Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT111 S3 Q19 Explanation

Columnist: A recent study suggests

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

TopicsMust be False

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Stimulus

Columnist: A recent study suggests that living with a parrot increases one’s risk of lung cancer. But no one thinks the government should impose financial impediments on the owning of parrots because of this apparent danger. So by the same token, the on hunting gear, snow skis, recreational parachutes, or motorcycles.

What this question is testing

Must be False

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
19.

Each of the following principles is logically consistent with the columnist’s

Answer choices

  1. Consistent13% picked this

    The government should fund education by taxing nonessential sports equipment and

    We can only contradict our author's conclusion by saying the government should tax / impose financial impediments on something. This is talking about what the government should support with money.

  2. Consistent4% picked this

    The government should not tax those who avoid dangerous activities and

    We can only contradict our author's conclusion by saying the government should tax / impose financial impediments on something. This is talking about the government not-taxing something.

  3. Correct68% picked this

    The government should create financial disincentives to deter participation in activities

    Why this is right

    This argument was saying that the government shouldn't create financial disincentives (such as taxes) on gear related to hunting, skiing, parachuting, or motorcycling, just because of their apparent danger. This answer says something pretty close to the opposite of that. Thus, it is logically inconsistent with the argument.

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

  4. Consistent5% picked this

    The government should not create financial disincentives for people to race cars or climb mountains, even though

    We can only contradict our author's conclusion by saying the government should tax / impose financial impediments on something. This is talking about the government not-imposing financial disincentives on something.

  5. Bad Premise Match10% picked this

    The government would be justified in levying taxes to provide food and shelter for those who cannot afford

    This is worth reading, since it is saying the government should tax something, but the category here doesn't match the argument as well as the category in (C). (C) said we should tax "activities deemed dangerous", which seems to fairly apply to hunting, skiing, parachuting, and motorcycling. (E) is saying we should tax everyone "in order to raise money for the needy", which isn't connected in any way to hunting, skiing, parachuting, and motorcycling.

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