LSAT 29, Logical Reasoning II, Q25, LSATHacks

LR Question 25 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Formal performance evaluations in the professional world…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Students should have access to textbooks when they are taking exams.

REASONING: Professionals such as doctors and lawyers have access to their texts when they are being professionally evaluated.

ANALYSIS: A lawyer has already learned about the law and presumably knows it well except for the details. A student may not yet understand the law at all. They’re studying to be a professional: it’s a different situation. 

And the professionals are being tested to see how well they do in their day-to-day practices. They would normally have access to the books while doing their jobs. 

___________

1. Actually those examples are pretty good. They’ve convinced me that professionals generally have access to their books. 
2. The argument didn’t mention test scores. It’s only concerned with whether students should have access to the books. 
3. This is tempting, but incorrect. Maybe the professionals should have had access to their books when they were students too. Tradition alone doesn’t mean that something is a good idea.
4. Lots of students (such as physics students) also devote many years of study to their subject. This doesn’t tell us much.
5. CORRECT. A professional evaluation is to test if a professional is effective when they are doing their job. A student evaluation is to see how well a student knows the topic. 

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

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