Logical Reasoning

PT108 · S2 · Q8 The traditional way to define

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

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

The traditional way to define the difference between rural and urban lifestyles is geographically.

Situation

Traditional way to define rural vs. urban was based on where you live.

But communications technology (like, you know, fax and modem, haha) has had so much impact that now it makes sense to define rural as "not communicating online much" and urban as "lots of online communication".

Evaluate

I really wish the writer of this stimulus could be taken in a time machine to the present day. I also love the notion that someone living in a rural part of the country was teased as .

When we're doing Most Supported + Proposition / Generalization, we're primarily just looking for a very safely worded moral to the story we can derive from this situation.

A lot of them focus on causal difference-maker ideas. In this example, the impact of communications technology is causing us to redefine how we think about rural vs. urban.

So an answer might be something like, .

Goal

Mainly be wary for strong wording. Find the most supportable takeaway.

8.

The situation described above most closely illustrates which one of the following propositions?

  1. Correct

    Frequency of electronic communication with

    Why this is right

    This is phrased more strongly than I'd like on a first pass, but ultimately it's the most supportable answer. It reflects what happened in this paragraph very well. It's just phrased in a way that makes it sound like this answer applies to other cases of how we define our lifestyles. We only know of this one way (rural vs. urban), but that still means we have some support for this answer. We used to define rural vs. urban lifestyles in terms of geography. And now, we feel that frequency of electronic communication supersedes where you live. If you're communicating electronically with dozens of people daily, then you've got an urban lifestyle. If not, a rural lifestyle.

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

    82% picked this

  2. Many people who use electronic

    Out of Scope: more satisfying

    We have no information about whether rural or urban people are enjoying their lifestyle more than the alternative. The people using electronic technology more extensively might have to do it for their jobs; they might not find it more satisfying.

    0% picked this

  3. People who live rural lifestyles

    Unknown Comparison

    We don't know about the overall volume of communication. This paragraph is only comparing the quantity of electronic communication. The people with rural lifestyles might communicate more frequently than those with urban lifestyle, just not by means of fax or modem (maybe it's face to face conversations, or writing letters to pen pals, or talking on the phone).

    15% picked this

  4. We are unable to foresee

    No Support: unable to foresee

    This answer is stressing that this change was unforeseen, but we have no way to support that. Maybe we did foresee the magnitude of the changes when we invented fax machines and modems.

    1% picked this

  5. People are choosing to live

    Unsupported Causal Relationship

    The passage doesn't indicate that anyone has moved to a different region because of communications technology. To the contrary, it's suggesting that someone who still lives in a swamp in rural Louisiana can now be considered to be living an urban lifestyle, if they have dozens of fax/online communications with others every day.

    2% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free