2015-08-03 College Prep: LSAT logical reasoning

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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http://haxiomic.github.io/GPU-Fluid-Experiments/html5/
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LSAT Logical Reasoning sample questions
Work together to try to answer some or all of these questions.

Question 1
Laird thinks new ideas are more important than technology for saving lives.
Kim thinks saving lives “is what counts most of all”.
They both agree saving lives is important, but Kim thinks it’s the most important thing.
D is therefore the correct answer
(It is important to notice words like “any”, “most”, and “in part”. Sometimes the possible answers differ only in quantity.)

Question 2
“response was much more limited than is typical” = response was lower than usual
(“limited” can mean a small amount or to a small extent)
“below par” = lower than expected
D is the correct answer
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http://www.whdh.com/story/29693965/panda-fakes-pregnancy-for-special-treatment
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Question 5
Paraphrase of the political scientist’s argument: Democracy doesn’t promote political freedom because some democracies have been oppressive and some non-democracies have a lot of political freedom.
Similar argument: Regular exercise does not promote health, because some people exercise a lot and are not healthy, and other people don’t exercise much at all but are very healthy.
D is the correct answer - democracy can promote political freedom without being necessary or sufficient for political freedom
(necessary: you can’t have political freedom without democracy)
(sufficient: you only need democracy and then you’re guaranteed to have political freedom)
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Whenever you read an argument that you think might be flawed, it can help to replace the ideas in the argument with something you're more familiar with. (In this case, we replaced democracy and freedom with exercise and health, because most people understand that exercise promotes health without being necessary or sufficient on its own.) Then see if you can identify the problems with the argument.