Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT106 S3 Q21 Explanation

If the law punishes littering,

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

TopicsParallel Flaw

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Stimulus

If the law punishes littering, then the city has an obligation to provide trash cans. But the law does not punish has no such obligation.

What this question is testing

Parallel Flaw

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
21.

Which one of the following exhibits a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to that in

Answer choices

  1. Trap8% picked this

    If today is a holiday, then the bakery will not be open. The bakery is not open for business.

  2. Trap12% picked this

    Jenny will have lots of balloons at her birthday party. There are no balloons around yet, so today

  3. Trap3% picked this

    The new regulations will be successful only if most of the students adhere to them. Since most of the students will adhere to those

  4. Correct63% picked this

    In the event that my flight had been late, I would have missed the committee meeting. Fortunately, my flight is on time. Therefore, I

    Why this is right

    Answer D is correct.

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

  5. Trap14% picked this

    When the law is enforced, some people are jailed. But no one is in jail, so clearly the

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