LSAT 126 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q21

LR Question 21 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: If one has evidence that an act will benefit other people…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle

ANALYSIS: The correct answer will conform to the principle given in the stimulus. It has two sufficient conditions and one necessary condition.

If:

1. You have evidence that an act will benefit other people, and
2. You perform the act in order to benefit other people,

Then: You will generally succeed in benefiting them.

___________

1. This does not meet condition 2; the politicians acted out of self interest.
2. The procedure failed; this answer choice is not ideal. Further, since bureaucratic procedures “typically fail,” it’s not clear that the government had evidence the act would benefit others.
3. CORRECT. Betsy knew she would help her daughter by fixing her furnace. It is a reasonable assumption that she fixed it with the intent of benefiting her (mothers usually try to help their daughters). Finally, she actually did help her. All three conditions are fulfilled, making this the best choice.
4. Sejal’s action meets both of the sufficient conditions, but we don’t know whether she succeeded in helping Bob.
5. Zachary didn’t actually have evidence that his action would help his parents. He just got lucky.

Recap: The question begins with “If one has evidence that an act will benefit other people”. It is a Principle question. Learn how to master LSAT Principle questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.