LSAT 117 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q22

LR Question 22 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Most people who shop for groceries no more than…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Most people in Hallstown regularly buy frozen groceries.

REASONING: Most people who shop for dinner no more than three times a month buy lots of frozen dinners. Most people in Hallstown buy groceries no more than three times a month.

ANALYSIS: What is true of the entire population isn’t necessarily true of every city. Most people in the country might live in houses, but that doesn’t mean most people in Manhattan live in houses.

For all we know stores in Hallstown don’t even sell frozen dinners. Maybe everyone in Hallstown is a farmer and grows their own food. Who knows?

The error is to assume that what is true of the majority of the entire group must be true of the majority of every sub-group.

___________

1. This sounds like a half-decent argument. It would help to know how many people live in West Ansland though. But it doesn’t repeat the error of the stimulus.
2. This is actually a good argument, though it fools a lot of people. John is part of John’s family! 
3. This is a bad argument, but only because it assumes that Fernando’s friends do drive to school just because they can.
4. CORRECT. Yes, most commuters drive sedans. But that doesn’t have to be true of every single region. Maybe everyone in Highland county bicycles to work. Most people nationwide could still commute with Sedans. 
5. This is a good argument. We know they are good drivers since Janine accepts rides from them.