Logical reasoning PrepTest 127 · Section 3 · Question 21

Incorrect. The group that learned the first dances doesn't need to be the same as the group that learned later dances. In fact, it's more of a revival if more people learned these other dances!

Incorrect. George doesn't ask about why the dances were unpopular before 95, but rather why they became popular then. While their unpopularity might play a role in the revival, it doesn't have to, and so the argument isn't flawed in failing to explain this.

Incorrect. This comparison is out of scope of the argument. What's relevant to the question George asks is why the merengue suddenly became popular, not how it was similar/different from other, more popular dancing styles.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Question/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
NA/Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
G: Ballroom dancing wasn't popular through the early 90s—why is it popular now?

B: Because people started learning ballroom dances in the mid-90s.

Answer Anticipation:
First, let's consider the question stem. It asks us to find an error in reasoning, phrased as something the argument fails to do something. It's only a flaw to fail to do something that's required for the argument to work, so we should expect the flaw to be stated as something Boris's response would need to do to address George but doesn't.

Second, this question has a structure that repeats frequently on the LSAT (though more on RC than in LR)—a question/answer structure. George asks a question, Boris answers it. When that's the case, we should check to make sure that Boris's answer actually answers that question.

Here, it doesn't. George wants to know why there was a sudden interest in learning ballroom dance in the mid-90s. George's answer? Because people started to learn some ballroom styles, which led to other people picking up other styles. While this may account for the growth of ballroom after the initial people learned it, it doesn't account for how this trend started. Why did those individuals learn the merengue and related dances? There's no indication as to what changed that led to this revival and then growth—the very question that George asked—and so Boris's response fails to address the question raised.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights that Boris neglects to answer the question George raises, instead presenting information that highlights the phenomenon he asks about happened without addressing why. Since the why of it is the point of George's question, Boris's response fails in neglecting to address it.

Key Takeaway:
Whenever someone responds to a question asked by someone else, check to make sure they actually answer the question asked. Frequently, the LSAT will have the responder bring up relevant information to the topic without answering the question.

Incorrect. The question is about an increase in popularity of ballroom dancing as a category—it doesn't matter if each type of dance within that category is popular as long as the category, overall, is.