LSAT 80, Logical Reasoning II, Q5, LSATHacks

LR Question 5 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: A commission has been formed to report on the nation’s…

QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption

CONCLUSION: The commission’s report won’t be effective.

REASONING: Effective ➞ Unified voice

Some committee members have given their opinions in the media.

ANALYSIS: On sufficient assumption questions, you should follow a three part process:

1. Identify the conclusion and split it apart
2. Fill in the evidence
3. Spot the gap

Here, the conclusion was:

Speaking to media Not effective

We can fill in the evidence using the contrapositive of the evidence: “not unified ➞ not effective”

Speaking to media not unified ➞ not effective

The gap is clear. The argument is correct if we assume that speaking to the media automatically makes the committee not unified.

___________

1. We’re trying to prove that the report will not be effective. This answer seems aimed at proving that it will be effective. Also, this answer does a poor job of proving its point: it doesn’t matter what committee members intentions are. If they are disunified, they have nonetheless caused failure.
2. This tells us what news organizations should do. That’s a moral question. But this argument is about the factual question of whether the report will be effective. The LSAT strictly separates morality and fact.
3. CORRECT. If we take the contrapositive of this, we get “Opinions made public ➞ not unified”. That fills the gap in the argument above: speaking to the media and making opinions public are equivalent terms.
4. So? The argument doesn’t say that public speculation is a relevant factor. Whereas a disunified voice dooms the report.
5. This….doesn’t match the stimulus. The stimulus said that committee members voiced their opinions before the report was complete, but it doesn’t say that they had those opinions before the committee was formed.

Recap: The question begins with “A commission has been formed to report”. It is a Sufficient Assumption question. To practice more Sufficient Assumption questions, have a look at the LSAT Questions by Type page.

Hi, I'm Graeme Blake

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