LSAT 8 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q11

LR Question 11 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: If the public library shared by the adjacent towns…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: If the library moved then more people would live within walking distance of the library.

REASONING: There are more people living in central Glenwood than central Redville. People will generally only walk to the library if they live within walking distance.

ANALYSIS: The argument seems straightforward: there are more people in Glenwood. Shouldn’t they therefore be able to walk to the library?

Well, we aren’t told where people live within each area, or how big each area is. We also don’t know if the library will be centrally located in central Glenwood, or if it will be located on the outskirts.

___________

1. This sounds like it weakens it. But it’s likely that more people walk from Redville because the library is currently located in Redville. This was to be expected.
2. CORRECT. This does a much better job than A. Less people would use the library in Glenwood even if the library were in Glenwood.
3. This supports the argument.
4. It might be that 80% of the library’s users live neither in Redville nor Glenwood. Perhaps most people would live far away from the library whether it were located in Redville or Glenwood. That doesn’t mean that more people wouldn’t live within walking distance if the library were moved to Glenville.
5. This doesn’t tell us whether or not those people would still live within walking distance.

Recap: The question begins with “If the public library shared by the adjacent towns”. It is a Weaken question. Learn how to master LSAT Weaken questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.