LSAT 8 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Genevieve: Increasing costs have led commercial airlines…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Harold concludes that he shouldn’t believe Genevieve’s conclusion that airplane travel should be avoided for safety reasons.

REASONING: Genevieve often takes an airplane.

ANALYSIS: Harold accepts Genevieve’s reasoning. If you accept that reasoning is good then the conclusion comes naturally.

Harold rejects Genevieve’s argument because of something she does. But it doesn’t matter who makes an argument or what they do. It only matters whether the reasoning is correct.

Harold rejects Genevieve’s reasoning on the basis of something unrelated (her actions.)

(Of course in real life hypocrisy may indicate that reasoning is flawed. But the problem is still with the reasoning and not the actions.)

___________

1. This is fine. It could be that David knows nothing about the movie.
2. This might be a good argument. It could be that Maria is coming over for dinner. And maybe Maria is right that lamb is unhealthy.
3. Here Susan’s actions are related to the safety of rock climbing. Susan’s accident demonstrates she might be wrong about rock climbing. As far as we know her only evidence for safety was her personal experience.
4. CORRECT. This is it. The argument doubts the research on the basis of Paul’s actions. Hypocrisy can’t prove scientists wrong.
5. This is a good argument. Past performance in a similar situation can lend us insight (the conclusion is only “I think”) into future performance.

Recap: The question begins with “Genevieve: Increasing costs have led commercial airlines”. It is a Flawed Parallel Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flawed Parallel questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.