LSAT 3 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: To become an expert on a musical instrument, a person must…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: If you are an expert, you will have practiced your musical instrument for three hours per day.

REASONING: One way to become an expert is to practice for three hours per day. And everyone who is an expert needs to practice.

ANALYSIS: Everyone who wins the lottery is rich. That does not mean that anyone who is rich has won the lottery. There are other ways of becoming rich.

Similarly, there may be other ways of becoming an expert at a musical instrument. Everyone who practices for three hours becomes one but that is only a sufficient condition. It isn’t a necessary condition.

___________

1. The premise is quite clear that everyone will eventually become an expert if they practice for three hours per day.
2. CORRECT. You might become an expert if you were born a musical genius, for example.
3. Actually, the argument does believe this to be true. It is the major error of the argument. There could be other ways to become an expert.
4. That doesn’t mean three hours of practice won’t work: it just might not be the recommended strategy. Maybe the teachers are wrong.
5. Whether or not most people can use a technique is irrelevant to whether the technique can work.

Recap: The question begins with “To become an expert on a musical instrument, a person must”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.