Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT102 S2 Q23 Explanation

Politician: Nobody can deny that

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsPrinciple-Strengthen

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Stimulus

Politician: Nobody can deny that homelessness is a problem yet there seems to be little agreement on how to solve it. One thing, however is clear: ignoring the problem will not make it go away. Only if the government steps in and provides the homeless with increased taxation. For this reason, we should raise taxes.

What this question is testing

Principle-Strengthen

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
23.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most supports the

Answer choices

  1. Reversal12% picked this

    Only if a measure is required to solve a problem should

    We're saying, "raising taxes is required to solve a problem, thus we should adopt a tax increase". In other words, if a measure is required, then adopt it. (required ? adopt it) This answer says, only if a measure is required should we adopt it. (adopt it ? required)

  2. Wrong Trigger / Reversal3% picked this

    Only if a measure is sufficient to solve a problem should

    Just like (A), this is not a rule that allows us to conclude that we should do something; it's only a rule that allows one to say you shouldn't. It's a rule that says if a measure should ? the measure is be adopted sufficient to solve the problem We want a rule that says if a measure is ? should be necessary to solve adopted The argument never said that raising taxes would be sufficient to solve the homelessness problem. It said that the homelessness problem requires government intervention, which requires raising taxes.

  3. Correct61% picked this

    If a measure is required to solve a problem, then it

    Why this is right

    Raising taxes is required to have the government provide the homeless with housing, which is required for the homelessness problem to disappear. So since raising taxes is required to solve the homelessness problem, according to this answer choice, we should adopt the measure of raising taxes.

    Skill tested: Principle-Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  4. Wrong Trigger5% picked this

    If a measure is sufficient to solve a problem, then it

    This answer is similar to (B) and focuses on the measure being sufficient. While this is a rule that allows one to conclude that one should do something, it does not have the correct trigger. The stimulus says that increasing taxes is required, not that it's sufficient. It's a rule that says if a measure is ? should not be sufficient to solve adopted We want a rule that says if a measure is ? should be necessary to solve adopted The argument never said that raising taxes would be sufficient to solve the homelessness problem. It said that the homelessness problem requires government intervention, which requires raising taxes.

  5. Wrong Trigger20% picked this

    If a measure is sufficient to solve a problem, any steps necessitated by that measure

    Nothing in the paragraph is identified as "sufficient to solve a problem", so we would have no way to trigger this rule. Wording like "only if" and "necessitates" is identifying things as necessary.

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