Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT112 S4 Q15 Explanation

It is not good for a university

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

TopicsStrengthen

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Stimulus

It is not good for a university to have class sizes that are very large or very small, or to have professors with teaching loads that are very light or very heavy. After all, crowded classes and overworked and retain both qualified students and faculty.

What this question is testing

Strengthen

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion more likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that are consistent with the argument but add no real support, or that strengthen a claim the argument doesn't make.

Winning move

Locate the gap between evidence and conclusion, then pick the choice that closes it.

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

The question
15.

Which one of the following, if added as a premise to the argument, most helps to

Answer choices

  1. Opposite (if anything)5% picked this

    Professors who have very light teaching loads tend to focus their remaining

    This attaches light teaching loads to "more time on research". Professors usually love to do research, so if anything this makes it sound like light teaching loads would help retain professors.

  2. Opposite (if anything)6% picked this

    Classes that have very low numbers of students tend to have a lot

    This attaches small class sizes to "lots of classroom discussion", which is usually thought of as a good thing. So if anything this makes it sound like small class sizes would help attract students.

  3. Correct80% picked this

    Very small class sizes or very light teaching loads indicate incompetence

    Why this is right

    This choice directly relates very small class sizes or very light teaching loads to incompetence in classroom instruction. If very small class sizes and very light teaching loads indicate incompetence, it would negatively affect the university's ability to attract and keep qualified students and faculty, thus supporting the conclusion.

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

  4. Unclear Impact2% picked this

    Very small class sizes or very light teaching loads are common in the worst and

    The presence of very small class sizes or light teaching loads in both the worst and best universities doesn't help explain why these characteristics are negative for recruitment and retention. It almost makes them seem irrelevant to the quality of a university, if there common at the best and the worst schools.

  5. No Impact7% picked this

    Professors with very light teaching loads have no more office hours for students than professors

    This doesn't say something bad about light teaching loads. It basically says something neutral. Light teaching loads are comparable to normal teaching loads, when it comes to availability of office hours.

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