LSAT 131 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q11

LR Question 11 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Predictions that printed books will soon be replaced by

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Printed books won’t be replaced by CD-ROM and other electronic formats.

REASONING: Bookstores and public libraries will stock books in the format customers want. The general public doesn’t want electronic format.

ANALYSIS: Boy, does the LSAT get dated quickly on tech issues. This test was released in 2009, but it feels like this question was written in the 1990s.

Anyway, the author is trying to defend print books, but their evidence is that books will be in some format “other than electronic”. Hmm….maybe there’s a third format, such as audio books. We can strengthen the argument by showing the only alternatives are print and electronic.

That was my prediction, anyway. Turns out the right answer strengthens the argument by showing publishers will still make books for bookstores. This seems like an obvious assumption, but you can always strengthen an argument by making assumptions explicit.

___________

1. Scholars and scientists aren’t relevant. The argument mentioned them as an example of people who aren’t using printed books. But the point was that other people will use print books.
   This answer merely explains why scientists prefer electronic books.
2. CORRECT. This strengthens the argument by showing that bookstores will continue to be a market for books.
   This is practically a necessary assumption answer.
3. Like A, this is irrelevant because scholars and scientists aren’t the point. The author’s point was that the general public would keep print books alive.
4. This weakens the argument, as these non-book, non-electronic formats might replace printed books. (The author only said that the preferred format would be “non-electronic”. They didn’t say it would be print. Also, videos aren’t necessarily electronic. If they’re on VHS tape like books on tape, then that’s an analog format.)
5. It doesn’t matter whether some people prefer e-books. Some can be as low as one person. We care about what large groups of the general public will do.
   Also, this answer is aimed at weakening, not strengthening.