LSAT 123 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Novel X and Novel Y are both semiautobiographical novels…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: It is more likely that similarity in the two novels is coincidental.

REASONING: Both authors have similar backgrounds and lives.

ANALYSIS: The word “since” is a conclusion and evidence indicator: what comes before “since” is the conclusion, what comes after it is the evidence.

“However” is also an indicator: what comes after it is the conclusion.

___________

1. This is context which describes why someone might think there was plagiarism.
2. Same as A. This is a belief the author disagrees with, in the sentence starting with “however”.
3. This is evidence supporting the conclusion that the similarities in their books wasn’t evidence of plagiarism.
4. CORRECT. This is worded strangely, but it is the conclusion. The stimulus said “more likely coincidence”. This answer said “less likely plagiarism than coincidence”, which means “more likely coincidence.”
5. This answer is a general claim about all cases. That wasn’t what the author was talking about: they were only talking about the case of novels X and Y.