PrepTest 135

[lcid:3639] Prep Test 135 LSAT — Logical Reasoning — S4 Logical reasoning

Question prompt

Hospitals, universities, labor unions, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Illustration Questions

Stimulus Summary

Public institutions can successfully promote the public interest even if each staff member acts only in selfish interests.

Answer Anticipation

Stripped down, this stimulus states that the whole (a public institution) can achieve a goal that doesn’t match the motives of its parts (each member of the staff). This, in essence, points out that the qualities of the parts don’t determine the qualities of the whole (a part-to-whole flaw) and that motives behind actions don’t necessarily determine the outcome of those actions. Either of those generalizations could show up in the correct answer, so we should look for both.

Answer choices

  1. A
    What is true of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The LSAT is trying to get you to pick this answer by doing two things. First, it lists some specific institutions - however, it ends with “other institutions,” thus showing that list is just to give some examples. Second, the stimulus states that these institutions “may” achieve public purposes, but that’s different than pointing out that other institutions fail at achieving them.
  2. B
    An organization can have Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer is the general description of why a part-to-whole flaw is a flaw, and it reflects the stimulus. There, it states that an organization (the institutions) can have a property (public purpose) that not all of its members possess (each staff member having selfish motives). There is a shift between the stimulus (“each..does only”) and the answer (“not all”), but it’s in a direction that makes the logic work - a situation where no one has a certain motive certainly conforms to a generalization where not all people have that motive. (If that’s tripping you up, think about this - If we asked you to find a law school where not all of the students won an Olympic medal, would a school where no student won an Olympic medal qualify? Yep!)
  3. C
    People often claim altruistic Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The stimulus never discusses what the staff members claim are their motives, so this answer is out of scope.
  4. D
    Many social institutions have Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The stimulus is about the staff members, not the founders, who could be completely different people. Also, someone could intend positive social consequences for selfish reasons - think of the person who does good so that they’ll go down in history as benevolent.
  5. E
    Often an instrument created Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    There’s no discussion of the founding purpose of these institutions, nor does the stimulus establish that the institutions are equally effective at helping the staff members reach their selfish motives.

What this tests

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