Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT119 S4 Q15 Explanation

Marta: There have been complaints

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

TopicsFlaw

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Stimulus

Marta: There have been complaints about the lack of recreational areas in our city. Some people favor turning the old railway land into walking trails, but ways of using that land.

Arthur: But the old railway land is ideal for walking trails. Our citizens have gone too long with inadequate recreational areas; we should not walking trails without further consideration.

What this question is testing

Flaw

Your task

Describe the reasoning error the argument actually commits.

Common trap

Answers that name a real logical flaw the argument doesn't actually make.

Winning move

Articulate the gap in the reasoning yourself, then match it to the choice that describes that 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
15.

Arthur’s criticism suggests that he interpreted Marta

Answer choices

  1. Weak Match13% picked this

    maintaining that converting the old railway land into walking trails would be an entirely unproductive

    While Arthur did hear something overly strong and negative, he heard "We should not convert the old railway land into walking trails. Case closed." There's nothing in this comments that make it seem like he heard, "Converting it to walking trails would be entirely unproductive."

  2. No Match9% picked this

    favoring the development of recreational areas other than

    Arthur didn't get the misinterpreted sense that Marta favored a different type of recreational area. He got the sense that she had totally ruled out the idea of converting the railway land into walking trails.

  3. No Match4% picked this

    assuming that the complaints concerning a shortage of recreational areas are

    Arthur didn't get the misinterpreted sense that Marta thought people were crazy to complain about a lack of recreational areas. He got the sense that she had totally ruled out the idea of converting the railway land into walking trails.

  4. Correct72% picked this

    recommending that the proposal for converting the old railway land into walking trails should

    Why this is right

    Arthur got the misinterpreted sense that Marta had totally ruled out the idea of converting the railway land into walking trails, that she had "promptly dismissed" the idea. That's why he responds by saying, "Whoa, Marta. We shouldn't just dismiss this proposal so promptly, without further consideration!"

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

  5. No Match2% picked this

    asserting that it may not be possible to convert the old railway land into

    Arthur didn't get the misinterpreted sense that Marta thought it was impossible to convert the old railway land into walking trails. He got the sense that she had totally ruled out the idea of converting the railway land into walking trails.

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