Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT110 S2 Q22 Explanation

Sociologist: Some people argue that

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Stimulus

Sociologist: Some people argue that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline of British capitalism. Critics of such a view argue that more people were executed for theft in preindustrial England than were executed in England after industrialization. But such a criticism overlooks the fact that and that the latter predated the former by several centuries.

What this question is testing

Role

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
22.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the passage by the point that capitalism

Answer choices

  1. Wrong Opponent11% picked this

    It is cited as some evidence against the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the

    This starts off just fine. Our claim is cited as some evidence against the critics in the 2nd sentence. But the rest of this answer choice names the position of the people in the 1st sentence. Our claim is cited as evidence against critics who are trying to undermine the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the labor discipline.

  2. Too Strong: contradiction Wrong Opponent8% picked this

    It is cited as a direct contradiction of the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the

    The word "contradiction" (or its synonyms, 'incompatible / inconsistent') is wrong at least 90% of the time we see it on LSAT. Contradictions are very weird, extreme things. Saying "I like the beach" and also saying "I hate the sun" are not contradictory. There is tension there, but not a contradiction. Saying "I like the beach" and also saying "I hate the beach" is contradictory. Nothing was cited as a contradiction. Furthermore, this answer, like (A), is making it sound like our author was attacking the position in the 1st sentence, but our author was undermining the position in the 2nd sentence.

  3. Too Strong: conclusively prove3% picked this

    It is an attempt to conclusively prove the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of the

    I would honestly stop reading at "conclusively prove". Remember, we didn't even find an explicit conclusion here. Whatever the author is doing is vague and suggestive. She isn't trying to conclusively prove anything.

  4. Opposite3% picked this

    It is cited as a fact supporting the critics of the view that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of

    This answer says that our claim supports the critics in the 2nd sentence, but it does the opposite. The author's objective is to undermine the critics in the 2nd sentence, and our claim is one of the two claims that tries to undermine them.

  5. Correct74% picked this

    It is an attempt to undermine the criticism cited against the claim that capital punishment for theft was an essential part of

    Why this is right

    This is just saying that our claim is part of an attempt to undermine the critics in the 2nd sentence, which it is. The pronoun "But such a criticism" is referring to the critics in the 2nd sentence. And our author is saying, "The criticism overlooks the fact that X and that Y are true (both of which undermine that position)."

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

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