LSAT 8 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q19

LR Question 19 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities…

QUESTION TYPE: Must be True

FACTS: In most university bookstores TV today is the only publication that sells better than Gossip Review. If universities were living up to their responsibilities then the best selling books in most universities would not be gossip review or TV today.

Those publications are the best selling publications in most university bookstores. Therefore we can conclude that universities are not living up to their responsibilities.

ANALYSIS: On must be true questions you can almost always figure out the answer by combining sufficient-necessary conditions or taking a contrapositive. This question requires you to do both. Don’t look at the answer choices until you can make a deduction (generally.)

___________

1. We only know that universities are being intellectually irresponsible. We don’t know what makes a person intellectually irresponsible.
2. We don’t know if the bookstores are themselves irresponsible. If the universities were living up to their responsibilities then presumably no one would buy the books.
3. We only know that those are the bestselling books at most universities. But perhaps those universities are very small. Or maybe only 30% of students buy the books (that would make them bestsellers even though less than half of students buy them.)
4. We don’t know about people we only know about universities.
5. CORRECT. Yes. We know this is true because TV Today and Gossip Review are bestsellers in more than half of the university bookstores nationwide.

Recap: The question begins with “Editorial: It is clear that if this country’s universities”. It is a Must be True question. Learn how to master LSAT MBT questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.