LSAT 5 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q2

LR Question 2 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: College professor: College students do not write nearly…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: The professor claims college students write worse nowadays.

REASONING: The professor notes his students are writing worse.

ANALYSIS: The professor is an expert, so we can safely assume he is qualified to judge the quality of the students’ writing. But he offers no evidence that all students are like his students. It could be that the admissions office at his college just lowered their standards.

___________

1. CORRECT. Yes. The professor doesn’t see many students compared to how many there are in total. We need to know his students are somehow representative.
2. A college professor is an expert in their subject matter. It is a warranted assumption that they can judge the quality of essays. It is not a flaw to appeal to relevant expertise.
3. The professor might be a poor teacher. That doesn’t change the fact that he has noticed a decline in essay quality.
4. There’s no rule of arguments that you have to present contrary evidence. Could you imagine contradicting yourself every time you spoke?
5. The professor doesn’t use any unusual terms that would require definition. He uses every word according to its dictionary definition.

Recap: The question begins with “College professor: College students do not write nearly”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.