LSAT 8 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q25

LR Question 25 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Despite a steady decrease in the average number of hours…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: TV has caused a decline in newspaper readership.

REASONING: People are working less (and thus have more free time.) Yet newspaper readership has fallen while TV watching has increased.

ANALYSIS: This is a very bad argument. We are told about three factors that take up people’s time. But there are a million other things that could have taken up the time formerly devoted to newspapers.

Note that the argument is saying that the percentage of people who read a newspaper has fallen. It hasn’t said that people read newspapers but spend less time on them. Similarly it is not saying that people spend more time with their TVs. It is saying more people watch TV (as a percentage of the population.)

___________

1. This shows that the TV surveys are accurate. It strengthens the argument.
2. CORRECT. Newspaper reading has declined at the same rate even amongst the people who watch no TV at all. This strongly weakens the idea that TV causes less newspaper reading.
3. This sounds tempting, because reading has increased. But the argument didn’t claim that time spent with newspapers decreased. It said the percentage of people who read a daily newspaper has decreased.
4. This strengthens the argument. It shows how TV watching could reduce people’s ability to read a newspaper.
5. The argument only mentions that more people watch TV. It hasn’t made a claim about how long they watch for.

Recap: The question begins with “Despite a steady decrease in the average number of hours”. It is a Weaken question. Learn how to master LSAT Weaken questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.