two newest employees are not less complex than any others in the company.
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It is because of the complex duties assigned that the two newest employees are being paid more than is usually paid to newly hired employees.
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The two newest employees are not experienced at their occupations.
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Barnes was not hired at a higher-than-average starting salary.
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The salaries of the two newest employees are no higher than the salaries that other companies pay for workers with a similar level of experience.

Reference / correct answer:

The two newest employees are not experienced at their occupations.

This is an Assumption question, so we will need the answer choice that connects the evidence with the conclusion. Barnes’ conclusion is that the salaries and complexity of the duties of these two newest employees should be reduced. (Conveniently, the conclusion is pointed out by the Keyword “Hence”.) Why should they be reduced? Because these employees have salaries that are too high for the simple tasks normally assigned to new employees and they have duties that are too complex for inexperienced workers. Can you see what’s going on here? By concluding from this evidence that the two new employees should have their salaries and duties reduced, the author is just assuming that these two new employees are like typical new employees: they must have simple tasks assigned to them, and they are inexperienced. But what if that weren’t true? What if they have nonsimple tasks assigned to them, or they are, in fact, experienced workers? Then there would be no reason to reduce their salaries and duties; Barnes’ conclusion would not logically follow. So the author must be assuming that they are just like the typical new employee. Once you have this kind of prephrase in your head, you can attack the answer choices. [The two newest employees are not experienced at their occupations] is correct because it tells us that the new employees are just like typical new employees in one important respect—they are not experienced at their occupations.

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